Not pointing at any org or team just have a few opinions on somewhat this topic and maybe a little OT. Tryouts have been getting pushed up to the point now that they overlap seasons, its almost comical. How the hell is a kid going to tryout when she is still playing for another team. What you supposed to tell your current team, "hey im going to tryout for XXX this weekend but, i will still be at the Nationals next weekend, wtf who does that and have a clear head. Even better yet is the family who has that "secret" private tryout, thinking nobody is going to find out, news flash softball is a very small world....
I just wish kids were given a little more time off and not feel like they were falling behind the "Jones" family if they took a few weeks off between seasons, especially the 10's,12's, and even 14's. I understand if your older, you should be working on your craft and training in gym pretty much year round to be a skilled player. Keeping in mind listening to your body and have proper training in gym, and really just being smart and leading a balanced HS life....We took time off from the game itself but,, did the gym thing relentlessly, hit til we had blisters on blisters, rested the arm a lot, and we let her be a teenager and be with her friends, kept her hungry.....
Lastly, i like the idea of teams at least up here in NorCal who play alot of friendlies during the Fall against the better teams, especially the youngsters, and even the 18s. No need to be traveling to LA but once or twice in Fall. if your a top team going to play in a local tourney and kill people does you zero good other than telling your friends and coworkers you scored 36 runs and gave up 3. Much better off finding three other quality teams and rotating hosting friendlies and get some work in. Yes it gets a little repetitive but there are lots of things you can do to make it competitive during the friendly. Example, put runners on 2nd and 3rd and have no outs and squeeze the hell of each other, even if they know its coming they still have to make the play, it helps both off and def a lot. Part of mental game is teaching the kids to have that will to compete, of which i dont see enough of. Far too many kids going thru the motions.. With that being said, orgs should be able to keep costs down for the Fall, and they should NOT be gouging parents for one or two LA trips and 4 friendlies.