Tryouts and Injuries...a little advice please.

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My 12U DD has played for the same organization for 2 years. She will be trying out for this organization and several others in the next 2 weeks. The problem is, she's been nursing a hamstring injury for several weeks. She is currently running a 3.63 from home to 1st (slower than her usual) and it also seems to affect her reaction and jump on base coverage. Obviously her current coach knows of her injury but how do we handle this at other tryouts? Do we say anything and if so to who and when, or do we remain silent and see how she does? We don't want to look like excuse makers for what might be less than her usual best at tryouts?

 

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hmmm. I'm not sure I would put my daughter through the tryout circuit with an injury (how bad is her injury?) and if you do go, I personally wouldn't say anything about an injury because I think most coaches would be leery about adding someone with an injury (unless there is a coach out there that knows your daughter and has seen her play several times healthy)

I don't know what position your daughter plays but i guarantee you that there will still be plenty of teams looking for players in late fall and hopefully your daughter's injury will be healed.

As far as her current team, if you really like the team and want her to return, go to their tryouts.

 

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Yep - touchy situation.

I would call the coach and say that you can't make it to their tryout. (No explanations.) And can you set up a private tryout in a few weeks? Maybe they can wait, and maybe they can't - but it's not worth wrecking a hammie now.

 

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Being 12u, I would focus on getting her healthy. Mckeena is correct a lot of late tryouts in the fall. My dd pulled hers two yrs ago and has had several therapy sessions and continues to do her exercises several times a week, sometimes still says she feels them tightening up on her. This is not an injury that will just heal and go away. Her health is more important than any team or game being played. Jmo.

 

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Your DD runs home to first with a pulled hammy faster than my DD does healthy lol.

I wouldn't push it and try out with an injury. I agree with others call the coach and see if you can set up a later try out.

 

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Her injury is not that serious. She's played the last 1/3 of the season with it. It gets tight but doesn't hurt with excessive running. At this point I think she is guarding it. She is a pitcher but due to team circumstances she played mostly at 2nd (which she loves) and occasionally at 1st. We will tryout for our current team but we really need to have some options.

 

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Be up front about her injury with the potential coach.

Most coaches will not want to push your daughter through a tryout if she has an existing injury..especially if they don't really know her. He/She will want to err on the side of caution, with her well-being considered as a priority. He or she will also take into consideration that she's not 100%.

Explain the nature of the injury, any treatments or medications that she's taking, and the extent that it will limit her performance throughout the tryout.

Offer to have her do those elements of the tryout in which her injury does not affect her performance...i.e. If she can hit, have her do that only.

The other thing you could do is make contact with the coach before the first tryout to explain her condition and desire to tryout with the team, and schedule her for a later tryout after some down time to rest her injury.

The final say on whether she's ready to move forward should always rest with the parent and player.

 

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You make no mention of seeing a doctor, trainer or any health professional. Did you get a diagnosis of the condition, what caused it and a treatment plan? Are you sure there are no underlying problems that she may aggravate if she continues "doing what she's doing"? All of this will tell you several things - if it's truly serious, how to aggressively treat it and roughly how long it should take to heal and get her back up to snuff.

I believe in being 100% honest with any coach at tryouts. Anything less, and it may come back to haunt your DD when she least expects it. So what? She's only 12 years old! She has PLENTY of time to get healthy without risking making this a career long injury, or possibly a career ending one. My DD missed nearly her whole junior season as a pitcher in high school from a leg nerve injury while sliding. Most people realize that a kid's junior year is probably the most crucial in college recruiting. Long story short - she was awarded a handsome athletic scholarship and pitched 4 years at the DI level. She's now a healthy gal with no problems whatsoever.

Scooter7 has good advice to follow for tryouts. Coaches worth your trust will understand, because they will be interested in your DD's well being.

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut instinct. When it comes to your kid's health, remove sports from the picture. Consider her health WITHOUT clouding your vision with the element of sports. Softball is temporary, her health and well being is forever.