Call back, or no call back

[CoachKevin]

I agree waiting is hard, but sometimes it's not the Coach. This happened to us last year and this year. Offered a spot to a girl at tryouts, she says she will think and talk it over with parents. A week goes by, nothing from her. HC calls her to find out what her decision is to find out she accepted on another team, which is fine, but now there are girls waiting to hear from our Coach..... and well you can see merry go round.

Communication does need to happen both ways. Just a suggestion to those who are reading this. If you have an offer from a team, but are also looking at other teams, once you accept an offer make a call or email to the other teams that have offered to tell them.

 

[BobInMadison]

The last team DD #3 tried out for had deadlines for the players they accepted. DD #3 wasn't at tryouts, but they offerered her a spot a couple of days later when the smoke had cleared, and maybe a girl or two had passed. She had 24 hours from when she was offered the spot to accept or decline, so they could go on to the next girl right away.

So, some sort of deadline from each direction is needed to avoid confusion.

 

[CoachKevin]

The last team DD #3 tried out for had deadlines for the players they accepted. DD #3 wasn't at tryouts, but they offerered her a spot a couple of days later when the smoke had cleared, and maybe a girl or two had passed. She had 24 hours from when she was offered the spot to accept or decline, so they could go on to the next girl right away.

So, some sort of deadline from each direction is needed to avoid confusion.

That would be great, but if the girl tryouts for other teams, that make take a week to get done with all the different schedules... I just know if we said you have 24 hours to decide we would have lost a few that eventually accepted our offer.

 

[gophert]

We just got done with our tryout in Nov. We had 28 girls show up. This was a brand new 12U team with a good organization. Once we had made our selections, we called each girl that made the team and got their verbal commitment over the phone. We did not give a time limit, due to the number of quality girls that we had to pick from, but all players accepted on the spot. We did give a few girls offers after the actual tryout. I suppose a 24 hr time limit would be ok, but if they aren't wanting to commit to you, why would you want to commit to them. We sent out an email that night to all those that did not make the tryout thanking them for their interest in our team and to keep us in mind later down the road if another tryout took place. There is no way we could have called all those players in a timely manner. Hope this helps.

 

[CMMom1740]

I email parents with a complete workup on how we rated their daughters. We give them their timed speeds running as well as a complete breakdown of their strengths and weaknesses on both offense and defense. We also give tips on what drills to work on for their weaknesses. Catchers get pop times as well. Pitchers get a full evaluation of each pitch with speed, spin and where it ranks at our level. We also give pitchers our evaluation on mechanics. All in all each email takes somewhere between 5 and 25 minutes to type.

I do it this way for a couple reasons. 1) I want them to have a rating in writing so that they can look back on what they need to work on, and what their strengths are. 2) Just because a kid isn't the right fit on our team doesn't mean that they aren't a good ball player. As soon as you tell a person over the phone that their DD didn't make it they tune out. They miss the positives that I want to share. So, I put it in writing. The girls and their parents need to understand that we appreciate them reaching out and wanting to be a part of our team. 3) I want the girls to continue to work, get better and enjoy the game. You never know when a girl may be a right fit down the line. Treating them and their family right at tryouts this year may pay off when they are looking 2-3 years from now.

As a parent, I would absolutely appreciate this. Especially if you're new to the TB game. Constructive feedback is so helpful so that you know what to work on, and advice from an unbiased eye is invaluable. It's almost like a free lesson/coaching session. Disappointing not to make the team, but it gives you something to work with. Way to go, coach!

 

[nicelag]

Personally, I like to call everyone if possible. Better yet I talk to the girls after parents if possible as well. I like to let them know what positive skills they have, and what I think they need to work on. I feel that it ends in a more positive way, and gives them some direction. In reality very few teams have so many at their tryouts that they can't make the calls. Many coaches just don't want to make that call.

When my DD entered the TB scene we had decided to attend a few tryouts for several reason. I wanted her to get the experience, I wanted to see how the coaches interacted with the girls and I wanted to have options. We were lucky and received offers at the tryouts. We told the coaches thank you, but we had other tryouts schedule through the next weekend and preferred to wait until they were complete. At that time we gave them all a date in which we would contact them with our decision. After the completion of the tryouts we made a decision and contacted all of the coaches as we discussed.

Upon talking to the teams that we turned down we made it clear that though we had made a decision to go another route we wanted to be sure they understood that it was nothing against them or their organization. It was just a better fit for us. We also made sure to tell the coaches that we hoped this decision wouldn't affect us negatively or close future doors down the road. It all went well that way. In fact the team we chose was turned upside down and didn't pan out from the get go, and as a result we ended up with one of the other teams. Glad were up front and cordial with all of the coaches or we would have had a rough year.

I see a lot of people only going to one tryout which I do not think is a good idea. Especially if you are just entering the TB scene. Go to a couple if you can. There is a lot to be gained. Like us, if your situation doesn't work out it can be much easier to find another home. Especially since you have seen other coaches and they have seen you. it's like looking for a job. When people are looking for work they don't just apply at one company. Hedge your bets...

 

[Little Angels Softball]

I call all the families of every girl who tries out, yay or nay. I let them know at the end of the tryout that every single one of them will get a call before 9:00 p.m. the following evening with either an offer or no thanks. I have done this since day one and have on occasion made more than 60 phone calls in that time frame.

I do not give a deadline for girls to accept the offer. If I make one, it is good until the girl either accepts it, rejects it or tries out for another team.

Most of the girls who will make my team already know that I am interested in them before the tryout. Scouting is a HUGE part of my selection process .... much more so than any tryout could ever be and when you're scouting girls fairly often a communication from the parents usually finds its way to me before the tryout. I do not reach out to parents of attached girls, but am fine with recruiting them if they've reached out to me. As a funny side note, I have a girl on this year's team who I thought was untouchable but her family reached out to me after I had been to a few of her games, actually scouting another girl. They guessed it was their girl who I was scouting and wanted to make their interest known! It worked out well for both parties!

After I call and talk to the girls' families, I offer to put together an email of my impressions (good and bad and of the parents, as well) if the family desires it. We get a lot of very good players trying out who don't end up making the team and many of the folks I talk to have a hard time believing their DD came up short. It helps them to see it writing after they've cooled off from the rejection, and I have had girls come back and make my team the following year after having worked on the things I pointed out.

That's what I do. I firmly believe that all the girls and their families need to hear it directly from me, have an opportunity to ask questions and/or vent if necessary, and to find out why she/they didn't make my team. I think I owe anyone at least that much if a girl is willing to put her talent, feelings and heart on the line for me and my team.

 

[Vertigo]

We held tryouts over 3 days; at the end, we said we'd let the girls know within 3 days. We called back the girls we were interested in and offered them a spot. We also called back the girls who came to 2-3 tryouts, but did not make the team. We sent emails to the rest who only came to tryouts one day (there were only a few) and said that we'd gladly discuss why their daughter didn't make our team and what she should work on if they wanted us to.