What were some of the good/bad tryouts you attended

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10U should be nothing but teaching. If I was to coach a 10U team, I would have at least 4 other coaches. But that is for another thread.

you are right. In my 2 years at 10u it was non stop teaching. I had myself and 3 other coaches and many many times we had to bring parents out to run stations. Teaching the parents and kids is a lot of work.... but it must be done!!

 

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Re: posts from cgs and Akadema1 - last week my dd attended some tryouts, one where the players weren't in identifying clothes and a couple where they were. I'm not sure the uniforms matter as much as the attitude of the returning girls. In the case of no uniform and one of the ones with uniforms, the returning players all worked hard and represented their teams well. But the other one in uniform the girls "helped" but just barely. I wasn't really watching them, but it was the first thing my dd commented about when she was done with the tryout. She thought they didn't try hard and that caused her to lose interest in that team.

I'm curious to see her reaction to the Heat's girls. We'll be there Sunday for 13u.

 

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With all due respect, if you have no plans to even consider replacing any of those existing players with someone who might show up at the tryout and might be better than those players at their respective positions-- then you SHOULDN'T have tryouts. What you should do is simply advertise that you are looking for an outfielder or a utility player or whatever. Then you should give those who respond a tryout. Anything else is disingenuous and deceptive. There are far too many "open" tryouts being held during which it is obvious that certain players are outstanding-- yet those players never get offered a position on the team.

Be honest and do the right thing. Either that or truly "open" your tryouts and choose the best players. Maybe then you'd be able to play a little bit later on Sundays.

 

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With all due respect, if you have no plans to even consider replacing any of those existing players with someone who might show up at the tryout and might be better than those players at their respective positions-- then you SHOULDN'T have tryouts. What you should do is simply advertise that you are looking for an outfielder or a utility player or whatever. Then you should give those who respond a tryout. Anything else is disingenuous and deceptive. There are far too many "open" tryouts being held during which it is obvious that certain players are outstanding-- yet those players never get offered a position on the team.

Be honest and do the right thing. Either that or truly "open" your tryouts and choose the best players. Maybe then you'd be able to play a little bit later on Sundays.

There are teams that are very specific in what they are looking for, and don't advertise "open" tryouts if they are not truly open. It may just happen that they are holding tryouts at one time rather than all individual tryouts. It makes it easier to compare skill sets.

 

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My dd tried out for the Stingrays 10u on 8/8, and we were VERY impressed with both the drills and the coaches!!

 

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Re: posts from cgs and Akadema1 - last week my dd attended some tryouts, one where the players weren't in identifying clothes and a couple where they were. I'm not sure the uniforms matter as much as the attitude of the returning girls. In the case of no uniform and one of the ones with uniforms, the returning players all worked hard and represented their teams well. But the other one in uniform the girls "helped" but just barely. I wasn't really watching them, but it was the first thing my dd commented about when she was done with the tryout. She thought they didn't try hard and that caused her to lose interest in that team.

Agree. If returning team members are going to be at try outs in uniform, then they really need to represent their team well, give it their 100%, because it can be a real turn off to those trying out if returnees appear as if they think they are better than those trying out but half a$$ tryouts because they can. Those trying out are evaluating potential teams just as much as the teams are evaluating them.

 

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raellis:

Our players (the 14U BH '95 team) understand that their performance and effort in doing the drills that allow the tryout players to show their skills is a part of their team responsibility, plus our players are just hard workers and have competitive drive that wouldn't allow them to show anything but the best to girls who might want to join the team. That's a large part of why we want them there and participating in ways that are helpful to the tryout session.

In any event, I'm not sure how many players have been given a prior commitment on the two 13U teams, so while you may have more opportunities to get a spot on one of those teams, you'll probably glean less information about the cohesion and worth ethic of the final team composition. There are trade-offs in every situation.

thetruth:

We play plenty late on Sundays and with all due respect we have advertised that we are looking for one and maybe two players having speed and a good bat. I see no harm in designating the day that we give those who respond to that description an opportunity to be seen. Other teams in the organization have greater needs in quantity and the organization as a whole conducts tryouts on a coordinated basis (that is, different times for each age group but on the same day) precisely so the staff on one team can run drills that allow the coaching staff on the team whose age group is trying out to spend their time watching and evaluating.

If you read the description for the Buckeye Heat '95 tryout, it hardly falls into your description of an "open tryout" and I don't appreciate your suggestion that we are being deceptive or disingenuous.

