The worst tryout I've ever seen
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brb just got a new idea to create a little home field advantage for our team next season
It is about learning how to get yourself the good hops. Staying out of those in between hops.
- May 29, 2015
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Well . . . you sure don't want to drink bad hops.
I will say this . . . watching Prospect League games this summer, it is quite obvious these kids get used to playing turf and don't re-adjust back to dirt . . . as they turn their head, stab and swing at ground balls, and watch another one roll into the outfield.
That's pretty neat! Maybe I've been stuck under a rock, but I've never seen this before. This can add some fun to the infield reps in the gym when winter seems to drag on and on.
It's interesting how different leagues function. We're in SoCal and my DD moved to travel for her first year of 12U. There was a requirement to play the regular rec ball season to qualify for All-Stars. We could see how she had to hold back while playing the regular season (mostly throwing) in fear of hurting her teammates. It finally got to the point that coaches and a few random umps told her it was time for her to move on. What would've been ideal for us was to have something between Rec/All-Stars and Travel. There's a league about 20mins away that did this, had a travel team but was associated with their rec league. Unfortunately, they didn't have a team for her age group at the time. SoCal is pretty competitive in softball and we (unknowingly) ended up on a very competitive new team within an established organization. She's improved greatly but I still think it might have been good if they had something in-between to offer.
When she was in the rec league, the league would work with one of our local colleges to have a few of their coaches host a 2hr session with all the new coaches as they are volunteers, as many didn't have any experience. I thought that was a great idea and helped open up communication so that we could get the girls excited about softball by attending their games (working out discounted tickets). I think they might still do this, not sure.
Last year, a more enthusiastic parent/coach that has been coaching for several years ran a few clinics (for a reasonable cost). I think that turned out well...
When she was in the rec league, the league would work with one of our local colleges to have a few of their coaches host a 2hr session with all the new coaches as they are volunteers, as many didn't have any experience. I thought that was a great idea and helped open up communication so that we could get the girls excited about softball by attending their games (working out discounted tickets). I think they might still do this, not sure.
Last year, a more enthusiastic parent/coach that has been coaching for several years ran a few clinics (for a reasonable cost). I think that turned out well...
The thread went a bit sideways, and I just realized what it was originally about...
DD only went to a couple of tryouts, but they were much more organized than the OP's. One had stations all set up to demonstrate various skills with two coaches and 3-4 volunteer parents (all of whom played softball/baseball in high school higher), this ran for about 3hrs and they only invited ~10 prospective players. Another had a station for catchers doing various movements to show their agility and catching/throwing and then had them work out with the rest of the team with their two coaches evaluating, this ran for about 2.5-3hrs and they had ~5 prospective players.
There's a lot of teams in SoCal. There are teams that a good rec All-Star team could beat and others that win national championships so it's a matter of finding the right fit. I guess we're lucky in that way.
DD only went to a couple of tryouts, but they were much more organized than the OP's. One had stations all set up to demonstrate various skills with two coaches and 3-4 volunteer parents (all of whom played softball/baseball in high school higher), this ran for about 3hrs and they only invited ~10 prospective players. Another had a station for catchers doing various movements to show their agility and catching/throwing and then had them work out with the rest of the team with their two coaches evaluating, this ran for about 2.5-3hrs and they had ~5 prospective players.
There's a lot of teams in SoCal. There are teams that a good rec All-Star team could beat and others that win national championships so it's a matter of finding the right fit. I guess we're lucky in that way.
I coached a pretty competitive Allstar team that we had a core group together for 5 years. After 7th grade summer I told the parents DD needed to fly the coop. She had several offers and ended up on a team that was new to organization (didn't know that) moving up from 12U. After the first few practices and tourneys I realized that my Allstar team would have whooped up on her team. It was tough year but learned a lot.
Your description is more in line with what I usually see, and what I saw at the two other tryouts I witnessed personally this year.
FWIW, my player ended up getting an offer from both of those other two organizations. She agonized over the decision, went with the one that we considered higher risk/higher reward because they have more of their team coming back so she's going to have to work for playing time. Turns out it was the right call: the other team ended up not having enough players.
Also heard through the grapevine that the team that held the terrible tryout is still looking for players after all.
