New Season. New Features.

Here’s what we’ve added for baseball and softball teams for the 2014 season.

New Softball Field View

New Scorebook View

We’ve redesigned the scorebook on the website to look better and more traditional. It’s also more printer-friendly, so you can easily send it in to your league president. Learn more.

Lineup Card PDFs

We’ve made it easier than ever to prepare for your game with Lineup Card PDFs that can be emailed or printed right from the app. Learn more.

Box Score PDFs

As soon as the game is over, we instantly generate a box score PDF in the app that you can send to fans or local media. Learn more.

Export Season Stats

Export season stats for every player to a sortable CSV file. You can find the export link at the bottom of your season stats page. Learn more.

New Substitution Flow

We’ve made it easier for scorekeepers to manage substitutions and lineup changes during the game. We suggest you review these changes before your first game. Learn more.

Practice Schedules

Schedule practices from the website or the app. Add arrival time, notes, or any other details that players and family need to know. Learn more.

Team Announcements

Practice canceled? Team Admins can send announcements from the app or website. Fans can receive announcements via email or SMS message for free. Learn more.

Choose Your Audience

Some things can be shared with everyone who follows your team. But sometimes only players and family need information. Learn more.

Create your Team today

Questions? Comments? Email us.

GameChanger Online Demos

The GameChanger online demos and scorekeeper training webinars are designed to help new and experienced baseball, softball, and basketball teams get the most out of GameChanger.

By the end of the training session, you and your team’s coaching staff will be GameChanger experts and ready to score each game on the GameChanger app.

If you can’t attend, we recommend watching a previously recorded demo (linked below).

Baseball/Softball Online Demos & Scorekeeper Training Webinars

We’ll walk you through the basics, as well as show you some advanced features. After the demo, stick around and we’ll answer any questions you may have.

Upcoming Webinars

• New dates and times coming soon!

Basketball Online Demos & Scorekeeper Training Webinars

We’ve concluded our regular weekly Basketball demos. Please email us if you’d like a demo and we’ll work with you to set up a session at your convenience.

Previously Recorded Demos

Baseball & Softball

Basketball

 

Your Demo Team

Who is leading my demo?

Every online demo is led by the member of the GameChanger team who specializes in your sport. Each presenter excelled as athletes and coaches at the highest levels of amateur sports. They know the game, and they know how GameChanger can help coaches save time and enhance player development.
 

Don’t have time for a 30 minute demo or Q&A session?

Step-by-step video tutorials are available online. If you have specific questions, visit our Support Library or contact our Support Team. Or if you’re really in a rush, download and print a Scorekeeping Cheat Sheet.

Looking forward to the conversation,
The GameChanger Team

Download the app for free.

One Million Games!

In three years, over one million games have been scored on GameChanger.

That adds up to:

• 210 million pitches
• 50 million at-bats
• 450 MLB seasons

The GameChanger app and website provide scorekeeping, stats and live game updates to thousands of amateur teams. Learn more.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far:

Players win games, but we can help.

The best pitch is strike one.

Focus on Quality at the plate.

And a few fun facts.

One Million Games Across the World

Over one million games have been scored on GameChanger in three years. That’s 210 million pitches, 50 million at-bats, and the equivalent of 450 MLB seasons.

Pressure & Delivering in the Clutch

‘Clutch is born of preparation and opportunity’

written by Guest Contributor Dan Rouhier in 2009 

edited for the GameChanger blog by Jeff Kamrath (@GCSports)

Many thanks to friend of GameChanger, Dan Rouhier, for this guest post. Danny played baseball at George Washington University and is now a professional comedian and sports talk radio host. Check him out at www.funnydanny.com.

How do you Handle Pressure?

It’s a common topic for sports reporters, columnists, and talking heads on nightly highlight shows.  You can also hear it in locker rooms, team buses, the post-game buffet, and even in the darkest reaches of fandom from the bleachers to living rooms.  ’______ is clutch’, ‘________ always chokes’, ‘________ has never won anything in his whole life, etc.

