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Brett Muscatello
Corbo 4
English 12
2 April 2016
I Search: Baseball Sports Management/Coaching
What I Already Knew:
The sound of the bat crack. That was all I ever needed to hear to tell me that I wanted to
be involved with the sport of baseball for my whole life. Sports management is something that
has always been of substantial interest to me. Baseball has always been my first love and I know
for a fact that I will always want to be involved with even when I am no longer able to play. I
find this project to be an amazing opportunity. Not only will I get to learn about my passion, but
I can put my newly gained knowledge to use in a real situation. It is very important for me to
gain this knowledge as it may end up being something I use for the rest of my life.
Coming into the Capstone Project, I have a reasonable amount of knowledge about the
profession, however, there is room for massive amounts of knowledge to be taken absorbed. I
have been able to observe my mentors and coaches that have surrounded me and taught me skills
since I began playing at the age of seven. Coaching your own team requires a huge amount of
responsibility and caution. Parents are putting their children (young players in many cases) in the
hands of the coach and are trusting that a coach takes all the necessary steps to teach the players
as much as possible while being a responsible coach. I know that as a coach, keeping the
children or players safe is the number one responsibility. Second, you are responsible for
teaching the players the necessary skills to make the players successful. Having players who are
able to succeed is a key to them having fun as well.

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Also, I have always known that the term coach is completely misleading. Coaches do
much more than just teach players. The coach has to organize team events, practice times,
playing time, payments, jerseys, field time, as well as scheduling. The job is tough because many
coaches in youth leagues and even higher up, have a full time job that comes before the baseball
team. It seems to me that many times, lack of time commitment will lead to upset parents and
upset players. I have seen it happen on teams that I have played on in the past and it is a very
sticky situation. Managing a team also is very dependent on attitude. As a coach or mentor to
younger players, your composure is key as it allows the game to flow better and the kids will
enjoy the sport more.
Much of the ideas and observations that I have gained over the years has been from first
hand experience as a player. I can not wait to expand my knowledge of the game that I love.
What I Wanted to Learn:
It has been difficult for me to choose just one topic or goal that I want to learn about. This
is mainly because the game of baseball is so complex and complicated in itself, and having to
manage a sport as confusing and articulate as baseball, there are so many things to think about
and discover. I have thought about the things in the game that confuse me most when observing
my coaches. Why does he do that? Why are we playing this way? What does this drill do for me
as a player? It then occurred to me that I was very knowledgable about the game itself and the
playing of the game. What I decided to focus on was the mental aspect of coaching and the
responsibilities and duties of coaching your own team. With so many different players on a team,
I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a coach to get along with everyone in a way that is
positive for the team. There are so many coaching styles that have so many different effects on
players. I would like to learn more about the psychological aspect of coaching and how different

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approaches incur different results. Along with the mental and psychological aspects of coaching,
I would also like to dig deeper into the responsibilities and duties of being a coach and what it
takes to really make the whole experience successful for the players and yourslef.
By holding a youth baseball clinic for our project, I will get the perfect chance to use
ideal coaching strategies and teaching methods in an environment where my input is useful to a
player learning the game. It will also provide me with real life opportunities to accomplish the
complete duties of a head coach. We are in charge of organizing a camp and inviting players
from the community to participate. This involves coaching duties such as event planning,
advertising, communication, and many more possible tasks that could arise at any time prior to
or during the clinic.
In addition to the clinic, meeting with my mentor regularly provided me with much
knowledge of the profession. My goal for the project was to learn about the mental aspects of
coaching as well as the everyday responsibilities and duties of managing a team. I think that my
mentor did a great job of providing me with answers to my questions by giving me material to
study as well as opportunities to actually watch these coaching strategies in action.
Overall, in this opportunistic project, I wanted to learn about the mental aspects of
coaching as well as the duties and responsibilities that go along with the profession. By
accomplishing this goal, I will be able to properly prepare myself for a possible future in this
field.

