Steve Kelly

Honored to serve as PE teacher at Legacy Magnet Academy and assistant baseball coach at Foothill High School.

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

@jgarsezbaseball Base

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

@joshgessner Program

[Steve Johnson @LegKickNationOG]

https://t.co/E7LufHyyR0

[Jimmy O @jimmyonatePhD]

What a great strength and conditioning panel for ABCA 2026.

Thank you @ABCA1945 and @CoachB_ABCA for the opportunity to try and help others and be a positive impact in the baseball community.

Enjoy the Journey

[ABCA @ABCA1945]

"...a lot of times as adults, we take away their ability to be terrible at things and to mess up things..."
LIVE FROM THE #ABCA2026 YOUTH COACHES SESSION 🎥

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

@4Hoopes @ABCA1945 Appreciate it brother!

[Chuck Box @chuckbox1969]

Too good to not share…

Two days in a row from the @TheDaily_Coach!

Great read on culture…

“As leaders, we either build our culture on purpose and with intentionality, or it gets built for us through avoidance, inconsistency, or silence.”

https://t.co/8QSVCibQl8

[Brad Moss @CoachMossUAB]

*BASEBALL COACHES AND PLAYERS*

I have created a Google Drive with videos of 200+ MLB and Former NCAA hitters from different angles. If you have interest in something like this, hit the RT and I will reach out on how to access it. Preview ⬇️⬇️⬇️

[ABCA @ABCA1945]

Youth Session Speaker 🎤

🗓️ Saturday, Jan. 10 – 10:20 AM
@SteveKellyPhD | @FoothillBasebal

🧠 “Let the Kids Play: Gamifying Athletic Development”
🔗 https://t.co/h2Mw04TYoc

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

@PlunkR19 @ThatGuy__Kai @MrMaxPrice @CoachHilts @SwingEveryday @FridayFielders @Webgems24 is the man. Check him out at the ABCA outfield hotstove. Never met someone that cares more about the details of OF play!

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

So proud of my guy @Webgems24 and his coaching journey! All the mudita brother!

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

Always been a pro…now the title reflects the ethic!

[Gabe Ortiz @Webgems24]

Two weeks in and still feels surreal 🇩🇴⚾️

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

Appreciate you @DtrickN Let me know if there’s any way I can help!

[Nolan Deitrich @DtrickN]

Great clinic @Webgems24 and @SteveKellyPhD
You got me brainstorming right now.

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

6th graders learning how to pick up heavy things!

[David Klein @CoachDavidKlein]

First look at the new footage! 33 new drills for ages 5-8 are being uploaded into the Legends Coach Academy training program! This still needs editing but here’s a sneak peak! #baseball #littleleague #homerun #travelball #summercamp #fun #baseballseason #littleleaguebaseball

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

If you were bored watching 45 seconds of this, imagine being 6 and enduring an hour and a half!

[Steve Kelly @SteveKellyPhD]

This ain’t it, folks. I love baseball and have spent my life on a field and this is so hard to watch. We have to do better for our kids. Make it engaging, make it fun, keep them wanting to come back to the field every day. ⁦@CoachDavidKlein⁩

[David Klein @CoachDavidKlein]

I feel bad for the kids.

My first coach pitch game of the season was this Saturday.

3 practices before game 1.
12 kids on my team.
I put 11 kids out on defense. (5 outfielders)

While my team was on defense, I paced behind 2nd base as the other coach pitched to his players.

The opposing coach knelt, throwing very high, looping pitches to his players, where they all lunged forward and swung downward with a tomahawk chop motion.

Of course very few players on the other team could make contact, so all of them wound up hitting off a tee after 6 pitches or so.

Each At-Bat took about 2 minutes.

As I stood there silently going crazy inside, I looked at my players and my son who stood there in the field…

Eager.
Just watching.
Not moving.
Just waiting for something to happen.

But nothing ever happened.

Only a few players got a ball hit to them on their first game.

Each player on my team got exactly 2 at bats in 90 minutes.

There were only a few outs made on the bases.

At the end of the game, I excitedly asked them, “Did you guys have fun!” and they all emphatically answered “YEAH!”

And yes, they did have fun. As Captain Fun, I have mastered what it takes to engineer fun no matter the situation. 😜

But, was this as fun as my son’s flag football game the following day? Not even close.

Was it as fun as his winter soccer league? Not according to him.

