What were some of the good/bad tryouts you attended

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Fanandfun, no, I don't think it is a good idea to charge that kind of money for tryouts. I will say though that many are probably not completly honest with dd's abilities. Maybe they are just testing the waters to see how dd stacks up with some of the bigger orgs. Nothing wrong with that either, if you don't go you will never know. However I still stand by my statement just like others have said, I can pick out most in a short time. Coaches that only need a player or two are going to be selective, its a cruel world but its reality. The good thing is, there is a team for every girl out there, you just have to find the fit.

 

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Are you saying this is a good idea? What about the girls who ARE solid candidates but their parents just don't have that kind of money? maybe i'm missing something with your comment....are you suggesting that there were alot of girls at your tryout whose parents were not 'honest' with their dd's abilities?

I believe he/she is just stating how some California teams do this. . . Corona Angels Black out of CA does this, but what was not mentioned to the coach is that this team and another one that charges even more, guarantee the players they select will make a DI school. I don't think anyone is advocating that for the Ohio area. . .totally different scenario in CA.

 

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Fanandfun, no, I don't think it is a good idea to charge that kind of money for tryouts. I will say though that many are probably not completly honest with dd's abilities. Maybe they are just testing the waters to see how dd stacks up with some of the bigger orgs. Nothing wrong with that either, if you don't go you will never know. However I still stand by my statement just like others have said, I can pick out most in a short time. Coaches that only need a player or two are going to be selective, its a cruel world but its reality. The good thing is, there is a team for every girl out there, you just have to find the fit.

I agree: (1) you shouldn't charge for tryouts - if its that much of a problem for an organization, have the kids pre-register, sift through them and then have semi-private try-outs i.e. must get asked to come to tryout (2) some parents are not completely honest about thier dd's abilities and then get offended if thier dd did not get a harder 'look' (3) some dd's go to tryouts just to tryout - there is nothing wrong with that either....it happens all of the time! and (4) coach's HAVE to be selective- why waste the coach's time or the kids- either she has what it takes, or she doesn't...it is a cruel reality

 

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ManitouDan has a good point. It is amazing to me how many coaches do not know how to use a pitching machine correctly and try to feed it with the same hand that they are trying a pitching motion and then you get a delay. Have the ball in one hand ready to feed the shute and use the other hand to make the pitching motion as you come down feed the fall with the other hand with no delay! Plus if you decide to use pitching machine to throw balls to the outfield they cannot be wet it it is almost impossible to get them to stay in the glove being wet with that type of spin. The best tryouts I have attend have groups of 5 girls and then they have them go to a different fields as a group to bunt-slap, hit, outfield, infield, running-sliding, pitching, catching. Only one age group during that time frame. Of course you need a complex that has 6 or more fields, but you have 3 or 4 coaches watching at each field.

Okay, ManitouDan and SB Family. You hit (pun intended) on the one area of tryouts that I feel almost everyone could improve. Pitching machines most times 35' or less set at 55 and above do not tell the story about who can hit... There are some people that have very little belief in machines because of the difficulty of rhythm and timing depending on speed setting, feeding person and machine balls that are hard to track when dirt colored.

I know it takes organization and time BUT give a real at bat starting with a 0-0 count and have a duel. Grade you pitchers, batter and defenders at the same time. Have a brief pause between batters to write notes. If you can only do one at bat that is o.k. but as a coach I get to see the batter's judgement off a real pitcher and as close to the real thing of what they are capable of doing. Just my opinion but hey like I said earlier it is each organization's tryouts with mostly volunteers. I am glad they are there and feel most like ideas/suggestions presented with logic and reasoning.

 

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The pitching machine is only a tool, like any other tool if used correctly it gives you an idea of a hitter's ability. I can watch a hitter and don't need a pitching machine to tell if they are a good hitter or not. Live pitching is not the answer. Each pitch can be different and not all pitchers are consistent in throwing the same pitch and speed. So time would be a trade off. Why we use the Barry Bonds drill when we use pitching machines to train hitters. When I grade a hitter, hitting the ball hard is only one thing I look at. I watched a kid this weekend pound one over the fence, but she was not a good hitter, since she looked like a slow pitch hitter with the amount of bat lag she had. I suggest you have your dd go to a cage, hit baseballs set at 60. The next time she is hitting softballs off a machine at 55, they will look like basketballs coming at her. That is all my dd hits in a cage. So she hit 15 out of 15 line drives at a tryout this weekend. We also work on vision drills, which help you see the ball better, if you are not doing these type of drills you are missing the boat.

