The kindergartners, 1st, and 2nd graders started the day with some warmups with Ira, our professional coach from Long Island Baseball Academy.  This always gets the younger kids excited.  After warmups, we proceeded to baseball skills instruction - Ira taught the kids how to throw and catch - as Ira mentioned, those are the most basic skills required for baseball.

We then started playing games - the kindergarten Chicago Cubs team, coached by Marc Lieberstein on their freshly painted baseball diamond, learned how to hit the ball using a T (by the end of the season, many of them will be hitting real pitching, but we start slowly to build up their confidence and teach them the right technique).  As one parent remarked, "they are so adorable".

The 1st and 2nd grade Baltimore Orioles also started playing a game, coached by Scott Gilder, Josh Rezak, Anna Lelonek, and me, played on the smaller diamond near the school.  Hitting live pitching and playing the field, there were some fantastic plays made.  Just as the old adage goes - having an umbrella means it won't rain - we set up a T just in case, but didn't need it at all - every player hit live pitching, and impressively so!  Coach Ira and the other coaches helped each player get situated in the batters box and taught some technique to the hitters.  While the hitter was getting some personal attention, the coaches practiced fielding with the players in the field by throwing them the ball, then instructing them on where to throw it if the ball is hit to them.  There were some fantastic defensive plays in the field - an out at third base, many outs at first base, and a whole bunch of close plays.  

The older kids - grades 3, 4, and 5 - immediately broke out to a game as soon as the day started.  The 2nd coach from Long Island Baseball Academy couldn't make it today, due to car troubles, so Ira spent some time with these players on basic instruction (normally we have two coaches on Sunday morning - with Ira focusing on the lower grades).  Since the boys pitch during school, we thought we'd give the boys a chance to pitch the game as well - with great success - Ben Taub showed his "stuff"!

Even the parents got involved - since we were short several coaches and jr. coaches, for a variety of reasons, many parents "stepped up" and helped out.  A super special "you saved the day" thank you goes to two individuals:

All in all, lots of yells of happiness from the kids -  my definition for a great day.

I did get some questions during the day, I thought I'd summarize here:

Regards,

Ari