Tryouts for HS 2 weeks away in AZ. Nervous city

I feel the pain Doughnut man. My son is a freshman and has tryouts coming up Feb. 2. No problem making freshman team, but to find out if he makes JV\V is starting to get me a little wound up.

We're not like some of the programs out there. Basically, if there are enough kids to field a freshman team, they have it, if not, they don't. I think we'll have enough, so that isn't the issue.

He has always been the ace on his travel team and has not really had to try out in the last 5 years, so this will be an experience. I think I am more nervous than he is.

We'll see how it goes.

I hear ya loud and clear! My son's tryouts are still 5 weeks out but I know I will be nervous for him. On the other hand, he is calm as can be (at least on the outside), we will see how it goes as he gets closer. For a lot of kids, this is what they have been playing travel ball for the last 5 years, for us parents why we have worked with our kids so hard, paying for private instruction, indoor facilities in the winter, etc. All comes down to the freshman tryout.

I am probably more nervous than I should be, I have been his coach - although "daddy-ball" for us ended after the first year of tee-ball! But I know most of the kids that will be trying out and there are a lot of good players in this group. My son is one of them, but it is still nerve racking!

Be strong, my friend!

Times have changed especially for the parents---my last son went out for HS baseball nearly 15 years ago---no trauma--no nerves-- today it seems that the son making the team takes preference to going to work and performing---some are fretting about it 2 years before the tryout date---folks , having been there done that I tell you just relax---your kid isnt fretting why are you--he knows the story

Not so much nervous as I am anxious to get it going (also on Feb 2). Freshman son is pretty confident since school is small, and we've played with most of the kids in little league. Coach has said no cuts for the first couple of weeks, giving plenty of time for a fair evaluation. I'm trying not to stress out about playing/pitching opportunities yet either, but sometimes thoughts just run through my mind (plus it's more fun daydreaming than working).

I'm hardly a veteran of the process as my freshman is trying out this spring, but I have had a few conversations with the coach (our daughter's are on the same softball team).

This advice is better for the 8th graders but here it is:
First rule, find out if they have a summer program. If they do, have your son play in it. A simple email to the varsity coach in May to find out what the summer plan is works. Our coach had a meeting at the school in mid-May and sat down with the kids and explained the program.

Second rule, find out if they have a 'special' gym class for freshmen trying out for sports, if so get your son in it. In our case, the varsity coach is the teacher. Make sure your son talks to the coach and let's him know he's a baseball player (not required if he's already played over the summer).

Third rule, make sure your son attends every camp they offer. Give him every chance you can to have the coach see him.

Fourth rule, get involved in the boosters. This is just good common sense as none of these programs run without the parents making them run. Do what you can do to help (time, manual labor, money, contacts for donations, whatever you have to offer). Coaches obviously appreciate this.

By the time my son try's out begins, he's pitched about 20 innings and has about 25 AB's in front of the varsity coach. He's also attended roughly 20 camp practices.

The try out lasts three days.

I have to believe by the time the try out starts, they already have a pretty good idea what they're going to do. If you weren't involved in that early stuff, it's got to be tough.

Just my thoughts.

That sounds good for those schools who offer all that. Our HS does not put on camps or offer gym for sports kids. We do have a summer JV team, but the HS coach does not run it. Very few options for exposure for our program. Some of these things I have been saying for a while we should do.

The coach did email our travel coach to see if any of his HS kids would want to play, but we were booked in tournaments the whole time. Travel coach did put in a good word for us though. Made sure my son introduced himself to the coach and he knows who he is.

Didn't hurt when my son was taking pitching lessons recently, the Georgia scout for the Braves saw him and then went and talked to the HS coach about him. We'll see if it pays off in a week or so.

Another thing you can do is form a club team (feeder team) and limit it to all the incoming freshman at the high school.

The HS coach can't be involved, but at least you get all the kids together for a few tournaments, league, scrimmages or whatever and they all get to play together.

It's hard to get everyone to commit or to even make sure its all inclusive, but its helpful to get some insight into what position to try out for (i.e. if there are 3 short stops better than you, maybe you need to try out for 3B, 2B, OF, etc).

We did it this past fall and played two tournaments and a few scrimmages with other feeders / club teams.

