Tryout Notification Etiquette

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Now that many tryouts are ending, I thought this would be an interesting question. Should a coach call all players after a tryout even if they did not make the team? ?How about if the girl was on your team last year would you call or email her if she did not make the team? ? ???

 

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At one time I did call ALL the girls to let them know wether or not they made the team, but just last year I told them at the end of tryouts that if they didn't hear from me within a certain day then I'm sorry and I wish them the best of luck. Now if I was not taking back one of my original players then there was obviously a problem, if there wasn't a problem then why wouldn't they be welcomed back? A coach usually relys on the core of players he has returning and then builds around that.

 

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That works OK - but if you say you are going to call - then you should call the players. And with e-mail available these days, it makes it easier to tell a girl no...I think every girl should be notified one way or another.

 

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It is frustrating if a coach says that they will call on certain days following a try-out, regardless of the decision, and 2-3 days later there is still no call. And attempts to contact the coach have gone unanswered.

It is even more frustrating if there are multiple offers on the table and you need to make a decision and notify other coaches.

 

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Couldn't agree more! If a coach says he is going to call........then they do not, obviously they are not a person of their word and I would move on. I believe that coaches owe all of the kids that tryout for them some type of feed back on how their tryout went....one way or another.

 

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I agree with Louie, If the coach does not call by the date he said he would I would Run the other way. :-/

 

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? I don`t know how anyone would WANT to hear from a coach who doesn`t want your daughter. I have coached a pretty good team for 6 years and have never promised to call everyone about how their try-out went.
If your daughter was in a beauty pagent and lost, would you really want to hear that she lost because her nose is too big, or her eyes are too close together?
? I have always told everyone that tryed out for me that I would call my 1st choices and offer positions that Sunday evening by 6:00 and if you don`t hear from me by then, sorry but best of luck to you. I have also said that if anyone would like to know why they didn`t make it they would be welcome to CALL ME to find out why. In 6 years I`ve gotten 3 calls and I remember them all because all 3 ended up argueing with my observations of their daughter.
?***DICLAIMER**
? If a coach tells everyone at try-outs he/she WILL CALL EVERYONE with an evaluation of how they did, and then doesn`t do it, he/she deserves a rather tearse phone call reminding them of their broken promise to call. Especially when kids are being pressured to give other coahes answers immediatly. ?
?
Just one newly retired coaches opinion.

 

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Catchersdad,
I could not have chosen better words myself! The beauty pageant analogy was GREAT! So true.

 

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Because we would appreciate the courtesy of a phone call to remove any doubt, we also emailed every coach that my daughter tried out for last year to let the coach know she had found a team. Many of them thanked us for taking the time to contact them.

Let me tell you the most classy thing so far. My husband is a coach for a travel team, and one of the girls he offered a position to decided to stay with her old team. My husband received the nicest letter from the girl today (after she had told him no on the phone) thanking him for the tryout and that she really liked his team but chose to go back with her old team.

I met the girl at the tryouts, and even though she was a Michigan fan, she gets a lot of respect from my husband and I.

 

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How about if the girl was on your team last year would you call or email her if she did not make the team? ? ???

Is it common for teams to have the girls on the previous year's roster try out each year to earn/keep their spot on the roster?

 

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Is it common for teams to have the girls on the previous year's roster try out each year to earn/keep their spot on the roster?

Some organizations, or teams in organizations do it all the time to attempt to field the "best" team possible. ?It may also be a "kind" way to let a kid go that just didn't find a "fit" with the team.

 

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agree with Bear- very common - prorbaly more for the reason he states then admitted

 

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just do what you say you will do. ? call if you say you will. ? i think most parents and players would like to be notified of there status regarding the tryout. ? it isn't pleasant and takes some courage to let people know your decision but the players (and maybe there parents) will get over it and move on. ?

 

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We have all the girls tryout every year to earn their spot. ?On occassion there are some who don't make it year after year. ?If you don't build your team with the best available players you'll eventually end up with the mindset of complacency or should I say a rec mentallity (no offense). ?This will kill a team/org over time.

