Northwest District Tryouts at Findlay High School

[jinriley]

Hi,
does anyone have info on this tryout? we have the paperwork for it, but just wondering if anyone has any info that might help DD for tryouts. thanks

 

[SOFTBALLS14]

That info is given to your H.S. coaches . They should be able to provide you with that info. If not check with your AD..
I know the Southwest Dist. is this Mon. June 8th.......Good Luck!

 

[backstop09]

...just wondering if anyone has any info that might help DD for tryouts. thanks

Wear a shirt that says "Bellevue" or "Oregon Clay" on it.

 

[jinriley]

lol. funny. but that is another question. I know they have to wear shirts with a number on it, but does it matter what the shirts says or do they get a shirt with a number already on it? sorry if its a stupid question

 

[Dad of Daughters]

Wear a shirt that says "Bellevue" or "Oregon Clay" on it.

Well played and unfortunately accurate.

 

[backstop09]

Well played and unfortunately accurate.

We wasted two years going when my oldest daughter was a 9th and 10th grader. Her last two years we didn't waste the gas to get there. If they pick 20 kids for the team, MAYBE 5 or 6 of them, tops, out of the 75 or so at the "tryout" actually have a chance of being picked. The bulk of the team was predetermined by the coaching staff and other "helpers" running the "tryout". Oh, they put on a show by running kids through stations and act like they are evaluating and filling out scoresheets but in the end it's who you know and where you're from much more than it is how good you are.

 

[mike_dyer]

How about just get better at playing softball?

Before anyone says it I'm not trying to toot my own horn here. Honestly. I quit hanging the pictures my kids color up on the fridge a real long time ago.

Anyway, I hear this stuff all the time, and it probably does happen some. More so when they are younger, but that's just been my observation. It could be different in other places.

Before the high school season got here I was told there's no way Jr. was making the varsity team. There was a list of reasons, I can't even remember all of them. She did though.

Then it was playing time. See, unless you're some kind of pillar of the community your kid will watch the games.

She's open enrolled so we don't even live there, she didn't do any watching though.

None of that changed the narrative. The same people who said those things continued to say them even as the exact opposite of what they were saying was happening right in front of their faces. I guess it's just easier than saying "My kid needs to do some work and get better at playing softball."

I don't know softball people from Bellevue or from Oregon Clay and I wasn't at the tryout. My kid says there were 40 - 50 kids there. I'm not sure which coaches were there, but she said the Oak Harbor coach was part of it. I don't know him, but I know my kid had a pretty nice game when we saw them in the district semis and that may have helped. Who knows? For all i know he didn't even remember her. I do know that if that game was part of it it's because she played hard in front of the right person this one time and not because I know someone. Or even know someone who knows someone.

When people say these things they undercut an accomplishment. The kids put in the time, tried out, made it, and now they get to represent their district in some games against some other kids from all over the state who did the same. How cool is that? I'd imagine it probably takes a little bit away from it if they read this forum and find out from someone in the know that they really didn't earn it.

 

[backstop09]

Read my post more carefully. I never said that all of the girls that get picked are not deserving. I did say that after all star coaching staff players and others associated with them are added to the roster, there is precious little room left for players that are deserving. To illustrate my point, in 2014 there was a roster of 20 girls picked for the NW District team. There were 152 teams that played softball in the NW District. On the 2014 roster, 5 of the 20 (25%) of it was made up of girls from only 2 of the 152 (1.3%) teams in the district. Of these 5, 3 were from Edison and 2 were from Bellevue both of which had coaches on the all star staff; 11 of the 20 (55%) of it was made up of girls from only 5 of the 152 (3.3%); and the entire roster of 20 girls only represented 13 of the 152 (8.5%) teams in the district. Yes, it is important to be good and I am glad for your daughter as it sounds like she truly earned it. But trust me she is the exception rather than the rule. For purposes of being picked for this team it helps far more to be connected or be from the "right" school. This team is not a true representation of the talent in the NW district.

 

[Dad of Daughters]

The previous 2 posts are both spot on. Backstop is correct about the good ole boys and girls on this one, but there is still some room and glad that Mike's daughter made the cut, congrats to her. The flaws in the system take nothing away from her or others, but they are in fact there. Good luck to the NW girls.

 

[mike_dyer]

Backstop.

I don't know if it's by design or not, but your numbers don't tell the whole story.

You're saying there are 152 teams in the district. Fair enough. I know it's low, but let's say there 10 kids on a team. That would be 1,520 kids who could try out, and that doesn't include JV players. We may actually be talking about well over 3,000 kids. Of those only 50 or so showed up on Monday.

Here's the rub.

That's just over 3% of the the low ball number of 1,520 who could have tried out and did. Now how many of the whopping 3% who made an appearance make up the teams with coaches who you are accusing of having little or no ethics?

