OK, can we talk turkey? "Open Workouts," "All Positions are Open," and such

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Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
OK, can we talk turkey? "Open Workouts," "All Positions are Open," and such

We all know that everyone is very busy and there is a finite amount of time that teams have to have tryouts during July/August. As best as I can tell, true TB tryout season is mid-July through about mid-August. After that, most teams are full. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about that.

So, there are only 4-5 weekends that we're talking about here. So, a total of about 8-10 days to fit in as much as you can (knowing that girls can only be in one place at one time). Putting aside the fact that it is sometimes possible to schedule a private workout/tryout on a weekday, this fact demonstrates that parents/girls need to use that time wisely.

OK, so what, if any, point is there to attending events that are billed as "open workouts?" In my past experience, those are basically cattle calls (often more than one age group there at a time) and there are dozens of girls there with a few coaches. Often, they aren't even keeping track of who is who. Felt like a complete and utter waste of time to me when we went to a couple last year, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something. I kind of feel the same about organizational tryouts, honestly. Unless a coach has already seen DD privately and wants to see her one more time at the org tryout or something like that, I'd like to skip those.

And "all positions are open," "spots are earned on the field," etc... I don't believe that in most cases other than with brand new teams. I generally only respond to ads that specifically mention needing a catcher anyway, but can we read between the lines here? Does it mean "we've already got girls in those spots, but we might consider bumping them if your kid is a super-stud?"

I'm trying to avoid trying to cram 10-15 tryouts in this year like we did last year. It was exhausting, frustrating, and put both me and DD in a foul mood by the time we were done.
I'm only sending DD to teams this year that she would actually consider playing for. She has a fall-back option with her old coach (of the team that folded), but we are wary for a variety of reasons. Any guidance would be great.
 

ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
It's the annual TB reset that stresses everyone out. I've been on both sides as a coach and as a parent it's not fun for either side.

I can only speak to what happens around my area but here are my thoughts:
  • Try-outs run from late July to the end of August
  • Most of the better teams will be "full" after that but the lesser teams will still be scrounging for players especially pitching.
  • Even on the better teams there will typically be player movement that will create openings in the winter months. A lot of times the spot is from a disgruntled player that wasn't playing much so, filling the vacated spot assumes that role unless the player earns a more significant role.
  • "Open work-outs" are a chance to try the "fit" of a player and a coach.
  • "All positions open" is usually a sham as most teams will have certain current players locked in. There are certain teams in my area that you know the infield is set because of the 4 coaches kids on the roster. Going to those work-outs/try-outs is a waste if you are shooting to gain a spot at a coaches kids position.

My kid is probably staying with her current team and should be able to skip most of the stress and anxiety of finding a team. Good luck!
 
Feb 7, 2013
3,188
48
No player should be going to 10-15 tryouts. You do your homework, watch teams play, talk with the families of players currently on the team and/or the organization, visit the website, call the coaches and ask them what their goals for the team are during the season (e.g. College showcases, ASA nationals, PGF qualifiers, etc.) do they (or assistant coaches) have DDs on the team, if so what positions do they play. If it's your DDs position, bail. You need to match up your DDs goals with the prospective teams available. I always called the coaches before tryouts to get as much information as possible about their program, goals, monthly fees, anticipated practice schedule, etc. It's amazing how much information you can get in a 15 min call.

The point is do all the background before tryouts and narrow the teams down to 3 or 4. Attend their tryouts and hopefully you get several teams interested. Most want you to commit fairly quickly so be ready to make a decision within a week or two.

Lastly, most teams have secondary tryouts after fall, so don't be to concerned if the first team is not perfect for your DD, she can always tryout in January for other teams. IME, right or wrong, there is a lot of movement of players throughout the season.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
We're staying put this year so we're spared this but we know the 2-3 teams we'd go talk to if we weren't staying. No way we'd go to more than 5 work outs tops but I think it'd be closer to 3. If you've been in TB for a year or two you know who the coaches are you like, the teams you like, etc. With DD being a catcher, if she's good a lot of the coaches probably know who she is already, too. Reach out to some coaches you've seen that you like and see if they need a catcher. If they do or think they might, see if you can bring her to a regular practice.
 
Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
No player should be going to 10-15 tryouts. You do your homework, watch teams play, talk with the families of players currently on the team and/or the organization, visit the website, call the coaches and ask them what their goals for the team are during the season (e.g. College showcases, ASA nationals, PGF qualifiers, etc.) do they (or assistant coaches) have DDs on the team, if so what positions do they play. If it's your DDs position, bail. You need to match up your DDs goals with the prospective teams available. I always called the coaches before tryouts to get as much information as possible about their program, goals, monthly fees, anticipated practice schedule, etc. It's amazing how much information you can get in a 15 min call.

The point is do all the background before tryouts and narrow the teams down to 3 or 4. Attend their tryouts and hopefully you get several teams interested. Most want you to commit fairly quickly so be ready to make a decision within a week or two.

Lastly, most teams have secondary tryouts after fall, so don't be to concerned if the first team is not perfect for your DD, she can always tryout in January for other teams. IME, right or wrong, there is a lot of movement of players throughout the season.


Good ideas. Yeah, we won't be doing that many this year. Like I said, we have a fallback option of returning to her old coach, so I would only have her tryout for teams that would seem to be better options than that fallback. But the old coach had a team fold last year, and my fear is that there is a risk the same could happen again. I'm kind of surprised the org is giving him another chance. I do talk to coaches a lot and ask the right questions. The tricky thing is how to differentiate the truth from the "car salesman" promises. I'm a lot more savvy this year than I was last year though, and now I know the rep of the particular teams/coaches more intimately. Hoping for a short tryout process this year!
 

osagedr

Canadian Fastpitch Dad
Oct 20, 2016
280
28
Round here tryout "season" is second week in September; each of the four local TB teams has a tryout on a different weeknight with phone calls Friday night, except that orgs are allowed to contact players already within their org to offer spots at any time.

DD's org is the top; then there are two about neck-and-neck; then a fourth. I expect DD will stay with the current org which when she gets to U-16 will provide the best opportunities for travel and exposure. It's tough because her best friends play with the org that is either second or third best overall. However, that org has way too much "Daddyball" and drama for me. Next year DD should be the #1 pitcher on her U-14 team.
 
Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
Round here tryout "season" is second week in September; each of the four local TB teams has a tryout on a different weeknight with phone calls Friday night, except that orgs are allowed to contact players already within their org to offer spots at any time.

DD's org is the top; then there are two about neck-and-neck; then a fourth. I expect DD will stay with the current org which when she gets to U-16 will provide the best opportunities for travel and exposure. It's tough because her best friends play with the org that is either second or third best overall. However, that org has way too much "Daddyball" and drama for me. Next year DD should be the #1 pitcher on her U-14 team.

What a great system! I wish that TB around here would coordinate with each other like that. Often what happens is you'll get an offer and the coach wants an immediate commitment, even though you may still have tryouts scheduled weeks out. It feels mean to hold an offer that long, but tryouts are held over such a long period of time that it's hard to avoid doing that.
 
Feb 15, 2016
273
18
Getting on the phone ahead of time is essential in my opinion. Let the coach know who your DD is and be honest about her abilities. If it is a stretch that your DD will make the team and she doesn't do anything that will make her stand out at tryouts (fast pitcher, fast runner, really good arm, CRUSHES the ball, etc...) some communication ahead of time can help. I have been a part of tryouts (sometimes the cattle-call type) for many years and if you know a certain player is coming and have talked to mom or dad ahead of time you will watch for that player. Then, if the kid performs as advertised, it can help. I have always been honest with folks who call and let them know that in reality we have 8 of 12 girls returning, so we are really looking for 4 players. One dad a few years ago told me his DD was a decent catcher who was a little bit rough on blocking, with decent speed, a good arm and also played outfield and middle infield. She was a 1st year 14U moving up to "A" ball from a "C" team. He said they had been to 5 tryouts and she couldn't find a team. He apologized for calling and just asked us to give her a look, because she really wanted to play ball at a higher level.

