The VWMSA is in no small part a successful organization because of the quality of its coaches. Every coach owes it to his team to arrive at practices with a practice plan. The plan will work better, most often, if the coach has plenty of help from assistant coaches, parents, or more experienced players. The volunteer page has information on the role of the Coach, Assistant coach and others available to support the coaches role.
We support and encourage our coaches by paying for their attendance at coaching clinics. New coaches will find assistance available from others in the organization with more experience. Starting 08 all C coaches Pee Wee and up will be required by Softball BC to have completed NCCP Level 1 (Theory and Technical)
Be sure to visit our Clinics page for information on the clinics that are available for players. Information on coaching clinics may be found at the Softball BC website. VWMSA tries to host at least one NCCP coaching clinic per season.
Background Checks
Click the link below to go to VWMSA's landing page for Backcheck.
Background
checks are mandatory in 2010 for Wildcats Coaches and Assistant
Coaches, and for Coaches in PeeWee and above. If you already have a
Backcheck but are not in the mandatory, please share it with us. If you already have done a background check for another coaching position, but not through Backcheck, you can share it with us. The mandatory ID check for BackCheck can be signed by any member of the executive.
Tournaments
Coaches are encouraged to enter their house teams in tournaments, as they are a lot of fun for the girls. The VWMSA will pay for one team entry fee per team per year. See the tournaments page for more information.
Rainout (Rescheduling) Procedures
The league has limited fields available to reschedule rained out games. Our scheduler should be contacted for a edit password for the field schedule on Google Docs by one person representing teams that need this ability (mostly interlocked teams in house and rep).
Safety/Injuries/Insurance
Reporting Injuries/Accidents
If
a player is injured and requires medical or dental attention, the Coach
or Manager is requested to gather all details of the accident, complete
an Accident Report Form, and deliver one copy to the VWMSA Secretary
within 24 hours of the occurrence. The Secretary will forward one copy
of the Accident Report Form to Softball BC.
Insurance Coverage
Players
and team officials registered as members of Softball BC are insured to
some extent for injuries suffered while participating in softball
activities under the Softball BC accident and liability insurance
program. Conversely, individuals not registered as Softball BC members
are not covered by this insurance, and therefore can not participate in
Association activities.
In
the case of suspected overuse injury the coach may have to suggest the
parents take the athlete to a doctor for possible referral to a sports
medicine specialist.
Softball
BC's policy covers "excess" medical or dental expenses and contributes
only once other insurance available to the player or team official is
exhausted.
Claim
forms are available from VWMSA Secretary or online. Claimant/parent must complete
the claim form, send one copy to the Association's Secretary, and the
original directly to Softball BC.
Upon
receipt of the claim form, Softball BC will verify that the injured
player is a registered member of Softball BC, and forward the claim
form to the insurer.
Additional information about the insurance coverage available through Softball BC can be found at the Softball BC Website.
Sport Safety
To ensure the safety of your athletes both during practice and in
competition, it is essential that certain safety precautions be taken
by the Coach, parents, and officials. Be aware of such things as broken
glass on the playing field, untied shoelaces etc. Earrings, necklaces
and chewing gum should be removed,. Be
careful of such conditions as hypothermia, heat exhaustion and sun
stroke. Bee stings and wasp stings can be life threatening to some
athletes.
Protective
equipment is being more widely used in most sports today, and athletes
may have to be educated in what equipment to purchase, how to wear it
and above all, how to respect the equipment designed for their safety,
e.g. no throwing softball helmets on the ground after scoring a home
run, chin straps on baseball helmets securely fastened when up at bat
or running between bases. Accidents
can and do happen, and coaches should be well prepared to deal with
each incident. Coaches and team officials should have an emergency
action plan. It should contain the following:
How to access phones at practice facility, game facility, away facility, emergency numbers (local) and emergency numbers (away). .
How to access sites, cards for directions and practice facilities, cards for directions to game facilities, home and away. Fields don't have an address, so have a description available for emergency services (see field page)
Information on Participants: personal history cards, emergency contacts, medical history cards. Use the emergency form below, have parents provide in a sealed envelope to be opened in a emergency (to protect privacy). Keep in a ziplock and return at the end of the season.
Personnel: Know who has first aid training among coaches and parents.
Charge
Person and Alternates: to asses the situation, take control, protect
the injured participant, and instruct others to obtain assistance.
Call
Person: to know location of phones, call for help, describe the
emergency and the exact location of the person, to report that an
ambulance has been called and to meet the ambulance.
Coaches and officials should be aware of the following:
Prompt and correct treatment can not only lessen the severity of the injury, but also reduce the recovery time.
If
in doubt assume the worst case scenario. Make sure the patient has a
pulse and is breathing and is not bleeding. Call for expert medical
help. Keep the patient warm.
In the case of serious head, neck or back injury leave the patient where they are and call for medical help.
Also remember no athlete should return to competition until there is:
100% return of strength.
100% absence of pain
100% return of flexibility.
Athlete is psychologically ready to resume activity
Coaching Information
The internet is a great source of coaching information to help in the preparation of a practice plan.
Here we have collected links to places on the internet with coaching resources:
Thanks to Brad Johnston for bringing his tried system to VWMSA. Describes how to implement the Johnston Black Belt system in softball coaching (1pg). Version 1 The_Johnston_Black_Belt_Book.doc (application/msword, 45.5 K)posted on 4:18 PM, April 22, 2010
Checklists for players or coaches to evaluate skills in throwing, batting, catching, pop flies and grounders. Probably best laminated. Softballskillschecklist.doc (application/msword, 36.8 K)posted on 11:51 AM, April 3, 2010
2 pages for player to understand key rules and terminology of softball. Softball_Rules_and_Terminology_for_Players.doc (application/msword, 32.2 K)posted on 9:47 PM, February 3, 2010
A cheat sheet for scorekeepers to help get stats (thanks to Shannon McDougall) scoresheetabbrev.PDF (application/pdf, 40.9 K)posted on 9:38 PM, February 3, 2010
Diagrams and descriptions of the responsibilities of each field position during defensive play. fielding.PDF (application/pdf, 295.9 K)posted on 9:31 PM, February 3, 2010
Filled out by parents and put in an sealed envelope, the coach can collect them in a zipper lock bag and keep them in the equipment bag. Return at the end of the season. CONTACT_AND_MEDICAL_INFORMATION.doc (application/msword, 23 K)posted on 3:06 PM, April 11, 2010
WILDCATS REP PROGRAM
