Question about High School Tryouts

Your players young, I would really be carefull catching right away.
Take his time getting into catching shape.
No need to push it for the sake of freshman ball.
EH

YHF osgood schlatter by Mayo Clinic with recommendation.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/osgood-schlatter-disease/DS00392

His Schlatters disease isn't severe. It's moderate and manageable to this point. He had a patellar tendon injury that he worked through in physical therapy. I just don't want it to recur, even though he really loves catching.

Go back to the doctor and ask for a doctor's note explaining what is wrong and his therapy recommendations are. Show this to the coach and talk to him what else your son can do during tryouts.

If your son does well in throwing and hitting then he will get a chance. If he can catch like 20 pitches and throw down to bases then do that and work way back to playing shape.

One incident or event shouldn't put the "wuss" tag on a kid. That takes several incidences over a period of time.

Just talk to the coach and your son should be fine.

Agree just talk to coach.

Heck send him out here we can use a good catcher!

Seriously catchers are always in limited supply.

Is this something for me to do either verbally or by email? Or should I let my son handle it? My instinct is not to jump in there.

YHF it is not for me to advise your decision...

But with my son I always took the advice of our doctor regarding my son especially when he was not fully grown because young boys and girls growth plates need to fully develope without injury. The damage that can be done to your son's long term health IMO is not worth the risk of him suffering knee damage where later on in life he will have difficulty walking.

If this were my son in this situation I would get some idea from the doctor as to how long your son should be held to minimum exertion with his knees, and then follow the doctors advice. If your son has to sit out a few weeks it is not the end of the world.
JMO

YHF, besides putting any undue pressure on your son due to an injury and being labeled a "wuss", etc, I would follow the Dr's advise to the T. Why even risk the remote possibility of re-injuring it this season which might hinder him even more next year. Just because the freshman coach is desperately needing a catcher is no need for a parent to jeopardize their son's health and/or body.

What's the worse thing that can happen? He doesn't make the freshman team. Big deal. If your son has the talent to catch, let him recoup completely in the timeline the Dr. has established and let him play some summer ball to keep his edge.

This is just my opinion from a Dad.

quote:

Originally posted by YHF:
My 8th grade son will be trying out for Freshman ball next week. He's coming off a knee injury (in addition to having Osgood Schlatters). He finished physical therapy for his knee injury just a couple weeks ago and his doctor told him to work his way slowly back into catching.

How would you coaches suggest we handle his injury situation.

YHF, am I understanding correctly that your son is an 8th grader and trying to play up on a high school freshman team? Assuming that's true, I wouldn't rush anything, or expect too much.

I don't know the philosophy of your HS coach, but don't get too upset and use the injury issue if your son gets cut from a high school freshman team while he is still in 8th grade. Remember, he would be taking a roster spot away from a true high school freshman, and many coaches, including me, would be very reluctant to do that. In our program, we want as many young kids as possible, and that means keeping as many 9th graders as possible. We don't know how freshmen will develop physically or mentally by the time they are juniors or seniors, or who will end up dropping out of the program due to injuries, grade issues, behavioral problems, playing time issues, loss of interest, etc.

Our school district does not allow middle schoolers to play high school ball, so it's not an issue in our program. Even if we didn't have the district restriction, I would probably not allow an 8th grader to take a roster spot, unless I had a very low number of 9th graders turning out, and couldn't fill a freshman roster.

I can wait for the 8th graders to arrive and develop when they're freshmen. It doesn't matter to me how an 8th grader helps our freshman team win. Even if the 9th graders are bad, we still need to develop players at every position at every grade level. That helps our program as a whole. The point of freshman and JV teams should be to develop players, not necessarily worry about being solid at every position or win every game. I know everyone wants to win, but varsity ball is when winning counts. That's just my opinion and perspective as a high school coach.

Thanks guys for the solid advice.

Obviously each school is different but our freshman team has 4 or 5 (can't remember which) 8th graders on the team every year. I'm not sure why they would eliminate some Freshman to guarantee a few 8th graders a spot, but that's how they do it.

My son wants to make the team very badly and I understand his desire to play. From my perspective, I'm hoping he makes the team but if he doesn't, we have workouts planned each week up until mid-May when our summer team gets rolling.

Thanks again for your insights.

