I believe every child that steps on a baseball/softball field should be given the opportunity to play every position at rec and traveling levels, especially when they are young (5-12 years old). As they start getting older and serious about the sport, they should start focusing on learning 2-3 positions at a time based on their physical and mental development until they find what is comfortable for them or what is needed by the team. That’s the most important job of a coach at this stage: developing the skills of the players. Winning games is just gravy on top.
The relationship among coaches, parents, and players can get tricky, and sometimes tense between ages 12-18. Obviously, if your kid can only catch every other grounder, hasn’t developed and arm yet, and has random accuracy when throwing, you won’t ask the coach for much. But when players have some skills, experience, are engaged in learning their sport, and/or might be genetically gifted, parents and coaches look at their development differently.
Of course, parents want the best for their kids and project their expectations. They dream of division 1 futures and beyond. So, their child needs to be a super athlete: pitcher, catcher, shortstop, and centerfielder at the same time. Needless to say, they should bat at the top of the lineup and play every game. Rarely a player is that good.
The coaches’ approach is quite different. We look at all the players in the team and think about in which position they will develop their potential faster at that point in time. Good coaches should look at their players and ask the same question each season without prejudice of last season performance. Is this player faster, stronger, sharper, smarter this year? Is this player ready for a new challenge? Does this player still have what it takes to play that position? How can they help the team this year?
So before asking the coach to start your kid at shortstop, ask yourself the following questions each season:
Is my child as fast or faster than the rest of the team?
Are my child’s athletic skills as good or better than the rest of the team?
Can my child throw as hard or harder than the rest of the team?
Can my child throw as or more accurately than the rest of the team?
Does my child field routine grounders as good or better than the rest of the team?
Does my child charge, dive for, and track pop-fly balls as if it is the last ball, she/he is ever going to catch?
Can my child throw with different arm angles on the run and/or unbalanced position accurately?
Does my child’s awareness of the game is as good or better than the rest of the team?
Does my child let errors affect the rest of the game?
Each defensive position has its own set of questions of course. This is how coaches will evaluate your kid in each position from 12 years old all the way through the major leagues each season. Today, she/he might be a good right fielder, but tomorrow, she/he could be a great shortstop or the other way around.
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