Bad business

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I just wanted to put a message out to coaches out there......when a small child comes and tries out for your team and you are not interested, you should tell the parent that you are not interested. Children get very excited and ask daily if you have heard anything and when you are ignored by the coach in question it is very frustrating. My daughter is young and I knew the odds were very slim that she would make the team but common courtesy is to, at the very least, send a message on here saying thanks but no thanks! I understand that no one is under any type of commitment here but how sad is it for a child that continues to ask if you have heard anything and day after day you have to say no, even though you have seen continual posts about "needing a player." And on that note, I shall leave my soap box. Thanks all!!!

 

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The Buckeye Heat organization requires its coaches to make personal phone calls within a week of the August tryouts. These are not fun calls, but the player and her family are entitled to notice. I don't believe that either Jean May or Ted Mason oversee whether personal phone calls are timely made when someone is under consideration outside of the formal tryouts, but I know that Ted makes a similar phone call when he decides not to invite someone under consideration and I would hope that the other Buckeye Heat coaches do the same.

 

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That is the way it should be! My daughter has been "waiting" for 3 months and at 8 years old, she still asks daily if I have heard anything. I have told her that I am sure it is a no but my answer is not the one she wants to hear.

 

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Sorry to hear your 8 yr old daughter has to go through the "waiting" game. There should be a common courtesy, I know with some teams there is but ive heard with some others theres not. Tell your girl to keep her head up, her time will come! I hope all works out for her man. I know if it were my girl Id be a little ticked off too! You got the right! Good luck to ya and your girl!

 

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I wouldn't wait 3 months for Jenny Finch to call me.....Go find a team that wants you immediately, she will find it...its probably your best option.

Good Luck !

 

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I wouldn't wait 3 months for Jenny Finch to call me.....Go find a team that wants you immediately, she will find it...its probably your best option.

Good Luck !

That's funny. There's a lot of teams still looking for players, don't wait around. Good luck.

 

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That is so funny! My husband said he would wait 3 months for Jenny Finch to call him hahahaha. We are moving on and all is well. I just wanted to put something out there for coaches so they might understand how hard it is on the kids not knowing. And as parents, we know that hearing it from us isn't the answer....they want to hear it from the coach....good, bad or ugly!

 

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The Road Runner Softball Program has a policy of contacting all pllayers ["Yes" or "No"] who tryout for a team within two weeks. [When it is a "no" it is really a tough call to make.] Because of the number of players trying out and the number of coaches involved, it is possible to miss someone. All parents are told to contact me, Rick Sherman, if they or their child (depending on the age of the player) do not get a call in the established time.

 

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Sorry to hear this, as said earlier her time will come. Sometimes people lose sight of its a game played by young kids. I know I'm a 10u coach and in our organization we had to keep the boss in the loop of who we contacted, he was very concerned with everybody getting contacted who took the time to come to tryouts. I'm sure there are some who might not have recieved some type of communication as fast as they would like to but it's not for lack of trying.

I remember the first time my DD went to a tryout, she was in way over her head and we recieved the rejection letter that was thoughtful and well written in about a week. She took it well because it was obvious to her. So she played for a high school feeder team that played in travel tournaments. The next year she went back to tryout and was offered a spot half way through the tryout. Fastforward 9 years, she's played all over the country, ASA/USA Nationals and in the Colorado tournaments as a few of the highlights. Today she is playing college softball her team is currently on a trip to Tennessee for softball. So this tryout and experience is just a building block.

 

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Different organizations handle that part of the tryout in different ways. Some contact if you didn't make the team and some don't. Always tryout for 2-3 different teams, it expands your options so you AREN'T sitting around waiting to hear from 1 team. Never wait more than a week, if they haven't contacted you by then than the answer is most likely no.

As mentioned before, there are plenty of teams still looking for players and you still have alot of options. Contact a few teams and tryout each week...you will get a call.

 

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My daughter has been "waiting" for 3 months and at 8 years old, she still asks daily if I have heard anything.

That breaks my heart to hear that. Poor kid.

