USSSA Elite Select Futures

[Addy's Dad]

DD attended USSSA Elite Select Futures tryout last night. Was wondering if anyone else attended tryout in Clermont FL and what they thought? Have tryouts in other parts of the country been well organized?

I was not very impressed with the overall organization of the tryout. Way understaffed and not a lot of eyes on the players.
Volunteer coaches were doing their best to help out, but it was clear that USSSA was not prepared for the 200 girls that showed up.

It didn't help that it was one of the coldest nights of the year, and the girls stood around for up to 45 minutes between stations with no direction on where they should be going or doing.

Some parents were returning from last year and said that it wasn't great last year either, but this year was worse.

 

[marriard]

I wasn't there this year, however the state USSSA state director sent out a note to all team managers Florida-wide on Thursday looking for volunteers to help out. Guess he didn't get the response he needed.

 

[grcsftbll]

We went last year. I posted a long review if you want to search it out. I also thought it was poorly organized. It was fun and worth doing (we met Lauren Chamberlain; she is so cool) but we didn't go again this year.

 

[WaNole]

I posted a warning about saving your money. I feel bad for folks that make the trip to Disney from out of state. The games are managed by one college player and they don't play to win. Everyone I know that did it last year did not do it again.

 

[spleen1015]

DD did it last year in Clermont, IN. There wasn't 200 kids there. I don't think it was run poorly or great. It was just another tryout to me.

DD was a direct select and we made the trip. I don't want to bash the whole thing because I like what USSSA is trying to do. More opportunities like this for softball players is a great idea, IMO. Having said that, she's not trying out again this year. I don't think the trip was worth it. It was not what I thought it would be. I expected the competition to better than it was. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, DD had a team mate who struck looking every AB and only swung the bat 1 time, her last strike of the week. She had about 10-15 ABs.

 

[Sluggermama02]

My DD had a different experience, although I did see some teams with the issues spleen spoke to. My daughter played on a very strong team and made lifelong friendships. We aren't doing it again, as she's moved on to showcase focus, but it was still a good experience and a place at the tryouts (which for us were well run) to get some "official" numbers if someone like OnDeck isn't going to be in your area.