MYAS Gopher State Baseball Newsletter
Volume 6, May 6
Included in this issue:
MYAS/Gopher State & Metro Proposed Timeline
Umpire Online Training Course
Bringing Baseball Back- In the News
Free Facebook Live event (Friday) and other MYAS opportunities.
Pizza Ranch- Save 20%
MYAS Sponsor Spotlight- AAA
Arm Care article from the Institute of Athletic Medicine
Joint Statement:
MYAS/Gopher State Baseball League & Metro Baseball League
Thank you for your patience and understanding as our organizations continue to navigate through this fluid situation to understand how we are able to proceed safely with the 2020 baseball season.
Our organizations have unified in order to create the “Safe Play: Back to the Diamond” guidelines to inform policymakers how we can safely start playing baseball and softball across the state and to create a template for leagues across the state.
MYAS/Gopher State Free Facebook Live Baseball Skills Development
Join us Friday at 11:00am for a free 30 minute online baseball skills training from your home. Players will need a glove, ball, water bottle and small/clean space to workout!
We are honored to have Coach Paul Twenge join us to share his vast knowledge of the game of baseball. Coach Twenge has been the Head Coach and Activities Director at Minnetonka High School since 2006. Prior to joining the Skippers, Coach was head baseball coach at Valparaiso University (Ind.) for 19 seasons (1988-2006) and at Anoka-Ramsey Community College during the early 80's.
In 2019, Coach Twenge was named the American Baseball Coaches Association/Diamond National High School Division I Coach of the Year.
This will be your opportunity to hear from one of the top baseball coaches' in the nation and a legend in the Minnesota baseball community! We are so excited to have him shared his knowledge to the youth baseball players across the Upper Midwest.
Read pitches faster with this baseball visual reaction training app! It feels like we are all stuck on the bench right now. At gameSense, we want to get your athletes out of the dugout and back in the game. Our pitch recognition technology for softball and baseball players helps them stay prepared while adding an exciting new level to their training. Because of our affiliation with MYAS, your team can take advantage of our "Safe at Home" special for FREE through May 15 - and after that you will enjoy an exclusive discount.
To make sure you are ready for the baseball season while you are stuck at home, we are providing many free resources through our Gopher State Baseball Facebook page. These resources include drills from professional instructors as part of our At Home Baseball Series as well as Facebook Live FREE Training every Friday - and much more!
Why do you sponsor MYAS?
Our commitment to children and the communities we serve began over 100 years ago with the AAA School Safety Patrol program. Through the years, our passion spread to other campaigns such as bicycle safety events, Back to School safely, teen driver education and distracted driving campaigns. When we evaluated the MYAS and AAA partnership opportunity, we found a perfect fit as both organizations are dedicated to supporting children. Through the Join2Give program, AAA assists schools, associations and non-profit organizations with an ongoing, easy to administer, fundraising program. For every new AAA Membership sold using MYAS’s assigned unique code, AAA will donate $20 to MYAS. To learn more, contact Beverly Barrett at 507-289-5195 or bjbarrett@autoclubgroup.aaa.com.
What message would you like to get out to the MYAS audience about how your company is operating during this COVID-19 pandemic?
Safety to the public and our employees is always foremost in our minds which is why AAA took steps early on to help prevent the spread of the virus. While employees began working from home to serve our customers, we looked for opportunities to meet the needs of the public. Our efforts included providing free roadside assistance to first-responders, delivering iPads and art supplies to assisted living facilities, delivering free meals to healthcare workers, and much more. Most recently, we launched a corporate wide blood drive and financial donation effort with a goal of securing $100,000 in donations and 900 pints of blood to support the critical needs of the American Red Cross. AAA will donate up to $50,000 in matching funds to support this effort which expands across our 13 state territory.
To learn more about AAA, visit AAA.com to review the numerous benefits and services available to our members.
The list is long and you may be surprised by some of the valuable benefits available with the AAA Membership. Benefits include free career assistance services, free ID protection, discounted RX, online shopping savings and rewards, signature roadside assistance, and so much more. Sixty-one million members can’t be wrong, it pays to belong to AAA. To learn more about our history and commitment to the public, visit the ABOUT AAA tab on our newsroom site at www.newsroom.AAA.com.
Arm Care Starts from the Ground Up
Throwing is a complex activity that requires energy to be transferred from the legs, through the trunk, and then to the shoulder and hand to complete the throw. About 1/3 of youth baseball players will experience shoulder or elbow pain during the season. Over 80% of the time these injuries can be traced back to poor throwing mechanics. That is why it is so important to properly train the muscles of the legs and core. And up to 75% of throwing velocity comes from the lower half so not only can these exercises keep the player on the field by preventing injuries, they can improve performance too!
Studies have shown that the stride leg (push off) is extremely important when initiating the forces needed for a proper throw. Lateral movements often work best in training the muscles needed for this.
A simple version of this is a walking lateral lunge:
Take a step to the side and bend your knee. Keep weight back through the hips and then push up and slide the trail leg to stand up. To make it more complex the trail leg would actually go behind when you step.
A single leg squat will work on balance and controlling those shifts that happen at the hip and knee:
Start with holding onto something if needed. Keep your weight back so the foot is flat, and the knee is not over the toes and focus on using the gluteals (buttock muscles) to avoid the knee turning in.
To help increase stability on the landing leg during follow through use the T reach:
Stand on one leg and reach with both (or the opposite arm to feel more like a throw) as you kick the other leg back to end in a T position.
The MYAS's association services division has the mission of improving the delivery of youth sports services. We are accomplishing this by documenting great practices/procedures and sharing the information with our members. We are also focused on making sure we are helping our members the best we can. If you need assistance or have questions or concerns, please reach out at associationservices@myas.org or contact our association services director, Daniel Harrison, at 763-746-1719.
Podcast Library
Title: Preventing ACL Injuries
Release Date: March 31, 2020
Guests: Daniel Harrison & Bri Bren, DPT, SCS, Institute for Athletic Medicine
Title: Parent Meetings
Release Date: March 24, 2020
Guests: Daniel Harrison & Mark Arjes, Youth 1st Initiative