Most club coaches understand the hiatus you take from their team in order to improve your chances of making the HS team, at least ours did.

Playing on a pre-high team the summer before the Freshman year is good experience and offers a lot of exposure. I suggest being careful of getting caught up in the politics of 8th grade Spring feeder teams that are marketed as exposure teams for the HS coach. The problem develops when kids pass on other opportunities that may offer superior development opportunities. Most coaches can assess a kid in a short amount of time. Exceptional players will standout easily and don't need the extra exposure. The large number of players that are in the middle, they are the ones that would benefit more by distinguishing themselves with more skill development than with early exposure.

There is a lot of peer pressure both for parents and kids to participate with the group that is all feeding into a single HS. As an 8th grader staring the Spring season, focus on making yourself better as a player. Your HS coach will value that more than playing on the feeder team.

On a side note, 8th grade baseball is not the time to focus on playing with the winningest team. The HS coach places no value how your Youth team performed. It's about you and what you could do for his team. Playing on a team that helps you become a better player is the way to go.

Our high school varsity coach watched or ran middle school practices or games whenever he could. I saw him at three games. My son said he ran three practices. He knew the talent on the team.

He invited three kids to tryout for varsity even though none of them made it. Two went to the last cut. Those should make varsity as sophs. One will start. The other will when a position player pitches. The third has a shot in the bullpen. The one that will start played 18U fall ball for the varsity coach's travel team.

The rules are different everywhere.

In AZ, the HS coach is allowed on the JR high campus once per year, after the BB season is over to have a meeting with the 8th graders to introduce the summer program and invite them out.

He may only attend a sporting event at a JR high if he has a kid participating and then only as a spectator. Our HS varsity baseball coach has twin daughters playing on the 7th grade softball team (with my daughter). He usually sits as far away as he can, in his truck, to avoid even the appearance of inpropriety.

Seems a little draconian to me, but when you have 'open enrollment' and 10 high schools within a 15 mile radius of each other, recruiting is a serious issue.

We have lots of advantages with big schools / programs but this is clearly a disadvantage.

At the end of my son's freshman season, the coach had an end of season meeting with the parents and talked about each individual player's season and when it was my son's turn, the first thing he said he was gonna be one of the first cuts on the freshman team but was glad he gave him a chance because he was surprised how good a player he was based on that first day.

He went to the first day of tryouts totally unprepared, was dressed in his regular clothes while everyone else was in sweats or a practice uniform and had no gear and explained to the coach why he wasn't prepared so I think he did some limited practice in street clothes with some borrowed equipment. He also suffered an injury that required twenty stitches and almost wasn't cleared to try out but luckily the weather was such that indoor workouts were the only option and was about a week away from being ready to go full throttle. Not exactly a good start on first day but the reason he missed because he played varsity in his winter sport and they made it to the state finals so he was missing out on preseason meetings and not getting all the info on the dates and stuff.

Fortunately, my son did get get the opportunity and the coach said he was pleasantly surprised how good a player he was considering his first day didn't go all to well. I guess he saw something that made him not cut him loose.

First impressions are key. I get the idea that some coaches weed out players for first cuts on the first day just based on that first impression. Things could have turned out differently and he might not have gotten a shot but once he got the chance to settle in, the coach found out he was well prepared and can play. He was fine and I suppose his tryouts went well since he went on to have four solid years playing Freshman, JV and Varsity.

I'm glad my son never told me the real deal how his first day of tryouts went and got that story at the end of the season..LOL.

The wait is over. My son did well. He was the only freshman not placed on the freshman roster. He made Varsity as a pitcher and JV as a position player. Couldn't be more proud. Now it's time for baseball to start. 1st game for Varsity is Feb. 20th. Can't wait for that now. Not as anxious about that as I was about the tryouts. Looking forward to hearing "Play Ball!!!".

Hey, that's terrific news. How will they work the rotation between the two teams? Also, what travel teams did he play with in the 2-3 years leading up to high school? Any advice for others looking to follow in his foot steps? Again, congratulations and wish your son well.