Research:
While researching my topic, I was able to find many sources that helped me achieve my
goals during research as well as some that were somewhat misleading. My mentor provided me
with quality material and sources that gave me help throughout my research process. I was also

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able to achieve independent research for my topic and read a nonfiction book that gave me
answers to many of my questions during my research.
My mentor, Coach Steve Jones, has over 30 years of experience surrounding the game of
baseball. The majority of those years involved him operating under head coaches as well as
being a head coach himself. Coach Jones was an assistant coach for Evergreen High School for
nine years under the reign of Coach Terry Hensley. Coach Hensley and Coach Jones helped build
what is now known as one of the most iconic baseball programs in Colorado high school
baseball. Coach Jones then became the pitching coach at Colorado Christian University for four
years. Coach Jones then returned to Evergreen High School in 2015 and was named the head
coach of the baseball program. He led the team to the final four of the Colorado 4A state
playoffs, the furthest that Evergreen had ever gone in school history. When assigned this project,
I knew from the beginning that there was not a better mentor out there for my goals in the
project. I am grateful that I was able to spend time and learn from such a knowledgeable figure
with so much success in the field.
Coach Jones and I worked a lot with observing coaching techniques. We began by
spending time talking about the goals of this project and what would help me achieve them.
During this time, I gained a better understanding of the positives and negatives of being a coach
and all of the preparation that it takes to become one. There are so many emotions and stress
causing events that occur in this profession and Coach Jones described to me that sometimes
they are harder to deal with then it may appear.
During my time reading and researching, I came across the aspect of parental assistance
in the environment of a team. This was one of the duties of being a coach that I was eager to
dig into. I first came across this duty while reading my nonfiction book written by the Ripken

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brothers. The Ripken brothers are iconic figures in Major League Baseball and have more
knowledge of the game than about anyone you could learn from. The book is titled Coaching
Youth Baseball the Ripken Way and is focused mainly on strategies as a coach for younger teams
all the way up to the high school and college level. Being an effective communicator is one of
the key responsibilities for a coach. Perhaps the most important avenue of communication for
coaches- from the youngest ages all the way up through the college level- is the one you
establish with the parents of your players (Ripken 14). This first sentence totally caught my eye
as I saw it as a probable issue when coaching a team. Furthermore, I discovered the most
effective ways of dealing with these struggles and noticed that my mentor has followed the exact
examples that were described by the Ripken brothers. Discuss your practice philosophy and the
level of commitment you expect from parents and players. Present your goals for the team.The
majority of parents have a few major concerns, and if those concerns are addressed, you likely
wont hear a negative word from them all season (Ripken 14&15). When discussing this with
Coach Jones, I was given his professional opinion on the matter. Coach Jones implemented a
Zero Parental Assistance Policy for the whole 2016 baseball season. He was able to identify
his commitment expectations for parents and players, as well as give his expectations for the
players during the season. He got his message through during parent and player meetings. He
implemented the policy so that he did not have the stress of parents questioning his decisions
during games or the event of a parent talking to their child during the game. The coach has so
much to worry about during a game and it is not realistic for a parent to question a coachs
professional judgement during a game or any time after. In addition, a player has so many
emotions going through their head during a game. As the cliche follows: baseball is 90 percent
mental, 10 percent physical. Alright, even if you need more than 10 percent physical to succeed

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in the game, the mental aspect of a player is pivotal during gameplay. When a player makes a
mistake, the best method is to learn from the mistake and make the adjustment so that the
mistakes are minimal. If a parent is in communication during this time, it will almost everytime
affect the player in a negative manner. I believe that a little league parent feels that they must
participate with loud cheering and Come on, lets go, you can do it, which just adds more
pressure to the kids. I will be putting plenty of pressure on these boys to play the game the right
way with class, and respect, and they will put too much pressure on themselves and each other
already. You as parents need to be the silent, constant, source of support ( The Talent Code.
Web. 2012). After researching this problem along with its solutions, I found that the best way to
deal with these times of situations is to first establish your plans as a coach and your time
commitments, your expectations. Coach Jones also mentioned that sending out emails to all
families with lineups and practice focuses is another great way to show parents that you are
committed and can lead to positive opinions from the parents. In our project, we were able to
practice this by advertising our clinic and addressing the focuses of our clinic as best as possible
so that the parents and families know that this is a camp that is worth the precious time of their
day as well as the benefits of attending. Getting the chance to practice this responsibility for our
project was a wonderful way to better understand the topic. This was definitely a perfect way to
discover the responsibility of managing a team.
Another major point that I focused a lot of research on was drills that are helpful in
practice. I found that this was a tough thing to try and gain an understanding of. This is simply
because it is different for different coaches and their philosophies. According to Coach Jones, it
totally depends on the team that you have. At Evergreen, we have a small team compared to
many of our opponents and do not score a lot of runs off of home runs and power. Coach Jones

