Put the bats and gloves away and put the Christmas stockings up!

Hey folks

Thanks for an awesome first half season finale down at HP T Ball central this morning.  It has been a wonderful first half of the season, with a couple of learning opportunities for all of us here and there, but know that all your coaches and assistants are working hard to give the kids the best HP Hawks T ball experience we can.

I'd like to thank everyone who has helped the kids out in any way for their efforts this year.  Thank you also go to you parents for making sure the kids are there each week to help out their teams and improve their skills.

It was great getting to catch a small portion of each of the Sluggers games this morning and it was great to see the effort, hustle and great attitude of all the players.  You should all be proud of how your children have progressed over the season to date.

The Junior Sluggers also looked great out on the diamond - we've hardly had anyone running to third base after hitting the ball, and the throws to first base are getting better and better.  Everyone is hitting the ball hard, running hard and looking more like superstars of the future every week.

Here's wishing all of you and your families the very best, safest and satisfying Christmas and New Years, and we'll see you all on 6th February for the first training of 2015, ready to put the Sluggers and Junior Sluggers skills to the test.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

IIIIIIIITTTT'SSSSS CCCCHHHHRRRRRIIISSSSTTTTMMMMMAAAAASSSSS!!!!

Hi folks and Merry Christmas!!!

We're now in our final week of T ball before we break for the Christmas holiday, and as a special treat the lovely folks at the Club's tuck shop have a whole bunch of yummy treats for all of our T ball superstars and their support crew's to appreciate after the game on Saturday!

Please get out and support the Club by buying some tasty post game treats - and make sure to give these awesome volunteers an extra hearty "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!" when you see them!

Friday night Club night and T ball game - 14th November 2014

Hi folks

Our Club night and T ball extravaganza is upon us!  This Friday night sees our first ever Friday night T ball game, and coincides with our HP Hawks Club night

Details are:

Venue - Pakuranga United Rugby Club rooms, Lloyd Elsmore Park, from 5pm.  Parking is available in the car parks around the club rooms.

T ball practices to start at 5pm, games to start at 5:30pm - parents and supporters please park at the rugby club rooms.  Game locations to be confirmed but will either be on the grounds immediately surrounding the club rooms, or if unavailable we'll setup over at the baseball diamonds.

While the T ball rocks on outside the Club rooms, on the inside the bar will be open, as will the kitchen.  We invite everyone in the HP Hawks family to come down and spend some time getting to know the other families, and for the Senior teams to get in a little of that all important team bonding.

This event goes ahead RAIN OR SHINE!!! Obviously if it's raining, we'll have to curtail the T ball games, but we'll still be able to get together and enjoy each other's company.

Take care all,

Paul.

T Ball T shirt maintenance

The T ball tee shirts are awesome, and should give plenty of wear - BUT...

The HP Hawks logo is applied via heat transfer, which means -

DO NOT tumble dry.
DO NOT iron.

Any heat applied to the logo runs the risk of the glue melting and the logo becoming detached.

For the Friday practice night, the kids can wear any shirt (and pants) they like along with their Hawks cap, so that their shirt is crispy clean ready for Saturday's game.

Weather policy - the game must go on (unless it's really persisting down...)

Hi folks

Here is a copy of the weather policy around the next couple of days events, and around the season going forward.  Note I've added a little about Friday night training's weather policy as well.

You may be wondering about the weather and how that impacts on our upcoming events.  As a default, please ALWAYS check the blog at http://www.kiwisluggers.blogspot.co.nz as cancellations and other late breaking notices will be posted here first.  If you hear nothing from me, the game is on!

Anywhom, here are the details:

Tonight's (Thursday) parents meeting at 7pm goes ahead no matter what.  There are dugouts on our No. 1 diamond that we will use for shelter if needs be.  I anticipate that this meeting will be no longer than 10 - 15 mins + question time + gear hand out time so we'll get through it nice and quick.  For those I've communicated with, the coaches meeting will also go ahead no matter the weather.

Friday's muster and parent's meeting/gear handout goes ahead no matter what, but may be modified depending on conditions.  We'll start with a refresher for those who missed Thursday's meeting and cover off any other points or questions, hand out gear to those who missed on Thursday, and get together with coaches.  If the grounds are too wet we'll shelve the practice, but I'll make that decision as late as possible so come prepared for a run around!

For future Friday practices I'll make sure to make a call to cancel by 4pm so those that are leaving work get a chance to see it before they go.

Saturday pre game gear handout 8:00 - 8:20am will go ahead no matter what, so if you've still yet to collect your gear you can do so then.