Here's the description:

Heat 95
Coach Ted Mason

The Buckeye Heat 95 is looking for 1, perhaps 2 players to round out a first-rate team. We are looking for players with speed and excellent offensive skills. Our pitchers and catchers are set, so prospective players should excel at other positions. The 2010 Buckeye Heat 95 will play at least two fall tournaments, one of which will be the Queen of Diamonds Tournament over Labor Day weekend in Rock Hill, SC and the other will be an ASA Eastern National qualifier. During the fall we will also play Sunday doubleheaders against a set of strong 14u and 16u teams. If the opportunity presents itself during the winter we will play a limited indoor schedule. Our summer season in 2010 will start the first weekend of June and run through the first week of August. We will be playing a very competitive schedule and aim to qualify for ASA/USA Nationals. At this time our 9 desired tournaments would include Compuware, Stingrays, GAPSS, Toledo Fastpitch Classic, all ASA/USA qualifiers offered in Ohio, and ASA/USA Nationals.

 

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raellis:

Our players (the 14U BH '95 team) understand that their performance and effort in doing the drills that allow the tryout players to show their skills is a part of their team responsibility, plus our players are just hard workers and have competitive drive that wouldn't allow them to show anything but the best to girls who might want to join the team. That's a large part of why we want them there and participating in ways that are helpful to the tryout session.

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cgs - that's what I'd expect given the Heat's reputation and I don't doubt you deliver on it. I'm curious how my dd perceives the tryout. Surprisingly, a 13 y/o girl's perception is rather different than a (younger) middle-aged man!

 

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tryouts for the ohio power went well. coaches all over the place. plus the gentleman who runs the organization had a parent meeting to explain everthing. then fielded any questions. never heard back. oh well.

 

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A mom called me today to say "I told you so" about a certain new northeast Ohio fastpitch program. She had complained that it did not appear that anyone was actually watching or writing down anything when the girls were hitting, fielding, etc. She said there was a huge turnout but that there didn't seem to be much evaluation going on. She also said that her daughter was hands down the best (not one of the best-- the best) hitter and fielder there.

Today she got a phone call from a young "coach" who told her that her daughter had NOT been selected. She had spoken with a few other parents who are aware of this team and had come to the conclusion that the head of the program-- who is a local high school coach-- is simply trying to build her high school program through this travel team while making money at the same time.

"Check the 14U roster when it comes out," said the mother. "They'll all be kids who are eligible to play for her high school team."

Now THAT would be a BAD tryout.

LOL.....Matt I agree,

 

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Been to several tryouts this year and by far the Ohio Emeralds 12U was the most organized. All girls got a thorough evaluation at every station, and they took the time to explain the whole organization to the parents........A+

At the Ohio Power tryouts, there was a large turnout, but they didn't have anyone to catch the return fly balls and grounders, (they had to stop and go pick up all the balls from the bucket when empty) several girls after pitching, returned to bat and there was no one there! No one with a clip board, no one to record the girls' numbers and when we asked, a single gentlemen loaded a few balls into the pitching machine, but the girls weren't evaluated. No slaps, no bunts and no one watching except the parents. I felt bad for the girls, they could see no one was watching. Unorganized to say the least.

 

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There is a relationship between this issue of last season's players wearing uniforms or having to do all the stations and the question whether last season's players have already been told whether they are being invited back to the team. As Joe noted above, the Buckeye Heat's policy is to go into tryouts knowing which of the girls will be returning. We don't instruct our returning girls to come in uniform but we encourage some type of identifying spirit wear, we don't give them try-out numbers, we introduce them to the girls who are trying out and we explain they are there to work out and to allow the try-out girls to get a feel for the team they would be playing with. We also explain all of that to the parents of young ladies who are trying out.

Tryouts are about showing potential coaches what your dd is capable of, and getting a feel for the organization/coaches/players so you can make the best possible decision for dd to find the "right fit". With this goal in mind, I feel having players who are already committed to the team be present will allow those trying out to get to know the girls they may be teammates with. How do you know you will like being on a team if you have met no one on that team? Our girls and their families are proud of their teams and want to help coaches in any way possible to choose players that will fit right in to the team chemistry already established. We as coaches know we are trying out for prospective players just as much as they are trying out for us, while at the same time our girls are trying out for future team members. As an organization we all recognize this two-way street.

 

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With all due respect, if you have no plans to even consider replacing any of those existing players with someone who might show up at the tryout and might be better than those players at their respective positions-- then you SHOULDN'T have tryouts. What you should do is simply advertise that you are looking for an outfielder or a utility player or whatever. Then you should give those who respond a tryout. Anything else is disingenuous and deceptive. There are far too many "open" tryouts being held during which it is obvious that certain players are outstanding-- yet those players never get offered a position on the team.

Be honest and do the right thing. Either that or truly "open" your tryouts and choose the best players. Maybe then you'd be able to play a little bit later on Sundays.

