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bmoser
1633 Posts |
 Posted - 05/27/2009 : 10:48:38
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Coaches,
How should parents who may be interested in having their son try out for your team best approach you?
Should they approach you at the fields before or after a game? Call you on the phone, if so, how to find your number? Or e-mail you, and if so, how to find your e-mail address?
How do they find your teams web site for contact info? Is your contact info on your site?
Is it okay to call the league director for your contact info if they cant find it elsewhere?
What questions should be asked? What questions do you wish wouldn't be asked? What do you need to know about the player and/or family? |
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2009 : 20:53:46
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No responses...hmmm...I guess anything goes :)
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CoachMark
216 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2009 : 07:29:37
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bmoser - Good question as usual and a good topic.
My information is listed on my website (www.spwildcats.com) which has both my email and cell phone. At this point of the season, I think an email with "can you please let me know when you will hold tryouts or what your tryout process is?" or "can you keep me on an email list for tryout information?" is most appropriate. If you want your kid to be potentially scouted during games, you could also include the team your child plays for and their number so a coach can take a look if they have time or play that team in a tournament.
Approaching a coach before/after a game may be effective some of the time, but could often be seen as an act of desperation or an overly-zealous parent so I would recommend against it. It's a tight-rope walk for both parents and coaches during this time of year. You want to show interest without being too aggressive or overly anxious (which is a coach's worst nightmare). For my team, a parent's attitude will trump a kid's talent every time so you have to remember that coach's are evaluating you just as much as you are evaluating them.
One other note: as the kids get older, the coaches know each other better and talk amongst themselves. So how you act as a parent on your current team is likely to get around. If you are supportive, that will be known. If you are a cancer, that will be known as well. Even if you current coach is a jerk, there is likely another coach on your staff who isn't and he will have an opinion on you as a parent. So the number one thing you can do to improve your child's chances to play on other teams is to be a good parent on your current team and address any issues you have the manner communicated to you by your coaching staff. If you want some advice on this, read MomOf2's excellent post which was so good, I put it on my website in the News section.
Finally, please remember that there are travel teams out there for kids of all types of talent. If you want to play travel ball, you will be able to find a team so please be considerate and patient. And remember, just because you believe your kid has more talent than another kid, doesn't necessarily mean he should be on a specific team. Coaches take a lot of considerations into play including what the team needs (speed, power, certain positions), known commodities vs unknowns, and many other considerations. In the end, you must respect their decision.
Highcheese's response to your corresponding coach's "recruiting" email also offers some excellent insight for parents on this subject and how to evaluate a coaching staff.
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2009 : 08:58:13
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COACHMARK,
Great advice. Thanks! I need to work on the patience part, otherwise I think I'm on track. I'm off to read your web site...
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wildcats9596
110 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2009 : 09:39:05
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quote:
Originally posted by bmoser
No responses...hmmm...I guess anything goes :)
I think that's true. That might be why you didn't get any responses.
The only insight I can provide is don't send an anonymous email. At least to me. I stopped responding to those when I figured out that people were fishing for information. |
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ItsjustLLBBall
119 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2009 : 12:16:07
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| I think that shopping your child around during the season is deplorable. Now if your kid is having a personality conflict with the coach and he isn't playing for some reason that you or the child don't know, then that would be the only way I would condone such behavior. But if your kid is the #1-#5 hitter and pretty much plays and pitches wherever and whenever he wants to and you just chose to abandon your team because it hasn't quite worked out wins and losses wise for you up to that point, you should be ashamed of yourself. Or an "elite" team in the state now wants your child because he has injuries or people have left the team because of those personality conflicts I spoke about. Don't you think there is a reason why they "need" your kid now? Think of the other 10-11 kids on that team that have committed to playing with that team until the end of the season. There are teams right now in GA that are dealing with this exact situation because parents are always looking for that better spot for their kid. That is great, but great lesson you are teaching your kids to just abandon the commitment they had made to that team to start the year. You couldn't have just stuck it out for another 3-4 weeks and then gone ahead and made a clean break next year???? There needs to be some stricter rules when it comes to team jumping for no reason. |
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rock44melnix
110 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2009 : 15:34:49
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I think they're talking about for next year.
