With tryouts taking place all over the South Bay on Saturday, I wanted to share some advice with you that will help your ballplayer be mentally prepared this weekend.

Tryouts (and games when the regular season starts) can be unnecessarily stressful for young players due to pressure they feel, either from themselves or from adults, as a result of unrealistic expectations. No hitter goes 4-4 every game. No pitcher throws a perfect game every time out. No hitter swings at good pitches every at-bat. No Shortstop has a 1.000 fielding percentage every season.

Baseball is not a game of "perfect" and Little Leaguers are still very much in the learning phase of their athletic development. As parents and coaches we must remember that despite what we might know about the game or see on TV, these are children still learning a very difficult game. Mistakes are going to happen - in fact making mistakes is absolutely essential to development and growth - and we need to encourage risk taking while also staying positive when we see a young player struggling with a new skill or concept.

When adults are relaxed and having fun at the field, our players will be more relaxed and having more fun at the field too.

And that brings me to my 3 very simple rules for players at tryouts (and in games):

1) Relax
2) Try Hard
3) HAVE FUN!

There will be no 10 year/$300 Million contracts handed out if a player hits 5 Homeruns on Saturday, and there will be no players sent back down to tee ball if they swing and miss 5 times. No college coaches will be there handing out scholarships, and no high school coaches will be there deciding which 12 year old is going to make the varsity team 5 years from now.

Tryouts are simply an opportunity for the coaches to see all the players on the field for a minutes, with the ultimate goal being to do their best to make sure the regular season teams are fair. In fact, "evaluations" is probably a more accurate term than "tryouts."

So let's Relax, Try Hard, and Have Fun on Saturday. Remember, it's not life and death; it's just baseball!

Here's to a fun 2019 season!

- Coach Spring