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HITANDRUN
436 Posts |
 Posted - 06/28/2012 : 13:11:17
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| To who or to what do tryout fees go? I understand some are giving a "clinic" but if the tryout is mandatory why charge for it. |
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peashooter
297 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2012 : 15:18:02
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| Tryout fees are the biggest racket in travel ball. It is just a money grab for the organization and the coaches. They bill it as a clinic, but don't kid yourself. |
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bballman
1432 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2012 : 15:49:00
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| Tryout fees started with ECB and have expanded to MANY other organizations. They are a way to diffuse the costs of having the tryouts, weed out anyone who thinks they may not have a chance to make the team and most organizations I know of count the tryout fee towards the regular cost of playing for the team if the player makes the team. In other words, if the tryout fee is $100 and it costs $500 to play for the season, you only have to come up with $400 because you already paid the initial $100. |
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in_the_know
985 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2012 : 08:29:18
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It's two (three)-fold.
To Pea's point, it is a revenue generating opportunity for many organizations. ECB, 643, are the first that come to mind. The money does go into the organization and helps fund the costs associated with running the event and beyond.
Additionally, it serves as crowd control. If every rec-baller were able to walk out to ECB and "tryout" without a snowball's chance of having the talent or ability to make a team, then you would likely have double or triple the attendees out there making it difficult for coaches and other attendees to have a "real" tryout. By having that $50 - $100 fee, it separates the pretenders from those with the legitimate skills and desire to be there.
Finally, as a parent, it helps you think about your approach for your son well in advance. You can't just go to 10 tryouts and see what happens if it might cost you $500-$1,000 to do so. You'll give serious thought to what you want and schedule accordingly. Saves coaches and teams the bother of having you out there if you ultimately wouldn't "sign" with them anyway. |
Edited by - in_the_know on 06/29/2012 08:38:25 |
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barehandit
19 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 02:25:05
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| My son picks 4 tryouts, not necessarily to make the team, but to see how he's doing..............in comparison. 50$ for 3 hour workout is a pretty good deal. He knows where he's playing before all these tryouts, tryouts just represent work opportunities. |
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BaseballMom6
233 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 10:49:04
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| Barehandit - it is because of kids like yours, that have no intention of playing for the team they are trying out for, that these fees exist. Your child is taking awaying from the players that want to make the team, as well as the coaches you mistakenly think your child is available to play. If your kid wants workouts - send him to camp. |
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rippit
667 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 14:10:13
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To the op, covers field rental, coaching fees and a tiny bit of general overhead (paper, copy charges, website/registration monthly fees etc.)
To the guy that takes his son to different tryouts: that's cool. Just don't give the impression that you are interested in the team when you aren't. Play it straight up. |
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jacjacatk
154 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 16:41:30
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quote:
Originally posted by BaseballMom6
Barehandit - it is because of kids like yours, that have no intention of playing for the team they are trying out for, that these fees exist. Your child is taking awaying from the players that want to make the team, as well as the coaches you mistakenly think your child is available to play. If your kid wants workouts - send him to camp.
Meh, fair trade for all the "tryouts" where the teams are already picked or mostly picked, can't tell you the number of those we've unwittingly ended up at over the years. |
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excoach12
159 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 17:43:54
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As a coach who has run multiple evaluations over the years I started out hating tryout fees and not charging them.
Then I got tired of multiple kids at the evaluations using them as "warm-ups" for the evaluations they really wanted to go to and wasting my time picking them for the team and being excited about my strong team only to find out they were never interested to begin with. So I started charging a fee and now I only get players who have a real interest in seeing how I run practice sessions and coach a team. The 4 hour evaluations have become 2 hours long, parents appreciate the efficiency and my coaching staff appreciates knowing who they pick will actually accept the tender. |
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HITANDRUN
436 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 11:30:14
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| you all make some good points. Thanks |
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peashooter
297 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 14:22:35
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Hm, I can see both sides of the argument now. My trouts last year were free, and I bet I had a bunch of free-loaders come out for the free 7 hour workout. But, I bet I changed some peoples minds who had no intention of playing with me to acutaly second guess their intentions.
So you are kinda hosed either way. If you don't do a freebie you may miss out on convincing some kids to join your team, but you will get the 20% of parents who will take advantage of you.
FYI if you do a freebie, and get too many kids, I am sure you could cut 100 of them after 30 minutes of throwing. Do it like the Majors...Run the 40...go home. |
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barehandit
19 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 19:07:19
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You assumed we didn't inform the coaches at the "clinic/tryout" that my kid was just there for the work? Just write it on the top of the form "workout only." Many are called "tryout/clinics", many have their teams partially in place before the "clinic/tryout." So, which is it???? a truly OPEN tryout, or a clinic?
It's basically a 50$ + fee for an interview, for both parties. We are not necessarily committing based on a call.
And the BIGGEST factor is WE ARE THERE TO TRY THEM OUT TOO. We have to pay 50$ + to get a chance at position 6-15, maybe 1-15 if it is truly an open tryout, but my 50$ + does entitle me to walk away from the workout without tendering or being tendered an offer. We have to pay for a chance to be "choosen." I think not. Our standard is higher than that. Eveeryone has to be satisfied.
