Email Campaign Archive

The Keys to Look For at Tryouts

-By Tom Houser


A Question for Coach Houser:

I’m 24 years old, the new varsity coach at a
public high school of about 1000. In fact,
both the middle and JV coaches are my classmates.
My question is what do we look for at tryouts?
Do we look for attitude? Athleticism? Grades?
Hustle? Vertical? We want to keep the best
possible team we can, but don’t know which
characteristics are the most important.


Coach Houser's Reply:

If you ask 10 coaches, you may get the following
list in 10 different orders. But this is how I
pick my teams:
 

**Character/Attitude:  After I’d coached for about 10
years, I finally said, “I’ve been really successful, but
have had too many character issues on my teams.
Now, I’m going to surround myself with quality kids.”
Immediately, my teams became even more successful!  

I encourage you to surround yourself with players
who are motivated, will listen to you, don’t have
any discipline issues at school, like their
teammates, etc. You can learn if the girls in your
program have these characteristics during the
off-season: in the gym, in the weight room, at
site camps, at out-of-town camps, etc. Tell them
and their parents that you’re looking for
character and cooperation every time you guys are
together. If you’re not a teacher, send emails to
the faculty of the high and middle schools asking
the teachers to send you any issues that your
prospective players are having with grades,
discipline, attitude, etc. And don’t just send
that email once a year. Send it every other month,
all year long! When I receive the once-a-year
obligatory email from the wrestling coach, I say,
“OK, I’ll think about it.” But when I receive the
6-time-a-year email from the softball coach, I
think, “Wow, these kids’ character really is a
high priority for the coach! Cool!”  


Middle School:

a) Athletes: Coaches, if you can find good
athletes who have good attitudes, then you will
have a good season! If those athletes already know
how to play the game, you may go undefeated!  

b) Knowing The Game: But, regardless of
athleticism, if you can find girls who can play
the game, you’ll be even better off! At least, in
the short run!   

I’ve directed 3 camps so far where there have been
different divisions. However, all of my campers
warm up and stretch together. As they’re
stretching, I make my camp announcements to
everyone.  

At each camp I’ve said, “Listen to me if you’re
going to be trying out for your middle school
team. Only spend a little time running, lifting,
etc. But spend the majority of your time learning
to play the game better. Ninety-nine percent of
middle school games are won and lost by the team
that serves and passes better. So conditioning
isn’t usually a factor, because games are played
like this: missed serve, ace, ace, missed serve,
missed serve, ace, ace, etc.”  

“Concentrate on serving in the court and returning
serve. There are very few rallies in most middle
school matches. Most only have about 2 or 3 spikes
per game. At the beginning of the season, there
may be none! They have almost no blocks per game.
Last season I reffed 13 middle school matches, and
saw 3 total stuff blocks. So if you can serve and
pass, you’ll be an asset to your team!”  


High School:

a) Athletes: Good athletes with good attitudes and
experience playing the game are what win regional
and state championships. But many of us don’t have
the D1 prospects on our team. What is the next
thing we look for.  

b) Playing The Game: Just like tennis, golf, and
wrestling, there’s no substitute for experience at
the game. My teams have probably won 40% of the
matches when they were athletically inferior. How?
It’s because we pass, serve, set, and play defense
better than our opponents.  

So if you can’t find 6 or 8 great athletes who
have a great attitude and can play the game, then
you’ll still have a very good season if you can 6
or 8 or 10 great girls who have played the game
for years. In 1999, we ran a 5-1 with a 5’ setter,
and one of our MB’s was 5’7” We finished 21-5, and
made the state final 4. We couldn’t have done it
in 1998, or 2000, but the planets were aligned
that year for us! We did it with 10 girls who
girls who couldn’t get enough of the game and had
been playing since the 7th grade. Only 3 of the 13
went on to play college ball, and all three played D3.  

c) Conditioning: I just got this email a few weeks
ago from a mom whose daughter will be a senior.
“Coach Houser, what is wrong with these coaches?
My daughter has now had 3 varsity coaches in 4
years, and each coach has spent so much of the
off-season running, running and more running. I’m
not a volleyball coach, and even I know that the
teams that can run the fastest and longest aren’t
necessarily the ones that will win.”

I completely agree. This past year, I coached the
16’s National club team here in Roanoke. Even
though our goal was Miami, even though we traveled
to D.C., Richmond and Atlanta, I still did very
little conditioning with them. I asked them to do
it on their own. I’m not going to spend valuable
practice time working on jumping, running,
sprinting, etc.  

As a high school coach, we will incorporate
conditioning into practice. First, my girls
probably aren’t playing another sport. Second, I
see them every day, not just 2 or 3 times a week.
But, even so, I can only remember 2 matches in 25
years that my team has lost because we weren’t in
shape. I can remember hundreds, however, that we
lost because we didn’t serve, receive, or set well
enough!  

So, do not keep the girls who can run seven minute
miles. Do not cut them if their vertical isn’t
high enough. That’s short-sighted. It’s also
stupid. You can win with a team of 5’4” girls who
serve, receive and play defense like demons.


Finally: Unless you know the girls at tryouts very
very well, picking the team will always have some
risk to it. But I encourage you to pick (a) good
kids. Then regardless of your record, you’ll be
able to sleep at night. Then look for kids who can
(b) play the game. That should guarantee you a lot
of wins. Then, if those good players are (c)
athletic, you may win a championship.  

But always choose good kids first. I promise you
no experienced coach will trade a few more wins
for 3 months of sleepless nights!  



-Tom Houser
Head Coach, 2009 Roanoke Juniors 16’s National
JOVC Qualified-2006, 2009.
Director, STAR Volleyball Camps
Author, “I Can’t Wait” Drill Collection and Ebooks
www.coachhouser.com