First Highschool Baseball Team Try-Out

Be the first to arrive and the last to leave. On time means ready to take the field.

Never forget equipment.

Look like a ball player. Shirt tucked in, hat on correctly.

Act like a ball player. No screwing around.

Hustle. Never walk.

If you screw up don’t get flustered. Shake it off and focus on the next play. Don’t show negative emotion. Act like you love the game.

Always warmup with someone who throws accurately. If the ball is flying around it’s on both of you.

Don’t gossip. Focus on getting your job done.

Thx RJM. I'll have my son read your advice. Its great advice and will probably sink in better if it doesn't come from his Dad-LOL.

Nothing to add to what RJM said. Just wishing your son good luck!

Good luck! Make sure you schedule a couple days off between the last pen and the tryout.

Agree with RJM, no matter the outcome just continue to be the shoulder/ear for the kid. Fight the urge to give unsolicited advice and help him only when he asks for it. This is also a time for parents to transition as well. Good luck!

RJM is spot on!  HS Coaches in particular pay a lot of attention to all the things he mentioned. Unfortunately most travel ball coaches don’t and kids get lazy and develop bad habits. All the things on RJM’s list are part & parcel to being a ballplayer but aren’t emphasized enough anymore.

I'll go a different direction.  If he ends up on team that disappoints him, make sure he doesn't show it and certainly don't talk about it.  Suck it, roll up your sleeves and play/practice like you're a pro.  I say this because my son ran into a buzz saw no one saw coming.  His HS has a Reserve, JV and Varsity squad.  Due to my son's success throughout his little league "career," many projected he'd make varsity as a freshman, but no less than JV.  While we never assumed that, we were shocked when he made the Reserve team the spring of his freshman year.  The coaching and level of play was tough to swallow after playing Major-level travel ball his whole life.  But he stayed quiet and went to work.  A year later he was the starting SS for the varsity team.  Going into HS we had no idea there was a big logjam of talent in the 2 class ahead of him.  It was a special year watching him rise from the bottom to the top.  What we felt was sort of embarrassing is now a badge of honor of sorts.  He was close to going D1 out of HS, but Covid had other plans so he's going the Juco route.  VERY few kids from his HS play D1 ball, so if my son is able to make to it D1, I'll like his ascension story that much more.

Exciting time for you, good luck to him.  All the advice here is great.  Advice for you:  don't expect the HS coaches to communicate with you at all.  This is hard.  Everything will come through your son, and it will be a lot of "I don't know" and "I guess".  It's part of the process, but hard for parents.

These talks of tryouts always make me laugh a little.  I have no idea what that would even be like.   Quick story.......My son went to a smaller (D3 out of 4) HS....that is well known for basketball and football.  Baseball is an afterthought for most kids, even though our youth programs up thru 8th grade are typically very, very good in baseball.  Once they hit HS it seems like the "studs" decide that they will play 2 sports (Basketball and Football) and baseball gets left with the few true "baseball kids" and some others.  If this school could keep the baseball guys they have in 8th grade thru HS it could be a serious threat even at the state level almost every year...just as in basketball.   My son's grade had 40+ boys (out of maybe 75 total) playing baseball in 5th grade....and still had 20-ish in 8th grade.  Freshman year he had 4...and they all stayed thru their senior year.  Funny thing is their senior year, my son expected them to be horrible, but they set the school record for wins in a season and lost in the District finals.

Tryouts were essentially show up and you're on the team.  Never had enough kids for a freshman team....and sometimes struggled to play JV and Varsity on the same day due to lack of pitching.  Typically no more than 30 kids in the program total during any season.   The top school in our league (and one of the best in the state) would have 60-70 kids show up for tryouts as freshmen.   I can't imagine what a difference that would be for a kid lol.

Advise for Dad: If you are allowed at the tryout and can't resist going, don't speak.  Too many freshmen dads think a little coaching up on the on-deck area is good. Or encouragement after a mistake. Or WooHooing after a great play.  Just don't.  If you aren't allowed, don't ask questions about the other players. You don't want your son focused on them, so don't ask.  

Advise for both of you: If tryout is only one day coach has already penciled his list and is looking to confirm.  The fastest way off that list is to be an annoying parent or be a player who doesn't take success or failure well. Baseball is a game of failure, coaches look for players who lean in to that failure, be it a strikeout or missed ball, to get better.

