What can I expect as a coach?
As a coach for a Futures team you can expect the full support of the Fireballs family. You will be assigned a coaching mentor from one of our tournament teams to help guide you on your coaching journey and support you along the way. This could include anything from practice planning and drill ideas to game-time strategy to managing parents.
Your team will consist of no more than 12 players who have expressed a clear desire to grow and develop their softball skills. You will be responsible for leading practices, managing games, communicating with parents and recruiting your assistant coaches. Of course, the Fireballs Family will be there to help and assist where needed.
How many players will be on my team?
We are committed to keeping teams small in order to maximize skill development and individual attention. All Futures teams will be 12 or fewer players.
How do I find players? Can I recruit my own players?
The Fireballs organization will have a recruitment period whereby all interested players can sign up and express interest in playing on a Futures team. After registration is closed, and if additional players are needed, there will be a tryout process whereby girls will be evaluated on a variety of qualities. After tryouts, coaches will select girls for their team with input from the Board of Directors. If you have particular girls in mind for your team, they should register and attend tryouts.
How do I find Assistant Coaches?
You will need to recruit Assistant Coaches from the parents of your player pool. The Board of Directors can assist with this process as much or as little as needed. If you have an Assistant Coach in mind, he or she should register through the Fireballs website.
What kind of support can I expect as a coach?
Each Fireball Futures coach will receive a coaching handbook. Among other topics, the Handbook will cover:
- How to plan and run a practice
- Skill development
- Drills
- Basic softball rules
- Basic softball strategy and game management
- How to deal with common problems or issues
In addition, each Fireball Futures coach will be assigned a coaching mentor from one of our competitive tournament teams. The coaching mentor will help guide you through the coaching journey and answer any questions you may have. The Board of Directors is also a resource for you to lean on as a coach. The Board is dedicated to helping you be as successful as possible.
When are practices; how long are they; where are they located; and how many are there?
Futures should plan to have 2 practices a week in Sherwood. Practices are normally 60-90 minutes in length on weeknights. Beginning mid-April, games will replace the weeknight practices and an additional practice may be added. Additional scrimmages are available to be added depending on coach and team availability and interest.
When and where are games; how many games are there?
Games times and locations will vary depending on scheduling availability of other teams. Games will be geared towards getting girls ready to play competitively and therefore may be against teams based in other communities. Games will be played on weeknights. You should expect that at both the 8U and 10U levels, at least half of your games will be hosted in Sherwood and the remaining against opponents in surrounding communities. The end of the season will be marked by a End of the Season Tournament which includes a series of games against nearby competitive teams across both Saturday and Sunday.
How long does the season last?
The Futures season begins in March with evaluations and team formation, practices beginning in late March and runs through early June.
Beginning at the 10U level, our competitive tournament Fireballs teams play through the summer and fall. Our goal with the Futures is that when ready, the Futures teams make the jump to play beyond the spring and become full-blown competitive teams.
How do I become a coach?
If you are still interested in being considered for a Futures coaching position, please register through the website. If you have any other questions or would like to discuss something in more detail, please reach out to: [email protected]