Quick update here....my son's knee has felt really good and so he hasn't informed the coaches of the prior injury. He caught 5 pitchers Monday night (100 pitches total) without any pain so I'm relieved. No soreness afterward. He's still been icing each night and eating advil just in case.

It's really funny waiting for the kids to come out at the end of tryouts each night...all the rumors that are being passed between the parents are crazy. They're only taking 15 kids. No they're taking 18. From the 8th grade class they're only taking pitchers. They're taking 5 eighth graders. They're taking 2 eighth graders...blah, blah, blah. Two of the dads tonight got their egos going comparing how good their sons are. I had to walk outside in the frigid weather to get away.

First round of cuts are supposedly tomorrow so I'll provide an update when I can.

That is awesome he is doing great and not experiencing any pain. Take it from me as a former catcher to take care of his knees. Ice should be his best friend. I wish someone would have told me the things I should have done to keep them healthy. I didn't have Osgood Schlatters but I did dislocate my left kneecap 4 times in high school.

It constantly hurts and I am very slow going up steps (it figures my classroom would be upstairs too). Some days when the weather is bad I want to curl up in the fetal position and cry like a baby.

Take care of his knees.

Talk to doctor and get a medical release and rehab information for yourself and the coach. Hopefully the HS has a main trainer that can help out with rehab for your son and coincide this with any other rehab he is getting.

Be prepared to make some concession when it comes to positional play this year. It up to you and your doctor, first and than it’s up to the coach and trainer to work with your son.

Yes be sure to tell the coach.


Respectfully yours,

drill

The "eating advil" aspect disturbs me greatly---in short order he may have no stomach lining left

Sometimes it is better to not be so overzealous if you have to go to extreme measures

The "eating Advil" comment makes me quesy. I pitched my senior year of high school with a sore back. I just didn't know it until several hours after the game, when the eight Bufferin I took before the game wore off. I had no idea what the potential health hazzards were of doing this twelve times in a season.

The expert advice I received came from a Legion teammate with a nasty slider at age fifteen, who pitched three years of high school ball on Bufferin. His arm died soph year of college.

Thanks for the concern guys. I should have explained better. His doctor suggested 2 advil before baseball (while eating or just after eating food) and then 2 more advil before bedtime (again, while eating or after eating some food). I guess advil has a bit of an anti-inflammatory effect. He hasn't had any pain or soreness the following day (so far), so he's just been taking 2 advil before he goes to tryouts.

I don't let him take any more than that. Fortunately he hates taking pills anyway.

YHF, if there is no pain, it could be that your son's OS has "resolved itself" as the docs say. 2B went through OS, but he used the bands until it just went away on its own. I hope that's what's going on with your son.

Amen. That would be nice. But the doc said it could be with him for a while.

Rumors are flying among the parents and kids, as would be expected.

My son's Freshman tryouts started with 42-44 kids the first couple nights, including about 10 eighth graders and the rest freshmen. No cuts yet, but they're down to 32 or 33 kids just through attrition. Lots of running and really hard grounders across the gym floor, and I suspect the combination of those two things scared off quite a few.

They're supposed to announce first cuts tonight. My son is nervous and excited of course. I talked to him about remaining calm (as best he can) and if he makes the cut try to keep it to himself because some of his friends might be getting bad news. I also told him that if he's cut, try to muster up enough courage to talk to the coach and ask what he should work on so he can try out next year.

We'll see.

Good luck to him!

We don't have a freshman team, but in JV, there was more drama among the parents than I had ever experienced at any level. Please let us know how he does!

Just got home from tryouts and first cut was announced tonight. My son is still alive at this point. Here's how it breaks down....

They divided the kids into 3 groups for workouts tonight...

Group A were kids that were later told they are "penciled in", meaning they are definitely on the freshman team. One 8th grader (a LH pitcher of course) was in this group.

Group B were kids that were definitely going to be cut and were told so as a group after workouts tonight. This was about a dozen kids.

Group C (including my son) were the 'bubble group' according to the coaches. There are 7 kids in this group including two 8th graders...my son (trying out for catcher & 1B) and a friend of my son's who is also trying out for catcher. This group was told there are 7 kids for 3 spots.

Tryouts for group C will continue Friday night and Saturday, with final cuts being announced Saturday.

After the cuts were announced, my son was pulled aside by the varsity coach and told he's doing well and though he's not "penciled in" at this point, he needs to keep up what he's doing.

So we'll see how it goes this weekend and I'll post the results when we get them.