Advise for your son: Have fun.  Be a good teammate, lift up those who struggle and congratulate those who don't. And never ever walk on a baseball field.

So, my 2025 had his first tryout Monday.  It is interesting how different school ball is to travel ball.  Since the beginning of school a constant discussion among his peer group has been how many freshmen will make JV. (Does not look like there will be a freshman team). The class ahead of them (2024) had almost 20 kids on JV last year.  Coach said at tryouts that he did not know how many total would be on JV this year but somewhere between 14-22.  The kids can do math and a lot of them are freaking out.  This is why kids play sports, they learn how to get it done even when the odds are against you.

@LousyLefty posted:

Advise for Dad: If you are allowed at the tryout and can't resist going, don't speak.  Too many freshmen dads think a little coaching up on the on-deck area is good. Or encouragement after a mistake. Or WooHooing after a great play.  Just don't.  If you aren't allowed, don't ask questions about the other players. You don't want your son focused on them, so don't ask.  

Advise for both of you: If tryout is only one day coach has already penciled his list and is looking to confirm.  The fastest way off that list is to be an annoying parent or be a player who doesn't take success or failure well. Baseball is a game of failure, coaches look for players who lean in to that failure, be it a strikeout or missed ball, to get better.

Advise for your son: Have fun.  Be a good teammate, lift up those who struggle and congratulate those who don't. And never ever walk on a baseball field.

Parents at a HS team tryout?   No, no, no, no!!!!  Even if they allow it no lol   I coached everything from T-ball thru Junior High.  Once we got to 5th grade I really couldn't even stand having parents at practice.  My son would have killed me if I had shown up at anything HS baseball related other than a game

Entirely just re-enforcing some of the things already said, really good advice already given...

1. Wear baseball clothes, pants and belt.  Anyone not wearing a cap, is an automatic crossed off for a lot of coaches.  The senior stud on the team can wear what he wants, you can't.

2. Hustle appropriately.  This is hard for many teenagers as typically they often don't want to stand out, but this is the time to stand out.  Don't run full speed if the coach tells everyone to move 10 feet to their left- just don't loaf, but if outside do jog to your position at better than fake jog speed and probably less than full sprint (no eyewash).  Lead don't follow.

3. Pay attention, to coaches and watch what is going on.  If you didn't hear what was said, make sure you know what to do before it's your turn.

4. Don't overreact, baseball players make errors from time to time, if you act like you shouldn't have, their going to think you always do.  Like was said, just move on and make the next play.

5. Remember, it's not just about making the play, it's about making the play correctly.  Everyone there can field (catch) a ground ball, what stands out is if you do it with the correct footwork, etc.  So don't forget that and just stand still and field the ball.  Don't forget your prep step and hop. ;-)    Don't be afraid to dive!

Too funny, but a few thoughts:

1. His brother was better than him but he did not look like a player. Had cap back with bangs out front etc.

2. His first time at states top travel team he was up to the shoulders of the rest . Looked like the mascot. But in 3 years of work passed them all for All state captain. So work hard.

3. As a HS freshman he was able to join varsity only because he agreed to catch if needed. But once he got the chance to play, he rotated SS/3b/pitcher. And never caught a game! Grab your chances.

@HSDad22 posted:

5. Remember, it's not just about making the play, it's about making the play correctly.  Everyone there can field (catch) a ground ball, what stands out is if you do it with the correct footwork, etc.  So don't forget that and just stand still and field the ball.  Don't forget your prep step and hop. ;-)    Don't be afraid to dive!

I remember watching this as the mom of an outfielder (where it's also a little more forgiving), during the two week tryouts with interschool scrimmages freshman year.  Kid making the catch, uninformed parents cheering.  But really all I saw was a kid turning the wrong way and taking 5 extra steps.  I assumed coaches saw it too, as this kid didn't make the team. Mom said to me "your son always seems to get easy balls".  I made sure to thank the OF coach of our TB program for drilling proper technique until it looked easy

@LousyLefty posted:

I remember watching this as the mom of an outfielder (where it's also a little more forgiving), during the two week tryouts with interschool scrimmages freshman year.  Kid making the catch, uninformed parents cheering.  But really all I saw was a kid turning the wrong way and taking 5 extra steps.  I assumed coaches saw it too, as this kid didn't make the team. Mom said to me "your son always seems to get easy balls".  I made sure to thank the OF coach of our TB program for drilling proper technique until it looked easy

Yup, kids don't make it for all kinds of reasons that aren't  based on fielding balls at tryouts..."but I made every play and "so and so" didn't, why was I cut".