Thanks jayhook. Not exactly sure of the rotation between the teams yet. My guess is that he will dress for both teams as long as they play on different days, which is the case most of the season. If there are conflicts, if he is scheduled to pitch for the varsity, that is where he will go, if he's not scheduled to pitch, he'll dress for JV.

He has played for the Roswell Knights for the last 4 years. Last year we were the 14u team. He is going to Centennial HS this year.

He plays SS and pitches. In terms of preparation, it really has been a long haul. Over the years, we have done a ton of long toss, a ton of pitching lessons, some hitting lessons from time to time and he and I have logged countless hours of fielding ground balls and hitting in the cage or on the field. Prior to the season, he did speed and agility with the school for two months, pitching lessons for a month and a half, hitting with his summer team twice a week, and I took him out once a week during January to field ground balls and fly balls. We also started long toss in the beginning of January and he started doing band work and some shoulder excersises for his rotator cuff about a month and a half prior to tryouts.

Thanks again for the well wishes. Best of luck to your son as well.

You both have obviously put in the time and effort. Again, thanks for sharing as it's helpful to understand the process for us first-timers. Good luck with the season.

Congrats to your son bballman.

We have another two days of try outs. My freshman LHP is the only freshman trying out for JV/V and is hoping for a similar situation to yours, pitch once a week for V, play for JV the other days.

First night of tryouts was last night with the wind blowing 30mph, rain off and on and 50 degrees. Had to be one of the worst baseball nights ever. I went for the last few minutes and saw 50+ other boys all trying out as well. About all I know for sure is he ran a 4.75 40, a 7.24 60 (said he twitched at the start) and a 6:38 mile. I saw his 10 live swings, where he was yanking everything down the RF line and not letting it get deep.

Mine is 6'2", 195. I have no trouble finding him on the field with a bunch of freshmen. It took me five minutes to find him with the big boys. I don't know what we're feeding these kids, but he looked small...

They're scrimmaging now and I'm typing this message trying to decide if I should go watch or just stay away. Tomorrow night it'll all be over.

I'm glad I'm not the coach, because there are a LOT of good ballplayers to choose from. Some good kids are going to get sent home.

Good luck JMoff. Wow, he is a big kid for a freshman. My son is like 5'9" 155lbs. With his speed and size, he should get a real serious look. Let us know how he does.

Wow, you have something special there with a 14 or 15 year-old freshman - 6-2, 195 - running a 4.75 40. It's hand-timed so you don't have the reaction time factored in, but it's still probably low 4.8s. That's real good for his age and size.

Keep in mind these 40 times are all relative by sport, hand-timed or not, the human element. Some of the football times from tryouts are urban myth. Deion Sanders supposedly ran a hand-timed 4.17 at FSU. By comparision, Ben Johnson ran a 9.79 100 meters at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, only to pop a positive drug test. Running in spikes, slight tailwind, mondo track, he went through 40 yards in 4.38 seconds.

Tryouts wrap up this week, and freshman son is doing well. Don't want to jinx him or anything, but he's being evaluated at shortstop as well as a top 3 pitching spot. Funny thing is he's never played ss on regular basis since we've always played on teams where a coach's son (some deservedly, some not)was a fixture. Pre-HS, I've always encouraged him to be as good as possible at many positions, and as a result, his past coaches have used him everywhere but catcher. I'm kinda torn since I think he will develop to be a better player if he can focus on one position (in addition to pitcher), but I also want him to be flexible for the good of the team. Do kids perform better with the mindset that they "own" a position?

quote:

Originally posted by Cutter Dad:
I'm kinda torn since I think he will develop to be a better player if he can focus on one position (in addition to pitcher), but I also want him to be flexible for the good of the team. Do kids perform better with the mindset that they "own" a position?

Depends on the kid whether he thinks that way or not and what that high school coach's way is in running his program. What I've noticed duting my son's 4 years playing HS ball was that the single-position players tend to spend much more time on the bench than a multiposition player unless they got a bat that has to be in the lineup, or the coach has in his mind who he wants to play at a certain position. Stud pitchers and stud hitters are probably the excepion.

IMO, if a player is not a stud pitcher or hitter, but a good enough player to be a key contributor or a varsity starter, he probably has a better shot at starting or more playing time if he can handle multiple positions and with a good attitude. If players are moved to positions they're not accustomed to playing due to needs of the team to fill a hole and they don't accept the change, they probably wont be playing or starting very long.

