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touchemall
145 Posts |
 Posted - 07/18/2011 : 21:51:40
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| How do coaches know that the kids that only attend the private tryouts will work well with players already established from the previous year? I understand kids not being able to make the public workouts because of schedule conflicts. If you have 8 or so players returning from the previous year and you pick players based on a one on one tryout are you able to offer the player a spot without seeing if chemistry exists? I know families who pilgrimmage each summer showcasing their 9, 10, 11, etc. Kids to a half dozen teams (if not more) but they only do it in private. How do both the coaches and the families commit to a year if baseball without meeting the other families or more importantly, you child meeting the other players? |
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With-a-stick
33 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2011 : 23:45:37
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We've had several private tryouts over the last couple of years because of Boy Scout commitments in the fall. When it looked like a fit, we as parents appreciated a coaches offer for a second look with the rest of the players. Our son and our family could not conceive of accepting without seeing the other players and the interaction with the coaches. It's not a job, players really do have to to like the team around you. The second look is our tryout for the team not a tryout for our son.
A lot of your time will be spent with parents so that has to match as well. I've spent a season on the center field bleachers, self imposed but not an ideal season. Always see the team and meet the parents. |
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dmb350
135 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2011 : 23:46:03
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| It has little to do with how they play with the other boys. I'm just gonna give it to you as I see it. Good coaches will see talent with or without other players present. Position players should be able to do their job and it doesn't always require the other players to be there to see that and talented kids get the nod most of the time regardless of whether they are able to make friends or not. Travel ball is about winning and most want to be on the best teams so if a private tryout gets your kid one step closer then most parents would do it. It's mostly a networking thing IMO unless it's a tryout for an Elite/Majors level team that really only takes the very best kids. Then it's just a way to make a quick assessment of a player to see if it's worth anyone's time to put him on the field with the team. |
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in_the_know
985 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2011 : 00:08:12
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quote:
Originally posted by touchemall
How do coaches know that the kids that only attend the private tryouts will work well with players already established from the previous year? I understand kids not being able to make the public workouts because of schedule conflicts. If you have 8 or so players returning from the previous year and you pick players based on a one on one tryout are you able to offer the player a spot without seeing if chemistry exists? I know families who pilgrimmage each summer showcasing their 9, 10, 11, etc. Kids to a half dozen teams (if not more) but they only do it in private. How do both the coaches and the families commit to a year if baseball without meeting the other families or more importantly, you child meeting the other players?
I don't think that whether the tryout is public or private really gives much insight into this anyway. It's much like a job interview. Most kids are on their best behavior and putting their best foot forward at any tryout. Chemistry and how they work together reveals itself after a couple of months or practicing and playing together. You may get a little glimpse of it, but if you have 30 kids at a tryout and you're shuttling drills and kids around, the room is usually spinning so fast that you're not likely to be able to tell too much. If a kid is going to be that big a pain, you'll already know it by reputation, or it will be obvious in a private tryout just as easily as a group. You should already have an idea of what personality types work or don't work for your team, so do your best to see if you can get a true feel for the kid in the short amount of time a tryout allows. |
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Spartan4
913 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2011 : 01:07:24
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quote:
Originally posted by touchemall
How do coaches know that the kids that only attend the private tryouts will work well with players already established from the previous year? I understand kids not being able to make the public workouts because of schedule conflicts. If you have 8 or so players returning from the previous year and you pick players based on a one on one tryout are you able to offer the player a spot without seeing if chemistry exists? I know families who pilgrimmage each summer showcasing their 9, 10, 11, etc. Kids to a half dozen teams (if not more) but they only do it in private. How do both the coaches and the families commit to a year if baseball without meeting the other families or more importantly, you child meeting the other players?
The last time we really tried out for a team was 9U but from our experience the best way to really pick a team and let a team pick you is to play with them. It doesn't work often but by playing with a team once or twice you can really see how they coach and how the kids already on the team play. There are drawbacks to academy tryouts as some of the kids out there are really only at the tryout or "camp" for extra work, so you see 10-12 awesome ball players and then your boy gets an offer. You show up to the first practice only to realize those boys were just there for some extra reps. |
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rippit
667 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2011 : 08:47:18
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Okay how about this one? Teams that take players without ever seeing them on an actual baseball field. Is this possible?
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ramman999
241 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2011 : 10:29:00
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I am on the fence on this one regarding public vs. private tryouts. To me, open tryouts are great for a start up teams but rarely get more than players wanting extra work, or other coaches trying to recruit from your talent pool! Trust me , this happens.. We have plenty of local batting center teams here that will do mass tryouts, and coaches bring their son to "try out" while they talk/recruit with parents of the better players.
For established teams, I prefer closed tryouts/private invitation tryouts. My returning team, plus selected invitees. This way, you identify who you want to have there (ie. already have seem them in action so you bypass some of the talent/skill questions), and you've potentially screened the parent issues - now you get to see the fit and interaction between the boys as well as the parents.. |
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Newbie BB Mom
141 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2013 : 12:27:48
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| I thought since it's that time of year I would push this old thread up again in case people have more thoughts about it. I found this thread very helpful when we started tryouts for the first time. |
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Private try-outs vs. Public