My son was the last cut his freshman year,  coach called him into his office before posting the cut list, told him he had better mechanics than most his seniors, he just needed another year of growth and not to be discouraged (no freshman team).  Coach was right.  It lit a fire under son's butt and he got in the gym and made the team the next year. Growing many inches helped too.

In contrast, Our Middle School coach runs tryouts that consist of Pushups, 60 yd dash, how far you can throw a basketball from your knees, a round of 5 ground balls, and 5 swings at a weighted ball off a tee... No pitching, no catching.  Needless to say he could have just lined them up by size and picked the first 15.  Lot's of kids who make the team never play passed Middle school, many never see the field after practice starts, cause that's when he realizes they can't actually play.

Had a kid in town cut last year from JV.  He had not prepared for tryouts.  LHP, which I would never cut and conversation for another day.  Started coming to me 2 times a week while HS was playing.  Got him on a good travel ball team.  Played summer and fall ball.  He is now 75-77 with three solid pitches.  Will probably be #2 guy on varsity this year.  I told him the greatest gift the coaches ever game him was cutting him last year.  Lit a fire under him and now has a great chance to play college ball.  He is also hitting the ball well and became a good outfielder.

@PitchingFan posted:

Had a kid in town cut last year from JV.  He had not prepared for tryouts.  LHP, which I would never cut and conversation for another day.  Started coming to me 2 times a week while HS was playing.  Got him on a good travel ball team.  Played summer and fall ball.  He is now 75-77 with three solid pitches.  Will probably be #2 guy on varsity this year.  I told him the greatest gift the coaches ever game him was cutting him last year.  Lit a fire under him and now has a great chance to play college ball.  He is also hitting the ball well and became a good outfielder.

Isn't it sacrilegious to cut a lefty?

@Buckeye 2015 posted:

Parents at a HS team tryout?   No, no, no, no!!!!  Even if they allow it no lol   I coached everything from T-ball thru Junior High.  Once we got to 5th grade I really couldn't even stand having parents at practice.  My son would have killed me if I had shown up at anything HS baseball related other than a game

I was an unofficial consultant to the middle school baseball team. The coach loved baseball. But he didn’t know how to coach. He asked me to be an assistant. My son begged me not to do it. I was his travel coach. He asked for space.

I would occasionally watch practices from a distance and make suggestions via email. Sometimes my son came home telling me the coach asked for a drill on a certain aspect of the game.

One day I couldn’t find my son on the field. The coach walked over. He said my son was practicing with the high school varsity. I was already hearing the best shortstop in the district is the 8th grade kid. Can you imagine how badly I wanted to go over to the high school field to see how he was holding up against varsity players? I didn’t do it.

The (then) current varsity shortstop was a very good athlete. He wasn’t a good shortstop. The varsity coach was sending the kid a message about next year having an 8th grader working out at short. In college the shortstop played center at a mid major.

Before my son and his baseball teammates were driving he gave me dirty looks if I showed up at the end of high school practice too early. The coach had a “don’t walk past the parking lot rule” for parents.

@RJM posted:

I was an unofficial consultant to the middle school baseball team. The coach loved baseball. But he didn’t know how to coach. He asked me to be an assistant. My son begged me not to do it. I was his travel coach. He asked for space.

I would occasionally watch practices from a distance and make suggestions via email. Sometimes my son came home telling me the coach asked for a drill on a certain aspect of the game.

One day I couldn’t find my son on the field. The coach walked over. He said my son was practicing with the high school varsity. I was already hearing the best shortstop in the district is the 8th grade kid. Can you imagine how badly I wanted to go over to the high school field to see how he was holding up against varsity players? I didn’t do it.

The (then) current varsity shortstop was a very good athlete. He wasn’t a good shortstop. The varsity coach was sending the kid a message about next year having an 8th grader working out at short. In college the shortstop played center at a mid major.

Before my son and his baseball teammates were driving he gave me dirty looks if I showed up at the end of high school practice too early. The coach had a “don’t walk past the parking lot rule” for parents.

