Fall Rule

During my first year at Lyndon, I received hundreds of requests from parents if their child could play on the same team with their friend(s) or if they could play for a particular coach.  At that time, we could not allow their request for the spring season but it got me thinking and we developed a committee of coaches and parents to discuss allowing more flexibility in forming the rosters for the spring.

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Now, with this said, the rule has always existed that we allow and honor requests for the fall season since we don't keep score and it is mostly just for development and fun but during the spring, (unless the player was returning to the same team in the same league) all players were placed in a blind pool and selected based on age and if they pitched and/or was a catcher.

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So, after weeks of conversation, we agreed to pass the "Fall Rule" with a three-year trial that will be finished after this Spring (2025).  At that time the board will have to decide if we will continue with the fall rule, eliminate the fall rule and go back to the blind draw or adjust the fall rule in some way.

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During the original conversation, the biggest fear from many of us was the opportunity to "stack a team".  At that time, many didn't feel that would happen but, as some of you are aware, it has occurred in some leagues.  (Please remember, we are not talking about the fall season as this has always been set up with the opportunity to stack a team but with since we are focused on development, this was not an issue)

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Some thoughts:

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• Even before the "fall rule", Lyndon would have teams that dominated and had teams that would not win very many games or any games.  Even the blind draw would not create a situation where it would create equal teams.  When I hear people that are unhappy with some "very good teams", they often state that the league is not fair but what they are actually saying that it is not equal.  There is a difference.  No one is breaking rules that have been set by the board and everyone has the same opportunity.  So, that makes it fair but not equal.  

• There has never been a system that will create a league of players of any age where all teams in that league are equal.  Here are some factors that go into a teams ability to win:

  • Talent is important, of course but there are teams that struggle to win even if they have talent.​

  • Skill.  This is different than talent.  Talent is the ability to throw hard but skill is the ability to throw accurately, for example.  Teams with skilled players do better than teams with talent alone.  

  • Effort/Hustle may be more important sometimes than talent and sadly, historically, the talented players are often times the players that don't hustle as much.

  • Little things.  The game of baseball and softball is filled with little things like backing up, throwing the right base, communicating and running the bases.  There are a lot of teams that do the little things well and hustle that win a lot of games.

  • Coaching.  The ability to teach the youth skills related to their talents and the ability to put the players in a situation where they can better succeed such as the position they play most of the time or the spot in the lineup most of the time. 

  • Attitude.  Perseverance is really important in the diamond sports (BB/SB) as they are often referred to being a "failure sport".   This means there is a lot of failure to each player and each team and the ability to persevere in adversity and to learn from those mistakes might be the most important ability for the game and for life.

  • I am sure there are more factors but you get the idea how it would be impossible to create a situation where all things are equal.

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However, with all of this said, we do have a situation where we had some "super teams" in our leagues last spring.  To be clear, these were Lyndon Rec teams that were originally a Lyndon Rec team but then became a travel team.   I have mixed feelings about this but generally, I think it is not ideal to have full travel teams participating in a spring season at Lyndon.   I would also say, as an old coach, I am not sure it is a benefit to the travel teams that dominate all games.  

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So, what do we do?  I don't think anyone wants to get rid of the fall rule so we have to come of with something we can do and keep the fall rule.  The board and I will be discussing this over the next few months and I will let you know what is decided.

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