Unfortunately, there are some bad apples out there that can be "shady" in terms of the financial side of our sport, but thankfully the vast majority are not. Be weary of coaches / organizations that make wild promises about schedules, college coach connections, etc. when there isn't a long track record to back up the promises.
I believe that due diligence in researching the particular coach you are trying out for is vitally important. At the younger age groups, some questions to ponder:
- Will this coach help my daughter get better through practice?
- Will this coach's coaching style work for my daughter?
- Will this team play the appropriate level of competition for my daughter?
For the older age groups:
- Will this coach help my daughter get better through practice? In particular, can this coach help prepare my daughter to play at the next level?
- Will this coach's coaching style keep my daughter interested in the sport?
- Will this team play in tournaments that will allow my daughter to be seen by college coaches?
With so many organizations having multiple teams at each age level, you cannot go by org name alone and presume that the coach of the team will be a good coach for
your daughter. I routinely see excellent coaches and "less than excellent" coaches in the same organization. So definitely do your homework.