As cgs indicated, it appears as though you were responding to her post. To add to cgs's response, as was the case when I was there, the Buckeye Heat is being 100% honest and is doing the right thing. I believe every Heat tryout notice out there lists exactly what each team needs and what each team's plans are. I don't know how to be more honest than that. In fact, the Heat was doing this with its tryout notices back around 2004 when possibly nobody else was doing it. My gosh, I know we (like everyone else) have some detractors, but I think if there is one thing the Buckeye Heat is known for around Ohio, it's honesty and integrity.

 

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thetruth only as he percieves it and twists it to his liking. I am sorry cgs your post is very confusing about what your team is looking for lol !!!!! Good luck Saturday at tryouts.

 

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Shoot. Now I'll never get off probation.

You want integrity, Joe? Have tryouts where the returning players are matched against the best of the players who are trying out. Have independent coaches who don't know who's who perform the evaluations. Stand by their decisions as to which ones are best and give the best players the uniforms.

(Of course there are intangibles, like what a certain player would actually DO in a game situation-- but those work both ways. Maybe the tryout player is a lot BETTER but can't show it).

That would be integrity, Joe. Anything else is just elitist mom and pop club B.S. I'm not saying that's a horrible thing. I'm just saying it's disingenuous to even attempt to call it "fair."

There's a lot of talk here about it being "all for the girls." But what I'm actually SEEING is that it's more about the adults. Personally, I don't see how some people can live with themselves. Check out most tryout ads. "We're looking players to complete our roster. Bring you bats and gloves. We'll provide the balls and the dirt. Let's go!"

In other words--- "A couple of girls who thought they should be playing more last year left the team and we need a couple more who won't play much to pay fees and take their places on the bench. If one of our starters gets hurt, we'll put an ad on OFC for a guest player. She'll bat clean-up and our subs still won't play."

 

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With all due respect, if you have no plans to even consider replacing any of those existing players with someone who might show up at the tryout and might be better than those players at their respective positions-- then you SHOULDN'T have tryouts. What you should do is simply advertise that you are looking for an outfielder or a utility player or whatever.

agreed

 

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Been to many tryouts over the years( OK I'm old). Never been to a tryout that you wouldn't have last years team attending , even if it was only 2 openings! WHY? Because you better find out who you are playing with and for. Then meet as many parents as possible. You are going to be a family on weekends and if you cannot get along , it is going to be a long summer! As a coach I don't care if a little Bustos shows up , I still wouldn't take her, because this is a team sport, if I knew it would cause problems.

 

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So let me get this straight. The truth is some people would like to base the entire next season on a 2-3 hour tryout. Ignore the fact the coaches have seen what a kid can do over the course of a season (or several seasons). Take a complete shot in the dark about what sort of teamate a kid will be. Take another shot at what sort of parents this kid brings to the table. Throw away whatever time and effort you have invested in a player and of course completely disregard any sort of committment to trying to make a player a better person for the whole softball experience. I bet you'd get an interesting mix of players year after year. Of course a good truthful coach would be able to measure all that in those 2 hours the right way year after year.

The truth is, just win baby! There is nothing else. How could anyone honestly think that there could possibly be anything more important than that truth for a group of 10/12/14/16/18 yr old girls.

 

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We have always made all of our players attend tryouts regardless of position or status on last years team. Last season ended late Sunday after August 2nd for us.

Now make no mistake about it there is a alot to be said knowing the players that you had on your team because you had the benefit to see them do what they do all summer long. However, I have always felt that if those players were simply told that they were already on next years team then they could get a little too comfortable for my taste. After just finishing a long and tough schedule I think that we have a good idea where our team was strong and where it needed some improvement. Past players may in fact make the team but be better suited in another position. Especially if a new player emerges and looks to be a factor. If last years SS was asked to simply return and she did and we thought that spot was set then we just closed our eyes to perhaps a solid better player at that spot and a chance to create some competition and make both players better. Imgine if last years SS was told that she was set and a player tried out that just blew you away at that spot. Now you have a real issue. Either you take her and play her somewhere else that may not be her best position, or you move her into the SS position and then last years player wonders why you found the need to change her after you told her you wanted her back. I have actually seen this happen and it seldom ends well.

IMHO the best way to avoid all issues is to genuinly welcome all players back from last year and tell them that the new season starts right now. Good luck and work hard and we will assemble the best team that we can and then go from there. My bet is that when last years SS takes a look at the new SS on the block then she may just have the best tryout see ever had.

Give nothing.....make them earn everything. In the end they will appreciate it.

 

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This isn't rocket science, good players are noticed all season long. Great players can choose their team, thats usually already been done before tryouts begin.