 

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We were there and I totally agree with everything you said!One thing I'd like to add is that the pitchers & catchers was not even looked at. I saw 2 guys walking(slowly) out to them with radar guns but, by then the majority of the pitchers were done pitching. I think the girls realized why keep pitching if no one even cares enough to walk out & give them a look.Very bad tryout...

Yellowball and Powershack5...It occured to me after reading you post that we were at the afternoon tryout. It had slipped my mind that there was a morning tryout. I think you both mentioned some good suggestions, Certainly looking interested and respecting everyone who took their time to come out, should automatically occur...

 

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This was the first year that I had all of those trying out hit every pitch out of the machine. In the past we wanted to see them be selective hitters, but there were too many hit & runs and bunt & runs that left our runners out to dry this past year.

I wanted to see these girls get the bat on every ball whether hitting or bunting. You could tell that it was very foreign to many of them. I expected that at the younger ages, but not so much at the 16 & 18u level.

 

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There are many Cali teams that do this. It prevents the masses from attending tryouts. LOL...I agree, no need for fundraisers.

Semperfi....you are dead on. DD attended a tryout and the coach knew who she liked and wanted after about 20 minutes. And yes, this is an elite team.

Yes, but then you might miss out on the best talent. Not all families can afford $500.00 just to try out. It becomes who has the most money makes the yeams.

 

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The Silver Creek Starz had you register your dd on their website, so when we got to the field all we had to do was sign a paper and they gave her a name tag. Talk about easy and efficient. Took the early right out of it!!

 

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Yes, but then you might miss out on the best talent. Not all families can afford $500.00 just to try out. It becomes who has the most money makes the yeams.

In California this is not a problem. There are almost as many girls of travelball playing age in Califorina as there is people in Ohio. There is no shortage of talent. What they are really looking for are the players who are 100% committed to training and playing something like a 200 game schedule per year. The coaching at that level is outstanding and well worth the $500.00 shot at getting some of it.

 

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So do they pay $500.00 to tryout and then pay a fee to play? Do the people who don't make the cut get any of that $500.00 back or are the paying for the girls who do get picked up?

 

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Some teams in CA require that each memeber give a credit card to the team for the expenses of the year !!!!!!

 

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Some teams in CA require that each memeber give a credit card to the team for the expenses of the year !!!!!!

wow- now thats a BIG commitment!

 

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Just here in Washington, let alone CA, the top teams charge a player fee of at least $1,500 and on up to $3,000. One local father of a high school pitcher told me he paid about $15,000 this past year including travel and everything. Maybe I can move to CA and start a business charging people $250 to give them an evaluation of whether their daughter has a realistic shot at making one of those teams!

With tryouts, there are a lot of good thoughts on here. But believe me, it's hard. To have a successful tryout, you need to be thoroughly organized with a specific, timed, plan. You need plenty of volunteers. You need to have an idea of how many girls might show up and to have someone who is competent enough to make adjustments on the fly if it's considerably more or less than expected. You need the coaches to know their role and to know they are there to evaluate talent and not to chat with each other. You need one person running it who can be on top of everything, which includes making sure the overall plan is being followed, that the plan is running on time and making changes if it's not, making sure that each girl is getting her fair shot and is getting seen, making sure all of the volunteers are doing their jobs properly (including good pitches from the pitching machine, timing on running, fungo hitter is competent), making sure that each girl and parent has at least some interaction with the head coach of that age group and preferably also the head of the organization, etc.

It takes a LOT of thought and work, and then a lot of trial and error, to run a group tryout. An all-day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tryout for different age groups will leave the person or people running it exhausted.

I would ask everyone to give teams and organizations a little slack, unless it is clear that no thought or planning at all went into the tryout. If that's the case, then things probably won't change for everything else. But if there is a plan in place that isn't executed perfectly, then that's not so bad.

Also, there are different thoughts on the things that should be done in a tryout. We always considered live pitching, but it just takes WAY too long. It's not realistic unless you have one field dedicated solely to it and a pitcher who can throw consistent strikes, and that pitcher throws to everyone trying out for that same team, and you have enough coaches from that team to be able to dedicate one coach to watching only that field, etc.

I could go on forever about this topic because I lived through it for several years, always trying to make adjustments. I would just say it's much, much harder than it looks.

 

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Yes, we too were at the Stingray tryout. Not really impressed. We have always heard good things about the Stingrays, that is what lead us to their tryout. Well... I agree about the pitchers and catchers. What a shame!!!! They really had some good talent there. Over heard some parents talking about the 15u coach coming from another organization. We understand now by the other comments where the direction of this team is headed.... Not good for the Stingrays!!!!! I believe the 3rd baseman that was commented on was also from the same organization as the coach. The gentleman at the pitching machine was unaware on how to insert the ball and do the arm motion. Like most girls like. No wonder why some did hit very well. The Stingrays have always been known as a top notch organization. I hope someone from this organization reads these comments and fixes this before the season starts!!!!!! The last comment on their handout was they will not deal with attitudes. OH BOY!!!!!! This sounds like it could be a long season for some!!!!!!!

