24 hours to accept, really?!

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A lot of players don't know if they want to play for an organization until they do go try out and meet the coaches, and hear what they have to say. Maybe they want to see if they can make say the Lasers and, if not, they would be more than happy to play for the other team ... but the Lasers tryout is the following week ...

Been in that exact situation, I was totally upfront with the coach who offered her a spot, he graciously did make some concessions to their 48 hr rule, but he was upfront with us to. It was 16U, she wanted to play for the Lasers, I had to much respect for the team she left and the other team she was offered a spot to lead them on, I told her if she was going to make the jump to the Laser's and tryout for them she had to do so without a net. She did, I am still very good friends with the coach we left and with the coach she turned down. I do not believe it would be in anybody's best interest for me or my DD to string a team along to benefit my DD. Again, this is just how we approached it. It worked out for her. I also know other people in the exact same situation that instead of leading an organization on asked for a private tryout so they knew where they stood. There are a lot of ways a player and parents can handle this without impacting their reputation or effect another team in a negative way, you just have to want to do it. Communication is a beautiful thing. Also, I dont think in 10 years of softball we ever went to a tryout, not knowing anything about a coach or the team she was trying out for.

 

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Communication is a beautiful thing.

Honest communication is even more beautiful!!!!

 

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Nothing is worse than a kid pulling a lebron on you. See how well that worked for the Cavs. I give three days tops for an answer either way.

 

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Honest communication is even more beautiful!!!!

I have found it to be very helpful to talk to the coach one on one and tell him your honest intentions and expect the same from them. We have found 2 exceptional coaches that are understanding and patient. That says a lot for them both and makes deciding that much harder. A simple phone call goes along way and open lines of communication takes away a lot of the pressure. I totally understand needing to field a team and giving the next girl in line an offer but very appreciative of 2 coaches from 2 totally different organizations that are willing to give you a little extra time to make a very tough decision.

 

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I still feel there are many factors that play into this. You have to look at how many teams there are in your specific location and when you are holding your tryouts. If you are holding your tryouts extra early to try and scoop up a bunch of talent before anyone else, you are not doing anybody any good. You are actually hurting both the kids and your own organization in the long run.

For example; you force a kid to make a snap decision and she has a terrible year due to not playing where (position) she wanted, not playing enough, personality conflict with coach or teammates, etc.... Now this girl has a bad opinion of the organization and is most likely telling everybody who will listen, the team was filled with drama because negativity is infectious, the team under performed due to the drama and some other players are looking elsewhere come tryout time. So much easier to allow the players a reasonable amount of time to make an informed and thought out decision.

JMHO

 

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So is the consensus that we are in line with giving 3 days to decide? It seems like most give less?!

I have no idea what the common thought is........ we started this weekend, had 2-18,s and 2 college exposure tryouts.......... if a kid or her dad is interested they will tell us, and quite a few did, I told everyone, including our own from last season we would make a decision the last day of tryouts, period, if a kid is afraid she wont have a team and has to make a decision then thats up to her.

We have 2 weeks after the last try out before our first college exposure tournament....... and 9 months before our first exposure tournament of the summer season......... so all I can say is I want kids that want to be here and play to make the team succeed.

Tim

 

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...if a kid or her dad is interested they will tell us, and quite a few did, I told everyone, including our own from last season we would make a decision the last day of tryouts, period, if a kid is afraid she wont have a team and has to make a decision then thats up to her.

Tim

This brings up another intersting topic.... When do you offer spots to your own players? It seems that most will invite back the players they want from the previous year before tryouts. You have had a whole season to watch this girl (and her family) and you know what you are getting.

Making your own players wait for two weeks while other organizations finish their tryouts and pick their teams is tough on those girls. Either cut them and wish them luck or ask them back.

But at least Boulder is honest about it and will get girls that really want to play for him. It will be too bad for them if they got cut and waited and missed out on a sure thing on another team though.

 

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For example; you force a kid to make a snap decision and she has a terrible year due to not playing where (position) she wanted, not playing enough, personality conflict with coach or teammates, etc.... Now this girl has a bad opinion of the organization and is most likely telling everybody who will listen, the team was filled with drama because negativity is infectious, the team under performed due to the drama and some other players are looking elsewhere come tryout time. So much easier to allow the players a reasonable amount of time to make an informed and thought out decision.