Could this experience compete over time with a playdate with a friend? Or going to a playground? Unlikely.

I didnt write this to be a plug for SpeedBall, but the format I created with Legends SpeedBall is not just a different format of youth baseball, it feels like an entirely different sport.

It does not compare to what I just experienced on Saturday.

It's not even remotely close.

It is not a little more fun.

SpeedBall is exponentially more fun.

Truly.

In the same 90 minute timeframe where the majority of kids got 2 at bats and 1 ball hit to them, in our “SpeedBall Pro-Pitch Divisions” players easily get 10-15 At-Bats (often more) and at least 6-10 balls hit to them in the field.

Im frustrated because the answers to saving the declining participation numbers are clear as day:

First off, STOP doing everything so early!

5-7 year olds should be doing Tee Ball.
7-9 year olds should be doing coach pitch or machine pitch.
Advanced 10-12 year olds can start with rec kid pitch.

I genuinely believe this change alone would save baseball.

If the coach pitcher needs to come to the mound for 100% of the at-bats to finish off the hitter because the kid pitcher can't throw strikes, then you should probably be doing “coach pitch” to begin with.

8-10 year-old walk fests dont help anyone and they are the opposite of fun, yet it's the standard across the country.

Second… Practice for at least a few weeks before the first game and have 2 practices for every 1 game.

Most leagues run it opposite: 2 games for 1 practice and they barely practice before the first game.

And they blame it on the weather.

Just push back opening day, and have less games throughout the season.

There’s no rule about when you have to play games and how many you should play. There’s just over competitive parents and boards who are placing their own desires over what their kids really need.

Parents/Boards: You may want to watch games.

But what your kids really need, more than anything, is significantly more quality practice time.

I'm walking away from our first weekend of play trying to figure out what to do.

Do I contact the league and ask them if they are interested in my suggestions?

Do I create my own “level appropriate” rules and let the other coach know before the start of the game?

Do I just power through this season with the existing format and just try and make it as fun as possible?

I'm not sure of the answers, but I AM SURE that after a few games of standing around in the dirt, the majority of those kids will come to the realization that “baseball just isnt that much fun”.

They will realize there are more stimulating, action packed activities where they can be far more involved and find more success.

They will continue to quit baseball, like they are across the country.

I love coaching. I love it at all levels. I find it fun.

It was tough for me to enjoy that experience.

Mainly because Im coming off seasons of SpeedBall which are so drastically different that it feels like an entirely different sport.

It’s hard for me to just relax into the experience when knowing it could be significantly better with the most minor tweaks.

Overall, I left feeling sad for the kids. I so badly want them all to learn, grow and fall in love with baseball.

But the format that they are playing is the opposite of what they need.

I hope my passion for revitalizing youth baseball is evident, not as criticism but as an invitation to explore innovative ways, like SpeedBall, to enrich our children's experiences.

You know Im well past brainstorming solutions and have already launched 10 SpeedBall Leagues with dozens more starting in 2024/2025.

It’s only a matter of time before youth baseball nationwide adopts a new, better, different model that actually serves kids and doesnt drain the fun out of the game.

I spread these messages to inspire others and serve as the catalyst for youth baseball transformation.

What are your thoughts?
What do you think I should do?
What do you think youth baseball and softball needs? (mainly rec)

I read every comment and would love to hear from you.

Your disgruntled, baseball obsessed Twitter/X friend,
👨‍✈️Captain Fun

#baseball #littleleague #homerun #travelball #summercamp #fun #baseballseason #littleleaguebaseball #softball #mlb #speedball #legendsbaseball #sports

[Ryan Brownlee @CoachB_ABCA]

Final @PocketRadar winner announced @Copeland707Drew @NettingPros Podcast w/ @WoosterBaseball legend & @ABCA1945 HOF'er Tim Pettorini. Congrats to @CoachDeegan and Robert King on milestones. Lots of requests for VOW w/ @Webgems24 & @SteveKellyPhD ⬇️⚾️🙏❤️⬇️

[Ryan Brownlee @CoachB_ABCA]

We have had a lot of requests to get this one up on the @ABCA1945 website since @Webgems24 & @SteveKellyPhD presented @UCSDbsb this Fall. Great one on "reimagining your baseball warm up" for this week's Video of the Week
⬇️⚾️🙏❤️⬇️