Tryouts Heat Up.

As I sit here thinking about all the excitement being generated this weekend with travel ball tryouts in full swing, I can’t help but think about all the players and their parents whose hopes and dreams are going to be pinned on some daddy/coaches evaluation.

What really qualifies someone to be called coach in the 1st place and then sit in judgment of your daughter’s ability? Do they go through some sort of training? Do they even have any educational back ground to work with kids, let alone girls? Do these coaches provide you with documentation of a background check? How do you know if this person working with your child is qualified to work with kids or better yet not be some child molester just out of prison? Yea I know I am reaching a bit here but I hope I got your attention.

My wife and I have are certified teachers and have been around softball since my wife played in college. We have both been head coaches of softball at the Jr. and Sr. High Level. We have gone to National Coaches Clinics, Alabama State Athletic Conferences, been certified in CPR and 1st Aide, and held various coaches and players clinics over the years. Does this mean we are qualified to sit in judgment of your daughter’s ability? Answer: NO, NOT REALLY. Even with all of our coaching experience and training we still get it wrong.

My point here is simple. Do not feel it’s the end of the world because you do not get asked to play on a team or feel you child is not good enough because some daddy/coach doesn’t pick here. Let me share with you a few tid bits about typical tryouts:

1st of all tryouts can be a huge meet and greet farce. You got people walking around like they are somebody special and everyone is doing their best to be all buddy buddy with the head guy. There is usually so much testosterone in the air that the State of Alabama will issue a “Poor Air Quality” alert…..LOL But seriously, tryouts should be basic, simple and quick because most teams are not ran by those who teach the game of softball they are ran by daddys looking for players to surround their own kid with and put together the best team of talent possible. Travel ball is a huge male/daddy ego thing. Granted there are some coaches out there who will work with your kid but they are very few and far between and those teams are usually not very high profile which is why you are not at their tryouts.

High profile travel teams are looking for players who can already do it and need little to no coaching, because that is usually what you will get…..very little coaching. Some parents want it that way for they do not want some unqualified coach screwing up their kid, which by the way is usually the same parent you call Head Coach….FYI.

Let me suggest a few things to help with tryouts: 1. Go to more than one team tryout
2. Ask questions about the team and its coaches but don’t ask the team or its coaches unless you came to tryouts with waders on!
3. If they are interested in your child they will not let you leave without some type of offer.
4. If your child is boarder line they will be back in touch if they have only limited spots available.
5. Find out how many kids they are looking for ahead of time and be real with your daughter’s ability.
6. Don’t waste your time trying out for a team you know going into it she has no chance.
7. Be real and only go to team tryouts that best suit your child’s ability.
8. Find out what positions they are looking for before you get there so you know if you even have a chance before you missed out trying out somewhere else.
9. Find out how much it will cost you to play on this team.
10. Find out if your daughter is going to be 1-9 or 10-?.
11. Before you commit make the coach commit to your daughter about playing time.

Well I hope this helps someone. Good luck at tryouts and I hope your daughter is what someone is looking for.