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• Learn to focus on the process of playing the game of baseball and not on
individual statistics and what others have to say about you.
• Recognize that amateur scouts who work for professional baseball teams as
well as college coaches, are being increasingly asked to find out whether the
individual player whom they may draft or recruit is a good teammate.
• Try to assist your teammates in improving their game by working with them or
by assisting them with their workouts.
3. How can coaches and parents help
players to be good teammates?
There are many actions that coaches and
parents can take to help their players
become and remain a good teammate.
Here are some of the more effective
ones:
• Coaches and parents can model
themselves as responsible adults
who will cooperate with other
people for a common cause such
as fostering a team which plays the game the right way. This kind of modeling
of teamwork is important since their players are always watching them and
what they do.
• Coaches can make it a point to discuss with their players what it means to be
a good teammate and even to point to other players and athletes who are
known to be good teammates.
• Coaches can build in feedback to the players when these players are doing
things that contribute to the team, whether these actions occur during
practices, games, or at other times. Feedback about being a good teammate
can go a long way in promoting teamwork and team relationships.
• When a player does not appear to be a good teammate, the coach (or parent)
can take the player aside and discuss the situation with them, one on one, and
then provide the player with suggestions for being better at teamwork.
• In contrast, when a player is being a good teammate, these kinds of team-
related actions can also be pointed out and discussed with the player.
• Parents, too, can discuss with their child what it means to be a good
teammate.
• Likewise, parents can point out when their child is being a good teammate
and when they are not. In this regard, both types of feedback are important.
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