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has always supported the strategy of playing small ball, (bunting, stealing, set offensive plays),
as well as putting a large emphasis on defense and pitching. This works great in his system,
however, this is completely different for many other teams. Many coaches will just allow their
teams to hit and drive in runs without major emphasis on smaller details as Coach Jones does.
For this particular aspect, I found that my nonfiction book was not helpful. The book gave
several hitting drills that did not match with my mentors teachings and most likely do not match
with the teachings of numerous coaches around the world. The truth is, drills and practice/game
strategies completely depend on the team and the coach. It can not be consistently the same for
all coaches and teams. Coaches talk about having a good approach at the plate. Approach
can only mirror the players power output. If a player knows that he or she can drive the ball
past the outfielders, then their approach will be drastically different than if they know that the
best they can do is a single barely over the infield (BaseballRebellion. Web. 2015). This
particular source was showing a drill that was supposedly bad for hitters as it taught the wrong
mechanics to a hitter. I found this to be misleading as it is different than what my mentors theory
is. This drill may not be correct for particular hitters on a certain team, but on a team that is in
need of less power, and more small ball type techniques, this drill is ideal. Again, drills and
teachings depend on the team. I was able to find more information on the same drill that stated
that this same drill is great for hitters and their swings. This drill helps simplify things for the
hitter. It is good for working the load and staying through the ball (Baseball Mastery. Web. nd).
The above quote was referring to the drill as a great tool for hitters as it helps with vision and
contact, (a more contact and small ball based philosophy of hitting), further proving the point
that hitting drills as well as any practice techniques depend on the focuses that the coach sees as
beneficial to the teams success.

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Although I was not able to gain an understanding of the correct drills to use as a coach,
I learned that there is no perfectly correct way to focus drills beside the what is best for your
team and their strengths. Drills need to be focused around helping your team win games, not
focused around what is known as right or wrong.
Finally, the goal that I was most eager to achieve was to learn more about communication
with players of different personalities and styles. I have always seen this as a major difficulty in
coaching. To learn more about this, I observed my coaches over and over every chance I got. I
saw how they approached different players. I also noticed the attitudes of the different players
and how their attitudes changed based on the coach they were communicating with. My
nonfiction book did not give me a ton of insight on the topic because it is more for youth
coaching and only provided basic information about coach to player communication. My mentor
explained that communication and player relationships are a HUGE part to having a winning
team. Coach Jones tries to keep a consistent persona so that all players know what to expect
when they go and talk to him. Coach Jones also does his best to build strong relationships with
his players to the extent of being friends with them. This helps players focus and trust him in
both physical game situations and his decisions as the head coach.
While researching player to coach communication, I found that there are three main types
of communication toward a player that are vital to keeping the players both happy and engaged
in what you are teaching them. These types of communication are verbal communication, visual
communication, and physical communication. we probably use verbal communication more
than any other method. We know from experience that talking with players, rather than at them,
can be one of the most effective means of communication. When you tell players what to do,
always consider how they will receive your message; try to anticipate their reactions. (Human