To the casual observer, this seemingly nebulous quality of strong performances in the most important moments is hard to quantify.  Either a guy has it or doesn’t have it.  Some used to have it and don’t, others didn’t but then got it, and this other guy named Eli Manning is just lucky.  To most fans and even players, clutch performers are just guys that have an innate ability to rise to the occasion and that’s all there is to it.  But is this really true?

After his dominant performance in Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, Phillies starter Cliff Lee was asked how he seemed so calm out there in this, the most pressured of environments, and he said (paraphrasing here. Apologies for not being able to find the exact quote) ‘I don’t really get nervous.  The reason you work so hard is to prepare you for games like this.  I trust my preparation and that gives me confidence.’

I wish every young athlete in America had seen that and taken it to heart.  I really believe this is one of the most important lessons for a young athlete as he or she advances in her career.  Your preparation gives you confidence.  We’ll get back to that.

What is Pressure?

First, let’s talk about pressure.  What is pressure?  You can’t touch it, hear it, or taste it (unless you count that ‘chalky-mouth’ taste that you sometimes get; where it feels like your haven’t produced any saliva since Reagan was president).  But why then can it have such a dramatic affect on our performance?  Pressure, without getting too scientific, is a manifestation of our most basic animal instincts.  The famed ‘fight or flight’ response that you hear about while watching National Geographic is the same force that causes us to feel pressure.  Your heart rate increases, you sweat, your senses are heightened, your muscles tighten and adrenaline pumps through your body.  This comes whether we like it or not.  The same sensation that took over a caveman when he wandered into a sabre-tooth tiger’s lair is the same feeling that a 12-year old gets when he’s on the mound in a bases loaded, full count, 2-out, tie-game, bottom of the last inning situation.  So how do we deal with it?  How do we stare down the beast and throw a strike?

Here is where preparation comes in.  Cliff Lee can close his eyes and see himself running back in February when no one else is around.  He can think back to the hundreds of bullpens, the hours of exercises, and the time digesting the scouting reports.  Cliff can take a deep breath and remember all of his hard work and know, with 100% confidence, that he is prepared for this moment.  Can you?  You are the only one who knows if you gave everything you had.  You can get by on 90%, and sometimes even less in practice.  You can take a rep or 2 off and no one will notice.  But then, when the game is on the line, what can you call upon to calm the chaos surrounding you?  What will you think back on?

Delivering in the Clutch

A great coach once told me: ‘Clutch is born of preparation and opportunity’.  I really believe this.  As a player, before games, I would always remind my teammates of the hard work we had put in.  We challenged each other and didn’t let one another slack.  Those times are what gave us the strength to succeed and help us believe that we could accomplish our goals.  As a coach, I try to instill that same confidence into my players.  If you worked hard and did everything you could to be the best player you can be, you should feel ready to handle the most pressure packed moment.  When you sense that moment, when the opposing fans are rattling the fences, that’s when you can take a breath and hopefully call upon your preparation to quiet the storm.

The reason some of us gravitate towards youth coaching is that we believe sports can be an incredible teacher, chock full of life lessons at every turn.  Performing in a pressure spot translates into the world outside of sports.  In my life, every job interview I’ve had or performance in front of hundreds or audition in front of 3 sets of judgmental eyes has been a breeze.  Why?  Because I stood in against Angels starter Joe Saunders and hit a ball so hard off of him, it attempted to apologize.  I also struck out to end the game against an 88 mph Brad Lidge slider that I have still never seen.  The point is, after those occasions and others like them, everything else is a cake walk.  Hard work and preparation breeds confidence.

Thanks for reading!