I really respect your self control as a parent.

Meanwhile, at my child's school we have an athletic director who's also the dad of a then freshman player. AD was good at staying away from the field. However, he must have some say as his son somehow was added to the Varsity roster...when he obviously wasn't at that level. Kid maybe pitched one time in a game that was pretty much over. But hey that boy can advertise that he "played" varsity.

Then the athletic director's good friend became an assistant JV coach, who's son also happened to be a JV player. Guess who had more playing time than anyone else?

I wish there was some HS rule that dad's can't be coaches, maybe with the exception for someone that's been a coach so many years before their child was tryout eligible.

@Buckeye 2015 posted:

Parents at a HS team tryout?   No, no, no, no!!!!  Even if they allow it no lol   I coached everything from T-ball thru Junior High.  Once we got to 5th grade I really couldn't even stand having parents at practice.  My son would have killed me if I had shown up at anything HS baseball related other than a game

Okay, really tried but already broke this rule.  I won’t again.

The other night was the second day, and was an intra-squad for JV.  I showed up at the time I was told that it would be over.  As I sat in the car other parents were filing into the stadium.  From the parking lot all I could see was the pitcher on the mound.  I figured that my kid had already pitched earlier.  The intra-squad kept going, more parents kept arriving and going in.  Then as I had sat there for about 45 minutes, my kid starts warming up on the mound.  I was like “Screw it” I’m watching.  I found a spot away from everything in a tunnel, so not in the stands but still could see the battery.  He got 4 Sophomore batters, 4 Ks, only 1 bat on a ball.  I went and sat in the car when he was done on the mound.

Afterwards, I asked him how it went.  All I got was “fine”.  Followed with me asking anything interesting? “No”.  Silence, then he said after awhile - “I think I’ll make the team.”

Sophomore year of high school my son has Varsity try outs.  I had to go to San Francisco to let people go. I head out to SF the night before the tryouts. High stress. About to ruin two peoples life.  I do what I have to before 8am est. walking the streets of SF in the dark and call my wife to let her know it’s over and I will take next flight home.  She tells me son is “sick” and is not going to school/tryouts.  I get home many hours of stewing later. He’s hiding from me. I take apart his computer and hide it.  He was playing games all day and in my opinion playing hooky. Luckily it didn’t cost him but I told him in the future to go to school and tryouts and throw up on coaches shoes if he’s sick.  Clearly this is now horrible advice after two years of a pandemic…. Heck it was horrible advice then (although when I was a kid that’s what I would have done - simpler times - only intellevision to distract).  I Just felt like sharing my personal HS baseball tryout story and my poor advice.  Or was it poor?

@Momball11 we had that situation at my son’s first high school. Kid was nephew  of the head coach and his Dad joined the JV coaching staff when kid was on JV and the V coaching staff when the kid made varsity. Oh, and grandpa was the coach before the uncle and the field was named after the family. DEFINITION OF A RED FLAG…!!!

@Around_The_Horn sounds like you handled it perfectly! Can’t wait to hear the final outcome.

@Momball11 posted:

I really respect your self control as a parent.

Meanwhile, at my child's school we have an athletic director who's also the dad of a then freshman player. AD was good at staying away from the field. However, he must have some say as his son somehow was added to the Varsity roster...when he obviously wasn't at that level. Kid maybe pitched one time in a game that was pretty much over. But hey that boy can advertise that he "played" varsity.

Then the athletic director's good friend became an assistant JV coach, who's son also happened to be a JV player. Guess who had more playing time than anyone else?

I wish there was some HS rule that dad's can't be coaches, maybe with the exception for someone that's been a coach so many years before their child was tryout eligible.

One reason my son didn’t want me to be a middle school assistant was he was tired of it coming around I was paving his way in sports with favors. I was on the youth sports board, the baseball board and the basketball board. I was a league commissioner in basketball and a coach in baseball and basketball. I did so much along with a few others due to lack of volunteers.

But he was the best athlete in his grade from the elementary school playground through high school. The first time I heard “You won’t have to pay for college” he was seven.

I knew a couple of kids at our rival high school. They played travel for me from 13u to 16u. I sometimes went to watch their school games. I heard parental whining the coach was giving preferential treatment to his two boys. They both started as freshman. Maybe they shouldn’t have started as freshmen. They struggled. But the coach knew what he had. They both followed up with three all conference seasons and went D1.