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Kinetics.Web. nd). This is a very simple, yet important message because it is a perfect
representation of how powerful verbal communication can be on a player. If you use the wrong
kind of verbal communication on a player, you may spark a negative reaction. Situations like
these are 100 percent always unhealthy for a team. visual communicationthe ability to
demonstrate wellis a priceless gift. Not only does a good demonstration provide a picture for
your players, but it also adds to your credibility and prevents the boredom of long verbal
explanations (Human Kinetics.Web. nd). Visual representation communication is the hardest
form of communication for a coach to practice and execute. This is because demonstration is one
of the hardest tasks for a coach. Showing the players the correct way of doing something has no
effect on the players unless you show them why it is the right way to do it. As a coach, it is very
important to know exactly what you are teaching, why you are teaching it, and how to show the
players how it is executed. With these simple steps, it will be much easier to display your
teachings to the players in both practice and games. Physical communication is another main
type of player to coach communication as it has a direct impact on the overall mood of a team.
Our job is to teach them about life. If we, as coaches, keep this in mind and emphasize what is
important then we can have a profound effect upon our players character development
(National Federation of High School Associations. Web. 2015). Physical communication is the
not only your body language toward the players but also displaying a positive example to your
players. When managing your own team, you are not only a coach, but a mentor for these kids
lives. Showing negative body language or yelling at umpires shows the players a bad persona
that they may end up following throughout their playing careers. Showing a positive attitude
even when things are not going your preferred way is a massive must in coaching. When a player
makes a mistake, it is important not to yell or throw fits. This type of behavior shows a player

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that it is okay to show disappointment in a detrimental manner. As a coach, your focuses should
always be to build up players and teach them the right way of doing things as well as providing a
good example of sportsmanship in sports.
I found through research and my mentor that the best way to communicate and build
strong relationships is to build your own positive and respectful etiquette, and then maintain it.
Coach Jones does a wonderful job of keeping his attitude toward players and game the same
constant. The Evergreen Baseball Program has won the sportsmanship award in two of the past
three years for the state of Colorado. The key phrase for that success has always been Pride in
the program, respect for the game. This is followed by all players and enforced by all coaches.
The positive and prideful environment set by the coaches is what leads teams to both fun and
winning ways. I look forward to practicing these techniques and using them not only in my
future career involving baseball, but in life in general.
Why This is Important to Me:
During the Capstone Project, I feel as if I was able to gain a more than adequate
understanding of sports management and coaching to guide me in the future. I love the game of
baseball and I am confident that with the skills and strategies I learned, I will be able to fulfill my
lifelong dream of making an impact in this game for myself as well as others. My mentor was a
huge help in the process and was able to give me tons of material to study and learn from. He
also gave me in-game learning experiences that I will remember when studying this topic in the
future. My goal for the project was to gain a larger understanding of the mental aspect of
baseball and communicating with players as well as the everyday duties of the profession. I was
able to easily achieve these goals with the help of Coach Steve Jones as well my nonfiction book
and research. I learned that building a persona as a coach that focuses around sportsmanship and

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positive teaching strategies is how you successfully communicate with your players and build
strong relationships with their families. Being responsible as a coach and mentor is how you gain
trust as a professional. Sometimes just sending a simple email to the parents and players
describing what you will be doing that day at practice will show them that you are committed
and can aide your goal of gaining their trust. This project was important to me because it gives
me material to build on in my search of moving on in life into a possible profession surrounding
the game that I have always loved and wanted to be a part of. I can not even begin to explain
how blessed I am to have this opportunity and to make the most of it was easy. I look forward to
gaining even more understanding of the field of baseball management and coaching as I find it to
be a true love of mine that I want to learn more and more about for the remainder of my time.

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Sources:
"Communication with College Coaches." NCSA Athletic Recruiting. National Collegiate
Scouting Association. nd. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.

Coyle, Daniel. "A Solution for The Parent Problem." The Talent Code A Solution for The
Parent Problem Comments. New York Times, 19 Apr. 2012. Web. 2 Apr. 2016

Hargreaves, Alan, and Richard Bate. "Communication Key to Coaching." Human Kinetics. nd.
Web. 9 Apr. 2016.

Jones, Steve. Personal Interview/Experience. 12 March 2016- 9 April 2016.

Ripken, Cal, Bill Ripken, and Scott Lowe. Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2007. Print.

Morrison, Kirby. "The Importance of Integrity in Coaching." National Federation of State High
School Associations. NFHS, 21 Oct. 2015. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.

"The Tee Drill." BaseBall Mastery. BaseBall Mastery LLC, 2009. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.

Whited, JK. "The Second WORST Hitting Drill for Baseball or Softball Exposed." Baseball
Rebellion. Baseball Rebellion, 16 Dec. 2015. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.

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