As a coach, I frankly don't care one way or the other on how a parent contacts me, with the exception of during the middle of a game. For me, it's much more difficult to reach out to another kid/parent for the next season; even being in sales, I still am somewhat nervous to do that as I don't want to cross any ethical line. Oh well |
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2009 : 16:52:46
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No worry here, I don't how to send an anonymous e-mail. :(
quote:
Originally posted by wildcats9596
quote:
Originally posted by bmoser
No responses...hmmm...I guess anything goes :)
I think that's true. That might be why you didn't get any responses.
The only insight I can provide is don't send an anonymous email. At least to me. I stopped responding to those when I figured out that people were fishing for information.
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CoachMark
216 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2009 : 17:03:20
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quote:
Originally posted by ItsjustLLBBall
I think that shopping your child around during the season is deplorable. Now if your kid is having a personality conflict with the coach and he isn't playing for some reason that you or the child don't know, then that would be the only way I would condone such behavior. But if your kid is the #1-#5 hitter and pretty much plays and pitches wherever and whenever he wants to and you just chose to abandon your team because it hasn't quite worked out wins and losses wise for you up to that point, you should be ashamed of yourself. Or an "elite" team in the state now wants your child because he has injuries or people have left the team because of those personality conflicts I spoke about. Don't you think there is a reason why they "need" your kid now? Think of the other 10-11 kids on that team that have committed to playing with that team until the end of the season. There are teams right now in GA that are dealing with this exact situation because parents are always looking for that better spot for their kid. That is great, but great lesson you are teaching your kids to just abandon the commitment they had made to that team to start the year. You couldn't have just stuck it out for another 3-4 weeks and then gone ahead and made a clean break next year???? There needs to be some stricter rules when it comes to team jumping for no reason.
I agree with your comments but I think you misunderstood the question. bmoser is talking asking about contacting coaches for the following season, not for this season. I think everyone would agree that both coaches and parents should live up to their current commitments. |
Edited by - CoachMark on 05/28/2009 21:29:53 |
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2009 : 06:53:09
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I am not advocating throwing in the towel to jump to another team before their season is over (I did leave 1 tourney early one time I must admit), but many travel teams also play in leagues. These leagues (GGBL,LBL) are coming to an end in the days ahead. After the league's season ending tourney, some consider that to be the end of their season, and they see whatever happens beyond to be a new "Summer Tourney" season.
Some teams wont play any games after the league's tourney, others will recruit from other parks to improve their strength so they can compete with travel-only teams.
So, when a season ends and begins, can vary by whether or not the team plays in a league. Some league based teams are beginning to make post league decisions right now as to should they play tourneys, should the team stay intact or bulk up, ect..
If you finish 4-16 in the league, the plans you set in February for post season play may change. This is what happened to my son last year. That team just wanted it to end, so I posted "player looking for Summer tourney action" for my son and got picked up this time last year. We've been with the "Summer" team ever since.
Also, Rec seasons ended last week, so boys who don't like all stars might be up for some travel ball, so those parents are looking right now as well.
Try to be aware of what is going on all around you, not just in your all-tourney World. And if you don't think there are some excellent all-tourney capable boys playing Rec and league-based travel ball, you need to go watch some Rec and GGBL/LBL games (focus on the top teams).
These are the parents I was thinking of when i initiated this topic.
Thanks again for all the feedback.
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AllStar
762 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2009 : 12:38:34
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quote:
Originally posted by bmoser
I am not advocating throwing in the towel to jump to another team before their season is over (I did leave 1 tourney early one time I must admit), but many travel teams also play in leagues. These leagues (GGBL,LBL) are coming to an end in the days ahead. After the league's season ending tourney, some consider that to be the end of their season, and they see whatever happens beyond to be a new "Summer Tourney" season.
Some teams wont play any games after the league's tourney, others will recruit from other parks to improve their strength so they can compete with travel-only teams.
So, when a season ends and begins, can vary by whether or not the team plays in a league. Some league based teams are beginning to make post league decisions right now as to should they play tourneys, should the team stay intact or bulk up, ect..
