Located adjacent to the San Antonio International Airport, in San Antonio, Texas, McAllister Park is San Antonio’s largest and most popular city park that host the McAllister Little League organization.

This season, I managed the South Texas Razorbacks, a 12U baseball select baseball team. On May 4, 2008 we played against the South Texas Sliders losing a hard fought, well played, game by a score of 7 - 8 after leading the Slider 4 - 1 up until the 4th inning. Prior to this game, I’d heard several rumors that 90% of the Sliders roster was the McAllister Little League all-star team.

With many leagues and organizations entering their post seasons, and knowing that the Little League World Series was abound, my curiosity inspired me to check the McAllister Little 12U All-Star roster, and low and behold, all the the chosen players with the exception of 2 played in the game against us. Let be the first to say that I am aware of the controversy and opinions associated with select players playing Little League, but I am one that has always supported any league with a vision of allowing their team to represent their community in the Little League World Series and make use of the resource readily available to the to do so. My hat goes off to the volunteers of the McAllister Little League, and I am proud to have a potential group of player represent the San Antonio area once again.

I have a new found interest in understanding just what this group has to go through to make it all the way to the World Series. I will be blogging the process and progress of this team along the way and would like to congratulate each select organization, coach, and instructors, Little League administrators, coaches, and volunteers, and most importantly the parents and players for a job well done.

My son played on the team that played against these young men, and although we do not participate in Little League by choice, he is just as excited as I am to know that he has the opportunity to witness a team of players that he has played against here at home represent our community on a stage as big as the Little League World Series. Baseball has a way of producing such memories that can’t be replaced. I am encouraging all of the San Antonio community to take an interest in these young men and coaches and support their progress.

On the day of this writing they are in the Texas West Divisional Tournament in Waco, TX playing against the team from Lubbock, who has had an easy time with teams up to this point, so this game will prove to be a challenge for both teams. I am a native West Texan, growing up in Amarillo, TX and can assure you the the team from Lubbock will be getting maximum support from their community because that is just how it works up there when it comes to kids and sports.

I will be tagging all post related to this subject with mcallister little league, and again, good luck.

It is inevitable that the time for our kids to branch outside of the comfort zone of home will come for all of us, especially if we participate in extracurricular activities such as travel baseball. As a family with a 12 year son that participates in select baseball (travel) we always new there may come a time when we would not be able to watch and support Blake or his team play. This time has presented itself as he has been asked to support a local select team that suffered an injured player and the team earned a birth in the USSSA World Series Championships in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Normally the the team and parents have the entire season to plan for such an event which happens to be a week long of baseball games and special events, but as a substitute family, we unfortunately did not have this within our plans and could not mange the time or financial commitment required within such a short period of time. Blake will be traveling with the team without us, and for the first time, we will not be there to support or watch him or the team play. We are all disappointed and I personally am confident in his abilities to contribute and enjoy his role with his teammates, but again this is uncharted territory for us all to include Blake who is only 12, but is a great student of the game with a “Christmas like” excitement for the opportunity.

The Titan families he will be traveling with are some of the most genuine folks we have met in all of our baseball experience, and we are absolutely certain that he is in a good environment, but we sincerely regret not being there. I can only hope that he maintains the strength and confidence to continue finding enjoyment in playing the game of baseball vs. a direct focus on the competitive hype in what will be the largest stage yet for him personally. I’ve preached this to him over that past 7 years of a player/coach relationship, but it was always easy to remind him of it the morning of a game during the car ride over. He’s a genuine spirit that just learned how to blow a bubble last week!

He leaves this Friday, and all we can do is stop counting the days until with mixed emotions due to his excitement and dedicated commitment for the opportunity that the Titan coaches, players, and parents have given him. We will be getting updates often and are even planning a way to attend the semi-final games, all of which are dependent upon the scheduling results of their seeded play. If we are unable to attend, we want him to know that he and his teammates are for the first time out of sight on the playing field, but definitely not out of mind. I have personally watched him grow not only in the game, but mature as a young man that is ready to embrace a new journey that happens to be without the shadowing or direct guidance of his parents or older sister this time, and we look forward to discovering how he will share his positive experience with us.

I will be using this post to keep track of each of his updates and record our experiences, but wanted to certainly wish Good luck to the Titan organization and players, and thank them for supporting us to make this work.

The first time usually I ask an athlete or one of my speed & agility students run backwards, they look at me with a lost wonder, but this is a drill commonly used by some of the fastest sprinters in the world.

Running backwards is an excellent way to increase speed and lower the risks of injury. To appropriately work towards 360° muscle memory and efficiency, the athlete should be encouraged to run as fast as possible backwards while maintaining all of the proper running fundamentals and control when running forwards.

Common sense comes into play as you should not start off with a full sprint. Warm up just like you would if you were running conventional sprints. Once warm, run 5-10 reps at a 40-60 foot distance backwards approximately twice a week in conjunction with your running or speed and agility program.

Running backwards reduces risk of hamstring pulls and places a unique stimulus on the hamstrings, which are key for running speed.

In a short period of time, you will start to notice a more agile, explosive athlete. In a future article, I will discuss how running down hill also adds to the opportunity to maximize the ability of increasing an individual’s speed.

I just found out that my son Blake can not blow a bubble. I’ve know for some time that strangely enough he avoids chewing gum, but to find out that at 12 he can’t blow a bubble seems quite un-american, so we worked on some bubble blowing drills this afternoon.

