Softball. 1 tryout per year (summer) - no fee. And this is across countless similar teams in the region. All hold summer tryouts and none charge fees.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basketball, tryouts are $20. Not mandatory for girls that have already made a team in most cases. There were some teams that folded this year so some girls that were on a team had to try out again so they could form new teams with new coaches.

The tryouts were pretty nice they usually brought in a good coach(es) to run them I think the fees covered the gym time and the visiting coach. We went even though they were optional.

But yeah, it's basically a biannual event, off season/on season.

Also, IMO tryouts are a good way to assess a player's development. It's kind of difficult in a practice or game because kids might not be in a situation for you to see how well they are shooting or handling the ball. You get a sense that the kids are improving, but a tryout to actually assess their individual skills is useful.

Baseball is different in that regard. You do not need tryouts to assess individual development because coaches get a lot of opportunities to see that at practices and in games. Many teams also do metrics assessments during the season to track development on throwing or exit velocity, speed sprinting bases, etc.

Baseball is a much more individual and stats driven sport than basketball.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basketball, tryouts are $20. Not mandatory for girls that have already made a team in most cases. There were some teams that folded this year so some girls that were on a team had to try out again so they could form new teams with new coaches.

The tryouts were pretty nice they usually brought in a good coach(es) to run them I think the fees covered the gym time and the visiting coach. We went even though they were optional.

But yeah, it's basically a biannual event, off season/on season.

Also, IMO tryouts are a good way to assess a player's development. It's kind of difficult in a practice or game because kids might not be in a situation for you to see how well they are shooting or handling the ball. You get a sense that the kids are improving, but a tryout to actually assess their individual skills is useful.

Baseball is different in that regard. You do not need tryouts to assess individual development because coaches get a lot of opportunities to see that at practices and in games. Many teams also do metrics assessments during the season to track development on throwing or exit velocity, speed sprinting bases, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Basketball, tryouts are $20. Not mandatory for girls that have already made a team in most cases. There were some teams that folded this year so some girls that were on a team had to try out again so they could form new teams with new coaches.

The tryouts were pretty nice they usually brought in a good coach(es) to run them I think the fees covered the gym time and the visiting coach. We went even though they were optional.

But yeah, it's basically a biannual event, off season/on season.

Also, IMO tryouts are a good way to assess a player's development. It's kind of difficult in a practice or game because kids might not be in a situation for you to see how well they are shooting or handling the ball. You get a sense that the kids are improving, but a tryout to actually assess their individual skills is useful.

Basketball, tryouts are $20. Not mandatory for girls that have already made a team in most cases. There were some teams that folded this year so some girls that were on a team had to try out again so they could form new teams with new coaches.

The tryouts were pretty nice they usually brought in a good coach(es) to run them I think the fees covered the gym time and the visiting coach. We went even though they were optional.

But yeah, it's basically a biannual event, off season/on season.

Volleyball is awful. Tryouts are once per year and the season goes from Nov - May/June/July depending on the team. In VA, tryouts can easily be $50 - $80 for each club and they are each year. A spot is never guaranteed so the girls try out at multiple clubs every fall.

They pay for off season training in the summer and they do a fall league (paid) or high school in the fall if they are that age. It’s all so expensive. Yes, you have to tryout and pay a fee even if you are on a less competitive team and staying on it year to year.

Softball parent here. One tryout per year (in summer, season runs August to July so tryouts are usually late July but have been awkwardly creeping earlier into the actual prior season). We tried out several places and didn't pay anywhere to do so. The one org that officially had a cost was so desperate for people that they let us try out for free.

OP here--DS is 16. This is the policy for all ages of travel, 9u-18u. The only rationale I can come up with beyond a money grab is that if current players attend tryouts, it makes the tryout feel more "full" or competitive. They've said it helps them compare prospective players with current ones, but that's BS.

Not sure how old your kid is, but for baseball I don't think this is normal. My son is on his second travel baseball team and there is one tryout (spring or summer) and then you're expected to commit through the year. He's 11U though, so not sure if it's different when you get older (but sounds like a money grab to me...).

This is crazy and seems like another gatekeeping tactic to make sure the team's parents are the well-heeled type who will pay for anything. Extremely shady!

Sounds like the Prime Time Aces.

My HS-aged son has played with 3 organizations; the first did ask kids to attend tryouts each season but they did not cut existing kids or charge fees. It was more to get kids used to the tryout process. The second org did not charge or tell kids to re-tryout. The current one doesn't charge and just has current kids say whether they're opting out of returning, otherwise they are assumed to return.

Soccer parent here. My kid tryed out once and doesnt need to again unless she switches teams. There was no cost to try out.
When she did club swim tbat was a one time thing too with no fee for initial try out.

Anonymous wrote:It's a money grab.

Op here. It’s 100% a money grab. Just trying to understand if other baseball teams are doing this and has this become the norm across DMV youth sports generally or is DS’s team an outlier.

It's a money grab.

DS’s travel ball team requires all players on the team attend a mandatory tryout (with a fee) every season. Since all sports are effectively year round this ends up being two tryouts a year—eg one for the “primary season” and another for the “off season.”
FWIW—some of the guys have been on the team with the same coach for four or five years and I would not describe the team as “elite” by any stretch of the imagination.

Curious to know what happens with other sports/clubs. Is it more common with baseball or basketball or soccer etc…