How'd your tryouts go?

[Little Angels Softball]

It is normally the "lesser" teams that seem to be the ones that make offers and want an answer right away. I don't mean "lesser" necessarily in terms of talent or even name recognition ... I mean "lesser" in terms of there are other teams in the area that are in more demand and these lesser teams know that if the girls they have their sights set on try out for the glamour teams theat they will accept offers if given.

It's ironic that the top teams have their tryouts later because they are still playing well into August. The other teams who aren't so fortunate take the opportunity to hold tryouts earlier and then try to snap up talent by giving strong-armed offers and putting tons of pressure on the girls to accept. I hear it over and over from families ..... "She really wanted to play on your team, but we took the offer because it is a good team and we had no guarantees that we would make yours. We didn't want to be stuck with a bad team because we wouldn't give them an answer right away, as they said they'd take back the offer if we didn't." I always snicker a little when our tryouts are over and these same teams that strong-armed girls a couple of weeks earlier are still looking for two or three girls to complete their rosters, and the parents who caved in to the pressure don't even realize that their offer would have still been there after the top orgs' tryouts are over.

I use this to help me make my decisions easier. There were 27 girls at my tryouts who had multiple offers on the table already, and most from the high-pressure teams. I know those girls want to play for our team because they didn't succumb to the strong-arm tactics and were willing to let the chips fall where they may if I didn't select them. Those are the kind of girls I'm looking for.

 

[guero_gordo]

@LA I hear what you say about scheduling dates earlier because big dogs are still playing, but what counters that around here is that the big dogs invite kids to tryouts, and those invited are all but guaranteed a spot. Doesn't matter if it's weeks in the future, if they've been invited, they are likely to wait.
Of course, if you weren't invited, you're just wasting your time.

 

[ConorMacleod]

12u local TB team. Tryouts are for player placement to a team, with no cuts. My DD and I chose the B team after making the #1 team. Reason being is, she could have been the #3 pitcher on the #1 team, or the #1 pitcher on the next team. I know we made the right choice. She's 12. Who knows if she will pitch in 14u or beyond, so lets have her pitch a bunch this year! Still playing B level ball anyway. But...another pitcher was placed with the #2 team as well. The mom gets miffed, wouldn't return the coaches calls, and then quit the team before practice #1. And then asks for her registration fee back! The girl is 11 and the parents are already sending her the message that its ok to quit if you don't get what you want. Rumor has it she went to a local club team. A club team that is known to promise the world and deliver nothing. Will she pitch there? Who knows? But she already turned her back on a great situation and opportunity.

 

[Sweet Lou]

DD only went to one tryout, our with our local org fall team but it went well and she made the team. Had our first practice last night and DD had a good time and got along with all the girls so here's hoping for a fun fall season.

 

[Momo'sDad]

It is normally the "lesser" teams that seem to be the ones that make offers and want an answer right away. I don't mean "lesser" necessarily in terms of talent or even name recognition ... I mean "lesser" in terms of there are other teams in the area that are in more demand and these lesser teams know that if the girls they have their sights set on try out for the glamour teams theat they will accept offers if given.

It's ironic that the top teams have their tryouts later because they are still playing well into August. The other teams who aren't so fortunate take the opportunity to hold tryouts earlier and then try to snap up talent by giving strong-armed offers and putting tons of pressure on the girls to accept. I hear it over and over from families ..... "She really wanted to play on your team, but we took the offer because it is a good team and we had no guarantees that we would make yours. We didn't want to be stuck with a bad team because we wouldn't give them an answer right away, as they said they'd take back the offer if we didn't." I always snicker a little when our tryouts are over and these same teams that strong-armed girls a couple of weeks earlier are still looking for two or three girls to complete their rosters, and the parents who caved in to the pressure don't even realize that their offer would have still been there after the top orgs' tryouts are over.

I use this to help me make my decisions easier. There were 27 girls at my tryouts who had multiple offers on the table already, and most from the high-pressure teams. I know those girls want to play for our team because they didn't succumb to the strong-arm tactics and were willing to let the chips fall where they may if I didn't select them. Those are the kind of girls I'm looking for.

For fall, I don't think it's as big a deal, because it's the shorter season and is sometimes over before you know it. If a player misses out on other solid opportunities because she was hoping to get on your glamour team, it won't cost her much at all. But because of the reduced time to prepare for the 1st fall tourney, teams are going to be eager to get their rosters set as quickly as possible.

As you noted, the better teams tend to be playing into August. So, assuming a few days off for everyone after returning from Nationals, a team then has to get in tryouts and hopefully fill any holes with enough time to get ready for the 1st tournament during the 1st weekend of September or even Labor Day Weekend in some cases. I don't think it's at all unreasonable to say, "Great tryout today! We'd like to offer you a spot. We plan to finalize the roster 72 hours from now, so we'd like your answer by then".

There are a handful of 'big name' organizations in our area, but none of them had really strong 12u teams coming back for fall, so there was no team or teams that all (or any) of the top 12u players were all that desperate to play for.

For the spring season, I'd tend to agree that it can and should take a bit more time for everything to shake out and that there's little upside to any team or player/parent making a hasty decision without weighing all the available options. First sets of tryouts will be early December, and there will still be tryouts happening in February.

 

[Anthony Vertuccio]

Well my 16u team is done and it breaks my heart. We couldn't get any pitching. Guess it's because teams are emailing me asking to scrimmage one of their three 16u teams. Also because of other reasons which I won't discuss but will take the high road and wish all the girls good luck. Now I have to find teams for the 6 girls who were loyal to me and I will do so and won't rest until I do. As for me after doing this for me 10 years with out even having a daughter I will probably retire from Travel Softball. My heart hurts and maybe I will come back one day. Until then...So Long, Farewell and Amen