Zomby, I see what you're saying. Son would definitely rather play anywhere than be on the bench. Plus, during summer and fall travelball, I'm sure he will defer to the regular shortstop. I just worry that the various infield assignments could get confusing to the point where he has to think instead of just react.

quote:

Originally posted by Cutter Dad:
Zomby, I see what you're saying. Son would definitely rather play anywhere than be on the bench. Plus, during summer and fall travelball, I'm sure he will defer to the regular shortstop. I just worry that the various infield assignments could get confusing to the point where he has to think instead of just react.

That's a fair point. It's much easier to play the game when things are second-nature instead of haaving to think about it. Especially at the varsity level where the game is much faster than at the JV or frosh levels and there's no time to think what to do with the play from an unfamiliar position. However, at the varsity, they should have a good idea what they're doing wherever they play.

I've also seen is players eventually wind up in their natural position once they get into the lineup or get some playing time. My son, who was a natural rightfielder, and lots of experience in centerfield, played leftfield, where he had least experience, when he cracked the varsity starting lineup but eventually wound up starting in rightfield after a few games.

Unless the coach knows where he wants you to play, it helps their chances to get playing time if they can handle other positions

quote:

I just worry that the various infield assignments could get confusing to the point where he has to think instead of just react.

By high school a player should understand the responsibilities of every position. What can be challenging is maintaining the best possible mechanics at multiple positions.

For the last three, more often than not, my son was the player who played whatever position the pitcher came from on his travel team. He played second, short, third, center, right and pitched. He was sometimes moved two or three times a game. It was a lot of extra work to maintain turning two mechanics for the three infield positions. Now a soph he'll play third on varsity (this year) and short on his travel team. Once again it's two separate sets of footwork and throwing for turning two. It's just a matter of doing the work.

Got the word tonight that Cody made the varsity team for pitching and will play offense/defense with the JV's.

I'm very happy and couldn't have asked for a better situation.

As for the 4.75, they had a 20-30 mph wind at their backs and I have a feeling the coach's finger was frozen. I don't believe the 7.24 60 either. I think reality is closer to 4.95 and 7.10. The only thing I'd really believe is the mile time.

Being the only freshman trying out, he did everything first. His initial 40 was timed at 4.1, then they figured out it was only a 35. I seriously doubt he could run a 4.1 35 either so I don't know what they were doing.

Practices start tomorrow, so he's off to having to prove himself every day. I like that situation a lot better than coasting with the freshmen.

quote:

Originally posted by JMoff:
First rule, find out if they have a summer program. If they do, have your son play in it. A simple email to the varsity coach in May to find out what the summer plan is works. Our coach had a meeting at the school in mid-May and sat down with the kids and explained the program.

Second rule, find out if they have a 'special' gym class for freshmen trying out for sports, if so get your son in it. In our case, the varsity coach is the teacher. Make sure your son talks to the coach and let's him know he's a baseball player (not required if he's already played over the summer).

Third rule, make sure your son attends every camp they offer. Give him every chance you can to have the coach see him.

Great advice.

Our HS coach runs youth camps and a middle school camp series. Both are fund raisers but the MS camp series is also to get a look at kids and start talking to them about what is expected of them.

The MS camp series is several sessions over a couple of weeks, about 3 times per year. In youth ball we encouraged our players to attend these camps, most did - a few did not. When they tried out in 9th grade 3 kids that had been playing on our travel team didn't make the 9th grade team. One went to most of the camps but just didn't have the skills many others did. Second one never attended a camp and was probably a bubble player, surprise but no real shock that he didn't make it.

The third was a big surprise. All assumed he was a no doubt to make the team. But he had a pretty bad 3 days of tryouts, didn't hustle a time or two, and had never attended one of the camps. Since the coach had never seen him at a camp he could not overlook what he saw in tryouts.

Congratulations JMoff. Same situation as what my son wound up with. Pretty proud moment. Good luck this season.

I agree with the coasting with the freshmen. I think my son needs to be way more challenged than what the freshman team would have to offer. Pitching varsity, he will be challenged and will need to continue to "pitch" and not just throw. This will promote much better skills as long as he is up to the challenge.

