Program Jumping

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Someone just brought up that "program jumping" is not looked at in a favorable light. Is that true? I have a daughter who is moving to U12 next year. She is a first year player and I'm not certain she's even going to make a U12 team! Wouldn't it just be smart to have her try out for all available area teams? Our current organization has open tryouts every year.

 

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do you mean (hypothetically speaking)playing 10 stingrays, then playing for 12 heart of ohio program jump? as in not staying in the same organization?

 

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You really have to look for the program that meets the need of your DD. It might be your current program or it might be another program. Ask your cuurent coach for an honest assessment of where your DD is. You might not like what you hear but it will be best in the end.

 

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A few years back, players were warned that organizations do not like program jumpers. One organization even asked in an application what other organizations they played for and why they left.

I really don't think that too many organizations look for that anymore. However, if we see the player has been a part of multiple organizations, we will wonder why. Sometimes that is a warning sign that the player is a problem player or that the parent is a problem parent.

 

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or stay with current team, then bolt during nationals, coaches always love that...

 

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That was a question that I asked.... let me clarify it.... we surely don't have a problem with a girl jumping to our program, just not jumping to someone elses............................
I was just kidding there........... however, it's not the one jump, it's one year here, next year there, following year someplace else and on and on. That is usally a problem of discontent. If a player does her homework, make good decisions, she surely doesn't have to jump 4-5 times in 5 years.

 

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i guess there are 2 sides to every coin...one a parent/player side, maybe they didn;t want to be on a team that played their DD in a non-desired position, or maybe they lost games, didn't reach certain goals, politics, etc...and on the coaches end, maybe they underperformed and were uncoachable...either way, you hope that the player can co-exist on one team and stick it through, but didn't someone who is more enlightened than i once say, "a girl has a right to change their opinion?"
more often than not, most girls leave because of their parents being unhappy....but it is in a coaches right to ask where a girl has previously played, even then, by the time they reach their tryouts, most coaches probably already talk and know one another so nothing's really a secret anymore

 

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I doubt that a majority of 18U girls are still part of the original organization they started with in 10U, but I think jumping ship mid season is frowned upon. Girls change as they grow & many times the players that dominated at the younger levels no longer do so when they're older & the rest of the age group catches up with them. IMO, the smart thing to do is make sure you do some homework before just hitting as many tryouts as possible. Figure out what your goals are for next year & down the road and find a team that will provide the best enviroment for that to happen. If she needs to work on fundamentals, some of the higher level teams are probably not a good choice. Don't be afraid to ask questions & be cautious of vague answers. You must look after your daughters best interests.

 

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I am talking about what Statman said, hypothetically. And my daughter and I are currently truly happy with the program we are in and believe in their philosophies, etc.; we're just not guaranteed spots for next season. That's the only reason I would even consider trying out with other organizations.

 

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?
? ?What if a girl continually improves every year and wants to play on a higher level team that sees better competition than the one shes on? Should she stay with a program that doesnt meet her needs so she isnt labeled a "program jumper"? ?The players are freeagents every August, free to play for whoever they want. And Isnt the whole idea of tryouts is to attract girls to come to your program??? Where do you think they're coming from ? ?FROM OTHER TEAMS :

?

 

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If a team keeps the same girls year after year. Then why do they have try outs? The team is looking for better players and the player is looking for a better team or more playing time or to play the spot that they want.
simple...

 

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If you are not guaranteed a spot on your current team, then you should by all means look at other options. Do not be surprised if coaches ask you why you are looking. Be honest, don't say negatives about existing team. One thing to clarify with your coaches, are they really making the girls try out, or are they making them come to tryouts. Most coaches are not looking to rebuild their team every year, and usually only are filling empty spots, or trying to upgrade where they are weak. There are 2 sides to everything, and this is my opinion, if a team requires existing players to really tryout, then the team has made no commitment to the player for next year, BOTH are free to go different directions without any hard feelings either way.

 

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hitter, good points, like i said, 2 sides, but only one truth...everyone gets the benefit of the doubt to prove themselves in the end, right? if that maintains itself, then it's back to talent..talent/studness/ability rules over all

good luck to anyone and everyone moving on or staying put

 

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o.k. what is the right thing to do as a coach if most girls are continuing to improve year after year but you have 1 or 2 that didn't progress or even went the other way got slower or lazy? Do you tell the team everyone has to tryout each year and maybe cut these girls? Do you keep them and let them know your keeping them but they need to work harder to improve or sit the bench more? Do you keep them hope they will catch up?

I've had a team for 4 years now and had everyone tryout every year. I've cut a few girls from the team that I had before because of 2 reasons 1 we moved up and 1 girl didn't have to move up and I felt she do better playing another year at that age group. I helped her find a team, then when she moved up the next year she came back. The other was a girl I took late her first year after a few others backed out after saying they would play. Her dad asked me to give her a chance even though she didn't do well at tryouts. I took her telling them she'd have to sit more than others if she didn't peform better than what I had seen. They agreed and wanted to stay another year but I didn't think it was best for our team. But I felt really bad about cutting her and don't know if thats what I should of done.

 

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Nobody feels good about cutting girls from an existing team (usually). Sometimes you might have to make choices for the best interest of all the team. In your situation, I see nothing wrong with giving and getting commitments from the players you want back for sure, and offer the remaining players the chance to go through tryouts. Will it cause hard feelings, probably. Is it really any difference then what you are currently doing? Example, your best player from this year shows up at tryouts and has a really bad tryout, not even among the top 15 players at tryouts. Are you really going to cut her, after watching her play for a whole year or two? I wouldn't be able to, so she is in effect already on the team.