She was that girl who would not have made it past us guys with the clipboards. She had good speed and a good arm, but was rough behind the plate, and was not very smooth in the infield. She struggled hitting off the machine. I talked to the HC about her and he watched her closely. He loved her glove behind the plate. She did look pretty good when we banged fly-balls at her. He took her aside and worked with her for a few minutes on blocking and some infield technique and she looked like a whole different kid. He liked her because she took instruction well and could immediately apply it. After some discussion among coaches he invited her back to a practice but did not give her an offer on the spot. She worked with the team for two hours and by the end of practice she had her offer. She worked hard over the winter and ended up being the #1 CF and split time at catcher. She played 2B once in awhile as well and ended up with the second best BA and best OBP on the team.

I typed all that because it was dad's phone call and honest assessment of her that made us take an extra close look at her even though she was basically a rec player and didn't do much to get herself noticed at the tryout. That kid ended up playing for a very good D3 school and played on some good TB teams with a lot of good players.
 
Jun 21, 2015
201
0
That's a great story. My daughter is like that. Her strengths are blocking and receiving, she can really crush the ball but she is streaky with her hitting. Goes on a several game hot streak then goes on a several game slump. Then back on a hot streak, and so on. So she might hit good at tryouts...but maybe not. The thing I think that is holding her off an A team is her arm. It's average, ok, but not a killer cannon. That sometimes turns evaluators off. However in a game she always seems to somehow intimidate runners because she's big and aggressive looking behind the plate. You don't see that in tryouts. Her arm and pop time is something she is really doing some extra work to try and improve. And it is getting better, it just seems to be a slow pace. One thing she has going for her is she is very coachable. I hope tryouts go easier for her this year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Getting on the phone ahead of time is essential in my opinion. Let the coach know who your DD is and be honest about her abilities. If it is a stretch that your DD will make the team and she doesn't do anything that will make her stand out at tryouts (fast pitcher, fast runner, really good arm, CRUSHES the ball, etc...) some communication ahead of time can help. I have been a part of tryouts (sometimes the cattle-call type) for many years and if you know a certain player is coming and have talked to mom or dad ahead of time you will watch for that player. Then, if the kid performs as advertised, it can help. I have always been honest with folks who call and let them know that in reality we have 8 of 12 girls returning, so we are really looking for 4 players. One dad a few years ago told me his DD was a decent catcher who was a little bit rough on blocking, with decent speed, a good arm and also played outfield and middle infield. She was a 1st year 14U moving up to "A" ball from a "C" team. He said they had been to 5 tryouts and she couldn't find a team. He apologized for calling and just asked us to give her a look, because she really wanted to play ball at a higher level.

She was that girl who would not have made it past us guys with the clipboards. She had good speed and a good arm, but was rough behind the plate, and was not very smooth in the infield. She struggled hitting off the machine. I talked to the HC about her and he watched her closely. He loved her glove behind the plate. She did look pretty good when we banged fly-balls at her. He took her aside and worked with her for a few minutes on blocking and some infield technique and she looked like a whole different kid. He liked her because she took instruction well and could immediately apply it. After some discussion among coaches he invited her back to a practice but did not give her an offer on the spot. She worked with the team for two hours and by the end of practice she had her offer. She worked hard over the winter and ended up being the #1 CF and split time at catcher. She played 2B once in awhile as well and ended up with the second best BA and best OBP on the team.

I typed all that because it was dad's phone call and honest assessment of her that made us take an extra close look at her even though she was basically a rec player and didn't do much to get herself noticed at the tryout. That kid ended up playing for a very good D3 school and played on some good TB teams with a lot of good players.

To me that's what coaching is all about! How many coaches miss out on really excellent players because they don't see the talent that's hidden under the surface? And it's not their fault necessarily, like you said: what would catch your eye if she hadn't been brought to your attention? Great story :)
 

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