Tryouts, breaking the news: "You didn't make it"

[CoogansBluff]

Maybe it's different in America, but every band I've been in has not kicked people out for not being as good. (I played cornet until I was 17. Because I spent so much time on softball I was only in school band, the brass band and the community band. If I'd wanted to go further I needed to put more practise in. I didn't.) You wouldn't get into the better bands but you would never be booted out of one.

I know softball is very different in America than it is here. There's a lot of stuff that is INSANE to me but for the most part I bite my tongue and remind myself that it's different and much more competitive in America. But kicking a 10/11 year old off a team that the parents consider a family team is just so needlessly cruel. (because while we're all talking about 12 year olds here the kids in question are even younger as this is a 12under team) I can honestly say it would have devastated me at that age if I'd been told I couldn't play with my friends. It devastated when it happened to me at 17. (team fell apart as we only had eight players. Every team had brilliant first and third bases and didn't need five players. Part of the reason I took up pitching at my new association) I cried for a week over that.

Lozza - I appreciate your side of this and remain open-minded. But I want to ask: Is a school band and a competitive travel softball team a fair analogy?

In travel ball, only 9 can play at a time, and parents and players want small rosters (11-12) because everybody wants to play. It's not like school marching bands where some schools have 100 members, others have 25. In travel softball, I can't keep everybody who wants to be on the team. Do school bands have those same constraints? Also, is a school band designed to be competitive, or to entertain and instruct? Also, if there are limits to band membership, do you feel that you should be guaranteed a spot in the band if more talented/more committed cornet players also want in? Is the band director being fair to those 'better' cornet players to say, "You're better than one of my cornet players, and you work harder too, and you even have more desire, but she's been here from the start, and it would devastate her if I chose you over her.''

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I can see both sides of the argument.

Having raised a baseball pitcher and a softball pitcher, I have another thought. You've practiced and taken lessons and worked at home. You get the batter to hit a dribbler to 2nd, E4. You get the next batter to pop up to right. E9. I think you get where I am going with this. If it is HS ball or the championship game in travel, the line score in the paper says "Losing pitcher, your kid." Remember, you are only as good as your weakest player.

Good luck, coach. I think that you want her gone. I guess that you need to do it and move on.

 

[#10]

I don't think the band analogy is a good one either, yet SG brings up valid points on the value of individual work ethic and setting the bar high.

Ultimately, I think a mandatory team meeting is in order to make sure every family understands that the team goals are moving higher. When cuts occur, nobody is blindsided. Your clear communication is the key, CB.

 

[99&beyond]

Last year we were a 12U team. We had to move up to 14 because of our pitcher. Coach made some decisions of who she was keeping and who she was cutting. There was 1 girl on our team that I honestly cannot remember her contributing much more than a smile and cheers during the games. She said flat out that she wanted to play right field. She was on the coach's cut list. 1 of the parents begged her to keep her and promised to help work with her. This was last July. The player went to play school ball (they lost all their games) and never played a fall tourney with us. Coach figured she no longer really wanted to play with us so she stopped sending messages.

In November, the coach takes our remaining players and joins an academy to help us advance. My DD and I make the choice in january to leave the team since we cannot really afford it. We found a new team in February.
The player comes back to the coach in march and tries our for the academy team, like us, they can't afford to be with the academy either, but coach calls me and asks if we have room on our team. I stall a bit, not sure if I want to approach the coach and offer up this sub-par player. She tells me, she has made vast improvements.

Our coach agrees to pick her up sight unseen as the 13th player on the roster. The only thing I knew about her current abilities was that she was always positive and will be loyal. While she still needs to work on her batting, she wound up being an incredible center fielder! She is lightning fast with a strong arm. And a couple of weeks ago, she tried out for her high school team and she made it!!

Who knew she had it in her from a year ago? The previous year she missed a bunch of games and practices for orchestra, drama, cheerleading, etc. This year, she missed 1 game and that was for a high school game they played this week. It just took that extra year for her develop

I think you need to talk to the parents of this player. Tell them what will be expected. Ask them if they are willing to put in the extra work - batting lessons, extra practice time, etc. And if you know some of the other girls are extra friendly with her, maybe ask them if they will invite her to go with them to the cages or out to play catch or practice fielding with them to help her skills improve.

None of us know her family situations, maybe mom and dad are unable to go out and play catch with her. maybe they lack the abilities or, like me, have good days and bad days physically that I cannot go out and repeatedly catch and throw. But I do know that if I wouldn't have gone out and worked hard with my DD in the late summer, fall and winter months, she would never be playing at the level that she does now.

 

[tmolina]

This fall will be the start of our third year as a club team. I have personally seen girls we have cut go on to be really good players else where making me second guess the decesion, but they might not have blossomed on our team and are in a good situation and showing not only skills needed to play but leadership skills too!!! Possible being cut was a wake up call, or they were put in a better enviorment to grow as a player?? On the otherside of the coin we have played against ex players from our team that we were justified in our decesion to cut that player when we saw them playing and no changes in their game or attitude. We have also kept girls that didn't live up to expectations as well, and will have to make tough decesions about these players next month...You just have to live with the decesions you make and move forward. One thing I will tell you is we are still good friends with players and parents of girls that left team willingly or were cut. Its too small of a world to burn bridges and they might want to try out and make us a better team in the future!! Good luck and stay positive no matter what decesion you make.

 

[Ivy's Dad]

I guess the decision is do you want to be an A team or a B team. I do not believe there are any B+ teams, either A or B. If you want to be an A team, take the best 12 players that show up at tryouts. If you decide to be an A team, also be prepared for your best players to move to better teams as they outgrow you. Loyalty works both ways, so you will be competing with other A coaches for the best players.

If you decide to be a B team, I would strongly consider keeping this girl. Loyalty to a player will keep some better players around that might otherwise leave for better teams.

There is no right or wrong answer to this. I think you just need to decide what the character of the team will be.

 

[BB875]

Here is what I did...Almost exactly same situation. I held open try-outs. Better kids showed up. They took her spot. I met with the parents and offered their kid a spot on the team that was limited. Her play time would be very limited. She attends practice, I try to get her in on Saturday's pool play games, but rarely played her on Sunday's. That was the deal. I added an extra roster spot for her, but I set the ground work up front. I did not hear one complaint from her parents this year.

 

[NutsyFagan]

If she's not a distraction to practice and you don't generally loose time at practice coaching her up, what's the harm in taking her? If you do take her then just make it clear to the parent what her likely status with the team will be. One things for sure, if you can keep her and it keeps her out of trouble, you've done someone a great favor.