One thing I hate about tryout season

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

May 8, 2012
127
16
NJ
This year DD had to hit the tryout circuit...I can tell you now...I absolutly hate it. Trying to pick a home with very little engagement with a team is tough. From a coaching perspective, I absolutely understand the hatred of the commit then jump of players. It sux..I totally understand. On the flip side, I cant stand the offer after a tryout, but have to commit immediately. I look at tryouts like buying a new car...I dont just want something I can afford..I want to make it a permanent home. We all learned our lesson on this when we bought our first car. There are 3 aspects to choosing a team...coaches, the players, and the parents. All 3 must jive in my opinion for a perfect fit. After DD hits your tryout and you offer, know that im hitting tryouts all week. At the end of the week, if you are the best match..then you have us. We have hit teams that have offered, only to talk to a parent of the team tell me how the world spins around their DD...you think I want to listen to that for 8-10 tourneys? Its a 2 way street...we've been offered, then recinded because we wanted to hit other tryouts. ..its cut throat I tell you..not sure what the true answer is
 
Mar 7, 2012
144
0
PA
As a coach I don't agree with coaches making players commit on the spot. We have 2 full weeks of tryouts than give players a week to commit, on top of that we had team practices. That's pretty much a month. (Our organization has a policy that e deposit is due by the 3rd practice). It's not fair to the players who got turned away because they "committed" to the team only to bail when the money was due.

In the long run I think I won out on the deal, I had a few girls contact me who had teams fall through. They were decent players dare I say better than the ones who left. with great attitudes.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
While I do believe in being committed, particularly when the season is on, but I think it's worse when a coach thinks he/she owns a player, particularly when the season hasn't even started.
 
Apr 22, 2013
20
0
The previous 2 12U team coaches took their kids to 14U. Leaving behind the 4 12U eligible that couldn't make the team.
My area House league created a 12U+ team doing FYFA but not Tournaments for 1/3 the cost.
Lost my asst (pitching) coach as he didn't want his to spend another year on a developmental team (based on the tryouts)
The VP Working the phones got 2 baseball girls at the last second, (they are looking really good btw) SS and 1st players good.
I was complaining to myself more than a homeless person the month of August. Now... I can't wait for the first tournament.
 
Last edited:
Get a check ASAP

I agree with after the offer has been accepted to immediately get a check. My budget is $1,500 per player and I collect money in 3 installments of $500.00. But what I do is get my group together on the final day, meet with them and then meet with there parents to see if they are considering another team or which choice is this team. If it is down on the list I thank them for coming and I take the pass.
 
Oct 20, 2014
1
0
Well, commitment is a two way street though, right? How often do we see select coaches "on the prowl" to get better and add players to the team and drop/release others? You have to understand as a coach it isn't the kids making the commitment so much as it is their parents. We recently switched my daughter's teams after buying uniforms and handing money to coaches of a team that continued to look for additional girls after claiming to have locked up their team for Fall (2014), Spring, & Summer (2015). We played in a tournament with the team just prior to the start of Middle School ball (we play in the fall down here). To top it off, we went to one of the girls birthday parties during my daughters middle school season and one of the "coaches" made an off color comment about my daughter exchanging her jersey for another "pitcher" they may have just scored. I bluntly replied back "I thought your team roster was basically finalized?" There were 4 or 5 different girls on the team when we played with them in a tournament after Middle School ball. That lack of "commitment" level from the coaches didn't sit well with us and I contacted another coach who expressed interest in my daughter playing for his team during the Middle School Season. The result is she's on a different team now and playing for a guy committed to improving her game. Parents see far too many coaches doing this today to improve the roster and if you have ever been a parent that's had your child dropped in the past for "a better player" and your kid is left in a lerch searching for a team to practice with and play with. I don't blame the parents because there are too many bad coaches out there who aren't as committed to the kids as they are "winning" or trying to relive their youth. If the roster is truly finalized for a season...commit to the roster unless someone drops or is injured.
 
Jun 29, 2013
589
18
stilljust brings up a great point. I see that pop up a lot, kids think they're part of a team for the entire year, and don't realize their coaches are looking to improve, looking to add one more x y or z, or are simply not happy with what they have after tryouts. Then, in Feb. they find out they are the 11th, 12th or even 13th on a team. It isn't right for either a player or a coach to lead the other on, I just don't know what the remedy should be.
 
Jun 19, 2014
846
43
Raleigh,NC
As a parent new to the travel ball organization, I do find it concerning when you bring your dd to a team and they inform you that no one has a guarantee place on the team. You over heard the coach talking about trying to find better talent and how he has a core of 7 players that played together for several years. Being a new player on the team, you know her place isn't guaranteed but you continue to bring her to practice with the hopes of her not getting cut. Also, you know there is another team that just started and they want your dd to tryout. I wouldn't mind my dd playing for the team she is practicing on, even though she would be a pool pitcher not a bracket pitcher if she went to the new team. It would be nice to know if they will keep her.
 

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
All teams say that all spots are earned. The reality is that while coaches may have the best intentions and mean this, there are a lot of pressures that lock up spots. Parental expectations, trust of a girl that you know and have seen play for a long time vs a new girl. Winning a spot or moving up the order is a gradual process for a new girl unless she flat out outperforms another kid by a mile. In my experience this does not happen often with a new kid because real badass players being new to a team is rare. Usually new players are good but not standouts or lower level. The best ones are locked up and the coaches do everything they can to keep them.

As for being unsure about where a kid stands on a team, if you observe with a realistic eye, it is pretty easy to tell where they stand, how expendable they are to the team and whether or not they are being treated fairly. Then it is up to you to help manage through this by either talking to the coach, letting it ride or finding a new team.

I have seen the gamut in my brief time with my DD and I have trusted my assessment of the situation each step, as a result she is in a situation where she is treated fairly. Fairy does not mean that she gets to play her preferred position all the time. DD is playing on two teams right now and both are fair for her abilities within the context of each team. One team is significantly better than the other. Fair means that if I look at the book on the games, her place in the batting order is in line with her stats (7th on one team and 4th on another) and when I look at fielding (every inning on one team- sitting half the non pitching time on another) and pitching (about even) , her playing time is in line with her performance and where she stands relative to other players on each of these teams even though her role is vastly different on both. On one team she is a core player, on the other she is expendable. That is not to say one situation is better than another, they are just different experiences. One thing I know is that on the better team, if DD outplayed the girls ahead of her then she would win the spot over time. That is ALL you can ask of a coach.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top