+1 I like the way my kid’s team handles things (currently 13U and going up to 14U in the fall). The coaches have a brief phone conference with each player’s parent BEFORE the tryout (and after the last tournament) to discuss the players skills, whether the team continues to be a good fit for the player, what role the kid would have moving forward into 14U etc. Some kids are “counseled out” as some would describe it- told if they do make the team they won’t see much playing time, might be best to move down a level, & are encouraged to attend other tryouts. I think this is the right way to handle it at this age- I’d rather have a warning/heads up ahead of time so can plan accordingly. |
How do people manage the fact that some clubs run a winter-spring-fall committment (November tryout) and some run a fall-winter-spring commitment (tryout late spring or summer). Also, why is it so hard to find information about different clubs and tryout dates? Not on FB, but maybe thats the answer for a central source of info. |
Not to sound snarky, but you can't find baseball tryout information bc its still April. Those clubs the PP mentioned are the anomaly 95% of clubs will hold tryouts in August. The challenge becomes when tryouts for multiple clubs are on the same day. |
PP here. Are you in VA? If so, join the FB group VA Travel Baseball Tryouts (some MD teams closer in also post there). I know from personal experience, NVTBL can be quite late in listing tryouts (like they had our info for several weeks prior to actually posting it 3 days before the tryout). Right now, the newest postings list the following tryouts for fall: 1. RBA360- June 3-5 2. Stars (Fairfax)- May 18 3. USA Prime- May16-18 4. Advanced Baseball Astros- May 9 5. Perfect Performance Outlaws- May 11 and June 1 6. Hitters Count- May 18-19 and June 1-27 7. Five Star- May 31 8. Burke Bulldogs- May 10-11 9. Mid-Atlantic Orioles- June 3-5 10. Virginia Vols- a variety of dates between June 3-10. In my albeit limited NVTBL experience, I’ve only seen teams holding more individual/private tryouts in August once they need to fill a spot here or there- the larger scale tryouts happen earlier in the spring/summer. We start practice in late July and games in August, but as a PP says, we are a run of the mill club, and we play other run of the mill clubs. What can I say?? |
Could someone please like the facebook page for tryouts? I also don't want to alert current team that we are thinking of leaving. |
I thought most teams don't play until October. Are you a HS age team? |
No- 14u. Maybe it depends on the age level and your local league. I looked at the NVTBL calendar from fall 2023 and NVTBL games officially started Sept 3 or something like that. |
Great thank you. |
Pp that asked about different tryout schedules. We are in MD so looking for teams playing in NVTBL closer to us. Not looking for fancy tournament only teams. Want solid development, some tournaments. |
I assume you don’t care about NVTBL vs the MD travel league? Look up Dig In, BCC, Gatorball DC in upper NW DC, check KOS. None will give development through the travel team…it just doesn’t exist at this age. You will practice, but it will be inefficient run by two coaches. DigIn has a relationship with a group in Gaithersburg with a private facility for development, but that is extra $$$ (way more than the cost of the team). |
Sorry KOA |
That group is Dig In. That's what their facility is called. They are one in the same. And you are correct. At this age, the development is done independently. Some of those teams can roll up to a game with more than 18,19 kids. And play their best 9. That may be how its going to be in HS, but it doesnt have to be that way in MS |
I was thinking of Primal 1 in Gaithersburg…I recall a Dig In tryout there one winter. |
My kids have played for years with AB-trained kids, and it appears to be (from the outside, anyhow) very different from the other gyms/trainers in the area. It is very small, run by three guys. They are hyper-focused on developing “motor patterns” based on research by some big names, mainly Tom House (the pitching guru) and Greg Page (the golf guru). The guy who founded AB is Steve Johnson, who worked with House for a long time and co-authored a book on pitching science with him. Those three also started something called OnBase U, which per their website, trains and certifies other trainers across the country, including many of the local shops. Steve, his son AJ (USC/GMU), and Ethan Lare (Lake Braddock HS, 1994 (?) LLWS finalist) trained most of the recent Bulldogs/FxLL (National) all-star teams, including the one that won the NVTBL 11U Gold championship in 2021 and the VA 11U state title, and the FxLL team that lost in the 2022 VA 12U semifinals (Bulldogs were essentially the all-stars for the FxLL national division). There apparently was a lot more to that 13U team blowing up two years ago than a simple dad-coach issue. It actually wrecked two Bulldogs age-group teams, blew a hole in the slate of new AB teams, and for a time ended the Bulldogs-AB relationship (I know families on both). Sounded more like miscommunications between good people and a couple bad seeds who took advantage of the mess—and Stars lured them away, which we’ve all seen happening for the past 3-4 years. AB is still new to having its own teams, time will tell, but they do draw a lot of attention from local HS programs (several AB assistants are also HS assistants). Great stories from the Bulldogs kids about training with and alongside college players and at least one MLB prospect (a Cleveland player who later pitched in the ALCS). |
And full disclosure: my kids play for Stars, mainly because it is down the street and half their friends are there among the dozen or so age-group teams. I’d look at AB if it weren’t for the friend ties, as many of the Stars/fmr Bulldogs parents rave about it (some still train there) |