Different Ways to Run High School Tryouts

Coach Foster said:

I think you're on the right track, here. If you have that much of a difference in talent, I'd do the "has played/never have played" split, for sure. Last thing you want is to be slammed in a small gym and someone get hurt. I've been there, not fun. Plus, you could then adjust your drills/skills appropriately for the majority of the groups. Or if your numbers are still really uneven, could you look at splitting up 9/10th graders and 11/12th graders?

I'd also add, at least, one more day. I'll probably have around 24-28 for "tryouts". We'll have V/JV, so obviously not cutting anyone, but we have a 4 day tryout with individual meetings on the 5th. Do a couple skills a day, with each group, then maybe have all who want to pitch come in together, if you have enough to catch, or throw into nets...whatever you need to do.

Wish you the best!

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Thanks!

Our talent is basically our handful of best players, then a big group of girls who have played with us 1-2 years who know what they're doing but are still very much developing fundamental skills still, and then the group of girls who I have to tell which hand the glove goes on (I literally did this at Open Field yesterday). I really think dividing into multiple sessions is going to be the smart play here, both for safety and evaluation reasons.

Tell me about your individual meetings. Do you meet with everybody? Is it just to go over expectations, roles, etc? I did this last year with a few girls who I planned to have float between JV and Varsity just so they understood the plan, but I've considered doing this type of meeting with everybody.

CoachJD, how many coaches do you have? How many cages or hitting stations do you have? Will you have access to both a gym floor and indoor cage if inside or field and cages outfield? Do you have a pitching coach?

In a perfect scenario, you would have your assistants manning the closest thing to their specialties. I don't believe in tryouts that you initially have Varsity and JV. We have them together as one team/tryout and we often have 30+. The HC now and when I was the HC roams and watches the tryouts taking notes, talking to players, ... Each coach keeps track of every girl as they go through whatever stations that they are running. All girls are asked to wear their PE T-Shirts that have their names on them. We do two days this way and then, take the players by ability and break them into groups. BTW, we always do a rotation of infielders and outfielders in the cage. Pitchers and catchers get special treatment and get to jump in where they want both fielding and hitting. They get special treatment because they get pulled out to catch the pitchers, pitchers tryout for that position and then, catchers do their defensive work while pitchers do second position work.

After day 3 is over, we will have the teams narrowed a lot. If we have cuts, we do it after day 3. Day 4 is where we go player against players for positions though we don't say that to them. BTW, I now coach the JV and, to be honest, my team does not matter. We look at all grade levels as potential varsity players. If they can earn that position, they get it.

Cannonball said:

CoachJD, how many coaches do you have? How many cages or hitting stations do you have? Will you have access to both a gym floor and indoor cage if inside or field and cages outfield? Do you have a pitching coach?

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I will have three "full-time" coaches including me, one who will be there most of the time, and I am looking for one more. Last year we had 3 for the two teams, and while it worked because my JV coach was a former baseball player who did a really good job with the girls, there were times I felt like one more coach would make practices more efficient. At the tryout, I will likely ask the middle school coach to help out with running stations/evaluation.

I'm the de facto pitching coach, unfortunately. Luckily I have gotten tons of great help from a few people here.

We don't have any cages. In theory we could be outside on a field, but I've never seen it in good enough shape that early in the year. Everything we've done at tryouts has been in the gym or the parking lot (playing catch, fly balls, etc).

In a perfect scenario, you would have your assistants manning the closest thing to their specialties. I don't believe in tryouts that you initially have Varsity and JV. We have them together as one team/tryout and we often have 30+. The HC now and when I was the HC roams and watches the tryouts taking notes, talking to players, ... Each coach keeps track of every girl as they go through whatever stations that they are running. All girls are asked to wear their PE T-Shirts that have their names on them. We do two days this way and then, take the players by ability and break them into groups. BTW, we always do a rotation of infielders and outfielders in the cage. Pitchers and catchers get special treatment and get to jump in where they want both fielding and hitting. They get special treatment because they get pulled out to catch the pitchers, pitchers tryout for that position and then, catchers do their defensive work while pitchers do second position work.