Looking forward to good things ahead. Good luck to you and Cody.

and to you and your son as well.

All those late nights, long weekends, father/son moments have finally paid off. When I started all this, it was so my son could 'some day' play varsity baseball. Four years ago, I never would've guessed it would come this soon.

Now we can sit back, relax and wait for our boys to pitch...

then stand up, pace, pucker, grimace, choke on our words, etc. when they get up in the bullpen.

At least this year, we have the "He's just a freshman" excuse.

Best of luck and keep me informed of your son's progress. This is what it's all about.

Will do JMoff. Our first game is next Friday. He is scheduled to start. Coaches have been sort of drilling him on whether he thinks he is ready to pitch at this level. I think they are amazed at his confidence. He is a pretty quiet kid, but believes he can get the job done. Questions like "Do you think you can pitch at this level?" Yes Sir. "You know there are 17&18 yr olds - some of whom are going into the MLB Draft, some going DI - you really think you can pitch to them?" Yes Sir. Coaches just shake their heads. We'll see how it goes next Friday. We are a AAAAA team. The team we are playing were the AAA state champs last year. He will be challenged for sure.

I just want to wish all the freshman baseball players the best of luck.Parents sit back and try to enjoy what is about to transpire.We will get to be part of this group next year. Can't wait

I'll second that Lodi! Hopefully my son steps up for his Middle School team this year. It is his turn to shine and lead. Then it is time to prepare for high School ball!!

Finally one month till tryouts (3/16) for us up here in NH!!!

My son will also tryout next month for his freshman team. He said there were close to 50 kids at the signup. We will soon find out if his endless hours of practice over the years have paid off.

We're just not ready for competitive baseball to close the door on him yet. So our fingers are crossed.

I remember the 7th grade tryouts. 75 kids on the field. I left work early one day to watch. They lined up 25 kids in RF, 25 at 2b and 25 at 3b. Each kid got two fly balls in RF, had to throw to the cut-off at 2b who relayed (if necessary) to 3b. Each kid got 2 balls at each position.

It took 1:45 to rotate all three lines through this exercise. After 15 minute warm up, this was one day of the 4 day try-out.

They hit the following day (left work early again). I watched 15 kids in a row not make contact with their 5 swings. When mine didn't do any better (despite thousands of dollars in hitting lessons) I got behind home plate and saw that the pitching machine was firing 70mph knuckleballs from 54' out of the setting sun. I had sunglasses on but still couldn't look directly at the pitching machine. There was applause when somebody fouled one off. Of the 75 kids x 5 swings, I think only about 10 balls were hit fair. The shaggers looked like girls softball infielders when the bunt is on.

I didn't go back after this and just prayed quietly...

Cody made it and all was well but my advice to anybody who doesn't make it is to hang tough and keep plugging, in high school things equalize, the looks are longer, the coaches recognize talent quicker, etc...

Sandman

Good luck to your son at tryouts!!!

Still about a foot of snow on our fields up here...ugh!!!

Thanks redsox. We don't have that much snow left. We even got to go out in the yard Thurs. night and throw. Soggy, but useful.

SANDMAN

Give your son my best

Thanks a lot TR.

Say... you bringing your showcase games to Warwick again anytime soon? Last time we saw you, he was a few years shy of high school. Now those games are getting more and more relevant.

Any good 2010 stories?

Voluntary workouts began this month. Last year when I started this thread my son was an eighth grader. Now we are in the fire. Not too much stress for me. Son is a big one. But there are 35+ kids trying for 14 spots. Gonna be a lot of po'ed parents and kids come February.

Son was moved up to scrimmage with the sophomores- seniors. Already have had some hard feelings from parents and players of older kids and kids his age. They keep saying it isn't fair because they or their kids never got that chance. Oh well. And this is just from voluntary workouts. There should be some real fireworks if he makes the JV or varsity.

doughnutman

Obviously, from what you say your son is making an impression on the coaches---don't worry about the feeling sof other parents because you cannot control it---you have now entered the "dog eat dog world" that is HS baseball

As long as your son continues to do his thing you can sleep nights