5 Things I Learned about Team-Building From Managing My Son’s Tee Ball Team

My oldest son, Bodhi, has always loved baseball ever since he was old enough to pick up a ball and bat. I’ve only ever been a casual fan. But I’ve always coached him up and encouraged his interest in the sport.

We’ve been playing catch since he was one or two years old. At three, we toured Nationals Park and later attended an evening game that lasted 17 innings. He watched the game intently the entire time, then fell asleep on my lap at midnight. The summer he was four we used a wheelbarrow as a backstop in the yard to stop pitches so he could practice his at-bats. 

The kid’s a natural. He’s always wanted to play on a team, and often talks about when (not if) he will play for the “Curly Ws.” In Spring 2021, he wanted to play on a tee ball team but only if I was the coach, so I volunteered.

Before the season, the other coaches and I met league officials at Buffalo Wild Wings to have our “draft” — 75 kids’ names on a spreadsheet. All the other tee ball coaches took turns drafting 5 players at a time. It was interesting to see the various strategies other coaches used. One coach picked only the oldest players. Another was the principal at a local elementary school and had inside knowledge about the players. Others were veteran tee ball coaches with ties to the community and recognized the last names. For me, I wanted a diverse team so I picked a pair of siblings, a girl, then prioritized five-year olds—the same age as Bodhi. 

Before the season started, we had a few team practices. The first day we set up the tee and had each player hit then run to first. The joy was palpable. For some of these kids it was the first time they had ever hit a baseball and run to first base. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks; these kids have been mostly cooped up in their homes for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some started Kindergarten doing virtual learning, staring at screens for hours on end. Playing baseball is probably the highlight of their week.

Our first game we played three full innings. The team fared well. I could see each player was better than when we started practicing a few weeks earlier. Bodhi was in his element, making an out at first and showcasing his batting skills, which featured a line drive to shallow right field to which the parents all said “woah.” It was definitely a proud papa moment. His hard work had started to pay off. 

After a few games there was steady improvement from the team. One girl, Madeline, had gained confidence in her swing and regularly hit the ball within her first few tries past the pitcher’s mound. Another teammate, Jason, started applying feedback on his throwing motion and now throws farther. At first, a boy named Charlie thought he would make every single play in the field and would get upset when the ball didn’t come to him. But a few games in he started to understand that we need to be patient playing baseball and be ready when the ball comes to us.

After the last game of the season, we all lined up behind home plate and took a team picture, then headed to a pavilion near the field to have pizza. I handed out trophies and game balls, and said some words of encouragement about each player, then thanked each of them for being a part of our team. 

Here’s what I learned about team-building by managing my son’s tee ball team. These tips can be applied to any team setting, on a field, in an office, or remotely. Both children and adults alike.

1. Make it fun. The very first thing we did on our first practice was play a game of freeze tag to break the ice. When I was out in the field with the team, or when each player stepped up to bat, I asked them, “are you having fun today?” A smile, nod, and enthusiastic “Yeah!” was usually the response. If we’re not having fun as part of a team, there may be something amiss. Sure, we all have bad days, but overall being part of a team should be fun and fulfilling. As a manager, talk to your team regularly and ask them, “are you having fun?”
2. Learn names quickly and use them. My #1 goal at the beginning of the season was to learn each player’s name. (If I had to do it over again, I’d put more focus on learning parents’ names, too.) This was key in building trust. After each hit, I would make it a point to say each players’ name and say, “good job!” Simply by saying a teammates’ name, you acknowledge them as a unique individual. 
3. Listen. It may sound simple, but listening to your team is incredibly important and often overlooked. While it can become chaotic, I did my best to listen when players wanted to bat first, or last, or play first base, or shortstop… I mixed it up and rotated players through each position and order in the lineup. In the end, the players trusted me and listened to me because I took the time to listen to them and treat them with respect. 
4. One brick at a time. Tee ball is challenging because this is the first time many of these kids have ever played on a team, let alone the game of baseball. We started by focusing on running, then shuffling, then throwing, then fielding grounders, then swinging a bat, etc. One practice the team groaned because I had them evenly spread along the baseline and had them throw the ball in sequence to each other, calling out the name of the player they were throwing to. But it was a necessary brick. 
5. Mistakes are part of growth. In this tee ball league, batters hit the ball, the fielders scramble for it and throw it to first base. It was a sought-after position. Midway through the season, one player wasn’t picking up the game as quickly as others. It was his turn to play 1B. At first, he didn’t know where to stand or how to locate the ball after it was hit. I took a hands-off approach, gave him small pointers, and let him get reps. He made many mistakes, but I didn’t need to point them out because he knew. By the end of the game once the ball was hit, he had one foot on the base and his glove up looking for the ball. Tremendous growth. 

In the end, we had one hell of a team. My only hope is that I gave these kids a small glimpse of what it’s like to be part of a strong, healthy team culture.