 

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So do they pay $500.00 to tryout and then pay a fee to play? Do the people who don't make the cut get any of that $500.00 back or are the paying for the girls who do get picked up?

Yes you pay the $500 to just tryout with no refund and then pay the fees to actually participate on the team. Reality is if you want to be on the top teams in CA, you pay. . .

 

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Had a kid work for me part time that also worked at a mail order pharmacy company, and he said that about 20% of what they distribute is growth hormones and enhancers to California at up to $100.00 per shot.

Wow I wish I could get 7 days worth (2 new bats, one bag, and 3 walking tacos)

 

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Just here in Washington, let alone CA, the top teams charge a player fee of at least $1,500 and on up to $3,000. One local father of a high school pitcher told me he paid about $15,000 this past year including travel and everything. Maybe I can move to CA and start a business charging people $250 to give them an evaluation of whether their daughter has a realistic shot at making one of those teams!

With tryouts, there are a lot of good thoughts on here. But believe me, it's hard. To have a successful tryout, you need to be thoroughly organized with a specific, timed, plan. You need plenty of volunteers. You need to have an idea of how many girls might show up and to have someone who is competent enough to make adjustments on the fly if it's considerably more or less than expected. You need the coaches to know their role and to know they are there to evaluate talent and not to chat with each other. You need one person running it who can be on top of everything, which includes making sure the overall plan is being followed, that the plan is running on time and making changes if it's not, making sure that each girl is getting her fair shot and is getting seen, making sure all of the volunteers are doing their jobs properly (including good pitches from the pitching machine, timing on running, fungo hitter is competent), making sure that each girl and parent has at least some interaction with the head coach of that age group and preferably also the head of the organization, etc.

It takes a LOT of thought and work, and then a lot of trial and error, to run a group tryout. An all-day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tryout for different age groups will leave the person or people running it exhausted.

I would ask everyone to give teams and organizations a little slack, unless it is clear that no thought or planning at all went into the tryout. If that's the case, then things probably won't change for everything else. But if there is a plan in place that isn't executed perfectly, then that's not so bad.

Also, there are different thoughts on the things that should be done in a tryout. We always considered live pitching, but it just takes WAY too long. It's not realistic unless you have one field dedicated solely to it and a pitcher who can throw consistent strikes, and that pitcher throws to everyone trying out for that same team, and you have enough coaches from that team to be able to dedicate one coach to watching only that field, etc.

I could go on forever about this topic because I lived through it for several years, always trying to make adjustments. I would just say it's much, much harder than it looks.

Joe:

Let me know if you need help in your talent evaluation company! As I said earlier, these organizations are volunteer driven and we should be as appreciative as possible. Most organizations are always trying to get better. It certainly is difficult to plan for the number of people that may show up at a tryout. That certainly affects what you have time to do.

Regarding hitting, my reference to live hitting came from a major organization that had them hit in the cage and then face real pitching. You are right it takes time and you need many volunteers but it was informative in my opinion.

 

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Bucketboy- thanks for bringing up the hitting, completley forgot about that. In regards to that note, here is a shout out for the young lady that just hit the **** out of the ball. Each girl had to bunt then hit, she bunted well and just sent the next 10 pitches to the fence. After watching her I would hope she ranked high in their eyes. Not really sure who she was, pretty big kid and had a pretty large cheering section( i think they wer calling her Lex or something like that). My dd talked over and over about how she wishes she could've hit like her. Good luck to the Stingrays and with them nothing but a successful season.

 

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My DD was there on Saturday for the 12u. Static did a great job. Check in was quick and easy. The coaches got the girls warming up and then took a moment to meet with the parents. They introduced themselves and gave everyone a little information on Static and what their plans were for the coming season. After that they broke down into their age groups. Each age group had several assistants and the coaches were able to evaluate and speak with each player. They kept everything moving along nicely and the girls got a great workout. My DD and I both enjoyed meeting Kavin and Shannon. Good luck Static in 2010 !

lilbit... thanks for the props. We tried hard to meet expecations and raise the bar!! We even had a coach get sick from overheating. Hoooot day and hard work will do that. We have drastically changed out layout, registration, and drills as we get feedback from DD's that make it and their families. This is year 2 with this format and we really are hoping to even be better each and every year. As with our game play, we love to up the quality at every level. Hope all are happy and if you have ways of critiquing our tryouts we are willing to learn and listen. See you at the 2 remaining days we have left to evaluate your wonderful DD's!!!