Commit then say no??

[flash277]

Well, what would you say if the family said "well coach, we like your team, but we want to check out other teams before we accept". Would you be ok with that, or would you be somewhat annoyed that you offered a spot and they didn't grab it (which some coaches definitely would be). Would you take that player a week later if they came back to you because either they didn't make another team or maybe they did like your team the most after looking around?

 

[quincy]

College players are jumping all over the place. I am not sure what thier reason is most the time. Young kid and parents not leaving up to thier commits, I am shocked.

DD was loyal to a fault, which was not a good thing either.

 

[_MIA_]

One thing a coach could do, if possible (not sure it is) would be to make sure every kid trying out is provided with all information required to make a decision (with the exception of how a kid gets along with the players on the team) at least a few days before the tryout so they can discuss beforehand what the decision would be should they be offered a spot.

 

[radness]

You are arguing for what parents of kids who tryout should be doing which is in line with the OP so I get it and I agree with you in a perfect world, yes should mean yes. What I am getting at is as a coach how do you best make that "YES" as firm as possible while also leaving yourself with the best player options possible. That is a tough question and because it is a multi-objective optimization problem, the best overall result is probably going to sacrifice the optimality of each of those (most firm "YES" and best players you can get) things individually.

NO i am not arguing.
Actually same as you are recognizing the difficulty within making a commitment.
And discussing how to make the connection on a commitment formal not opened ended wishy washy.

While i'm watching
Dog the bounty hunter

 

[_MIA_]

NO i am not arguing.
Actually same as you are recognizing the difficulty within making a commitment.
And discussing how to make the connection on a commitment formal not opened ended wishy washy.

While i'm watching
Dog the bounty hunter

I didn't mean arguing in a negative way..discussing would have perhaps been a better word choice..

 

[Strike2]

This all seems even tougher than, say, a decade ago. Some kids/parents are just looking for a place to play...others are constantly looking for that greener grass. I've watched several players around DD's age repeatedly attempt to gain traction on that "top tier" team only to fall back to where they should be later in the season. The "perfect team" is something of a unicorn, and many coaches and parents want to overthink this. DD played most of her last six TB seasons on the same independent team. It certainly wasn't perfect, but the goods outweighed the others, especially after a day or two passed.

As much as I enjoyed watching both DDs play over 15 seasons, most always from in front of the fence, I don't mind seeing the whole tryout/team forming thing pass into the rear-view mirror.

 

[radness]

I didn't mean arguing in a negative way..discussing would have perhaps been a better word choice..

Being in agreement with you might have been hard...lol

 

[_MIA_]

Being in agreement with you might have been hard...lol

I will agree with this..

 

[Shiloh]

This past week I had 8 players and parents show up for a tryout. (3 to 4 players who already said yes werent there). At the end of the tryout, me, my staff (consisisting of me, my close friend with 10 years coaching and 2 former college players and the head of the organization) sat down with the 8, offered spots to all and went over all the details including costs, tournaments, uniforms, winter workouts, etc).At the end of the meeting we asked if everyone is in and we would be set. Everyone said yes and that they are commited..I laid out the 1st 5 to 6 practices. The next two days I get 4 parents saying they not playing for me or the organization. Is the new reality that you say yes then no? To me it screws over the players who said yes. I am just an old school coach who thinks once you say yes, you are in?

This is going to sound harsh, but here's my take -

your first big mistake was to hold a tryout without the whole team there. People love to be part of the in-crowd, and unless your org has a big reputation, showing only 8 players makes it seem like you don't really have a team. (Why not use the opportunity to compare the new players to the existing ones?) And then you doubled down on perceived desperation by offering everyone who showed up a spot on the team right away. You tripled down by making it very difficult to say no in the moment. (Were parents and players supposed to just walk out if they weren't interested?)

So while you get an A+ for earnestness and honesty, you robbed yourself of an opportunity to come across as knowledgeable, thoughtful, exclusive and worth fighting for.

I'm sorry this happened. Better luck next time.

 

[quincy]

That is a good point about players that already have spot on Team.

Like all our DDs she knows a surprising amount of SB players.

I think she was good enough were she was trying out the Team along with them trying her out. Should have your A game if your committed.