Anonymous
06/23/2026 15:51
Subject: 2035, 2034, 2033 Girls
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It’s so hard to tell because they use the coach’s last name! And hard to tell who is their best team. I assume they still sort teams by talent, right?
By the way, this notion that there’s something wrong with teams trying to improve by bringing in talent from outside (aka other teams) is dumb. Every club and most teams do this. Some poach or happily receive a few and some may even take a large group of defectors from another team. They don’t just take the 3rd graders they get and go with them through high school and only fill spots if one leaves. This is widespread and not isolated to top clubs. It does not mean those teams aren’t trying their damndest to develop and win with who they have.
I don't think anyone has a problem with teams improving, every team is going to promote their club, coaches, etc. The "better" clubs or more "known" clubs have the advantage in that they can probably draw a significantly more number of talent / people to their tryouts so they get their pick of a much larger pool (of course they need to be good talent evaluators too).
I think the main issue becomes when specific coaches aggressively pursue players from other clubs (through their parents most likely at an elem age, maybe both player/parent at the Middle School age) and try to consistently trash their current club, current coach or current teammates in order to get them to defect.
That's pretty low rent imo, I am not saying any one club does this, but it's sad that people try to use scare tactics or create the image of turmoil in order to try to get players to switch to their team so they can "get better". If you have been around for any length of time you have undoubtedly seen this among many different clubs & age groups.
The better move is to be a great coach and show good improvement throughout the year and have your results (and current parents) do the talking. It's a small community and people talk, build a team where if a parent asks about XYZ team, your parents all say, "yea it's great i'd tryout if I was you."
As the girls get older, conversations are always happening behind the scenes come tryout time between top club coaches and potential players. The exception to this is Capital who is extremely rigid with their tryout process, but there are other ways parents try and get their players in front of those coaches.
It’s usually the parent and player who start shopping around or who make their unhappiness known. It’s the rare exception that someone who has given no sign that they want to move is approached, and you are right that, in any instance, the coach should not trash the current team or coach. But it’s rarely as simple as a coach has a good reputation and the parents say come out to try outs.
Anonymous
06/23/2026 13:08
Subject: 2035, 2034, 2033 Girls
Anonymous wrote:It’s so hard to tell because they use the coach’s last name! And hard to tell who is their best team. I assume they still sort teams by talent, right?
By the way, this notion that there’s something wrong with teams trying to improve by bringing in talent from outside (aka other teams) is dumb. Every club and most teams do this. Some poach or happily receive a few and some may even take a large group of defectors from another team. They don’t just take the 3rd graders they get and go with them through high school and only fill spots if one leaves. This is widespread and not isolated to top clubs. It does not mean those teams aren’t trying their damndest to develop and win with who they have.
I don't think anyone has a problem with teams improving, every team is going to promote their club, coaches, etc. The "better" clubs or more "known" clubs have the advantage in that they can probably draw a significantly more number of talent / people to their tryouts so they get their pick of a much larger pool (of course they need to be good talent evaluators too).
I think the main issue becomes when specific coaches aggressively pursue players from other clubs (through their parents most likely at an elem age, maybe both player/parent at the Middle School age) and try to consistently trash their current club, current coach or current teammates in order to get them to defect.
That's pretty low rent imo, I am not saying any one club does this, but it's sad that people try to use scare tactics or create the image of turmoil in order to try to get players to switch to their team so they can "get better". If you have been around for any length of time you have undoubtedly seen this among many different clubs & age groups.
The better move is to be a great coach and show good improvement throughout the year and have your results (and current parents) do the talking. It's a small community and people talk, build a team where if a parent asks about XYZ team, your parents all say, "yea it's great i'd tryout if I was you."