Saturday's game will be weather dependant.  As a basic rule I don't cancel anything until as late as possible, because there is nothing worse than cancelling at 7am when it's pouring, then watching beautiful sunshine and conditions at 8:30am.  I will always go to the grounds and update the blog from there by 8am at the latest if the game is to be cancelled, and try and get an email out as soon as possible thereafter.  If you hear nothing from me, assume we're playing!  Note, we will play in light drizzle, make sure the kids are dressed for the conditions with singlets/extra t shirts or jackets if needed.

Okay, that's a lot of words so here's a picture of a the sun playing baseball:

T ball starts this week - WOOHOO!!!

Hi folks

Here are the details of the email I sent out today about important dates and times this week.

Don't forget all details of the T ball program can be found in an earlier post (ie scroll down this page!).

And the diamonds can be found here!: Lloyd Elsmore Park baseball diamonds map

Please make sure you have either made payment or contacted the club Treasurer to arrange payment jackshill@xtra.co.nz.

Here are the important dates and times for this week:
Thursday 30th October, 7pm (for approx.30 mins) - preliminary parents meeting, gear issue
Friday 31st October, 5pm - 6pm, - Parents/players meeting, gear issue, team muster Saturday
1st November, 8am - 8:20am - gear issue Saturday
1st November, 8:30am (sharp!) - 10am Opening day!

Details

Thursday parent meeting:
Please attend if you can. This is an information evening to go over the format of the season and an opportunity to ask questions. We'd like to issue as much of the players gear as we can so if you can attend with your child we can issue their shirts, pants, etc in advance of the season start.

Friday meeting and muster: 
We will cover off the info from Thursday's meeting, issue gear then get into our teams. The players will get a chance to meet their coaches and team mates and have a throw around or swing a bat.

Saturday gear issue: 
If you haven't yet had your gear issued, please get down early! Once practices start we often aren't available to issue gear so please make the effort to get down early if you've still to get your playing kit.

Saturday Opening Day! 
We'll have a brief welcome at 8:30am sharp and then split onto our diamonds, have a quick warmup and get ready for games to commence at 9am.


If you know of anyone thinking about playing, please note we are still taking registrations so it's not too late to get in on the action!

I look forward to catching up with you this week.

Kind regards,

Paul Wansbone

Because it's ladies night...

Hi folks,

Just to let all the husbands / male significant others know, you're on baby sitting duties on Sunday 9th November, because it's the HP Baseball Club fundraiser - LADIES NIGHT at the Monterey cinema.

Movie: 'This is Where I Leave You' - a comedy starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and others, including my wife's favorite, Timothy Olyphant.

'This Is Where I Leave You' trailer

When: Sunday 9th November 2014 at 7:10pm

Where: The Monterey Cinemas, 4/2 Fencible Drive, Howick

Cost:  The paltry sum of $20 which also gets you a glass of wine or a soft drink and popcorn.

RSVP: Lisa Nepia, klnepia@xtra.co.nz

Welcome to HP T Ball! last updated 9 December 2014

Welcome to the unofficial home of the HP Hawks' (Howick-Pakuranga Baseball Club) T Ball program!

The purpose of this blog is to provide an online home for the "Sluggers" and "Junior Sluggers" T Ball program.  It's a place where information about our program will be displayed, and hopefully it will also act as a resource space for interesting coaching videos and articles as they come along.

Key information about our T Ball program follows.  This is how our program has run each year to date, but may be subject to change:

We will have at least one parents meeting in the week leading up to our season start - once my other baseball commitments are in place I'll confirm the night/nights here and via email.

Our first training night will be 31 October 2014 from 5 - 6pm at Lloyd Elsmore Park.  This will be a whole grade training night and a chance for the players to get to meet their coaches before the game the next morning.

Registration for the 2014/15 season is open! Club registration site here.

Where are we:  Lloyd Elsmore Park, Pakuranga.  Entrance off Cascades Road (opposite Cascades Fruit and Vege / Cascades Road shops). Here's a map!

Ages:
HP Junior Sluggers grade ages 5 - 6 (although we do accept 4 year olds turning 5 during the season)
HP Sluggers grade aged 8 or under as of 1 January 2015
Players aged 9 as of 1 January 2015 play U11s baseball.

Please note that due to player numbers we may need to move players up or down between these grades in order to get complete teams.  We'll do our best to work with the parents and players to make this work for everyone, but we do ask for your understanding as it's often a no win situation putting the teams together where the player numbers don't cooperate.

Season runs: November - March with a break over the Christmas period.

Season dates:  1 November - 12 December 2014, 7 February - 28 March 2015

Games:  Saturday mornings 8:30am - 10am

Training times:
 Junior Sluggers - Friday 5 - 6pm
 Sluggers - team coaches to advise

Cost: $90 for the first player (discounts apply if you have more than one player registering for the season).