If you finish 4-16 in the league, the plans you set in February for post season play may change. This is what happened to my son last year. That team just wanted it to end, so I posted "player looking for Summer tourney action" for my son and got picked up this time last year. We've been with the "Summer" team ever since.
Also, Rec seasons ended last week, so boys who don't like all stars might be up for some travel ball, so those parents are looking right now as well.
Try to be aware of what is going on all around you, not just in your all-tourney World. And if you don't think there are some excellent all-tourney capable boys playing Rec and league-based travel ball, you need to go watch some Rec and GGBL/LBL games (focus on the top teams).
These are the parents I was thinking of when i initiated this topic.
Thanks again for all the feedback.
Different angle than I thought you were coming at it from. I guess this and other boards have teams looking for players. That would be my first step, because you have a receptive audience.
If you've targeted a specific team to approach, but don't know if they are looking, I would approach them away from the field. If you know you want to approach them, you should be able to get the necessary contact information to send an email or make a call during "non-baseball" hours.
If they do select your son just to "bulk up" and not to replace someone who got hurt/quit/moved, be prepared for your son to be resented if he takes playing time away from someone else who has been with the team since February, if not longer. |
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2009 : 15:09:51
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ALLSTAR,
Nice points, thanks! GGBL no longer has a posting board, so the most populated County in the State is on their own. They can however find the appropriate Coaches contact info through each parks web site. Just contact the GGBL travel ball coordinator for the parks closest to you.
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Critical Mass
277 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2009 : 23:20:18
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Pick up the phone, do some research online, get an email address and ask about the program and the needs. Are there tryouts, when are they? Network, just like in business, it's not rocket science....where the rocket science ensues, is when you settle on a team and realize the prevalence of nepotism.
Reminds me of the saying, "Travel Ball, can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em." |
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HOMER2010
2 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2009 : 18:21:11
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| What advice do you have when a coach from another team contacts you at a tournament your playing in at their field and aks to think about coming to play for them for the next season and your current coach hears all this? It puts us and our son in a bad place. Not that we wouldn;t counsider playing for the team, but we juts never had this happen. |
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2009 : 21:16:11
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Tacky and insensitive. I wouldn't go there if I were you.
quote:
Originally posted by HOMER2010
What advice do you have when a coach from another team contacts you at a tournament your playing in at their field and aks to think about coming to play for them for the next season and your current coach hears all this? It puts us and our son in a bad place. Not that we wouldn;t counsider playing for the team, but we juts never had this happen.
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baseballpapa
1520 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2009 : 08:44:32
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I agree with Moser on this one. That was tacky and insensitive. I think that we as parents and Coaches should think long and hard on how we breach this area.
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Alter-Ego
802 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2009 : 11:56:53
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Homer2010,
It sure helps in the contract re-negotiations with the current coach.  |
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I Love Baseball
12 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2009 : 20:14:26
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There's definitely a different culture in Florida ball, maybe because it literally is year-round with no off season (not even a week separating Spring/Summer/Fall)
Complicate that with the USSSA AllStar games, where players are mixed up and play with kids they've played against all year, for coaches who are happy to "get a closer look" at the talent. There's no need to look for email addresses or websites, player pick-up's are openly discussed at the fields.
I also see a fine line between loyalty and coaches feeling a player is indebted to them to the tune of "must stay" next season. I do believe you should honor the commitments you make to a team and not abandon ship mid-season. But ultimately each family must choose to do what's best for their own situation. Hopefully they can do so respectfully and leave on "good terms." |
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knucklecurve
171 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2009 : 12:18:33
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I Love Baseball,
Very well said!!! I agree jumping ship in the middle of the season is wrong unless there are major issues. I think when the season is coming to an end we as parents just want to find the best situation for our kid. Some of these teams/leagues act like these kids have signed a major league contract! Most parents are just looking for the best coach/team to better their kids baseball skills so they can move to the next level, whatever that might be. I think you should talk to your current coach about your issues so you don't burn any bridge. Then you should be free to contact all other possibilities for your kid. I just wish we could all remember this is about our little boys and their baseball dreams!!!! |
Edited by - knucklecurve on 06/15/2009 12:38:44 |
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Proper Parental Etiquette In Finding A New Team
