How does your team lower the axe?

For me it was always simple--the team roster was posted on the office door of the coach--very simple--you read it and you either wept or jumped for joy.

Today in our politically correct society I guess the parents want a meeting and an explanation backed up by a psychologist note

In actual fact most kids know before the announcement whether they made it or not. It is not usually any surprise to those who get cut

putting a list on the door so all can gather around with no explanations of why you did or did not make the team sux and says a lot about a person/coach to me.( I really hate the ones who wont look you in the eyes either,lol, dont trust them if they wont either.) Im happy to say my sons high school coaches are man enough to bring em in and sit them all down one at a time, and let them have the straight scoop. I applaud them for that-stand up guys.

No argument that the players who will make your team the best stay and the others are cut. But during the season I grow pretty close to these guys and if I have to cut someone who has played for me in the past I let them know in advance they are being cut and let them know why. I also make sure I give them encouragement to not give up baseball if it is something they love. It has nothing to do with the Political Correctness or the kid’s psychological state; it is just in my opinion the right thing to do.

My stepson's team had about 80 try out for fresh, jv and varsity squads. It would have taken forever to talk to each kid individually. Georgia only gives you about 3 weeks to prepare for the beginning of the season so time is precious. He posts the names of those making the team on a board for all to see. Most will be obvious but you feel a little bit for those on the bubble. One of lifes lessons.

Our boys all receive a letter at the end of tryouts. The news, good or bad, is in your individual letter. Many of the cuts aren't surprises. Our coach encourages kids to come and see him individually if they have questions and he's happy to tell them what they need to work on to improve.

Blackheart,

I don't know if you were referring to my post but let me clarify. I am not suggesting a coach talk to all the players he cuts, just the ones who have played for him in the past.

I am a believer of the same approach. As coaches we owe it to the kids to make them aware of their strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, we need to ensure they know how, and in some cases where, they work on those.

If not done, some kids feel they failed, in some cases create or transfer blame, but never learn to deal with failure. How many of these kids grow up to be the adult who never admits to mistakes at work?

I want kids to UNDERSTAND. Never understanding and they can not, or probably will never fix anything.

Even if I cut a kid, I want them to try out again next year. I want a kid to play baseball not give it up. One thing I am proudest of, I cut a kid two times, and he is now playing college baseball at Catholic University.

Thanks
Al McCormick
www.mostvaluableplayer.biz

I think there are two ways to do it, depending on whether you are talking about (1) players trying out for the first time who aren't making the "cut" or (2) players who have been on one of the squads and are now being cut from the team.

With a large school such as my son attended, it would not have been feasible to talk with each guy that was trying out for the first time. There were always two cuts, and I believe it was posted on the door.

However, once a player made the program and was cut at a later date, it was done on a one-to-one basis between the coach and the player ... sometimes before the actual game season started, but more often than not, during their end-of-the-season "interview".

When I played High School, which by the way was several years ago, the head coach posted the list on the window outside his classroom. Never said a word to you about what you did right or wrong. Like TRHit said, you either wept or jumped for joy. Today our High School coach sits down with each and every player and goes over whether you made the team or not, and if not, what weaknesses you need to work on before next years tryouts. Parents are not involved in cuts/playing time/where Johnny plays during the season. Coach says "I don't go into your office, and tell you how to run things". My team/My rules basically. I totally agree with that concept, if a parent comes up to the coach and says "what role do you see our son playing on the team this year", and they get the response "well Johnny's role will be to sit on the bench and be the best cheerleader we have, if we are getting beat bad or winning big, he might get an at bat", that is the way it goes. Don't ask the question, if you don't want to hear the response.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
For me it was always simple--the team roster was posted on the office door of the coach--very simple--you read it and you either wept or jumped for joy.

Today in our politically correct society I guess the parents want a meeting and an explanation backed up by a psychologist note

Our HS is facing some payroll trimming next year. Maybe they should post the names of teachers and coaches who "made the team" on the front door next fall.

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Yeah, I know speaking with each kid individually isn't feasible if there are 100 cuts, but it's a gentlemanly thing to do otherwise.

It's probably a lot easier for a kid to be cut among 99 others, than to be THE ONLY ONE cut in a small HS.

Former coach posted list on door....awful! This coach....last day of tryouts he stands on the field with his assistant coaches, and the kids that tried out for varsity approach him indvidually and he tells them their status......JV coach does the same. Kids get to exit field with some dignity....and have time to work through it before school the next day.

No matter how the "axe" is lowered, I would hope all the players that "made it" would have some compasion for the players that didn't. Because after all, EVERY player sooner or later gets "cut".

We got the axe this week. List was posted on the wall.

I got cut last year as a freshman. My coach put a list on his door and when my name wasn't on it I wanted to cry. There were lots of names on the list of kids that I knew I was better than. I went and talked to him and he told me I was close but just wasn't quite good enough. So I told him I would be back in 364 days and I have been working my *** off ever since. Last week I tried out for and made a 19u Legion team. I am 16. March 7th is the beginning of tryouts for the school team and the guy that cut me last year and I can't wait.

Max,

I love your attitude. A kid at our school was cut last year as a Junior and took a similar approach as you and he will be a starter and near the top of the batting order this year. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

40 freshman are trying out for my team and 22 of them will be cut I have absolute confidence I will make it because Ive been playing select ball on the best team in the city since I was 9, but the people that never played select probably wont be so lucky

Lots of informative posts on this thread. I agree that there is no perfect way to tell a kid he can't play a game he loves. But I probably learned the most from CoachB25's post about kids telling him how hard it was for a player to have to sit there and let someone watch him deal with the news, trying not to show his pain. At my kids' HS, a list was posted after practice on the final day of tryouts, so players could read the list, leave in privacy if they needed time to deal with bad news, then meet with the coach for feedback the next day IF they wanted to. In a couple of cases, the coach met privately with upperclassmen a day or two before the list was posted, either to warn them that they hadn't made it, or to explain that if they made the team they were expected to play a limited role. I thought he handled this duty with respect and kindness.

Our coach posts the players names that made the team. He waits in his office after cuts. If you want to come in his office and speak with him, you can. Some do, most don't. I coached with him for three years and that seemed to work out well.

The problem here is that all aswers are right, and all are wrong. Meeting with kids who are cut can be good, or bad. Posting a list can be good, or bad. Personally, I have no problem with posting a list. Sometimes a coach wants to meet with a player personally, and that's OK too. The coach should know when he wants to do that, and can choose a time and place to do it (before posting the list.) Sometimes it's best just to post the list. I do think that if a senior is projected to have only a limited role he should be told that before the final cuts are made. Some seniors will choose to drop off the team and have "senior fun" instead if that's their role, and it's better for everyone if they know up front.