Just spent quite a lot of money sending my 6-year-old to two weeks of baseball camp at The Baseball Center on W. 74th Street and was very dismayed to discover that it's little more than glorified babysitting. Yes, they run drills and take the kids to Central Park, but the coaches are undisciplined and lazy and they don't know how to teach.
Every morning when I dropped my son off, I observed all three coaches casually standing at one end of the batting cage chatting, laughing among themselves, and occasionally hitting a ground ball to the kids lined up on the other end. At least one if not two of those coaches could have been stationed at the children's end of the cage, encouraging the kids and helping them one-on-one by demonstrating proper technique. Their approach to teaching and training is woefully inadequate and the fact that they didn't bother to adjust their conduct when parents were watching demonstrates just how ingrained their laziness has become.
There is simply no enthusiasm or focus on the part of the coaches -- just lazily addressing the kids with little regard for actually teaching skills and techniques, as if they're simply killing time until the clock ticks down and they can go home. Every once in a while a coach will offer a suggestion to a specific child, but they're completely not invested in the task at hand and not paying much attention. If the child doesn't immediately pick it up they move on without comment. In one case, I have watched a boy throw the ball off the wrong foot for a week, and other than an initial comment about it on Monday (which the boy didn't understand because there was no demonstration) there didn't appear to be any more attention. By Tuesday and Wednesday, the coaches didn't bother following up when he continued throwing off the wrong foot, as if they'd given up. After two weeks of camp, many of the kids are still as confused about how to field, bat, throw, and catch as they were on Day 1.
Often times the kids were chasing each other playing tag or horsing around and the coaches were either oblivious or actually suggesting that they shouldn't tag each other so hard (as if it were a safety issue and not a discipline issue). I appreciate that working with children that young isn't easy, but if you provide adequate supervision and discipline it's not difficult to get their attention. Unfortunately, the coaches at The Baseball Center seemed to resign themselves to the idea that young children can't be controlled and they did very little to reign in the goofing around and most of the time the atmosphere was chaotic.
Numerous times I observed children using improper technique and the coaches either said nothing or they made a vague comment from where they were standing that didn't register with the child. Not once did I see a coach walk up to a child and demonstrate proper technique. It was as if they couldn't be bothered to teach.
If the Baseball Center belonged to me I would actually train and then supervise the coaches to ensure children are getting as much as possible out of the program. I get the feeling the owner simply hires young 20-something guys who have played baseball somewhere, pays them minimum wage, and throws them in with kids who want to learn how to play baseball. As we all know from life experiences, being able to do something and teach something are completely different skills. Lots of very accomplished people are incapable of teaching their fields and, again, especially with young children, they desperately need coaches who are willing to focus and do the work.
Maybe the baseball center is useful for older kids who arrive determined, well behaved, and committed to baseball, but for kids in the 5 to 8, 9 year-old range who are starting out and learning the fundamentals, it's really nothing more than expensive babysitting.
I suspect management thinks a proper resume for a coach to work at their facility is experience playing baseball, However, especially with very young children, you also have to know how to inspire and instill discipline.
The only thing that impressed me was the fact that the coaches somehow learned each of the children's names. Makes me think the only training management gave them was to be sure to learn the children's names because that will impress parents.
My advice for parents looking for summer activities, or even those hoping to have their children learn baseball fundamentals, is to save your money and do almost anything else. I can't imagine anything being worse than dropping your child off at The Baseball Center. Massive disappointment!!! read more
