If your child plays 13U baseball, what is the plan for next year?

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04/29/2024 17:57

Subject: Re:If your child plays 13U baseball, what is the plan for next year?

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is no different than how travel soccer operates, at least in NOVA. Not saying that makes it ok, but it’s very typical. My kid will try out for next fall/spring this week when there are still multiple weeks of league games and a tournament left to play through mid June.

Another of my kids plays for Metro at an older age so we’ve been around a while, and he has played with one of the other larger organizations around this area. Metro operates very similarly to lots of the other baseball organizations. 13u tryouts always seem to be the earliest because so many kids are looking to move at that age, often from more local, dad-coached teams to one of the bigger organizations with paid coaches.

So what do those soccer players that don't make the 24-25 team, but there are still league and tournament games ahead? They still go to the games? Still travel to the tournaments? Coaches still play them?

I just don't understand the need to have the tryouts so early. Not only does it seem really disrespectful to the current roster, it seems that you won't get the best available talent coming to your tryout. It just seems so weird

They either stick with it and finish the season or they don’t. I’ve seen both in soccer. For most I’d say the movement is down a level, not getting cut from the organization completely. As a PP noted, this is like an arms race, clubs moving earlier and earlier to try to lock in the best talent. When my baseball kid moved to 13u, he tried out in June, now apparently it’s May. Baseball seems a bit more all over the place in terms of orgs and timing. For soccer, most of the big clubs all tryout right around the same time, within a couple weeks of each other so this has just become the norm. I agree it’s crazy, but I don’t think you can necessarily write off whole orgs that are just playing the game like most everyone else in their area.

Honestly, I would write off an entire org that treats its own players that way.

I'll admit I know virtually nothing about soccer, but as a parent of a HS baseball player, and a B level MS softball player(with college softball aspirations), I know how the games gets played. But I also know that good orgs treat their own athletes with respect. And telling a kid that they're not invited back but still expecting them to play for you for another 6 weeks is not treating that athlete with respect.

I get that cuts are a part of the game. But the right way to handle it is to have a conversation with the player in late June, and recommend they attend some open practices/tryouts for other teams.

It's incredible to me that a coach would essentially tell a kid they are not coming back when they still have 8-10 weeks of baseball ahead of them. But I also understand that around here, tryouts don't happen until July-Early August, and each club typically offers 2-3 tryout dates, over the course of 2 weeks. So its different.

Also, I call a little BS on this "arms race" Sure, (to use some Maryland teams as an example) if WOW Factor or Dig In or any of those national teams did it, sure. But the teams referenced earlier in the thread just look like run of the mill club teams. Heck, that Senators North team is 1-7 on the year so far. I highly doubt the top tier talent is knocking down their door to get on their team.

+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.