Email Campaign Archive

Taking Tryout Lists a Step Further

-By Dave Cross


As the summer season winds down, coaches across
the country are preparing for one of our least
favorite times of the year: tryouts. For many of
us, this also means facing what, to me, was always
the absolute worst job a coach can have: making cuts.

I've written quite a bit about running tryouts
and making cuts over the years, so I'm not going
to re-hash that here.

Instead, let's take a look at an idea that might
help you quite a bit as you sit with your
assistants trying to figure out the final makeup
of your program:

-List the players in order from Varsity to J.V. to
Freshman. Ok, everybody does this, but stay with
me here...

Then below that, make another list-of who you
envision being your top 10-12 players a year into
the future. 

1. Many times, this will bring out some points you
may not have considered yet. It will show you how
your underclassman fit into the future of your
varsity. You may have a sophomore or junior that
your thinking of keeping that doesn't look like
they will be able to crack the varsity lineup next
year. There may even be a couple of them.

This is where you need to stop and think a bit.

If you and your staff does not feel a girl will
progress enough to make the varsity as a junior or
senior next season, do you really want to keep
them now? We all know the older a player is, the
harder it is to cut them and the more "drama" it
will probably cause for you. Many times it is
simply easier to let that player go now, and avoid
an even tougher situation down the road.

Now don't get me wrong, I hate cutting
kids-always did. But, sometimes the hand writing
is clearly on the wall and we just aren't seeing
it. I can't count the times I've heard a coach
say, "I should've just cut her last year, what
was I thinking?"

This is especially true if you are coaching in a
school system that does not allow you to cut
seniors, (even if they allow it, your
administrators never want you to do that).
There's even a system in our area that does not
allow you to cut juniors!! 


2. Another aspect making this "future list"
brings out is the younger players that are on the
"fast track" to the varsity. It can show you
what problems keeping the another player or two
may cause in terms of getting playing time for
your future "studs".

Let's face it, you can't hold back your future
stars just to keep another player in the program
because "she's a good kid".

Of course, sometimes we have a kid that we just
aren't going to cut-no matter what. I had quite a
few of those over the years. I'm not talking
about that "special kid". I'm referring to the
ones who don't stand out in terms of work ethic,
attitude or heart.


3. Third, it may bring to light a player you need
to keep, who simply isn't going anywhere in her
current position because of more talented
player(s) in the same spot. Again, this may have
been overlooked-sometimes our players are not the
only ones who don't look far enough ahead when
making decisions. You owe it to this kid to talk
to her about this and work to find her another
position she can win a spot in your lineup at. And
we all know, if you're going to switch a players
position-the sooner the better!


Ok, you may be thinking about this whole idea,
"But, how can I know how much a girl is going to
progress by next year? If I do this, I'm taking
her chance away, right?" Yes, I agree totally.
This is not a cut and dried process. Sometimes you
simply don't know what will unfold and you need
to keep the player(s) and let the situation
develop as it will-then make your decisions.
However, there are other times, if we think about
it, we know. We know our players work ethics and
attitudes. We know how open they are to change. We
know the ones that simply aren't going to
surprise us.

Give this idea a try, it certainly can't hurt
anything-but it may very well bring to light a
future situation that, for whatever reason, you
just aren't seeing right now. If it doesn't, it
does solidify how "on target" your staff is in
evaluating the future of your program. No matter
which result you come up with, this is still worth
the little bit of extra time needed to do it.

Good Luck!


-Dave Cross
National Director
Yes I Can Volleyball