Thanks.

how can an 8th grader play on freshman...never heard of that? also, osgood schlatter is very restrictive even if you say it's minor it still is osgood schlatter and is occompanied by pain. In summary, playing catcher is next to impossible with osgood schlatter....i have seen it first hand. I know a boy who tried to play through it and it was a disaster and demeaning for the kid because he had to endure critisism ad-nauseum for even being behind the plate.

He's had it about a year. The pain was quite bad last summer. He had a separate knee injury last fall and did physical therapy over the winter. It's not hurting him now so either his condition has improved or the physical therapy he went through helped the OS as well. I'm not sure.

Btw, all schools in our area (as far as I know) allow 8th graders to play freshman ball. Our summer team is comprised of primarily 8th graders and every one is in tryouts for their HS freshman teams (covers 5 different schools).

Well final cuts were last night and my son was cut. The roster was 15 and they had 12 on the team...so the final 5 kids were trying for 3 spots. My son and the other 8th grader were cut and they kept the three freshmen.

The coaches called each kid into a room to tell them individually whether they made it or were cut. They told my son he scored near the top of the group (including the kids who made the team) for hitting and fielding, but he was pretty slow and they want him to work on conditioning and speed for next year. They graded all the kids in each area on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being best...my son got 4.8 for hitting and 4.9 for fielding, but 1.5 for speed. He ran the 60 in 9 seconds.

We still have other baseball workouts and tournaments to get to the next 8-9 weeks before summer ball starts.

So he'll stay busy.

YHF

Very sorry to hear your son was cut. I'm 16 right now myself and I was also cut my freshman year. This off season I worked so hard to make the team, and I have tryouts in 2 weeks, so wish me luck.

Its tough not making the team, but is sounds like your son is going to great. Like you said have him work on speed,agility) and he will be on JV or even Varsity no problem next year.

Thanks for your kind words. Making the freshman team as an 8th grader is kind of a bonus. But it still hurts quite a bit not to make it. He got so much positive feedback from the coaches and all the kids kept telling him he would make it for sure, so he really thought it was going to happen.

I wish you all the best in your tryouts.

Is track still an option for him ? A little instruction and some practice could help out with that 60 time.

quote:

Originally posted by YHF:
Just got home from tryouts and first cut was announced tonight. My son is still alive at this point. Here's how it breaks down....

They divided the kids into 3 groups for workouts tonight...

Group A were kids that were later told they are "penciled in", meaning they are definitely on the freshman team. One 8th grader (a LH pitcher of course) was in this group.

Group B were kids that were definitely going to be cut and were told so as a group after workouts tonight. This was about a dozen kids.

Group C (including my son) were the 'bubble group' according to the coaches. There are 7 kids in this group including two 8th graders...my son (trying out for catcher & 1B) and a friend of my son's who is also trying out for catcher. This group was told there are 7 kids for 3 spots.

Tryouts for group C will continue Friday night and Saturday, with final cuts being announced Saturday.

After the cuts were announced, my son was pulled aside by the varsity coach and told he's doing well and though he's not "penciled in" at this point, he needs to keep up what he's doing.

So we'll see how it goes this weekend and I'll post the results when we get them.

Thanks.

Most Coaches will keep Catchers unless they are just horrible. There is much need for Catchers in High School ball.

once he fully heals (knee and O.S. disease), he will be fine. join a great 14U team and tell him to have a kick arse season!

quote:

Originally posted by powertoallfields:
Most Coaches will keep Catchers unless they are just horrible. There is much need for Catchers in High School ball.

That's not necessarily true in YHF's case. Probably has more to do with his son being an 8th grader trying to play up on a high school team, not to mention a 9 second 60 yd time. Sounds like the kid simply isn't ready. At that age, one year makes a huge difference.

In many cases where a player tries to play up at a higher age level, it is due to overzealous parents thinking son is at a higher level than reality. Just wait until your time. Nothing was gained by trying out for the high school team before the kid was ready.

YHF, wow, that is a bummer. I know he must be really disappointed. But it does sound like they certainly like him for the future, and it also seems like the coaches treated the boys very respectfully. I guess the silver lining might be that he can have a little more time to rest those knees.

Yankeelvr is right - instruction and practice will definitely help with the 60 time. 2B worked with a sprinter last summer, and it made a big difference.

Mains3, good luck!!