Our coach didn't tell us about it, I found out on my own. If the coaches from the schools involved tell their kids about it and there are more kids from their teams at the try out the likelihood of them getting picked obviously goes up.

It's basic math.

 

[backstop09]

Think what you will. I never accused anyone of, as you put it "having little or no ethics". I am saying that the selection system is flawed and favors those that know those that are doing the selecting. Looking at rosters from previous years, it is impossible to deny that. That is human nature on the part of the selectors but that still doesn't make it right. Do you really think that with 25% of last year's roster consisting of girls from only two high school teams; 30% of it consisting of girls from only three teams; and 6 of the 20 girls having high school coaches on the all star team coaching staff that the selection process is entirely open and fair? No, it's not. If the NW District really wanted to pick the best team and not one based on who the coaching staff liked, they would ban wearing high school shirts at the tryout; have girls identified by numbers only; and have the tryouts conducted by a neutral third party (say a panel of college coaches/assistant coaches or perhaps high school coaches from another district).

You said that you were not at the tryout. I have been to two of them so I do speak from personal observation and experience. The fact that there were only 50 girls there out of however many could possibly have attended speaks to the fact that many NW District coaches and parents know what a charade this "tryout" is and don't waste their time.

 

[wvanalmsick]

Guys, this is nothing. You should attend a District Awards selection meeting. Very, very political and good ol` boy.

That is the nature of the beast called HS Sports.

We heard all of the above when DD got to be a freshman. No freshman will make varsity. If she is lucky to make varsity, she won't start, so on...

But at a small school, you have limited resources and that year, the coach put 2 freshman on varsity and started both of them. The next year he started a freshman at Pitcher. Our school was very fortunate to have a coach that put the best athletes on the field. Sometimes he didn't have them in the position that they played in Travel, but he had to go with the hand he was dealt and make the team the best he could.

So, yes there is politics in HS sports. Hopefully you can be fortunate and avoid the messy parts of it.

 

[brownsfan]

Guys, this is nothing. You should attend a District Awards selection meeting. Very, very political and good ol` boy.

That is the nature of the beast called HS Sports.

We heard all of the above when DD got to be a freshman. No freshman will make varsity. If she is lucky to make varsity, she won't start, so on...

But at a small school, you have limited resources and that year, the coach put 2 freshman on varsity and started both of them. The next year he started a freshman at Pitcher. Our school was very fortunate to have a coach that put the best athletes on the field. Sometimes he didn't have them in the position that they played in Travel, but he had to go with the hand he was dealt and make the team the best he could.

So, yes there is politics in HS sports. Hopefully you can be fortunate and avoid the messy parts of it.

I've heard from quite a few who have said the district meetings get very political and that included my DD's HS coach.

 

[mike_dyer]

Backstop.

If accusing some people of rigging a tryout isn't questioning their ethics I'm not sure what is.

Anyway.

As I said, there were 50 or so kids there. Might have been 45, might have been 55. Whatever the case it sounds like participation is down from the hay day when 75 used to show up.

By the way, 75 is not even 5% of those who could try out and didn't.

And of the 50 or so who showed up I'd guess that many of them came from a school involved in the process. Unlike ours their coaches definitely passed along the information.

So if 10 kids from Bellevue High School show up and, 10 kids from Edison High School show, up and 1 kid from Upper Sandusky High School shows up, and 0 kids from Liberty Benton High School show up what are the odds that a kid from Bellevue gets selected over a kid from Upper Sandusky? Now what are the odds that a kid from Edison gets selected over a kid from Liberty Benton?

That's the situation, and you're convinced that it's unfair that Bellevue has 2 kids on the team and Liberty Benton has 0.

But as I said, and as you reiterated, I wasn't there. And because I wasn't there math, logic, common sense, and reason have no place in this discussion.

 

[backstop09]

10 kids from one school can't participate. There is a limit of either 4 or 5. Either way, you have to admit the Edison and Bellevue success rates are pretty good.

 

[mike_dyer]

This team is 19-1 over the last 4 years.

Jusy think of how much better they could have been though, amirite???

 

[jinriley]

So.... ummm. what do you say about a girl who never tried out, but ending up making the team?? I think its a bunch of crap. but its 100% true for atleast one girl, not sure how many more made this allstar team w/o trying out. I don't care if my dd didn't make the team, but c'mon. I guess you just need the name and the stats to get called. oh well

 

[manitoudan]

LOL , quit complaining , in SEO they cant drag most kids to the tryout , and the coaches do a totally horrendous job of promoting it .. therefore SEO goes up to Pick town and gets destroyed every year . My daughter played once and said " I'll never do that again"

 

[FPfan7]

Totally agree. This year's tryouts went about 2 and half hours and each girl got 4 ground balls at their positions and got to hit 10 balls. It was not organized well at all.
I am curious if this is how all of the districts are? I understand there is a lot of girls there and not much time, but I would think it would be hard to see what girls are really deserving based on that few reps.