In order to help the Club with collection of fees, registration fees must be paid before the player will be allocated to a team for the season.  Our fee covers all costs of putting a player on the diamond (ie cap, shirt, affiliation fees) on a break even basis.  As such, we can't provide discounts for players wanting to play only part of a season, nor can we issue refunds once the season has started as the costs have already been incurred and can't otherwise be recovered.

What you need:  Shoes/sneakers, socks and undies - we supply everything else! (ie pants, shirts, baseball caps and all playing equipment).  Every player is even given their own soft core baseball, and the shirts and caps are for the players to keep - you only need return the baseball pants at the end of the season.  Running/casual shoes are acceptable (at this age we don't want kids wearing cleats so as to avoid injuries to other players), but no jandals, sandals or bare feet please.

Please don't be afraid to visit and like our facebook account:

HP T Ball facebook page

Also, here is a link to the HP Hawks main website:

HP Hawks

If you listen carefully, you will hear it:  Summer is coming....

Update 9 December 2014
 - confirm second half opening day next year will be 7 February 2015

Update 13 October 2014:
 - general revision of all information,
 - addition of notification about parents meetings (days/times tbc).
 - addition of first training night 31 October 2014 at Lloyd Elsmore 5 - 6pm for the whole grade.

Hitting stuff is fun

Hitting a small round ball can be tough to learn, even when it's not moving anywhere!  If you're looking for a fun way to help your kids with hitting, here is a drill my kids would call their most favoritist.

Step 1:  Get a baseball bat, long stick, old broom handle, an old vaccuum cleaner handle or anything similar. 

Step 2:  Go to your recycling bin and pull outthe plastic bottles.

Step 3:  Tell your kids to go to town.

For this drill we're not worried too much about the technical side of batting - this is all about developing confidence and hand - eye co-ordination.

You can vary the drill by having bottles on a pedestal/wall, hanging the bottles from a clothes line or tree and by throwing the bottles in the air to be hit.  From here you can move to hitting things like rugby or footballs, smaller balls and end up giving them baseballs or tennis balls to hit.

Have a go and let me know how you get on!

All the best.
Paul.

A couple of tips for parents new to baseball / T ball

Hi folks

If you're looking to learn a little about how to help you T ball aged children learn about playing baseball / T ball, here are a couple of things you can use.

Firstly, watch baseball games!  Even if it's only an inning or two or a couple of home run highlights, watching a bit of baseball on tele or online can really help.  Sky Sport are now broadcasting ESPN and ESPN2 so if you're lucky enough to have a Sky Sport subscription you can watch MLB regular season games and condensed game replays of the final month of the regular season and the post season during October. mlb.mlb.com has video highlights of games and lets you follow what's happening in the various leagues.

If you're looking for drills to run with your child, there are a couple of good options.

The first thing I'd recommend is spending $10-$15 on this book by Marty Schupak: T Ball Skills and Drills.  I've found it really helpful in understanding the sorts of things you need to focus on with the kids as their motor skills develop.

In terms of online videos, there are tons!  But as a starter, the following are pretty useful for teaching kids playing T ball for the first time some fundamentals on how to catch and throw.  Don't forget we will give each of the T ball kids a soft core baseball at the start of the season (ie a baseball where the surface has some give and is therefore softer and easier for kids to learn with - they're the same type of balls we use all the way up to U11 baseball).  If you don't have a baseball yet, you can always do these drills with tennis balls in the mean time.

This catching video is helpful to teach kids struggling to catch the ball using the correct technique - which even for our 7, 8, 9 year olds can be a problem.  For the younger kids, the throwing videos give you an idea of where we're trying to get them with their throwing technique, and for the older kids the three step throwing program should be something they do every time they go out to throw a ball as a warm up!

How to teach baseball catching to 5 - 7 year olds

Here are a couple of videos on throwing technique.  The two video series by "Mr Baseball" is one that provides a useful throwing warmup for kids, and can be used for ages 4+, but is probably better used as they get to 6 - 7:

Throwing technique with Mr Baseball part I
Throwing technique with Mr Baseball part II

Here are another couple of videos with a slightly different method to the same end, and are probably more useful for teaching the younger kids - particularly the first video:

How to throw a baseball (5&6 year olds)
BFTGU.com - Youth Throwing Drill (for 5-8s)

This is merely a start and but a scratch on the surface of the resources available to teach our kids how to play baseball properly.  If you want any further tips or places to look, keep an eye on the blog or better yet comment and let me know what you've found useful or what further things you'd like some direction on!

You can also post directly to our facebook page and I'll see the comments there as well.  Here's hoping the spring gives us some fine days / weeks and lets us get outside on some dry terra firma!