Team Managers and Coaches are the most visible group of volunteers because of their direct and sustained contact with the players. One to two games, plus one to two practices per week, consume a great deal of time. However, those parents with the available time will find that managing or coaching are very rewarding ways to contribute to our youth, and interested applicants are always welcome.
Time commitment varies by division, and remember much of the time is at games and practices where you are likely to be anyway! Approximate time commitments below are perhaps typical of the A or AA division. Time commitment is less for T-Ball and likely more for the upper divisions since there are more and longer practices and games.
All volunteers must complete a JDP Background Check. Email registrar@brsll.org to request a link.
Team Manager
Approximate time commitment per week: 8 – 10 hours from January to June
The Manager is responsible for running the team, and ensuring the season goes smoothly. The Manager works with the Division Coordinator (DC), and ensures information from the league reaches the team. The Manager understands, communicates, and enforces the Little League Philosophy, Rules and Codes of Conduct. (All this will be gone over in a manager’s meeting before the season starts).
While the Manager is the one ultimately responsible for practices and games, the Manager does not need to be a baseball expert, particularly in the lower divisions. Organization and communication skills are the most important. If you are interested in managing but worried about a lack of baseball skills, let your DC know and we can pair you with coaches who have those skills. In the lower divisions, you can learn how to teach the required baseball skills in a single afternoon, and the league will offer coaching clinics to help you.
You can team up with Head Coach and Assistant Coach(es) prior to the start of the season and delegate some responsibilities to them! The league is also happy to pair you up with coaches.
Other responsibilities include:
Team Head Coach/Assistant Coach
Approximate time commitment per week: 4 - 7 hours from March to June.
The size of the coaching role can vary, depending on the needs of the Manager. Often one coach is formally (or informally) a Head Coach and may be in charge of practice planning, running the game. This is typical when there is a coach with more baseball experience than the Manager. The rest of the coaching roles are Assistant Coaches and often don’t need to put in any time outside of practices and games. All coaches should understand, communicate and enforce the Little League Philosophy, Rules and Codes of Conduct.
Team Umpires
Approximate time commitment per week: 1 - 2 hours from March to June
No umpires are needed for T-Ball, where the coaches act as Umps. In A and AA, parents umpire their own team’s games. This is a super fun and low-time-commitment way to be involved as you get the best seat in the house. Umpiring in the lower divisions requires minimal baseball knowledge. We only ask that every Umpire officiates games as fairly as possible and uses their best judgment.
Every lower division team should have at least two team umpires. All umpires must attend one Umpire Clinic prior to the season starting.
Starting in AAA, umpires cannot call their own kids’ game, so the time commitment level goes up. If you are interested in umpiring in the upper divisions, please email umpire@brsll.org.
Team Scorekeeper
Approximate time commitment per week: 1 hour from March to June
No Scorekeeper is needed for T-Ball or A Divisions. Starting in AA, the Scorekeeper is responsible for keeping the scorebook or recording it in the GameChanger App when they are the home team. (And most Managers will want you to do this when they are visitors too.) The league offers training on how to keep score.
Field Prep/Maintenance
Approximate time commitment per week: 1 hour from March to June
This ideally involves 2 or 3 parents, and most of the work takes place while the team is warming up before a game. They are responsible for preparing the field before the game is played and dismantling it after the game. Getting the fields ready involves dragging the field, watering it, chalking it and placing the bases. Post-game field duties involve dragging the field, watering it and removing the bases. Both teams in a game are jointly responsible for setup and cleanup. This is not a popular job, but is it very important and once you learn how to do it, also very easy. If your team doesn’t have help here, the coaches end up doing this work and not participating in the team’s warm-ups, and this will have a negative impact on the team.
Team Safety Officer
Approximate time commitment per week: 1 hour from March to June
The Team Safety Officer is primarily responsible for helping to ensure the players and coaches are properly supported from a safety perspective. This includes ensuring first aid kits and ice packs are available on-site at each game, being ready with a cell-phone if needed, ensuring the team's equipment is available and working properly, the field is safe prior to the game, monitoring for unsafe behavior at games, and assisting the managers and/or umpires in the event of an injury or emergency. Additional information can be found here.
Team Parent/Coordinator
Approximate time commitment per week: 1 hour from February to June
Most Managers will ask for a Team Parent to help handle communication for the team, and to help organize the other team parents. This is often done with the help of an app such as TeamSnap. The Team Parent should also understand the Little League Philosophy, Rules and Codes of Conduct, and help ensure the games are played in a positive environmentIn the lower divisions, the Team Parent may organize a “dugout wrangler” (parent to keep the dugout under control), and a “snack rotation” among the parents. The Team Parent usually organizes an end-of-season team party.