How many tryouts?

[NorthMS]

My oldest DD picked her team Saturday. I'm so glad this is over, as this was our first time through. I guess pitching in our area is pretty bad. I had coaches call and offer a spot that has never seen DD pitch.

I did like that the deciding factor for DD was that this team would probably be a better team. She likes to win. She won't be the star, but will get circle time and probably get to advance in several tournaments.

 

[Softball scholar]

This tryout thing is a real crazy time of the year. Its so important to find the right fit and its a tough decision to make. But is the grass greener on one of these teams? Im seeing so much turnover this year. Ill admit that Im guilty of that too. Just want to make sure my 14U DD is on a competitive team. But thats hard to do decide as I hear a lot of the good teams from last season are loosing so many players. You really never know for sure what the team has until everybody shows up a practice.

The coach's speeches after the end of the tryouts are starting to sound the same. Saying things like, "were always fair and your DD will get a fair shake, and that they have a lot of contacts and know college coaches".

At least my DD has performed well in the 3 tryouts we went to last weekend. Its nice to see her nerves didnt get to her as there is some pressure. Will make a decision next weekend. Seems like the three teams we tryed out for all offer something a little different. But its really a tough decision. Hope we make the right one.

 

[obbay]

Our organization is only giving families 48 hrs to decide once they receive the offer. Last year they got screwed by taking people's word when they said they were in and then bailed later because little Susie didn't get the royal treatment or found she had friendson another team. We had players actually get uniforms, play in tournaments and then decide not to play after not paying a dime. So the pendulum is swinging the other way now.

 

[riseball]

...The coach's speeches after the end of the tryouts are starting to sound the same. Saying things like, "were always fair and your DD will get a fair shake, and that they have a lot of contacts and know college coaches"...

I always find that comment interesting. I guess it is great if your DD wants to play for one of their "contacts" or coaches they know. But what if that is not the case? You have to ask yourself if the coach has the reputation and interpersonal skills to get in front of a coach they have never met, nail a 60 second elevator speech and get your DD a shot at playing for that program. If not you may be on your own to make it happen.

 

[02Crush]

I see another thing to consider.... What do you and your player want out of a team. Teams who are working to qualify for ASA Nationals or PGF Bids are very different than the rest out there. Schedule is different, Goals are different, Objectives are different.

If you are excited about hearing back from a team who went to Nationals my suggestion would be to tryout for teams where this is their objective. Most of these coaches will understand allowing a little bit of time to consider the offer. I emphasize a little bit of time. Not two or three weeks. Plus many of the all tryout within the same week after school starts (at least around here they do). I do not coach a team like this and I completely understand families wishing to tryout for the major org's or these types of teams so I am patient. That said, I do not expect to many of those players who are good enough to make a team like that. I hold out hope....not my breath. This is why I wait to close my tryouts and decisions until AFTER these other teams. Oh and despite what anyone says there is a lot of snake oil sales going on as well this time of year. Especially in younger ages. At the end of the day if you gut says no to a situation then go with it. Good Luck.

 

[YOCOACH]

My daughter is looking for a new team. She had one tryout already with the team she really wants to play for. They had to leave for Nationals and so the coach was unable to get back to her. We probably won't hear from her until next week sometime.

Meantime, other teams are having their tryouts, and one team we might be interested in is having a tryout tomorrow. But the coach has said he won't hold a spot for anyone unable to make a commitment right away. So what would you do? Of course we need to have a backup plan in place in case her #1 team doesn't offer her a spot. But if her #2 team won't give her any time to decide, should she even go to the tryout? Would that be unfair to the coach? She wants to do the right thing, but she also doesn't want to be left out in the cold if plan #1 falls out.

Another possible team she's interested in has tryouts next week. How does a kid navigate these tricky waters?

We've been on both sides so let me give you a little perspective. From the parents point of view, I feel for you since you are trying to do the best thing for your DD and find her the best team she can make and get playing time on. IMO, go to as many tryouts as your DD wants to. Sit back and take stock of the offers after telling the coaches that you need a little time to make a decision and tryout for other teams. Please be honest with them and expect the same comment about holding a spot for her. What are the pros and cons of each team? Would DD be happy there for the year? If it is meant to be, the spot will still be open. If not, move on. Sometimes it seems unfair but we've found that usually everything works out in the end. Maybe not next year but eventually.

From the coach's point of view, you have to understand that they are trying to do exactly what you are but for 10-12 girls. They are trying to build the best team they can from the available talent. This means that if they offered to your DD, it is usually to fill a needed spot. For example, we have one spot available on our team. Throughout this tryout season we are looking specifically for a third pitcher. Not necessarily a #3 but someone that will compliment our other two pitchers. We offered to a pitcher that we had seen previously during the season when she showed up at our tryout. She told us that she wanted to tryout for other teams before she committed. Our response? The same as in bold above.The reason is simple. We have two more tryouts scheduled. More than likely, there will be several pitchers there looking for a team. If we find one we like, we need the freedom to offer to her as well. We can't afford to have our team be dependent upon another players decision.