JMHO

That is a huge "jump to conclusion" if you ask me. Even if a girl takes her time to decide there might be drama. These are teen agers-there might be drama no matter what.

Just wondering if it crossed people's mind or not, but a lot of these coaches are college girls and have to get packing and leave for college. Maybe that's why they had early tryouts. Just stating that they had tryouts to jump on the talent really isn't a fair remark to make in my opinion.

 

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Our DD had a situation like that several years ago. They sent her a letter telling her she had 24 hours to decide. She didn't call them with a decision until she knew for sure--how were they going to know if and when she received the letter?

 

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Honest communication is even more beautiful!!!!

AMEN, brother!!!!!!

 

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24 hours seems unreasonable, but, seems to be an excellent plan.

They are going to grab the talent before it goes elsewhere .... especially if the organization made a positive impression to make that player want to play there.

To wait a week for an answer seems to be a bit rediculous when players are trying out for so many teams.

Good luck to all the girls trying out for the 2011 season.

 

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Making your own players wait for two weeks while other organizations finish their tryouts and pick their teams is tough on those girls. Either cut them and wish them luck or ask them back.

But at least Boulder is honest about it and will get girls that really want to play for him. It will be too bad for them if they got cut and waited and missed out on a sure thing on another team though.

AMEN TO THIS QUOTE!!
It would be nice if your team would give you a heads up as to if you are wanted back for the next season or not. It makes it tough on all parties .... how many teams do you try out for? How do you try out for multiple teams, get multiple offers from the new teams, then, as a player or parent, ask the new team if they can wait to see if you made your old team?

The 24 hour rule sure can force some tough decisions.

 

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Years back, when I first started coaching summer ball, there were only so may programs out there. You could afford to give girls a week, maybe 2 to decide. You really didn't worry about having enough players. Now these days, with a new team for every street in the neighborhood, if you don't get girls signed, you end up with no team. For example, pitching. How often do we see posts "Team needs pitcher" If you don't get quality pitching, your team is going to struggle. Its a simple supply/demand thing. What we all need to do is sit down as coaches and find out whats best for the girls! It's not about us. Look at well Ohio is doing, I just read the 10U hurricanes win nationals, 16u Tigerlilies win nationals, etc....all this from Ohio. In Australia, they have "clubs" depending on where you live, you join your club. If there are 22 girls at 16U, then the club makes 2 teams. They do split it by talent. They will make an a and a..... B team A being the stronger. As long as teams keep popping up, there will ALWAYS be a scramble to sign right away. Not always out of pressure but to assure themselves they wil even have a team for the next season. Just my 2 cents.....

 

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How our family handled it was during the season, we watched other teams play at tournaments. We watched the coaching, and how the girls interacted. We also lurked in the OFC board, and just got a general feel for the teams. When tryouts started showing up on the board, we made a list of all the teams in our general area. Then we made up a schedule of the tryouts our daughter wanted to attend (there were 13 teams on that list) Then my daughter, my husband and I each made a list of the order in which we felt the teams fell (Team 1, Team 2 and so forth) we all three had surprisingly similar lists. She went to three of the tryouts, during the tryouts, we as parents spent time talking to parents of girls who had played on the team this summer, got a feel for the whole organization and how the parents felt about the coaches. She did three tryouts, had three offers. It was a really hard decision, because all three of the teams were in the top five on all three of our lists. In the end it was all my daughter's decision, and we support her decision completely. Since she has made her decision, we have had several calls and E-mails inquiring about whether she plans to come to their tryouts, which we have politely declined. If this team doesn't work out, we will definately consider these other teams during tryouts next year, because every coach has been absolutely kind and considerate. We would have taken her to all 13 tryouts if she would have wanted to continue, but once she made her decision, it wasn't necessary.

I think when we left each tryout she attended, she knew whether or not she was interested in playing for that team. Truthfully the hardest part was deciding because all the coaches, families, and girls were really great at all three tryouts.

