HS Tryout Time - Let the good times roll

[B-Dad]

DD is freshman at a catholic high school in the Chicago area whose varsity softball team has been very competitive the last few years. The team has decent coaching with a number of very talented kids who have committed to major Div 1 schools (1 to SEC, 2 to Big 10, 1 to Big East, 1 to Southern Conf, and another to a top Div III school). Only pointing this out to illustrate that this team has some real players. They are best known in these parts for their strong offense. They have decent fielding, and average pitching (according to the coaches own words).

Tryouts start Monday and through a few coaches meetings, conditioning work, and open gym, DD is getting the sense that there may only be about 20 girls trying out so there will not be enough girls to field a JV team. My DD is a decent player and pitcher but not what I would call a "star" player. She might be on par or slightly below the incumbent pitcher who is a Junior this year (they don't have a second pitcher). All this is to say, she either makes varsity or doesn't play high school her freshman year. If she makes varsity, not too sure how much playing time she would get (probably more pine time than she has ever experienced).

I have read a ton of posts about all kinds of HS situations and experiences, but don't recall one similar. What an interesting prelude to my DDs HS softball experience. Time for me to rack up my own HS softball stories. Looking forward to it all.

[Midwest]

If your daughters H.S. coach doest keep at least 3 pitchers he/she will over work the current pitcher. I've seen a lot of pitchers over the years get over worked in H.S. because the coach pitches them every game. They are then having a hard time at T.B. then. Your coach should split time with pitchers and use the main one against top teams and conference teams. There are 20 other games your daughter and another girl can work on their game. H.S. rankings don't mean a thing. It only counts when playoffs start. Good luck to your daughter. I'm betting she going to Bennett. Great school...

[Fredegar]

Assuming the school WILL field a JV team, given enough players, tell your DD to spread the word about Softball tryouts. Post flyers around campus. If your school does daily announcements, submit something about tryouts and the desperate need for more players. Talk to all the Frosh/Soph families whose DD's used to play Rec and get those kids to come to tryouts -- even if they haven't played in a while. They might not know they can practically walk onto a JV team due to low numbers.

Good luck!

[GIMNEPIWO]

You can somewhat judge tryouts by how many are showing up pre-season ... But it will a higher number than what you are projecting .... Many will not show up until they have to ... Some because of other sports, some because of other commitments but mostly because they are lazy and its human nature ... I am at a new school and it has been a weak program, try outs started for us on Monday ... The best pre season practice we had was 13 ... I had 18 different athletes show up over a period of time ... I had calculated based on previous experience that we would have a low of 18 and a max of 24 show up for tryouts ... We had 25 and 3 drop already ... One may not have dropped, but according to what her text said she had a temperature of 95 and couldn't come on day 2 ... Since your program has been more successful, you will certainly have a higher number show up than what you are thinking ... JMHO