How are sports tryouts conducted at your school? Is it transparent or it is it political?

[Anonymous]

The ones we know about are for basketball. I've heard there are ones for soccer too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From our experience, HS sports are very competitive. If your child is interested in a specific sport make sure to find out if the coach also runs a club team or summer program for that sport so your child can get involved early. Without that connection it's hard to get onto some of the teams. This was definitely true with baseball and soccer at our HS.

This.
If you see coaches favor certain kids or pick kids seemingly out of thin air the coaches probably know them from their club teams or summer programs. It's ethically iffy but that's how it works.

That’s how it works at our HS. You have to do the coach’s summer/off season club team to make the school team. We’ve seen this and the coach told us this. It is not fair or right in general (conflict of interest, added $$ for families, etc) and also specifically it’s not fair because you have to know and this information is not shared widely or publicly.

How do we find out about these summer teams? Ask the coach directly? My DC did not make the tennis team so does this happen for tennis as well?

If this is indeed true it is incredibly unfair for disadvantaged families. There are many kids who are talented but haven’t had the opportunities to go to a special camps. It’s a real shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From our experience, HS sports are very competitive. If your child is interested in a specific sport make sure to find out if the coach also runs a club team or summer program for that sport so your child can get involved early. Without that connection it's hard to get onto some of the teams. This was definitely true with baseball and soccer at our HS.

This.
If you see coaches favor certain kids or pick kids seemingly out of thin air the coaches probably know them from their club teams or summer programs. It's ethically iffy but that's how it works.

That’s how it works at our HS. You have to do the coach’s summer/off season club team to make the school team. We’ve seen this and the coach told us this. It is not fair or right in general (conflict of interest, added $$ for families, etc) and also specifically it’s not fair because you have to know and this information is not shared widely or publicly.

How do we find out about these summer teams? Ask the coach directly? My DC did not make the tennis team so does this happen for tennis as well?

If this is indeed true it is incredibly unfair for disadvantaged families. There are many kids who are talented but haven’t had the opportunities to go to a special camps. It’s a real shame.

I think most would agree with you, but I've seen a fair amount of bias/discrimination/favoritism of different types from MCPS coaches and the administration seems to turn a blind eye. They need better training and better oversight to make sure the process is fair and transparent. These are not private clubs. They are funded with our tax dollars and are subject to the same ethical standards as the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Oversight is a big issue. That's been one of the problems with the athletic departments in the county. No one seems to oversee them including the school administration. It's ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Ethics policies don’t really apply to sports, especially those that are predominantly coached by white males. I know of a sports camp that violates every ethics policy and the school’s principal advertises the camp on the school’s morning announcements.

[Anonymous]

That camp thing is SHADY. My DDs club soccer teammates all made their high school teams and they didn’t do any camps or meet the coaches before tryouts. Hopefully the nepotism is an isolated thing?

[Anonymous]

There are teachers who coach in the county, run for-profit camps in school buildings, and coach the high school team in the same cluster where they teach and run the camp. Even if it's all on the up and up, it opens the door to unethical practices. I am surprised it's allowed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From our experience, HS sports are very competitive. If your child is interested in a specific sport make sure to find out if the coach also runs a club team or summer program for that sport so your child can get involved early. Without that connection it's hard to get onto some of the teams. This was definitely true with baseball and soccer at our HS.

This.
If you see coaches favor certain kids or pick kids seemingly out of thin air the coaches probably know them from their club teams or summer programs. It's ethically iffy but that's how it works.

That’s how it works at our HS. You have to do the coach’s summer/off season club team to make the school team. We’ve seen this and the coach told us this. It is not fair or right in general (conflict of interest, added $$ for families, etc) and also specifically it’s not fair because you have to know and this information is not shared widely or publicly.

How do we find out about these summer teams? Ask the coach directly? My DC did not make the tennis team so does this happen for tennis as well?

If this is indeed true it is incredibly unfair for disadvantaged families. There are many kids who are talented but haven’t had the opportunities to go to a special camps. It’s a real shame.

The summer camps are filled with 6-6 black black basketball players. If they want you there you’ll be there free of charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are teachers who coach in the county, run for-profit camps in school buildings, and coach the high school team in the same cluster where they teach and run the camp. Even if it's all on the up and up, it opens the door to unethical practices. I am surprised it's allowed.

