Who Hates Tryouts More - Coaches or Parents?

[FP26]

Committing to multiple teams seems unethical. It's one thing if you realize you made a mistake and you need to do what's best for your kid, but intentionally keeping several teams on the line thinking you're with them then jumping ship on them is pretty awful, IMO.

I agree with you completely, but I have seen it done MANY times. Typically organizations will learn who these people are and won't even offer them spots, no matter how good they are. But if they are good enough, someone will take the chance.

 

[quandofloo]

Yeah trust me as one of those parents of a good but not great free agent player I am hating it....we have 5 or 6 tryouts we are looking at and I am just hoping she gets one offer given those "open" tryouts are probably all looking for just 1 or 2 open spots and since she does not pitch, bomb balls over the fence or run like the wind getting noticed is going to be a challenge.

My DD is dealing with this now. All of the teams around here seem to want to be A class teams. My DD holds her own but isn't going to knock off existing players on a team. We have been through 5 tryouts and only heard back from one team. I am seriously tempted at this point to ask that coach if he would be willing to give me an evaluation on where my DD fell in the group. I just don't know if I am evaluating with daddy eyes or not.

 

[Il softball fan]

It couldn't hurt to ask the coach for an evaluation, and for maybe areas that she might need work on. Good luck on finding the right fit.

 

[The Maj]

I agree with you completely, but I have seen it done MANY times. Typically organizations will learn who these people are and won't even offer them spots, no matter how good they are. But if they are good enough, someone will take the chance.

You can bet they do and word tends to spread rather quick if a player hops, commits to several teams (which is highly unethical), has a bad attitude, has bad or problematic parents, etc. Unfortunately, the kid can only control their attitude in most of these situations and I have seen a many a parent ruin an otherwise good/great kid's chances through their actions. Regardless of the kid's talent level, many coaches will not give a chance to a "problem child".

 

[quandofloo]

It couldn't hurt to ask the coach for an evaluation, and for maybe areas that she might need work on. Good luck on finding the right fit.

I replied to his email but haven't heard back yet. I did get a call from another coach last night that I have spoken with a few times. He told me straight out that he already had 4 catchers on his roster and it wouldn't be fair to bring my DD in and have her not get any playing time. He asked me if I wanted him to ask around to try to help us find her a team to play on and I told him absolutely. Hopefully, he can make a contact for us or one of the other tryouts will pan out. We have one more tryout planned for this weekend but after that I just don't know what we are going to do.

She missed out on travel ball at 10U because I allowed one terrible experience at a tryout push us away from the whole thing and now I am afraid that we have already put her at a disadvantage. I don't want to have her miss out on 12U and fall behind in her development because of it. I saw it happen to my son and she is a far superior athlete to what he was at this age and has way more emotional investment in it.

 

[teammom2]

I hate tryout season. Everyone starts feeling it creep up around Nationals at the end of each season. I think it adds a level of unease or tension between the top few players and the rest. The bottom 1/4 that has bee described here. I undersand the process and I understand why there's a need for players to be evaluated and some are kept and some let go. It's just so hard on a personal level.

 

[BT3100]

Much of it is body type too.
My DD is a young 12 but at 5' 6" and less that 5% body fat she's impressive. Fast as can be.
My DS who is a much harder worker and is totally committed to baseball struggles as he is built like his dad.. Looks slow and is slower than DD.
He is more fundamentally sound at 9 but gets put on the "B" team.. DD get's all the love.. she works hard but no where as hard as DS.