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Perfect Game Tournament HQ 2011

For information on 2012 Perfect Game tournaments, please visit:
2012 Perfect Game Tournament Page

Follow Us Online

• GameChanger, Facebook, Twitter
• Perfect Game, Facebook, Twitter

Previous Perfect Game Tournaments

14U Events

East Cobb Invitational
Desert Classic
WWBA National Championship
BCS Finals
Desert Fall Classic

15U Events

East Cobb Invitational
WWBA National Championship
BCS Finals

16U Events

WWBA Memorial Day Tournament
East Cobb Invitational
Desert Classic
WWBA National Championship
BCS Finals
Labor Day Classic
West Labor Day Classic
Desert Fall Classic

17U Events

East Cobb Invitational
WWBA National Championship
BCS Finals

18U Events

WWBA Memorial Day Tournament
East Cobb Invitational
Desert Classic
WWBA National Championship
BCS Finals
Labor Day Classic
West Labor Day Classic

Underclass Events

Jr. National Showcase
EvoShield Underclass National Championship
WWBA Underclass World Championship

Upperclass Events

National Showcase
Perfect Game National Games
EvoShield Upperclass National Championship
South Qualifier
Florida Qualifier
WWBA World Championship

Other Events

Iowa Select Invitational
Kernels Foundation Championship
Iowa Fall League

GameChanger of the Week (5/11)

Finally, the snow clears

by Jeff Kamrath

Player of the Week: Jake Bohne – P/1B, Post 22 Varsity

Glad to Be Outdoors

With such a brutal winter for the Northern Midwest, it’s not hard to believe that baseball season just started last week! Teams in Florida, Georgia, Texas and California are already 3+ months deep into their seasons, but we’re glad to see the entire country playing ball.

What’s even more unbelievable is the start that Jake Bohne, of the Post 22 Varsity Hardhatters, has had.  Winters in Rapid City, SD can be tough. Finding your timing and stroke after being cooped up at the Post 22 indoor baseball facility all winter can be tougher. Tougher than trying to escape from Chinese finger-traps? Maybe not. But it’s still hard!

Quality At-Bats = Quality Hitter

In his first week of action this year, Jake rolled along to the tune of a .538 average with an unreal 1.281 OPS.  However, what’s most impressive are his Quality At-Bat stats. To date, in his 17 plate appearances, Jake has an astounding 12 QAB’s, including 7 hard hit balls and 4 two-out RBI. Additionally, he has seen 6+ pitches in an at-bat 23.5% of the time.

We expect great things this season after a start like this!

Congrats on a great week Jake!

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Hustler’s Win

Reposted from Ahead in the Count, (March 23, 2009)

by Sean Flikke
edited by Jeff Kamrath

Nintendo vs. Nike

If you haven’t played a video game recently, I challenge you to find a youngster with a game system and strap in for a couple of hours.  Not only is it a lot more fun than you would ever admit at the company luncheon, but it also is an incredible tool for training the two hemispheres of the brain to work together on complex problem solving (Daniel Pink’s best-selling book,  A Whole New Mind, is a well-spring on this subject). 

Like many of us who coach and have strong feelings about the increasing numbers of young people who are unfit, eat poorly and facing obesity at a young age, I have spent most of the last 10 years of my coaching career bashing video games as a cause of this American epidemic.

Part of my own resentment is rooted in the belief I held that the fast-paced, action-packed, exciting nature of video game technology have helped to increase the popularity of faster moving sports like soccer, lacrosse and basketball while our beloved baseball, with all of its nuance and subtlety and, well, slower pace, has lost popularity among American youngsters.  I am not saying this thinking is right, that the rise in the number of “gamers” has caused the decrease in the number of Gamers (see also:  Eric Byrnes), but they appeared to me to be correlated in some way. 

Keep ‘Em Moving, Keep ‘Em Interested

Regardless of how they are related (if at all), I have come to accept their presence in our culture and now believe strongly that video games have a lot to teach us about teaching baseball.  When I ask people of all ages who claim not to like baseball why they don’t like it, the number one answer on the board is “boring.”  And who can blame them?  After all, how can a game that lasts 2 – 3 hours but contains only, maybe, 20 min of action captivate someone who has ‘Halo 3′ as an entertainment option, with its choose-your-own-adventure, totally-enthralling-every-moment, 12-buttons-to-manage-and-master world of infinite possibility?  I believe the key to getting and keeping kids interested in baseball is to create game and practice environments that keep them moving and engaged.  One effective coaching tool that hits this mark is a single maxim denoted by two words:  HUSTLERS WIN. 