Agree it's a problem.
I think that if they are going to allow this they need to make sure there's more supervision of tryouts and clear communication and standards. There should be several coaches overseeing tryouts and the athletic director should be there to ensure proper procedures are being followed. At DD's school the coaches seem to be working really hard to make things fair and sent several emails before tryouts about their process and how every child would get a fair look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From our experience, HS sports are very competitive. If your child is interested in a specific sport make sure to find out if the coach also runs a club team or summer program for that sport so your child can get involved early. Without that connection it's hard to get onto some of the teams. This was definitely true with baseball and soccer at our HS.

This.
If you see coaches favor certain kids or pick kids seemingly out of thin air the coaches probably know them from their club teams or summer programs. It's ethically iffy but that's how it works.

That’s how it works at our HS. You have to do the coach’s summer/off season club team to make the school team. We’ve seen this and the coach told us this. It is not fair or right in general (conflict of interest, added $$ for families, etc) and also specifically it’s not fair because you have to know and this information is not shared widely or publicly.

How do we find out about these summer teams? Ask the coach directly? My DC did not make the tennis team so does this happen for tennis as well?

If this is indeed true it is incredibly unfair for disadvantaged families. There are many kids who are talented but haven’t had the opportunities to go to a special camps. It’s a real shame.

The summer camps are filled with 6-6 black black basketball players. If they want you there you’ll be there free of charge.

What if you're good but not a standout, or a late bloomer? Even if they provide a scholarship or two, it doesn't negate the fact that some kids are privy to unwritten rules and access, while others are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are teachers who coach in the county, run for-profit camps in school buildings, and coach the high school team in the same cluster where they teach and run the camp. Even if it's all on the up and up, it opens the door to unethical practices. I am surprised it's allowed.

Agree it's a problem.
I think that if they are going to allow this they need to make sure there's more supervision of tryouts and clear communication and standards. There should be several coaches overseeing tryouts and the athletic director should be there to ensure proper procedures are being followed. At DD's school the coaches seem to be working really hard to make things fair and sent several emails before tryouts about their process and how every child would get a fair look.

Maybe they shouldn't be allowed to run the camp in the cluster where they teach and coach? It feels a little bit pay-for-play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are teachers who coach in the county, run for-profit camps in school buildings, and coach the high school team in the same cluster where they teach and run the camp. Even if it's all on the up and up, it opens the door to unethical practices. I am surprised it's allowed.

Agree it's a problem.
I think that if they are going to allow this they need to make sure there's more supervision of tryouts and clear communication and standards. There should be several coaches overseeing tryouts and the athletic director should be there to ensure proper procedures are being followed. At DD's school the coaches seem to be working really hard to make things fair and sent several emails before tryouts about their process and how every child would get a fair look.

Maybe they shouldn't be allowed to run the camp in the cluster where they teach and coach? It feels a little bit pay-for-play.

That’s exactly what it is. I was shocked this was allowed.

[Anonymous]

The comments here as interesting. You do realize how hard it is for the county to find coaches correct? But yet you think multiple coaches will show up for tryouts to make things more fair? Not happening in public school. Also the Wootton camp for girls that fits the description of what everyone is talking about is affordable with scholarships available. You must be referring to some other team as I can’t imagine it is difficult to make a team at Wootton.

[Anonymous]

Many MCPS coaches have summer clubs/camps and separately coach for club teams or do private training on the side. My child's HS tryout had 3-4 coaches watching the tryouts. I don't know what you're talking about and it's weird you think it isn't difficult to make a team at Wootton. It's extremely competitive for some sports with more than 100 of one gender trying out for some sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From our experience, HS sports are very competitive. If your child is interested in a specific sport make sure to find out if the coach also runs a club team or summer program for that sport so your child can get involved early. Without that connection it's hard to get onto some of the teams. This was definitely true with baseball and soccer at our HS.

This.
If you see coaches favor certain kids or pick kids seemingly out of thin air the coaches probably know them from their club teams or summer programs. It's ethically iffy but that's how it works.

do the coaches take donations?