One thing I hate about tryout season

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

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

Mar 7, 2012
144
0
PA
Sorry all but I need to vent. Tryouts have pretty much ended in this area. We have selected our team of 12 players who responded they would play. Had 2 practices already, sent out emails thanking all the other for trying out but we have decided in other players. Turned a few girls away who emailed about scheduling tryouts. Now today I get 2 emails saying girls decided to play somewhere else and one of those parents thought I should know that a 3rd playing was playing for that team and had already ordered her uniform and all.

Maybe it's just me but I was always taught once I made a commitment I was supposed to stick it out. In fact one year I played on team which I hated but my parents refused to let me quit because I made the commitment. Seems to me like a lot of kids now a days don't understand commitment and their parents don't help the matter.
 
Oct 22, 2009
1,532
0
PA
To be honest, I think it's the parents. This year was really frustrating, as it seemed like a lot of the kids (*cough* Parents) treat picking a travel team like they were trying to climb a ladder. Say yes to a team, then move up to the next team that says yes, then the next. A few years ago I hated asking for a check immediately, but these days you almost have to require a large enough deposit to be sure they are going to stay.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
Yes, this is one of my biggest pet peeves as well. We now spend extra time "trying out" the parents before we ask any one to join the team. It doesnt work all the time but in many cases a five minute conversation with the parents can tell you everything you need to know.
 
It is simple for me. At tryouts, I ask at the meeting beforehand if anyone has made a commitment to another team. Those who raise their hands are asked to leave.

I will not try out a girl who is committed to another team. Period. If all agreed to do the same, we wouldn't have these issues.

I say this BS isn't so much about the parents as it is about coaches with questionable ethics giving these parents the opportunities to bail on their commitments. Take away the opportunity if you want it to stop.
 
Oct 2, 2012
242
18
on the Field
I have found that nothing is in stone until money (team commitment fee) has changed hands. Until then, its just an offer to play. We gave each offer 1 week to commit once the offer had been given. After one week the offer to join the team was no longer valid unless an extension was granted.
 
Jul 9, 2009
336
0
IL
It is simple for me. At tryouts, I ask at the meeting beforehand if anyone has made a commitment to another team. Those who raise their hands are asked to leave.

I will not try out a girl who is committed to another team. Period. If all agreed to do the same, we wouldn't have these issues.

I say this BS isn't so much about the parents as it is about coaches with questionable ethics giving these parents the opportunities to bail on their commitments. Take away the opportunity if you want it to stop.

This wouldn't put a dent in it. Players would learn quick not to raise their hand. They'd tell you they really aren't committed, it's all in the interpretation of what "committed" means. "I haven't been redlined on their roster yet, I'm not committed." :D

Additionally, there would be players that aren't committed and be 100% honest. But by the time team A gets them their offer, they've tried out other places. Team A offers and.....they commit, kinda, sorta, maybe. Team B and/or C calls, now what? Parents get anxious and inevitably someone gets their feelings hurt.

Then there are coaches that will continue to recruit. They won't cut a player but recruit over a committed player...or at least hoping that happens.

Everyone needs to view the month of August as a "Reservation" time. It's far from a perfect world and that isn't going to change.

To the OP: Build with what you got and with who really wants to be there. There's more satisfaction in that.
 
Jun 19, 2013
753
28
I saw the title and immediately thought "is there anything we don't hate about tryout season?". But then I'm always a half glass empty sort of person.
 
Last edited:
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
They are never committed until you have a deposit, copy of the birth certificate, and photo ID. If they can't commit by the end of the day then I move on.
 
Jan 4, 2012
3,852
38
OH-IO
It is simple for me. At tryouts, I ask at the meeting beforehand if anyone has made a commitment to another team. Those who raise their hands are asked to leave.

DD don't plan on going to a tryouts...she is invited to come just as a practice, on the last day. It's been my experience that if you would ask for a show of hands for any hc or ac who has a couple ringers on a hook, waiting till fall ball is over, or even when the big migration happens in spring, to raise there hands, it would even the odds. :cool:
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
In this area the "A" teams tend to have their tryouts in the beginning of August, while the local teams tend to have their tryouts at the end of August. I don't know if that is a gentleman's agreement, or what, but I like it.

If the better teams have tryouts earlier, then you eliminate the "ladder" issue. Once you have the tryouts for the "C" teams, the girls know that is their last option.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,831
Messages
679,484
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top