Tryouts Advice

[SoCal_Dad]

I am looking for some advice on how other organizations handle tryouts when more than one team is expected at a particular age group. For example, at our tryouts at the end of this summer we will likely have our current 10U team moving up to 12U and our current 12U (young 12U, all but 3 players have '02 birthdays) returning at 12U. Do you limit it strictly by birth year ('02 can only play for older 12U and '03 can only play for young 12U) or do you allow teams to take older or younger players based on other factors? We have not done the best job as an organization in the past in handling tryouts for multiple teams at the same age group and are looking for what has worked for others.

Putting strict birth year restrictions on teams is not advisable because there are always exceptions. You shouldn't restrict a good player that is capable of moving up with the next birth year. Some players may have a preference based on the coach and/or players they know.

The coaches should meet to discuss past issues and figure out how they can do it better.

 

[riseball]

Don't group by age. Group by talent. The composition of a team changes over time and that is a good thing. Forget the myth that teams should stay together year after year. Keeping teams together from 10U to 18U is ludicrous. In the long run it does not do them any favors.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

From my experience, birth year teams are common before HS. At that point, players get on the good teams based on ability and teams have 2-3 different birth years.

 

[riseball]

That is the same time where you have the exodus of players from softball to other sports offered by HS.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

The exodus starts before HS. It's really more about players being closer in size to the older girls and having to compete against them in HS anyway.