Thanks. Truthfully, the bottom line is he needs to lose about 30 pounds. He has a big build and though he is actually pretty athletic, the extra weight restricts him. If he can get in better shape for next year he should be able to tryout for freshman ball again and have a good shot to make it. Some teams may take a slower kid at catcher or 1B but not this one.

I've rarely been prouder of his effort. Besides being a straight-A student and a generally good kid, he has become a hard worker. They worked the kids pretty tough with 8 sessions in 10 days. He put 100% into everything. When the coaches said run, some kids sighed and complained. My son just said 'yes sir' and got moving. He got really good compliments from the coaches for his results and his efforts, so once the sadness moves on he should feel better about it. His baseball skills are on par with the best kids on the team. And hopefully he'll be inspired to continue to work on conditioning.

I think if he makes the team next year it will be quite satisfying given what he just went through.

I forgot to mention that he was kind of happy about one thing last night. After it became obvious to the other kids who was getting cut, 8 or 9 of the freshmen waited in the hall for my son to come out so they could tell him they wished he was on the team with them and to walk out with him. That was actually really nice for them to do.

He's going to have some great teammates next year.

If I'm reading this right, then no 8th graders made the team. So he was merely denied an opportunity to "play up." Sounds like the door is open for next year and he generally made a great impression. Lots of positives to take from the experience.

That being said, it also sounds like both you and he know what he needs to do to be ready next year. Hustling during tryouts is a great thing. Doing the off season work to be ready for tryouts is what could make the difference between just making the team, and getting to play or even start.

# 1, he needs to get healthy.

# 2, when that happens, he needs to get himself in shape.

I've got at least 30 extra lbs. myself, so maybe I'm one to talk, but then, I'm not trying to compete with 15-year-olds on an athletic field. That's like trying to compete with a sack of potatoes strapped to your waist, and some more junk strapped to each thigh. The best thing your son could do is, whenever he puts the OS problem behind him, start pounding the pavement. 1 1/2 to 2 miles, 5 times a week will melt that stuff off him in about 4 months. He'll be glad he did it for a whole lot of reasons, including but not limited to baseball.

You may also want to get him a head start by talking to a personal trainer about cardio work he can do that won't slow his recovery from OS. That way his heart and his diaphragm will be more ready when his knees are ready. Taking some of the load off those knees before you start pounding pavement couldn't hurt, either.

quote:

Originally posted by YHF:
Truthfully, the bottom line is he needs to lose about 30 pounds. He has a big build and though he is actually pretty athletic, the extra weight restricts him. If he can get in better shape for next year he should be able to tryout for freshman ball again and have a good shot to make it. Some teams may take a slower kid at catcher or 1B but not this one.

YHF,
From a coach's perspective, losing the weight and getting in shape is the best thing your son can do at this point. If time and money is an issue, forget the hitting and catching lessons. Get a good personal trainer and get your kid leaner, stronger, and faster. If he is 30 pounds overweight at his age, he probably hasn't done a whole lot of conditioning in the past. Now's the time, if for no other reason than to teach your son healthy habits that will last him a lifetime. His health and well being are much more important than making the high school baseball team.

A kid who runs a 9-second 60 yd dash is a huge liability to the team, even at the freshman level. He would just about have to hit it over the fence to advance beyond first base. If he is standing on first base, what is the team's chances of getting him around the bases and actually scoring? What about the poor kid batting/running behind him? He can't advance either. A very slow runner on base bogs down the entire game plan. Can't sacrifice, play hit and run, steal, or even score from second on a single. As a coach, I'm stuck going station to station, and that will probably lose me some ballgames.

I may be wrong, but also suspect that your son has limited mobility behind the plate. Passed balls due to lack of mobility will drive a coach absolutely bonkers. I will take an athletic, mobile, great blocking catcher every time, even if his arm is weaker than the big and slow kid who can't get down or move side to side and block balls.

There's a general misconception that catchers and corner guys can be slow and out of shape. That's definitely not true, especially for better players and top programs. I'm not picking on your son in any way, just trying to give you some constructive perspective moving forward. Encourage your son to spend the bulk of his time over the next year getting in great shape, and turning some heads next season when he hits the field as a legitimate high school player.

60 times tend to pretty consistently improve with age.

As far as the Advil he's probably still growing and that much Advil may not be good for bone healing, putting him a little bit more at risk for stress fractures.

those are some pretty awesome scores.

