Stafford Bulldogs

PROGRAM PURPOSE:

The purpose of our program is to develop well-rounded and fundamentally-sound high school baseball players and young men of heart, leadership, and character.

THE PLAYERS:

We look for players with a strong work ethic and a desire to be great. We want confident, aggressive, respectful players who listen to the coaches and have the ability to take advice and instruction constructively.

THE PARENTS:

When we recruit a player, we spend as much time evaluating the parents as we do the potential player. Being a member of the Bulldogs family is a huge commitment of time and energy. Therefore, it's important to have the right chemistry between players as well as the parents. We rely heavily on parent participation with fundraising, assistance during practices, and several other duties that keep the organization running smoothly.

THE SCHEDULE:

We anticipate entering about 2 tournaments per month.  We will be playing Sunday double-headers in the Northern Virginia Travel Baseball League (NVTBL) when no tournaments are scheduled.

PLAYING TIME AND POSITIONS:

There is always a balancing act between having success on the field and developing your entire roster. We understand that to be a team that can compete in tournaments you need 11-14 talented kids playing as a team. That means that at every point in every game 2-5 players are sitting on the bench. That takes patience, understanding, and big picture thinking on the part of the players and parents in the program.

Players will be played at a variety of positions that best suit their skill set. Most parents want their sons to play shortstop or another infield position. They have to overcome certain prejudices in this regard. We want each and every player in our organization to be able to tell their high school coach that they can play anywhere on the field.

UMPIRES AND TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS:

The word "umpire" should not exist in the Bulldogs vocabulary. We do not talk about them or blame them. Youth baseball umpiring is a mixed bag. In some cases it is outstanding, others mediocre, and sometimes downright awful. You have to understand that if a umpire is bad, the odds are he is going to be bad for both sides.

Our coaches, parents, and players are instructed to never show-up an umpire. If anything needs to be argued, it is done by the coaches in a respectful manner by calling time and having a calm and civil conversation. The same is true for tournament directors and officials.

LOYALTY:

We do not allow our players to be "guest" players or play for other teams as "pickup" players.

THE COACHES:

First and foremost, this is not and will never be a “Daddy-ball” team. No player will ever receive preferential treatment because his dad is a coach. The coaches must be students of the game and self-critical. They must seek to improve themselves each season as much as they ask the players to improve.

FUN:

We have to remind ourselves that these are kids playing baseball, and at times many coaches and parents lose sight of that. When the competition gets heavy, sometimes we need to remind each other why we play this game. 

HAVE FUN and PLAY BALL!!!