Think about this logically for a minute. Hypothetically, the pitcher we offered to may not make her decision for another 2-3 weeks. It is a 50/50 proposition that she will decide to join us. However, the more teams she tries out for, the less chance we have statistically speaking. Now, we have a tryout and another pitcher that we would gladly take, shows up, does well and really wants to play for our organization/team. Is it fair to her that we have to tell her to wait possibly 2-3 weeks before we can make an offer because we haven't heard back from the first offered pitcher? Is it fair to our team to have to wait when we could have filled our roster with a quality player instead of more than likely losing both pitchers? After all, what do you think this girl and her family will do? They will do exactly what you are doing and go to more tryouts in hopes of more offers and options. More than likely, just to make sure they have a home for the year, they will accept an offer from another team within that 2-3 week period. Now, instead of having our third pitcher, we have nothing but an empty spot to fill if the first girl goes to another team with few hopes of filling it.

So as a rule, we will tell the player and their family that we would love to have them and are offering them a spot. They can take time to think about it but we will not hold the spot for the player. If another player we make an offer to accepts sooner than them, then the offer will no longer be valid.

 

[YOCOACH]

Don't you think the 48 hours rule makes people bail later? They never felt right saying yes. The answer is don't be in such a hurry to make a roster and make a bigger roster. I don't get the fear of that. To me the fear of not having enough players or having to put up with someone's BS because 'we'll lose without her' is worse. Earlier this summer, a 14u team had to forfeit the last two games because they barely had enough and one player went down with an injury, and the ump would not let her "fake" play to stay in the games because of her condition.

I am not sure the rush. It is fall!

OILF, you make some very good points. However, you know how TB works. Unlike HS ball where most players and families only have one option of playing for a team, the HS they are currently attending, they have many TB options available to them. Also, unlike HS ball where, at least most public HS players play for free or very little money involved compared to TB ball, TB parents are paying a substantial amount of money. For that money, they expect many things. But the two most important to them, especially at the younger ages, is that their DD shows skills improvement and getting playing time. As I'm sure you know, juggling 15 players and trying to get them playing time is difficult. Again, unlike HS ball where there's only two options if they don't get playing time (quit or sit the bench and deal with it), if their TB DD's don't get the playing time that they think their DD deserves, they will just leave and go to another team because of those many TB team options. A majority of TB families won't even consider a team with 15 players unless it's at the older ages where it's a showcase team and it is common to have a large roster due to the many commitments, both social and financial that the players make as they start driving, dating, get jobs, etc. etc.

We can sit here and bemoan all of the faults of the TB world but quite honestly, as long as there is money involved, and large sums of it at that, I don't see it changing anytime soon. Especially since it seems as if every TB parent with the rose colored glasses on that doesn't think their TB DD is getting a "fair" shake by the established teams is going out and starting a new one just so they can coach their DD and get her the amount of playing time they think she deserves. In other words, "Daddy Ball."

I agree with your earlier comment about building organizations instead of teams. However, with the above mindset so prevalent in today's society, it's just not going to happen. Instead of competing among a team of 12-15 for playing time, they go and start a new team so DD can play as much as she wants.

Edit to Add: One other thing, HS softball seasons, at least in this area and the surrounding states, last approximately 3 months from the beginnings of games to the end of playoffs/states. The TB season is year round unless it interferes with HS ball at the older age groups and the state (such as Ohio) has specific rules in place to prevent players doing both. Since the ABC organizations only allow one team release per year (unless there is very special circumstances and even then may not grant them) the TB commitment is for the entire year. Therefore, it may only be Fall, but that is when the TB commitment starts. If we don't get the best players available to us now, we may not get them for another entire year and possibly not even then if they have found another team they are happy with. So yes, there is a little bit of a "rush" to fill our rosters with the best possible position players we can find to fill the spots we need.

A solution to this might be to split up the seasons such as Fall/ Winter then have tryouts and field the position players needed for the next Spring/Summer season. I've heard of areas doing this and it has worked well for them. Either way, you're still going to have a free-for-all at tryouts and you'll still get the same comments since coaches are trying to fill their rosters and don't want to be dependent on someone's future decision to do so.

 

[cuzmail]

Don't you think the 48 hours rule makes people bail later?

I thought the same thing.

If our organization had players "bailing" after a tournament or two I would have to question why. My immediate thoughts are either there is a problem with the organization or they are choosing players for the sake of getting warm bodies on the roster. The players they are choosing are not a good fit if that happens early.

 

[SCDad]

I just went to the local board. The number of postings is down, and the number of days teams are having tryouts for is up. I also see two very prestigious A teams actually posting an announcement, when they used to be word of mouth, emails to contacts or maybe a brief blip of an announcement! One actually says "don't assume you will not make this team" Interesting. I also looked at rosters/brochures/profiles and the age of kids is going down, ie 13s on 16u, 14s on 18u. From perusing a few websites, the commit to the TB team only for the fall is the MO for many of the teams, as far as paying fees.

Just some interesting trends. I am going to walk my dog today and peek at the local team near me with the big 18u A roster of stars and see what goes at the younger ages to see the count for the younger age teams.

I agree with this trend as we are seeing similar.

Part of it is the economy. Folks do not have the disposal income to partake.

Another part is the changing value of a college education. For many, just having a job is needed. The job prospects for many college degrees are not there. So much depending on the college degree, it can be smart to just start working. The work is becoming over run with lower wage jobs.

And lastly, and In my opinion most problematic to softball, is an influxes and increase in people all throughout the USA of people who make a bulk of their income off of youth softball. This portion is exploding. Coaches, directors, umpires, hotels, it is never ending. During tough economic times, people run the numbers, and many times correctly con conclude the investment does to always have a positive return.

The old days, not too long ago, it was much more a volunteer enterprise. It is the story of the goose killing the golden egg.