Thanks for the great advice everyone. My son is feeling better today and after school made a point to tell me we should go to as many of the freshmen games as we can to support his classmates and a couple of his summer teammates. So that's a good sign I think.

One thing I was anticipating actually didn't happen. A new high school is being built near us and several of the freshmen will be moving to that school next year. I wondered if the coaches might make a point of taking more kids that will stay in our school district beyond this year, but that doesn't seemed to have mattered to them. They must be viewing this season singularly without worrying about the fact that 4 or 5 of the players selected for this year's freshman team will be playing for our new rival next year.

Perhaps the coaches here can confirm that this is either a smart or not-so-smart move on their part.

I am sorry your son didn't make the team.
In 8th grade (still in ,idle school) our kids can't play baseball, so he spent time in volleyball, softball at school and travel ball. I don't think he was even thinkig HS ball yet in 8th grade.

Your son tried out and now knows what's expected for next year.

Stop trying to figure out the whats and the what nots, your son has plenty of time to play HS baseball.

JMO.

quote:

Originally posted by KnightTime:

A kid who runs a 9-second 60 yd dash is a huge liability to the team, even at the freshman level. He would just about have to hit it over the fence to advance beyond first base. If he is standing on first base, what is the team's chances of getting him around the bases and actually scoring? What about the poor kid batting/running behind him? He can't advance either. A very slow runner on base bogs down the entire game plan. Can't sacrifice, play hit and run, steal, or even score from second on a single. As a coach, I'm stuck going station to station, and that will probably lose me some ballgames.

I may be wrong, but also suspect that your son has limited mobility behind the plate.

I don't think it's crazy of you to presume these things. Big kids are generally assumed to be that way. And unfortunately, tryouts in the gym generally work one way. Coaches can't see how a kid actually plays the game. They can't tell if a kid has good instincts or is a good baserunner. Our head coach (summer ball) during games he repeatedly demands the other kids on our team watch how my son takes a lead, gets a secondary lead, reads pitches to steal second, takes extra bases, etc. Though he is the slowest runner on our team in pure speed, he's our best baserunner (according to our head coach..it's not me making the claim). He has great instincts on taking extra bases...good at reading throws coming back to the infield. Ironically, a couple of our fastest kids make the most mistakes on the bases. Being fast is a big advantage, but doesn't make you a good baserunner.

Being the 3rd base coach for our summer team, I'm well aware of the effects of having slow runners on base. But we've structured our lineup in a way to take advantage of certain situations with bunt & run, etc. even when we have a slower runner on base. Plus my son and another of our slower runners are really good at reading low pitches and breaking pitches to get a couple extra steps toward second in case the ball gets away.

Please don't think I'm complaining. I'm not. And I'm not bothered by the assumptions...I'd think the same thing in your shoes. It's just the reality of tryouts in the high school gym. My only complaint, if you'd call it that, is that the catchers weren't tested well enough. My son has been taught blocking, foot placement with runners on base, footwork to throw, etc. The coaches didn't work out the catchers other than have them make 5-6 throws to 2nd in two tryout sessions. This is me thinking as a coach...why wouldn't they want to really test the catchers? The backup catcher that the team took is more athletic than my son, no question. He's a very good athlete. But he's caught very little. In the scrimmage they had Saturday he turned his back on balls in the dirt (actually pavement), took 4-5 steps out in front of the plate to make throws to second, etc. He's obviously not a catcher but perhaps the coaches assumed they could make him a catcher. Who knows?

It doesn't really matter now...my son will get another shot next year. They have their roster and we will go to the games and cheer for our team. We have a number of friends there including 3 kids from our summer team.

Thanks again for the advice. My son is planning to continue his workouts he's been doing since Christmas. And he's anxious to make improvements in his speed so we'll be timing him periodically to see how he's doing.

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
Stop trying to figure out the whats and the what nots, your son has plenty of time to play HS baseball.

JMO.

Thanks for the great advice (is there a sarcasm font available?).

Have you read that I've said my son was screwed and should have made the team? No. I anticipated that he would not make the team and I'm not the least bit angry. Playing freshman ball as an 8th grader is pure bonus as I said in an earlier post. My only complaint, if you want to call it that, is in my last post....since we're in a cold weather area our kids can try out primarily in the high school gym (they had one 3-inning scrimmage in the parking lot last Saturday). It's a complaint about the process and its limitations because of the weather, not faulting the coaches or saying they had something in for my son. If you think the tone or direction of my previous posts is from a 'crazy parent' then that's your right. I know what I feel and I know that I'm being honest with myself and with everyone on this site.

