Tryouts While Current Season is Still in Progress

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Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
I noticed that. Ours is this Saturday, but the org is 1:30 from where we practice. Predictably we don't have many girls registered. We have 7 already, I figure we'll fill the rest with open workouts starting in late August. I personally wouldn't pay for a tryout. I think the teams that are part of orgs that can charge for tryouts and still attract girls also aren't likely to have very many open slots and they probably already know who they want to fill them. For most girls that's going to end up being a waste of money I bet.

Yep, we are not going to the fee tryout. There is one team in that org DD is interested in, but we'll go do a private with that coach vs. the whole big org. thing.
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
Fees for tryouts are not that uncommon.

DD 3 used to be in an organization where outsiders were charged $25 for the right to tryout, and if accepted and they chose the team, the $25 would be deducted from the team fees.

DD 3's new team charges $25 for tryouts, and across the age groups they had hundreds of girls try out. I figure they got over $1000 per tryout.
 
Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
Fees for tryouts are not that uncommon.

DD 3 used to be in an organization where outsiders were charged $25 for the right to tryout, and if accepted and they chose the team, the $25 would be deducted from the team fees.

DD 3's new team charges $25 for tryouts, and across the age groups they had hundreds of girls try out. I figure they got over $1000 per tryout.

They don't seem to be typical in GA. This is really the only one I've seen this year.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
It's the only one that I know of that's charging in GA. There may be others, but it's definitely not the norm here. We have too many teams for it I think. Girls have a million choices, why bother with one they have to pay for? The one that's doing it is one of 3 that could maybe pull it off.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,258
113
It’s common to see organizations charge for tryouts up here. Part of it is obviously a fund raiser. The main purposes are to pay for facility rental (several orgs hold tryouts in “domes”) and to weed out girls who are just window shopping. As another poster said most of the high profile teams know who’s coming back and there’s only a few spots open.

One thing I’ve seen over the past few years is organizations having several teams per age group and they’ll offer a roster spot, but won’t separate into teams until later in the fall season. I can’t imagine joining an org without knowing who the coach will be or which team it is, but they have no problem filling up for whatever reason.
 
Last edited:
Jan 31, 2011
458
43
Our organization has gone back & forth with this topic. Some years we charge, other years we don't. I am an advocate of charging $25 per kid trying out. (excluding returning players). Our try-outs are normally about 3 hours long and the kids get a good workout. We offer multiple dates and if a kid wants to come back for a 2nd or 3rd date there is no additional charge. I personally feel $25 is a nominal charge AND its a cheap practice cost to get your kid 1 or more quality workouts. We spend a lot of time hosting tryouts & securing fields at a cost. It seems pretty fair from my point of view.
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
I can see both sides of the issue.

DD 3's new team practices in a big facility, and they use most of the facility for the tryouts. That mean, they are using potential revenue producing areas for tryouts. Also, they have paid staff running the tryouts. Therefore the tryouts cost them money to run, and the $25 pays for the cost. I think all players, returning or otherwise, pay for it.

Every other organization DD 3 has ever tried out for has used outdoor fields, and volunteer coaches. Only one of those organizations ever charged for tryouts, and that was waived for returning players. (In fact, the year DD 3 joined that organization, she didn't go to the tryout, since we were on vacation.) I can see if the organization has to pay a rental fee for the area, and if they are trying to weed out the non-serious players.

For DD 3's current team, we looked at the $25 fee as a way to see where DD 3 was compared to the sort of players who are good enough for an A level organization. We were pleasantly surprised that she made the team.
 

softgabby

Gear Empress
Mar 10, 2016
1,073
83
Just behind home plate
Where I live, it's not uncommon to be charged a fee to try out for a team. We have multiple teams in our area that uses the same indoor/outdoor facility we're having our try out today and tomorrow. I think I had heard from one of my coaches when I came to the facility to take a little BP and work with my catching coach (I still have areas in my game I need to work on) and I had heard that we're supposed to have something like 150 girls try out the next 2 days. I think we paid something like 30 dollars to try out and right now this is the only team I'm trying out for since its the same team I played for lasdt season and I'm happy with our team.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,723
113
The area we live in has a gentlemans agreement that tryouts will be the first Monday and Tuesday in August. The reason for it was all the drama that was happening at nationals when kids inevitably found out who was leaving the teams. It helped quite a bit but now the trend is regional teams so it still does happen.

An earlier poster mentioned how common it is for players to verbal in 8th grade. If you think about it, that really isn't all that common. That is a pretty exclusive club imho.
 

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