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I like the idea of me roaming. In the past I've mostly run a single station and relied on the coaches, but we've never done cuts before so I wasn't as concerned. Also, the bottom of the JV roster is going to be girls who have never played before, so it's all about projecting based on athleticism, attitude, etc. I hope for some pleasant surprises, but when I do my recruiting of Freshmen and basketball players over the next couple weeks, I know I'm trying to find that girl or two who can't do anything today but who will pick things up quickly and be pretty good by the end of the year.

I have five pitchers and 4-5 catchers. I use both terms fairly loosely. The tryout for these girls will be a bit perfunctory since I know them all well and know exactly what their skill level is because every single one of them was new to the sport when she started playing with us. Of course, any new girl who wants to give it a shot is welcome to do so. I would love to find that rare girl who just immediately takes to pitching or catching.

After day 3 is over, we will have the teams narrowed a lot. If we have cuts, we do it after day 3. Day 4 is where we go player against players for positions though we don't say that to them. BTW, I now coach the JV and, to be honest, my team does not matter. We look at all grade levels as potential varsity players. If they can earn that position, they get it.

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So you do just one round of cuts, but your 4th day is still a tryout for Varsity/JV and positions?

Also, our JV team matters a lot! We do everything together (except games, of course). I treat it as one big team, and when we have a full team practice, I rarely split them up along Varsity/JV lines. The results of the JV games don't matter much to me since it's about development, but I make sure those girls get the reps and attention they need. But, yes, anybody can make Varsity. We had one Freshman make it last year. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one makes it this year.

CoachJD, yes, that 4th day is nut cracking time. It is where we take the best and put them against each other. We do this by moving a lot of them around. Per a lot of teams, a player might be a SS on their TB team but in HS might be a 3B or CF or ... Also, hitting is where it is at. If they can hit, they can play. Of course, we have pretty good pitching so take that for what it is worth.

As an FYI, I am really excited about this year. We have some talent and experience. All but 3 starters hit with me all summer and fall. We lost 2 starters from last year and I think have players who can step right in. We are excited to see just how intense the competition will be starting positions.

CoachJD said:

Thanks!

Our talent is basically our handful of best players, then a big group of girls who have played with us 1-2 years who know what they're doing but are still very much developing fundamental skills still, and then the group of girls who I have to tell which hand the glove goes on (I literally did this at Open Field yesterday). I really think dividing into multiple sessions is going to be the smart play here, both for safety and evaluation reasons.


Tell me about your individual meetings. Do you meet with everybody? Is it just to go over expectations, roles, etc? I did this last year with a few girls who I planned to have float between JV and Varsity just so they understood the plan, but I've considered doing this type of meeting with everybody.

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Coach,

I'm out of town at at clinic until Saturday evening, and won't have much time at my computer. I'd love to chat about the meetings. I'll shoot you a dm later this weekend, after I return home.

Cannonball said:

As an FYI, I am really excited about this year. We have some talent and experience. All but 3 starters hit with me all summer and fall. We lost 2 starters from last year and I think have players who can step right in. We are excited to see just how intense the competition will be starting positions.

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That's awesome.

I might be losing one of my three best players, a junior who could definitely play at some of the junior colleges in the area, because her dad who has never once come to watch her play, says she can't play anymore. No real good reason ("help out around the house more"). This girl came to me a month ago asking about playing in college, and now she won't be able to play at all (she's never played travel ball because games were "too far," and he wouldn't even let her play in our summer rec league).

It's an uphill battle when you're dealing with parents who seemingly go out of their way to prevent their kids from doing things they love.

And for those who think this can't be the real story because a parent wouldn't be like that: It's not the first time I've had a girl not able to play for this reason. Parents around here are real big on just being the boss and "because I said so" with no real consideration for what's good for their kids. It's sad, but there's not a lot I can do.