Feel free to move on to another thread if my posts disturb you so much.

YHF, Don't be so sensitive about a post.
It's hard to read emotion thru the key board.
I think what there saying is there's time to get better.
And not to worry about it.
Your son now can work on getting faster, and will grow into his body as he get's older.
Good Luck this year.
EH

Learn from the experience, move on, have him continue his conditioning, work on the speed find a good travel team to play on spring, summer, fall and this time next year it'll be history if it's meant to be.

I am wondering who is more disappointed, dad or son.

Your son was in 8th grade he wasn't ready, move on. No sarcasm.

YHF,
I've been reading this thread and feel as if your son's "journey" is like many high school catchers ---- and somewhat similar to my son. My son was always sluggish and not a good base runner. Strong arm and a strong bat and his defense was OK but not great. While your son may have has success in running bases in the past he will discover he's not a good baserunner (at some point). Don't fret --- that's not a huge problem for a power hitting catcher. In high school my son was always replaced with a "courtesy" runner and in college he managed to leg out a few runs unless it was in the 9th and he would be pulled and a pinch runner would run in his spot.
I would address his weight and like others have said I think a personal trainer would be good. I wouldn't necessarily do this to gain speed but to enhance his athleticism and to reduce the stress on his legs and back. Like your situation, our eighth graders can play varsity in our school system but ONLY if they are on the same campus as the high school. Since our "feeder" schools are not on our campus, there are NO 8th graders allowed to play at our HS while other schools in our town do play a few 8th graders. In other words the student is not allowed to travel between school campuses to play sports. As your son enters high school he needs to look at it as a four year trip ---- and not look at this one event as success or failure. Sound like he has a bright future.
Fungo

Thanks Fungo. I appreciate what you're saying.

quote:

Originally posted by theEH:
YHF, Don't be so sensitive about a post.
EH

I don't let too much bother me here on hsbbw. I assume a certain amount of stupidity exists on all such sites. But TPM has a history of condescending comments because she believes she knows so much more than other people on here. I know quite a bit about hitting instruction and when I read something curious, I ask questions to better understand. I don't presume to know more than the other poster because I don't know who he or she is. Once I get some dialog going I will have a better understanding of that person's experience and perhaps I can provide some suggestions that might be helpful, or (importantly) I might learn something. TPM has no problem providing advice/suggestions/conclusions that she doesn't have a clue about other than what she's read or been told by others.

See, when you assume things about other posters it comes across pretty poorly huh LOL. Maybe I'm wrong about TPM. Maybe she has charted pitches. Maybe she has taught her son how to set up batters. Maybe she coached and had to make roster decisions.

Well let's just settle the current discussion....after insulting me, here is TPM's conclusion about my son's tryouts....

"Your son was in 8th grade he wasn't ready"

I will ask you TPM, what qualifies you to say he wasn't ready?

You obviously don't know any of the participants. You don't know the coaches. You don't know any of the players. You didn't observe any of the tryouts. You don't know the coaches' roster needss etc. etc. etc. So you must have a lot of experience with tryouts and making roster decisions. Well let's hear it. How are you qualified to speak at all about the results of our local tryouts?

i have seen so many catchers who think they're good but really stink. Their dads think they are good as well and go to bat for their kid, which is natural instinct. My instict tells me your kid has some gifts or tools that will propel him to where he needs to get to be productive behind the plate on defense and offense. he probably just needs to lose some of that cottage cheese he's been holding on to since the 4th grade. get him running and good luck!

So now that I've vented, I'll post my thoughts about the tryouts. First, here are my qualifications....

1. I've played or coached in 30 of my 40 years on earth including coaching teams ranging from 9u to 16u.

2. I currently do hitting instruction for about 40 kids.

3. I've run tryouts and made roster decisions for about a dozen different teams of all ages over the years.

4. Our local Little League president has asked me the last 3 years to run his 11/12 all-star tryouts even though I don't coach in their league and I don't have kids playing LL.

5. My middle son plays for a good 12u team. I bet there aren't too many coaches that can say this....the coach for our rival 12u team has asked me to help with his tryouts and help him make roster decisions the last couple years.