I couldn’t find this a couple of days ago. Senna dug it up …

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/checklist.htm

All the best to your son at the tryout today!  Have him take the time to properly warm up after his injury, do the little extra work for flexibility + mobility.  It is really easy to compensate for it + pull or tear a hamstring.

Be prepared for a different level of coaching than he may get at the travel ball level - at least that has been our experience.  What travel ball coaches develop for may be very different than his HS coaches.  For example, our high school coaches want ground balls, nothing in the air.   They have ground ball hitting contests where you get points for ground balls and no points for line drives or fly balls.  I guess this was a strategy for HS teams many years ago and worked well, but it definitely does not help develop players to play at the next level anymore.....

First day of official practice & tryouts in Texas today! Also, the two coldest days in a while today and tomorrow. Good luck on the season for everyone kicking off today. Stay warm!

@Miller2020 posted:

Be prepared for a different level of coaching than he may get at the travel ball level - at least that has been our experience.  What travel ball coaches develop for may be very different than his HS coaches.  For example, our high school coaches want ground balls, nothing in the air.   They have ground ball hitting contests where you get points for ground balls and no points for line drives or fly balls.  I guess this was a strategy for HS teams many years ago and worked well, but it definitely does not help develop players to play at the next level anymore.....

Some HS coaches subscribe to the theory that hitting a ground ball is the most likely way to get on base at the HS level of play. If a batter hits a ground ball 3 things have to happen for an out to be recorded ; the ball must be fielded cleanly, the fielder must make an accurate throw, and the throw must be caught. HS Coaches that tell their players to hit ground balls are playing the odds that all 3 of those things won’t happen (in sequence) on any given play. It shows a focus on the bottom half of the roster and IMO it’s a bulls$t way to coach. However it’s no more absurd than a 17 year old second baseman that weighs 145 lbs that tries to hit everything in the air when it’s not possible for him to ever hit it out of the park. Common sense can get lost when all players are told to do the very same things. One of the most important aspects of coaching is figuring out what each player can do well and game planning around those strengths. If you have proven hitters that can drive the ball into the gaps (and the power to leave the yard) and a HS coach is telling them to hit ground balls he is doing a disservice to those kids and to his team. By the same measure, a player with no power that consistently hits the ball in the air is doing a disservice to his coach and his team. Playing selfishly and coaching selfishly are both equally bad violations of the game.

HS tryouts...

If your kid is really good, trust him and trust the process. Unless your HS is some super major power where they have a total stud roster, if your kid is really good, it will show in tryouts, the coach will see it and he will make the team.

If your kid is a below average rec player at best and hasn't touched a bat or glove since sometime last year, then you have no right to expect him to make the team.

The middle is the iffy part. Kid is a travel player but always on the B team. Kid weighs 150 pounds. Kid loves the game but really has no outstanding skills or measurables. That's the case where you just don't know and the kid better have a great attitude and somehow make a favorable impression with the coach.

One of the enduring mysteries of my son's HS baseball experience was related to this hitting question.  As freshmen, he and another kid were competing for a  lineup spot.  The other kid got most of the at-bats, mostly flied or struck out, BA below .180.  My son got a few at bats, hit grounders, ended up with BA over .300.  At the time, we couldn't understand what was going on.  After much worrying and searching on the internet (including here), I think the other kid was hitting the ball harder in practice, and my son's "hits" were seeing-eye grounders and the like (not errors scored as hits, though!).  I have no idea what the coach was telling them to do.  But, in terms of the team's success, it didn't make a lot of sense.  On the other hand, it was a .500 team, so maybe coach felt it didn't matter.  Or he was playing a long game, which was ironic, because the other kid was mostly injured for junior and senior year, and never did figure out hitting.

In the end we liked the coach a lot, and my son did get in the lineup, my point is, things will happen that you don't understand, and no, you can't ask about them.  My other point is, freshman year seems endless, then suddenly senior year happens and you wonder where it all went, and what was the point of all that worrying.  Everyone here says that, and it's true.

Freshmen year. School has a Freshmen team, a JV team and Varsity.

My son the freshman says "My goal is to play Varsity." Now, I know, playing Varsity as a freshman in our school is next to impossible. In the previous 7 years, only three made Varsity and one went to the SEC (then...now he's in pro ball) and another is playing in the BIG10. But I tell him " Good luck. Just do your best and see what happens."

