Player calling a coach after tryout

My DD (11 yo actual) is moving up from 10U to 12U this Fall and has tried out for several teams. She liked some, indifferent about some. However, last night she tried out for a team (open practice tryout) that she really seemed to click with, got on well with the players and coaches. She came away very excited about this team and was asking what else she could do to help her chances of being invited to join them. From my perspective, she seemed to have a good tryout and hopefully will be given an invitation to join the club.

My question to you coaches is would you see it as a positive / negative / indifferent if a player were to call or email you to tell you specifically she wanted to play for your team and why? Would you suggest no contact be made and wait for the coaching staff to get back to her?

FWIW...this is the team that I would like for her to join. It seems like every team talks about how they build 18U Gold level teams, prepare girls for HS and college etc. However when asked how they do that this is the only team I have encountered who has a specific answer. They seem to have an excellent systematic development curriculum, training program and staff (both coaching and support).

This is one of those questions where I have no idea how people will respond. ...

But if I were the coach, I would not mind getting an email that expressed what you just said. You'd have to word it the right way. The goal should not be to persuade the team to pick her, but just to express that she really liked the tryout and that this is the kind of team she's looking for and best of luck regardless.

Go for it!!!!

All I coach is 12U and 14U and I have done it for many, many years. I'd absolutely love it if I received a call or email from your daughter telling me why she liked my team and wanted to join it. I'd praise her as highly as I could for doing so in any response I gave. I might even tell her to praise her parents for raising a girl with the self-confidence to do something like that.

There would be nothing but positive from me toward her for doing that. Now, to be honest, it wouldn't make a lick of difference to me on my decision to offer her a spot on the team or not, but it sure as hell would leave me greatly impressed with an 11-year-old girl.

Little Angels Softball said:

All I coach is 12U and 14U and I have done it for many, many years. I'd absolutely love it if I received a call or email from your daughter telling me why she liked my team and wanted to join it. I'd praise her as highly as I could for doing so in any response I gave. I might even tell her to praise her parents for raising a girl with the self-confidence to do something like that.

There would be nothing but positive from me toward her for doing that. Now, to be honest, it wouldn't make a lick of difference to me on my decision to offer her a spot on the team or not, but it sure as hell would leave me greatly impressed with an 11-year-old girl.

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But if you were having trouble deciding....

riseball said:

But if you were having trouble deciding....

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If she was straight-up tied with another prospect, it would indeed put her over the top. That kind of self-confidence is to be applauded and I admit I would look a little extra long and hard to try and find a way to put that girl on my team if she was solidly in the mix.

It just wouldn't change my mind if she didn't legitimately make my team, though.

riseball said:

But if you were having trouble deciding....

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Little Angels Softball said:

If she was straight-up tied with another prospect, it would indeed put her over the top. That kind of self-confidence is to be applauded and I admit I would look a little extra long and hard to try and find a way to put that girl on my team if she was solidly in the mix.

It just wouldn't change my mind if she didn't legitimately make my team, though.

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Parents involved in the college recruiting process, please take note of LAS response. This is also how it works with college coaches. If you have the goods, that one little thing that sets you apart is what will make the difference.

Little Angels Softball said:

If she was straight-up tied with another prospect, it would indeed put her over the top. That kind of self-confidence is to be applauded and I admit I would look a little extra long and hard to try and find a way to put that girl on my team if she was solidly in the mix.

It just wouldn't change my mind if she didn't legitimately make my team, though.

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If she can show that level of confidence in dealing with an adult/coach, I like her chances of being able to show confidence in her play as well.

I don't think this situation is, really, any different than applying for a job. When I, as a manager, get a nice note thanking for the interview and expressing their desire to work for me, I am impressed. However, it is not going to bring the bottom candidate to the top but, like it has been said here, it can make the difference in a "close call".

Had a similar situation at tryouts. A girl hung around until I was packed up and said, "So did I make the team or what?" I let her know I had to go calculate the scores. She replied "Well whatever I scored you should pick me because I really want to play on this team."

She ended up near the bottom, but I did choose her because it was clear that she wanted it. This was first year 12U.