We tried out for one that never called back (16U), but we made sure beforehand that we had a full slate of tryouts to attend for several additional weekends. We expected to come across teams like that and planned accordingly. Luckily we found somebody who DID call back. In hindsight, it ends up better that she isn't involved with a team that wasn't able to extend such a simple (albeit difficult) courtesy.

I know and appreciate that a lot of coaches like the personal phone call approach and don't agree that this sort of notice should be made via email. But an email notification is certainly better than no notification at all.

If my dd was still waiting, I'd probably throw up a post on the "Players looking for teams" forum. There are a lot of good coaches that will interact there.

 

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If you are close to the Lake County area please give me a call. The Sunraze Fastpitch Organization are still looking for at least two 10u Players and I would rather have a 8 or 9 year old so I can keep the core group together. I will let you know immediately if it will not work out.
Please feel free to check us out at www.sunraze.net.
Joe Medlen
440-364-5126
joseph.medlen@gmail.com

 

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If you are close to the Lake County area please give me a call. The Sunraze Fastpitch Organization are still looking for at least two 10u Players and I would rather have a 8 or 9 year old so I can keep the core group together. I will let you know immediately if it will not work out.
Please feel free to check us out at www.sunraze.net.
Joe Medlen
440-364-5126
joseph.medlen@gmail.com

Thank you so much for the offer but we are in Southeast Portage County. If I didn't have to work, I would take you up on it!!

 

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At the risk of being torched I have to say that I believe you have also done a disservice to your daughter by stringing her along for three months. After a week (or two weeks at the most) I would have contacted the coach for a definitive answer. I definitely don't endorse the coach not contacting you, but I also think you owe it to your daughter to give her some closure. After two weeks the answer to your daughter should have been "I'm sorry, honey, but you didn't make that particular team. Let's look for other options" rather than "No, honey, I haven't heard from the coach yet." Just my two cents.

 

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At the risk of being torched I have to say that I believe you have also done a disservice to your daughter by stringing her along for three months. After a week (or two weeks at the most) I would have contacted the coach for a definitive answer. I definitely don't endorse the coach not contacting you, but I also think you owe it to your daughter to give her some closure. After two weeks the answer to your daughter should have been "I'm sorry, honey, but you didn't make that particular team. Let's look for other options" rather than "No, honey, I haven't heard from the coach yet." Just my two cents.

I was thinking the same thing, why not tell your dd she didn't make the team after a week. I wouldn't keep telling her you haven't heard anything yet after 3 months!!

 

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At the risk of being torched I have to say that I believe you have also done a disservice to your daughter by stringing her along for three months. After a week (or two weeks at the most) I would have contacted the coach for a definitive answer. I definitely don't endorse the coach not contacting you, but I also think you owe it to your daughter to give her some closure. After two weeks the answer to your daughter should have been "I'm sorry, honey, but you didn't make that particular team. Let's look for other options" rather than "No, honey, I haven't heard from the coach yet." Just my two cents.

I did do this....but I was told by said coach that they wanted her back to take a second look. We kept waiting for the second look. The coach needed surgery and we were waiting for the coach to call her again. Everytime I would inquire, I was told the coach wasn't ready....they hadn't had their surgery yet. After a significant amount of wait time, because of the particular circumstances, I did tell her that it was a no. She asked if the coach said that. I told her no but when you don't hear from someone sometimes you have to assume its a no go. She didn't want to hear it from me. It wasn't from the horses mouth. She is 8 and doesn't understand these things yet. At any rate, it is resolved now and we are moving on.

 

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Well this information sort of changes things. When my youngest was 8 she tried out for a 9u team. Several weeks went by and we didn't hear anything. When she asked me about it I told her she must not have made the team. Then out of blue we got a call from the assistant coach making her an offer. It turned out the head coach had a heart attack the day after her tryout and was still recovering.

 

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Thank you so much for the offer but we are in Southeast Portage County. If I didn't have to work, I would take you up on it!!

You are really lucky to be starting at this age. We didn't realize what travel ball was until our DD was 15. We routinely drive 2 hours one way for practices. I saw an 8 under team yesterday and the coach working with the kids that I wouldn't have any qualms about a 3 hour drive to get to. There are a lot of crappy coaches out there and one who doesn't give you a return call is most likely one you should avoid like the plague.