Some "organizations" are more tempting but I want to know who the coaches will be and who the other players and parents will be. We have already played with the high maintenance kids and parents. He's happy playing anywhere. These next years we have to consider other variables..........including kids getting dialed in too soon to position specific, which kids have been to juvie court, have poor grades, work ethic, social media, leadership, and who is in the % that wouldn't get picked from in the parking lot.......athletic can be a lifesyle, a mentality. Baseball players can also be a lifestyle, a mentality. |
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sicemdawgs
25 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2012 : 13:10:00
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I only feel scammed if I find out that the tryout was "fixed" because the team was already penciled in. It's bad enough to go to a free tryout in July for several hours only to find out at the end that the coach is only looking for one player.
The one really surprising thing for me this season though are the growing number of AA teams trying to charge $25 or $30 for a tryout fee. ECB and 643 have lots of kids hoping to make one of their teams so they can do what they want, but why would anyone pay to tryout for a AA team? If you're coaching AA you ought to cast your net wide and deep and hopefully you can find an undiscovered gem. |
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bkball
173 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2012 : 14:36:39
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| yes, when did AA and AAA start charging for tryouts. That should be a red flag the season aint gonna be cheap. |
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BatChipper
52 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2012 : 22:09:17
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| If you go to one of the ECB teams "workouts" and they charge $100 for the "workout" saying that it will go towards the Aug 4 mandatory tryouts and then you go to another teams "workout" that are charging the same thing and saying the same thing about it being applied to the Aug 4th tryout. Will the second team still charge you for their workout? New to this ECB "workout/tryout" stuff..... |
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tribetechops
64 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2012 : 22:33:50
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In the case of the ECB Indians, the program is merely trying to stay in line with what ECB staff expects. We asked the rules, they told us, we'll follow. We wil be turning in the form/check to ECB so your player's name is on the list in August. If we have a way to validate prior payment to ECB, we'll certainly make use of that.
If you plan to play on any ECB team, ECB collects this money whether you show up for the formal August tryouts or not.
/tribetech
quote:
Originally posted by BatChipper
If you go to one of the ECB teams "workouts" and they charge $100 for the "workout" saying that it will go towards the Aug 4 mandatory tryouts and then you go to another teams "workout" that are charging the same thing and saying the same thing about it being applied to the Aug 4th tryout. Will the second team still charge you for their workout? New to this ECB "workout/tryout" stuff.....
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bkball
173 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2012 : 07:49:45
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quote:
Originally posted by BatChipper
If you go to one of the ECB teams "workouts" and they charge $100 for the "workout" saying that it will go towards the Aug 4 mandatory tryouts and then you go to another teams "workout" that are charging the same thing and saying the same thing about it being applied to the Aug 4th tryout. Will the second team still charge you for their workout? New to this ECB "workout/tryout" stuff.....
It is my understanding you will only have to pay one time. (open workout or official tryout) Most ECB teams do not charge for private workouts, but in the past some teams were having private workouts and some kids were attending that didn't make the team and never did the official tryouts at ECB so ECB lost that money. I believe if you pay for a tryout with any ECB team early you should not have to pay for the official ECB tryout if you can just show proof that you paid at the private or open workout, that was held prior to the official ECB tryout. |
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Jack-of-Diamonds
152 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2012 : 19:45:03
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Any idea what field time costs? I know our team will spend $300-$400 just on field time for tryouts. Then there's insurance, equipment, etc... Even with a $25 tryout fee we've had players show up and tell us they've already committed to another team, but came to our tryouts just because it was a cheap way to get a workout or two.
quote:
Originally posted by bkball
yes, when did AA and AAA start charging for tryouts. That should be a red flag the season aint gonna be cheap.
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peashooter
297 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2012 : 09:21:29
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| I had larry bell in the fall for around $50 for each 3 hour window. Problem is you usually can't get the fields because leagues own the rights. $400 for field time for tryouts is clearly a rip off. Plus right now the county fields are not under contract and you can go on First Come First serve. |
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rippit
667 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2012 : 19:55:34
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| Would hate to advertise a tryout on a field that's first come first serve. My luck is horrible! |
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Jack-of-Diamonds
152 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2012 : 20:46:03
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Multiple tryout sessions add-up. I did not say it was $400 for a single session. City owned fields in my area are not available to independent teams. YMMV, but we have to pay what we have to pay for the field we use.
If you don't want to pay for a tryout with a team that's charging, don't tryout for that team. Done.
quote:
Originally posted by peashooter
I had larry bell in the fall for around $50 for each 3 hour window. Problem is you usually can't get the fields because leagues own the rights. $400 for field time for tryouts is clearly a rip off. Plus right now the county fields are not under contract and you can go on First Come First serve.
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Hurricane
351 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2012 : 08:42:40
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quote:
Originally posted by peashooter
I had larry bell in the fall for around $50 for each 3 hour window. Problem is you usually can't get the fields because leagues own the rights. $400 for field time for tryouts is clearly a rip off. Plus right now the county fields are not under contract and you can go on First Come First serve.
What league uses Larry Bell Park? |
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Tryout fees