The girls should never expect a position just because they had one last year. ?We do give special consideration to those who played last year (close calls go to the vet.). ?The parents seem to take it harder than the girls. ?The girls know when they didn't show well or do their best, the parents always see their little girl and not the athlete.

 

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Communication and closure. Rejection is fine via e-mail also, to avoid debate or emotion. Whatever your stated procedure, just follow it, so people are not in the dark with other potential options & decisions looming. I agree at a point it may become pretty obvious, but still, confirmation removes doubt, keeps bridges standing, and offers closure so everybody feels good about movin' on and at least know what they should/must do.

We moved from old team after two years to a new opportunity last year. Once we made the tough decision, we e-mailed the old coach as soon as we were sure so that no decisions (or exclusions of other candidates) were made by him pre-maturely. Those were our thoughts, anyways. I am sure poor or no communication can be tough in the opposite direction for coaches as well!!

 

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i think if the coach says he will call everyone then he should. but why would he say that? some try outs have over 100 girls. he should have said.. i will have made my decision within three days, if you do not hear from me i am sorry but good luck in the future that way everyone is clear only getting call backs for people he is offering spots for.

but i think the same etiquette should be used from players and parents. for example be honest if someone calls to offer you a position but your waiting to hear from another team that is a higher priority .. then tell the coach you will let him know asap but you are still going thru the try out process and then actually call them back to let him know. i think most coachs if your honest will not have his or her feelings hurt because you are attending more than one try out.
I also think if your coach from the previous summer team asks everyone who is returning and you say you are... its disrespectful to attend other try outs. be honest. tell them when you are asked that you would like to return but are keeping all options open and attending different try outs and will keep him posted. don't blind side him into thinking your coming back so that when he or she holds their try out they can look for a player at that position.
i just think honesty is the best policy for all involved..coach's.. players.. and parents.

 

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I would think that if she was on the team last year, the coach should contact the parents. ?

If it's a new team she is trying out at then the coach could say if you don't hear from me by a certain day then good luck with your other tryouts. ?A classy and easy thing to do would be to email everyone that doesn't make the team. ?

 

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There are allot of girls at the tryouts and at a minimum it should be told via at least email if they did not make it. Or if they are going to call, talk directly to the player and not the parent. The player is the one who is going to be playing and Mom or Dad, shouldn't be the bearer of the Good or Bad news.

 

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I agree with the "closure" theory. A simple standard e-mail .. "Thank you for taking the time to attend the 2007 (organization) try-outs. Our decision was very difficult however, we will not be able to offer you a position on our roster for the upcoming season. Feel free to reply with any questions you may have... " or something to that affect. The fact is that many girls sit by the phone or computer waiting and wondering. It's a simple thing to do and it is just common sense that they would like to know either way ASAP. Especially if they are considering more than one team. They need to know their options. Rejection may be hard ... WAITING & WONDERING is harder.

 

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This is a good thread and has been helpful. We've struggled each year on how to handle it and we've called everyone (or at least have attempted to do so). I don't know whether that's the best way or not. The idea behind calling everyone is to be able to answer questions they might have regarding why they didn't make the team.

In some cases, we can do that pretty well. In others it's more difficult. At a few of our age groups we had so many kids in such a short time period that it was very difficult to give much specific information other than something like "Your hitting wasn't strong enough."

Maybe just telling everyone that we'll contact them if they made a team is better, I'm not sure. If it is done that way, then I think there should be a short time frame by which they can expect a call, maybe three days. The problem with that, though, is that if you give players a week or so to decide about an offer and you don't call a borderline girl during that time, she will have thought she didn't make it.

As some people pointed out, there are some special cases, such as a girl on the team the previous year not making a team. I think that should be handled on the phone by the coach. But if that coach is not returning, then what? Or what if you have a potential returning player and the family does not have voice mail and isn't answering the phone? I could give several other scenarios that are hard to anticipate and we've had them all, just this year.