I think that's enough to establish my background.

Now....from my perspective...a coach's perspective rather than a parent's perspective....

Regarding my son's tryouts that just happened, I know the coaches a little and I know 90% of the players trying out given that I've coached them or coached against them the last 3-4 years. Seeing the coaches roster decisions, I probably would have kept a couple kids they cut and cut a couple kids they kept, just based on knowing those kids' abilities from summer ball, but all in all it looks like they did fine on their roster.

What about my son? Personally, I don't think he was the first or second best catcher. He was the only experienced first baseman and showed the best 1B skills at tryouts (defined as footwork, fielding grounders and picking short-hopped throws), but the other kid at 1B was more athletic and could cover more ground. It was borderline to me. The coaches probably figured they could take the more athletic kid and teach him footwork and throw him a million short hops the next few weeks and make him a first baseman. I don't have a problem with that theory, especially since the other kid is a freshman and my son is an 8th grader.

So there you have it. I don't have any real issues with the results. I was sad for my son because he was so disappointed. But in my heart of hearts I figured he wouldn't make it and so I wasn't that surprised. That's the coach in me more than the parent in me who certainly roots for his sons.

I hope that helps explain to everyone why I've posted what I've posted, and why I was a bit offended by uninformed posts.

quote:

Originally posted by switchitter:
i have seen so many catchers who think they're good but really stink. Their dads think they are good as well and go to bat for their kid, which is natural instinct. My instict tells me your kid has some gifts or tools that will propel him to where he needs to get to be productive behind the plate on defense and offense. he probably just needs to lose some of that cottage cheese he's been holding on to since the 4th grade. get him running and good luck!

Thanks Switch. As I just posted a moment ago, I don't think he was one of the two best catchers though he has time to improve. Thanks for your advice.

quote:

Originally posted by YHF:
I don't think it's crazy of you to presume these things. Big kids are generally assumed to be that way. And unfortunately, tryouts in the gym generally work one way. Coaches can't see how a kid actually plays the game. They can't tell if a kid has good instincts or is a good baserunner. Our head coach (summer ball) during games he repeatedly demands the other kids on our team watch how my son takes a lead, gets a secondary lead, reads pitches to steal second, takes extra bases, etc. Though he is the slowest runner on our team in pure speed, he's our best baserunner (according to our head coach..it's not me making the claim). He has great instincts on taking extra bases...good at reading throws coming back to the infield. Ironically, a couple of our fastest kids make the most mistakes on the bases. Being fast is a big advantage, but doesn't make you a good baserunner.

YHF, you definitely seem like a great guy with some good knowledge of the game. I'll try not to make too many assumptions about your kid because I obviously have no idea how he really looks or plays.

If nothing else, please take the good advice of many on this forum, and get your kid into a good physical conditioning program. It's an unfortunate reality that coaches will tend to make assumptions about a kid that is out of shape, and slow to boot. The lack of speed in a player will become more and more pronounced as the kid moves up through the ranks. As he moves up through the levels, the game becomes faster and faster, so by the time your son hits varsity HS and beyond, he will become more and more handicapped if he doesn't improve his speed and conditioning right now. So, even though he can currently overcome his weaknesses, through his savviness and on-field intelligence, it will eventually catch up with him. Some HS coaches may hold a bias against him because they are projecting forward to when he is a Junior and Senior.

The good thing is, you seem to realize what he needs to do, and he is still very young. Do the right things now, and everything will take care of itself later on.

Knighttime, I really appreciate this post and your previous posts. Take a look at my most recent post about my son's tryouts.

I don't really have an ax to grind. We know what to work on. And good advice from you and others is much appreciated.

When he tries out again next year I'll post the results again.

Thanks.

This may be helpful. When my kid was in 8th grade he was considered too slow. As it happened he played s****r on his school team fall of freshman year and sophomore year, and club s****r those years as well on the weekends. Now he has not been caught stealing in two years and steals all the time. I believe there is no way you can duplicate the type of running this commie sport gives you and credit it with giving my kid one of the tools that got him the scholarship he will use to play baseball in 2009 at a fine school. Maybe you can get your kid on a team if he can fit it in. It does cost money though.

YHF ...

The big slug catcher from the LL I played in was just "big" in high school with a 90+ fastball. He pitched for an SEC program. He had the thrill of being on the mound for an ALCS clincher. He pitched six years in the majors.