Thoughts of +/-'s of open practices before tryouts

[JOHNN]

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far. I figured I was thinking way too much into it but thought I get some other feedback as well since so many others have been doing this for years. As far as open practices plus tryouts, the coach told me that they make all girls attend the actual tryout date bc they want them to get used to them and never get complacent. Personally I'm good with that.

Thinking way to much. What age group? Put the cleats on and get out there. If i was going to just watch a practice I probably would not take DD. Good coach see talent and athletics thru good or bad days. Most bad days come from being nervous. Prepare, relax, breathe and get out there.

It is 8u (or possibly 10u with all 9yo players). The reason I brought her with me to watch was because she got extremely nervous when I first mentioned attending tryouts. I wanted to put her mind at ease and let her see firsthand there was nothing to be worried about. And after seeing how everything was run, she said she wanted to participate in the next practice when I asked her about it. So that was definitely a good first step.

 

[uncdrew]

I think it's great to do it. You can see what the coaches are like. They can evaluate based on multiple nights versus 10 pitches in a tryout. Just keep in mind that once you are on a team if you go to one they will know so don't not tell them.

Great point. Simply be honest with coaches about what you're doing. It's a very small world. If you lie or mislead, they often find out.

 

[JumboJack]

All of the "Try outs" that my DD have ever attended have been open practices except for one instance that was one on one with a HC.

 

[CMMom1740]

An open workout is a tryout. If the Coach thinks she's a stud, he'll offer her right then before she goes elsewhere and gets an offer. I will say that if you're looking at multiple teams, you're going to likely run into a situation where schedules start to conflict. I'd rather attend tryouts/workouts with several different teams vs. putting all my eggs in one basket. JMHO.

 

[bmakj]

DD has attended traditional tryouts (maybe 20-25 girls including incumbents), cattle call tryouts (50+ girls, coaches clearly only interested if you really did something amazing, otherwise not paying too much attention), open practices, and individual workouts.

she actually preferred open practices the best, let her really get a feel for the girls already on the team.

one thing she mentioned to me what is spot on, she loved it when she could not figure out who the coaches kids was. when watching, see if you can figure it out (other than by who arrives in whose car or how they address coach)? if it is easy to see, probably want to look elsewhere.

Also, if after your DD attends 2-3 of their practices, and they are not at least hinting at offering a spot (some wont officially until after official tryout), make certain you have others lined up. DD has pretty much knew where we stood by the time we got into the car with every tryout/practice/workout (either they offered or gave strong indicator, or she knew she did not want to join, such as at cattle call)

 

[CMMom1740]

DD has attended traditional tryouts (maybe 20-25 girls including incumbents), cattle call tryouts (50+ girls, coaches clearly only interested if you really did something amazing, otherwise not paying too much attention), open practices, and individual workouts.

she actually preferred open practices the best, let her really get a feel for the girls already on the team.

one thing she mentioned to me what is spot on, she loved it when she could not figure out who the coaches kids was. when watching, see if you can figure it out (other than by who arrives in whose car or how they address coach)? if it is easy to see, probably want to look elsewhere.

Also, if after your DD attends 2-3 of their practices, and they are not at least hinting at offering a spot (some wont officially until after official tryout), make certain you have others lined up. DD has pretty much knew where we stood by the time we got into the car with every tryout/practice/workout (either they offered or gave strong indicator, or she knew she did not want to join, such as at cattle call)

Agreed. Lukewarm response is generally going to be a "no." Even responses like "we really like what we see; please keep coming back" are often eventually "no" because they find a shiner penny. Don't invest too much time with one team if no offer is forthcoming pretty quickly.