Fall League/ HS Basketball

[Anonymous]

Is Fall League used as a form of tryout to set the HS teams (JV and Varsity)? What happens to players that didn't participate?
Said differently, how much do actual tryouts count?

[Anonymous]

It depends on the school. But playing fall league definitely shows commitment. That said, someone who plays a fall varsity sport will not be penalized for missing fall league.

[Anonymous]

If your kid is on the bubble, its helpful to show commitment. A lot of kids who play football will be missing from the workouts/fall league, so that might give your kid a false sense of where he falls in the pecking order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Fall League used as a form of tryout to set the HS teams (JV and Varsity)? What happens to players that didn't participate?
Said differently, how much do actual tryouts count?

Depends on the school.

Fall league provides a chance for coaches to get to know kids. A kid who is good enough to make the team but not an absolute phenom (i.e. a kid who won’t do windmill dunks at tryouts ) may not get noticed at tryouts at a competitive school where 200 kids try out for varsity/JV/freshman. Having shown what they can do in fall league will make the difference.

At many competitive schools, coaches know most of the incoming freshmen that they will want from middle school and AAU. Tryouts offer an occasional surprise, but most of the teams are set by that point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Fall League used as a form of tryout to set the HS teams (JV and Varsity)? What happens to players that didn't participate?
Said differently, how much do actual tryouts count?

Depends on the school.

Fall league provides a chance for coaches to get to know kids. A kid who is good enough to make the team but not an absolute phenom (i.e. a kid who won’t do windmill dunks at tryouts ) may not get noticed at tryouts at a competitive school where 200 kids try out for varsity/JV/freshman. Having shown what they can do in fall league will make the difference.

At many competitive schools, coaches know most of the incoming freshmen that they will want from middle school and AAU. Tryouts offer an occasional surprise, but most of the teams are set by that point.

This confirms my suspicion that tryouts are just for show. Coaches know everything by that point.

[Anonymous]

Boys and girls varsity teams are already set at my kids' school. Tryouts are a ridiculous joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boys and girls varsity teams are already set at my kids' school. Tryouts are a ridiculous joke.

On the boys side, at the biggest schools, all three teams are mostly set before tryouts based on last year, summer league, green day workours and fall league. Even the freshman team. There are usually 1-2 spots up for grabs or undecided on each team. 30 boys might be vying for that last spot on the the Varsity bench but kids 1-12 are already decided upon by the coach.

No idea for girls.

[Anonymous]

Bumping for girls. Are all three levels set before tryouts?

[Anonymous]

No, that's silly. Even the big high schools sometimes don't even cut girls for JV and Freshman teams. Very very easy for even a casual rec player to make a girls freshman team. Completely opposite from the boys side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping for girls. Are all three levels set before tryouts?

Definitely not. Most public school fall league teams aren’t even coached by the high school coaches. Usually some parent volunteers so the kids can play together in the offseason. The school coaches will pick the best kids to fin in their coaching system.