Well, he makes Varsity, is a starter in 21 of 23 games, catches 80% of the team’s innings and leads the team in HR...as a freshman. Every other freshman plays on the freshman team except one who swings between JV and the freshman team.

Sophomore year is lost to COVID-19. Last year was junior season. And, now it's senior year. But it seems like YESTERDAY that I was saying "Good luck..."

It goes by VERY FAST. Don't sweat it. The thing will be over in a blink of an eye.

luckily for mattysson, hs tryouts haven't been too stressful.  he made varsity as a freshman (thanks to a big showing against his hs team in fall ball), so he hasn't had to sweat too much the last two years. 

this year, as a jr i'm sweating more for his friends who i've gotten to know over the years as a coach and family friend (kids he's hung out with for years outside of school).  some are probably bubble guys and have a lot of work to do to make the roster or get on the field.  it doesn't help that my son's little secret was recently exposed (he was P/3b for the first two years in hs but caught all summer and fall with his travel team and is being recruited as a catcher).  he never hid it but the hs coaches never asked.  somehow, they figured it out this year and he's probably going to catch (and not pitch, thankfully) but that means he might bump one of his good friends who's also a catcher. 

@Adams Baseball posted:

Well Folks, my son will have his first highschool baseball try-out , this Friday. Weather is predicted to be bad, so the coach may hold it indoors. My son has been practicing 3-5 days a week. Played a little Fall ball (he's also on the swim team). We've been in the batting cage everyday and pitching BullPen three days a week, and doing some fielding work about twice a week. I think he's prepared, but still a little nervous. Any advice out there? Is there a standard system that most Highschool coaches go through(like the ones in showcases)?

Best thing your kid can do is show up and hit nukes. Just kidding (mostly. If he hits nukes then definitely have him do that, haha). Otherwise do all the stuff that RJM said.

Other than that, if he makes the team then he needs to work hard no matter what team he's on. At my son's school the Varsity, JV, and C-Team all practiced on the same field. The C-Team were the last kids at the trough, last to get BP, last to get pens, last to get infield/outfield reps. It can be hard for kids to stay motivated when they might feel like they don't get much actual practice during practice. All I can say is that by the end of the season some of the C-Team kids ended up on JV, some of the JV kids ended up on Varsity, and a few guys who started out on Varsity finished up playing JV.

As noted in some of the posts in this thread, a kid can really improve his chances of making a HS (or any) team if he is versatile enough to play multiple positions. There are many ways to get on the field but, especially as a younger player, being able to be plugged into the lineup at an area of need is one of the best.

@adbono posted:

As noted in some of the posts in this thread, a kid can really improve his chances of making a HS (or any) team if he is versatile enough to play multiple positions. There are many ways to get on the field but, especially as a younger player, being able to be plugged into the lineup at an area of need is one of the best.

I feel like we missed a big one on this.  Prep your kid when asked "what position do you play?" to respond "Wherever you need me, but I've been playing xxx recently."  Except those darn lefties.

@adbono posted:

As noted in some of the posts in this thread, a kid can really improve his chances of making a HS (or any) team if he is versatile enough to play multiple positions. There are many ways to get on the field but, especially as a younger player, being able to be plugged into the lineup at an area of need is one of the best.

I had a team from 13u to 16u (kids were fifteen). Every position player played some left and right. The idea was if a kid gets to high school and can hit he may not be able to move a key player. But if he can play left or right he can start.

My son was a shortstop in school. I used him in travel to replace whatever position the pitcher came from that game. It prevented a lot of position shifting for a lot of players. He was versatile enough to do it. It got him moved to center in 17u. It got him recruited as an outfielder for college. His versatility had him starting at any of seven positions over his time in college.

Son's first HS tryouts are today and tomorrow. They have 3 teams Varsity, JV A and B. With baseball class here the coach has seen him all year. He was put into a group of returning players (Varsity and JV A from last year) and told they didn't have to show up till an hour later then everyone else today and 2 hours later tomorrow. We are taking that as a good sign. We told him not to take that lightly and give 100% no matter what group he is in. We shall see how it turns out.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around baseball tryouts in January. Ours are 3rd/4th week of March.  Season to start 2nd week of April.