Baseball is a nuanced game with many rules and even more details.
Learning all there is to know about baseball can be a daunting task for young players and even longtime fans of the game.
That’s where the Luverne Cardinal Kangaroo Court comes into play.
Luverne High School varsity baseball coach Mike Wenninger has led the LHS program for over 20 years.
He’s also coached the summer Junior Legion team for all that time.
The team is made up of mostly ninth- and 10th-grade players. The coach uses those many summer games to teach his future varsity Cardinals the finer details of not only the game of baseball, but life lessons in general.
For much of that time, Wenninger’s Junior Legion teams have used a system he calls Cardinal Kangaroo Court to help his young players learn the many lessons he wants to teach.
“The Kangaroo Court allows us to teach the kids those little things but also kind of make light of a situation that doesn’t have to be made bigger,” Wenninger said.
“Another benefit is we coaches don’t have to nag and repeat ourselves over and over,” he said. “The kids take care of it in the court.”
In fact, the players are actually in charge of the system.
Before, during or after a game, team members who notice a mistake or infraction made by themselves or another player say, “There’s a bang.”
A “bang” could be a mistake made on the field, forgetting to do a job, being late, not bringing needed equipment, wearing the wrong color belt or socks with the uniform or even asking a parent to come into the dugout.
“It could be things like missing a sign, not running with two outs, or anything on or off the field that impacts the team,” Wenninger said.
“Bangs aren’t for physical errors made on the field during a game, more the mental aspects of the game,” he added.
Wenninger said the physical aspects of the game are worked on during practice.
“Bangs are a way for the kids to hold each other accountable for the things we try to teach and talk about over and over at practice,” he said.
That peer accountability comes during team meetings after each game.
Team members hold court and bring up any bangs that occurred. The team then decides the cost of the infraction, normally 25 cents.
Sometimes repeat offenses can garner slightly larger fines.
At the start of each season, team members vote on two players to serve as the accountants for the Kangaroo Court.
The accountants are responsible for maintaining records and collecting the money from players.
At the end of the season, all money collected goes back to the team.
“It could be ice cream treats, baseballs, partially paying for a team bat, that kind of thing,” Wenninger said.
This year’s accountants are Kaden Anderson and Casey Sehr.
Anderson keeps detailed records in his cellphone and Sehr collects the money.
“The whole system is run by the kids,” Wenninger said. “They decide on the infractions and the amount owed. Everything is voted on by the team, and majority rules.”
Wenninger said the peer accountability is what makes the Kangaroo Court work.
“The kids are learning to avoid the infractions just by watching for them and hearing them called out on others,” he said. ”They’re learning what not to do in order to avoid that bang.”
Sehr and Anderson agree the court works.
“It keeps us from messing around and teaches us what we need to know,” Anderson said.
“It’s a fancy way to make sure we don’t touch the hot stove twice,” Sehr said, repeating one of his coach’s often-used analogies.
This year the court system has collected just under $20 total from team members.
According to the accountants, there is still a little money owed by team members.
“We have a group chat that we use to remind them,” Anderson said, looking down at his notes on his cellphone.
“This year’s been better than last year,” he said. “We’re learning.”