When it’s time to take the field for a practice or a game, simply let your players know that hustlers (meaning the first one to the position) will get to play that position.  You won’t believe how the pace of play and the energy of the game or practice improves.  Pace, at least as much as performance, is what makes or breaks a positive experience for a youngster on the ball field.  Moreover, it can actually improve performance by keeping him/her more engaged.  I have found no better technique for speeding up play and creating excitement than implementing Hustlers Win as the basis of a team’s Constitution.  And let’s be honest, no single aspect of youth coaching creates more headaches, arguments or complaints than making a line-up. Employing this strategy, you don’t have to. 

Mix It Up

There is a long list of advantages beyond pace of play for Hustlers Win as a management style. There are numerous advantages on the teaching side, as well.  First, since the “deciding” of positions is effort-based and objective rather than talent-based and subjective, each player has equal ownership in what happens on the field.  This keeps them more engaged. In addition, players learn to play a variety of positions much more quickly and gain a greater working knowledge of the game as a result.  Playing multiple positions is an asset for any player, especially young ones as they are learning and growing.  Most players can remember the names of the Little League stars in their area who ended up playing different positions (if at all) when they were passed up later in life by the kid who was 3’4″ tall and 18 lbs. at age 11 (note: this is the primary argument I use when questioned by parents who are having trouble with the part where their kid isn’t playing 1st base or shortstop every inning all season).  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, by speeding up play and harnessing the excitement of infinite possibility that video games offer, the kids have more fun. 

Set Guidelines to Avoid Chaos

I do, however, recommend a few amendments, a kind of Bill of Rights, to the Hustlers Win Constitution to avoid problems. Here are a few suggestions:

Amendment #1 –  Make pitching, catching and bench (or sitting out) rotations as well as batting orders exempt from Hustlers Win.  These are better done by a coach to ensure catchers are ready with gear on between innings, pitchers have time to prepare themselves, players are sitting out in a fair and equitable manner and a batting order is observed (although I do let my players make their own order and only ask that they do not hit in the same slot two games in a row – and they are shockingly fair).  I also recommend never pitching anyone who has not proven they can pitch by throwing 6 or 7 strikes in 10 attempts with a coach watching, depending on the age.  This will set a standard to strive for and weed out those youngsters who can single-handedly create “rain delays” by walking too many hitters.  

Amendment #2 – No player may play the same position two innings in a row and, unless otherwise specified, infielders and outfielders must switch each inning.  Obviously, one extra infielder will get lucky each inning and stay, but make sure your craftiest “hustlers” aren’t exploiting this loophole. This amendment prevents the fastest player on the field from playing shortstop each inning and ensures everyone gets a fair opportunity to play the “glamour” positions.  When players grumble about playing the outfield, I remind them that 7 of the 10 greatest players of all-time (arguably) are outfielders (a fun argument, at that).  If you are coaching an extremely competitive team, you can narrow down the choices each player has so that a player would choose between the 2 or 3 positions that are more well-suited for his/her skills.  

Amendment #3 – Any player who is not deemed ready for a pitch automatically forfeits his/her position on the next pitch.  This is particularly useful on the infield.  When you see an infielder go into the 2000-yard stare,  just tell them to switch positions with one of the outfielders and remind them that the pitcher deserves someone who is down and ready on every pitch.  When the position is forfeited, they must wait wait another inning before returning. 

Amendment #4 – If two players sprint to the same position and arrive at roughly the same time, the issue is settled with an automatic 2-out-of-3 rock-paper-scissors match-up.  This eliminates whining and arguments (and is often hilarious). 

Amendment #5 – Be ready to for the first pitch in 90 seconds or less EVERY INNING.  This means warm-ups, catcher throw down and ready for action.  This pace will add so much by way of focus and energy to your club, and has been proven to drive down the likelihood that the other team’s lead-off hitter reaches first base.  

Change the Game. 

The resistances to a Hustlers Win Constitution will, no doubt, be numerous.  Change is terrifying.  But try it for a week or two and see what happens.  You may like it.  Your players and their families – after a little groaning – may grow to love it.