 

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Bringingup speedy, that is an excellent way to look at selecting which teams to tryout for during this crazy time of year. Best of Luck to your daughter.

 

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We had a player and her dad talk to us at the end of our tryouts last night and said that she had attended another tryout that weekend........ thats ok by me I tell every one of my players to attend other tryouts and to see whats out there, what I found as odd was that they gave her till Tues to make a decision. So basically 2 days to make a decision....... we have informed everyone that we would not make a decision on our tryouts until the process was complete after next Sundays tryouts and then inform everyone as to our decision.

I understand 18,s are difficult to field but come on........... 2 days?....... and theres still a ton of tryouts going on for the next 2 weeks everywhere...... It amazes me how some coaches will try and strong arm kids into a position that may not be in their best interest. If your that desperate maybe you need to re think your ability to attract and coach kids

As a member of an organization and involved in providing offers, i can't help wonder, is this one of our prospects complaining about how we operate to another organization? I had three parents approach me during our tryouts last weekend and began complaining about other organizations. Each one I left speak for 30 seconds, then changed the topic to how our organization can help you, can I answer any questions?. When this begins, I can't help wonder, if we chose this player, what will they be saying about us at the next tryout? I kindly marked their rating 110. Once everyone left, connected the ones appropriately. No organization runs perfect. I would be able to find parents and players with bad experiences with them all, including ours (deserved or not)

Tryout season is a vicious cycle. I am not sure what the proper time allowance should be. It is much different today then when my oldest daughter was involved in 1998-2003. I guess, the three days we allowed seemed to work out pretty well with most of the players. The bulk of the tryouts were occurring last weekend. If a player asked for more time, in some cases we would have allowed the player to propose an alternative date. We can only hope the player and families find the best fit for their softball development. If we are not the right fit, now is the best time to find out.

Sometimes the vicious cycle can be pretty simple. If you have 7 positions open, and only 5 players show up, 4 of which you want to provide an offer. In this scenario, I guess it wouldn't matter how long they take to decide, the coach is left with minimal options. If 18 players show up for the same 7 positions, and 14 of those players are good and you are splitting hairs selecting the best 7. As a coach, it is tough to let 7 potential candidates sit on the pine waiting for you to call them while the first 7 make their decisions. How long do you ice the second 7? I am pretty confident the second 7 wouldn't like to hear, by the way you were not my first choice. ugh...

I would like to believe, every player who attends our tryout has completed their research and is interested in playing for us. As most of us find out, this is not always the case. Parents turn into agents and the bidding war begins, what can we guarantee? It becomes ugly in every way. I hate this side of the game , and it doesn't help the players in anyway.

I am not sure what the correct operational model is. This thread is interesting reading and seems the range goes from immediate decision to 2 weeks.

 

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A friend of mine had a daughter offered a position with a well known organization. She wasn't with her daughter at the time the coach called and asked for time to talk to her daughter. She talked to her daughter who was excited and wanted to accept the offer, the coach called back a few hours later and rescinded his offer....does this happen often?

 

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A friend of mine had a daughter offered a position with a well known organization. She wasn't with her daughter at the time the coach called and asked for time to talk to her daughter. She talked to her daughter who was excited and wanted to accept the offer, the coach called back a few hours later and rescinded his offer....does this happen often?

Oouch! That is pretty bad. Did the coach give her a deadline for a decision? Did she meet the deadline if there was one.

 

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It is the nature of the beast...the teams that people want to be on fill quickly....

 

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With all due respect Centerville, I think that's an oversimplification/generalization. I think much has to do with the number of organizations in a geographic area, those organization's approaches to adding teams, the knowledge of the players and their families about the organizations, etc. I know of at least two traditionally statewide respected organizations in this area that have scheduled additional tryouts this coming weekend. Why is that? Did they not fill their teams first time around? Did they add additional teams? But guess what ... there are some very good players stalling on offers from other organizations who are going to come away empty-handed if those organizations decide not to wait for them. I just talked to a parent this evening whose daughter and about 50 other girls went to such a tryout and found out there were only 4 spots open, and now they're back-tracking to see what other opportunities are still available. I don't know what the right/best answer is, but I know it's a difficult process for coaches and players/families.