12u Tryouts

[undergroundga]

So, we took our local rec league Allstar team, last summer, and started playing travel ball. Half of team are 01s and half are 02s, so we played up into 12u. Our younger girls did well playing against the older teams(including my dd who avg 6 ks and only 2 walks per start as a 10yr old) we played about 27 games.
When we started the team we had 12 girls. By the beginning of spring we had 9 bodies, but only 7 players. Our 1 and 2 pitcher had quit(which is why my dd ended up with so much pitching time, she was s'posed to relieve since she also pitched on a 10u team) and our starting catcher. We made it through our season with a lot of help from friends filling in.
So now we are at the end of the season, or beginning, perhaps. We have 7 girls left that want to continue playing and need to fill out the rest of our roster. We are a small town in So. IL and don't have a lot of girls to draw from. We need to find another quality pitcher(who doesn't right) and most importantly, a catcher, along with some utility players.
To fill our roster we have decided to have open tryouts to girls from our area. We are hoping to attract families with our localized travel schedule( half our games will be played at home through a series of dbl headers and hosting 3 tourneys in our local park) and low team fees. But I got a problem.......... I've never held tryouts! Been to a few but never organized one. Any advice or ideas would be a great help, Thanks!

 

[CJ D]

Sounds like you are in a real similar situation to us. Small town...not much population...hard to draw kids into your program from larger areas with more teams....it can be a challenge. Many girls that you will get to come to tryouts will be girls that you find and ask to attend in that situation. Which makes it difficult. You'd hate for a girl not to make it that you invited. But you have to just be able to identify the girls who are "coachable"...which makes it even harder. You have a girl that performs slightly better than another, but the weaker player listens to everything you tell her and adjusts. Unfortunately, you will probably have to do the same thing. We're simply not able to get 20 girls at a tryout in our town. We may get 2-3 each day...which means multiple tryouts. One before all the other teams, and one after to pick up semi local girls who didn't make the team that had 30 girls show up. They may have great potential, but due to proximity some teams are just blessed with being able to find 11 studs without trying.

As far as the tryouts themselves, and the number if girls that show up for us, I make my entire team be there. Again, it would be nice if I could say they each "try out", but reality is that unless there was some issue with them, they are guaranteed a spot on the next years team. But all those new at try outs don't know who is who, so they aren't as apprehensive or nervous as they would be if it were just 2-3 of them. I do a few things to see where their skill level is and go from there.
We start out by stretching and warming up throwing of course. Pay close attention to form, arm strength, etc. After everyone is warmed up throwing I make them run home-first and time them. Just to get a base line more than anything. Also helps them get the jitters out if they get a little winded. We'll time them three times.
I'll then break them in two groups. One group at first, the other at SS. Place 5 balls on the ground 3 feet or so apart and have the girl start from the same position each time, approach the ball, field it, and throw it to 1st. Quickly get back to the starting spot and go again till all 5 balls are done. I'm watching quickness, form fielding the balls (planting right, left foot forward slightly, shuffle, etc) and throwing accuracy. The girls on first I'm watching to be sure they are not shying away from a hard throw, flinching....all the stuff that they should have outgrown long before, but you'd be surprised. Then we swap. 1st to SS, SS to 1st. Repeat. After one round, I'll bring the girls back together, and if I see technical issues, ill explain it, show them the correct way, and have them do it again. Make note if which girls attempt to correct it, even if what they do now looks worse than it did before!!! Can't stress that enough. If a girl makes a solid effort at correcting an issue, that tells me she is willing to do the work to try to perfect it. Again, having to try to build players instead of just reload players makes you look for different things!
Same groups, now I move them to 3rd and 1st and hit each girl a few grounders...nothing laser like...just crisp balls to see who is pulling up early, etc. Again, looking for things they should have control of by this point. Switch...
Now I'll move all the girls to the outfield. Give them each a ball. Rapid fire here. Girl runs up, hands me a ball and runs out 20 or so feet in front of me. I'll throw it right or left and they have to adjust to the ball. Looking to make sure they are dropping and turning to that side and not back peddling. Girls catches ball, next girl run up and assumes spot. Each girl gets 8-10 balls here. If any issues, make sure to explain correct way and do it again, again looking for the ones who attempt to fix it.
Leave girls in outfield and break out the pitching machine. We crank it up and throw some long flies to them. Left, right, in front, behind. I'm ok with them knowing which side or where it's going. Just looking for athleticism and ability to track the ball, keep eyes on it, etc.
bring them back in and bat. I'll throw front toss at about 20 feet with a screen and look at form, contact, strength. Then I'll set up the machine, crank it to 60 and make sure they can time it and catch up to it. Basically just give them some reps and make sure they aren't scared out of their minds because the machine is too fast.

When all said and done, I'll time them again running but from home-home.

This is just what we do on the actual work side of it. We have sign in sheets where the parents or girls fill out contact info, experience, positions played previously, name...all that pertinent stuff.

And as I said, I have to look for different things than some other coaches. Our tryouts tend to turn into a practice feel more so than a tryout. We have to. You may experience the same in your area.

 

[canyonjoe]

Make sure you get the word out. You might think most people know how TB works, but they don't have any idea. I had a friend who thought it cost 1K a month in dues just to play. If you can have a couple of tryout or workout days go through a normal practice and see what kids have. At 12U you don't have polished players so it's a lot of guess work.

 

[MsDinosaur]

Put up signs at the main intersections--lots of people wouldn't know to look at websites and wouldn't necessarily be checking the bulletin boards at church or the grocery store, etc. Get as many volunteers as you can, not only to help run the drills, but also to help the girls and parents check in and fill out their forms. Borrow a popup tent and folding tables and chairs for the check-in area. Have plenty of pens/pencils.

Have water on hand. Experienced players should know to bring their own, but you may have to be ready for some diamonds in the rough too, right? Have some band-aids, ice packs, etc.

Be prepared with numbers for them to attach to their shirts and plenty of safety pins, or washable markers to write their numbers on their arms, or numbered/colored stickers, whatever you're going to use to know who's-who.

Oh, hey, what about some spare gloves, bats and batting helmets? Just in case.