I knew the days that they stopped putting gum in the baseball cards would come back to haunt me, and lets just say that after 30 minutes, we’ve got about a 1 inch bubble coming out! Today was the first day to witness a bubble from my boy’s mouth. Look out dug-out!

My buddy and fellow coach Roger Ley sent me yet another email that contained an inspirational story that once again supports my belief that every American blooded little boy wants to play baseball.

Author Bertram shares a story about 8 year old Adam Bender, one of several kids who plays catcher in Southeastern’s rookie league at Veterans Park in Kentucky. What makes Adam stand out as a youth baseball player is that he plays one of the toughest positions on the field with only one leg. Because of cancer, he had his left leg amputated when he was only 1 year old. Adam doesn’t use a prosthesis, and only uses crutches when he reaches base.

As I watched the video of Adam playing with my son Blake, I immediately pointed out a few things to him that I thought was more important than the obvious of playing the game and a tough position with only 1 leg. First off he was the dirtiest player on his team as well as on the field meaning he leaves it all on the field. Playing catcher he is not afraid of leadership. This is also proven at the end of the game when shaking hands with the opponents and he drops his right walking cane to shake hands respectfully. He has the respect of his teammates because they were right behind him to pick him up after he dropped it. What a powerful display of respect for the game and sportsmanship.

We’ll never know the reasons Adam enjoys playing baseball as they are personal ownerships, but one thing is for certain, Adam has provided yet one more peg in the growing journey of baseball and life for me and my son.

Another feature of baseball carnival Me! is the ability to integrate with a few of the most popular digital life manager networks.

I am now connected to a few micro-blogging social networks, Twitter, tumblr, and Pownce. ” A Life of Small Ball ” will automatically update at each of these locations, so feel free to follow me at either of these locations:

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Facebook is a great way to meet and socially network with new and existing folks with the same interest!

I have created a baseball specific Facebook profile to expand my network of baseball enthusiast, and to demonstrate the Wordbook feature on baseball carnival Me! community website.  If you are a fan or resource of baseball, but more specifically youth baseball, send me a Facebook friend request!

To keep this profile as close to baseball related as possible, please be sure to include a bit about your baseball interest or affiliation.  If you are a member of the baseball carnival Me!

Welcome to baseball carnival Me!. We’ve created your first post for you as a brief introduction to a few features available to you here. Once you are comfortable, you may edit or delete it, and continue to grow your space however you choose!

Although your baseball carnival Me! space can be used to support an entire team or league, it differs from the traditional youth baseball community sites such as eteamz and LeagueLineup. baseball carnival Me! is about about individual authors, coaches, player and player profiles, but teams and leagues are welcomed and encouraged to enhance existing websites with their baseball carnival Me! spaces!

Your baseball carnival Me! space will prove to be a unique resource used to enhance and share your youth baseball experiences online. The way you choose to use your space to communicate your experiences in youth baseball is completely up to your imagination. Friends and community members can vote for written submissions where they are shared and ranked on the baseball carnival Picks social bookmarking website.

There are a series of plugins available for you in the plugins section of your administration panel. These plugins allow you to personalize and configure your baseball carnival Me! space. Continue reading to learn more!

This is one of my favorite youth baseball look-a-likes. This one happens to be of my son Blake Jones in 2006, age 10, and Los Angeles Angels pitcher Bartolo Colon in 2006 as well. Could there be a resemblance here?

The amazing thing about this look-a-like is not only the obvious dated similarities in features, but hats off to the timing of each photographer who took these photos capturing the same movements at the same moments but obviously at different times! I’ve got a few more of other youth baseball players I’ve coached over time that I can share and will be digging them out and posting them as well. This is a fun exercise to say the least.

Hitting a baseball is the most difficult task in sports because it involves tremendous hand and eye coordination to be successful. The use of a tennis ball or similar tool can be valuable when when working with youth baseball players that are just learning how to hit a baseball. First off, the player should be encouraged to only move the head slightly up and then down as a result of the weight shift or load on the back leg and foot, and then a small stride step forward. Head movement should be minimal and only the players eyes should move down as they follow the ball from the pitcher all the way to the baseball bat.

To help kids keep their head down while batting, I’ve been successful by having them place a tennis ball under their chin while swinging during batting practice. The goal is to promote proper muscle memory by hitting the baseball before the tennis ball falls from their chin. This helps them watch the ball coming in, and it also ensures that they keep their head down and not pull out of the swing to early.

On prior occasions, I’ve also required the batter to bite the collars of their shirt just under the chin, left side for left-handed batters, and right side for right-handed batters. This is not as effective, but very useful when needed as a quick reminder of keeping their head in, or if a tennis ball is not available at the immediate moment. Be warned that you will have some concerned moms during laundry time!

Either of these methods can better a batter’s opportunity to reach the goal of keeping the head in during batting, which allows better sight and contact on the baseball. A natural, but poor habit of the typical youth baseball player is that they want to see where the baseball is going as a result of anticipating a hit before it has actually happened. I call this the 4 of July syndrome. This drill will help build the proper skills hitters need to improve the hand and eye coordination required to accomplish the most difficult feat in sports. Hitting a baseball.

” Let be the first to say that I am aware of the controversy and opinions associated with select players playing Little League, but I am one that has always supported any league with a vision of allowing their team to represent their community in the Little League World Series and make use of the resource readily available to the to do so. “

Coaching against players of the McAllister Park Little League team from San Antonio, TX during a select baseball game on May 4th 2008, blogger George Jones blogs about the McAllister Park Little Leagues team’s journey to the Little League World Series. You can follow the entire series on his blog, “A life of Small Ball”