Before the Tryouts Begin
The great thing about teaching is that when I’m doing it, I can’t think of anything else. I am completely absorbed in what I am doing. The bad thing is that I have a new position that has a lot more downtime. All day long was killing me. Anyhow, at lunch I check my e-mail and see one from Lucas’s dad. I anxiously open it up. He wanted to let me know that Lucas wouldn’t be there (Cubs game) but would be at the next two nights. I was so thankful for this as I had all the uncertainty over the triplets. I could just imagine showing up and seeing neither the triplets, nor Lucas (who with-out the triplets I would anticipate would become far more important for our offense).
Anyhow I was unable to concentrate after school ended so I left a mountain of work and came home to try and relax before practice. I waited as long as I could and then went to the gym, the 4th/6th grade coach, Jon, and I had agreed to help out each other during practice. I get there and there are a few 4th graders already there. And then who should show up but Tom. God bless him. I let him know he’s more than an hour early and so he goes away to practice some before hand. I then go in to help with the 4th grade tryouts. A little less than 15 minutes before the start of our tryouts I go out there to start writing down names, as I hate referring to someone as #3. Besides Tom and a kid named Rodrigo, there is a kid named Cameron who tried out last year. I was REALLY happy to seem Cameron as he nearly made the team last year (it was between Cameron and Gordie). With at least 1 anticipated opening I was glad to see him.
I went back in to the 4th grade practice for about 5 more minutes and then headed back out to registration as they were coming in fast and furious. I get out there and who do I see, but Scott and Brian? Despite my anxiety about them I was really happy to see them. And then, as if in a movie, Cameron moves and who should appear but David. I was blown away. And then it is just one kid coming after another. In the end we have 19 kids tryout. I was hoping to have closer to the 16 from last year. 19 just blew me away, especially as I know that at least one more player (Lucas) will be there tomorrow.
The tryout
As soon as the 4th grade is done I have our team go to the far side of the court so I can give my intro speech. As I explained, it’s about the only time they’ll see me read off a paper. I’m a very good extemporaneous speaker and so it takes a pretty special occasion for me to do more than just jot down talking points. However, I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave anything out and that I used carefully considered language in a couple of areas. Of course I go through the effort of writing down, and revising, my speech, even practice it 2 or 3 times, and I get there and realize I don’t talk about having fun so I’m forced while watching the 4th graders to add some on that. Here’s the speech I delivered:
Hi. My name is Coach and I’m going to be coaching the 5th grade team this year. I want to start by thanking everyone who came to tryout, but especially those who tried out last year and didn’t make it. I really respect those of you who did this as it’s not easy to try-out for a team, get cut, and still come back to try again. Let me say to everyone that coming into tonight I was so excited and nervous that I can only imagine how you feel.
That said, I’d encourage you to go out there have fun and do the best that you can. You only have two or three hours to show me your talent, so first impressions are important. Anything that you take home with you will be something that I don’t know about. For that reason don’t hold back.
I plan on taking 10, or possibly 11 players, but more likely 10. My goal is to put together the best possible team, for THIS YEAR. My guess is that this will include some of the same players from the team I coached last year and some players who I didn’t coach last year.
How will I decide who will make up the best possible team? I’ll be looking at your (use fingers) overall athletic ability, your basketball skills, and your attitude. Let me explain what I mean by attitude.
How hard are you willing to work? Whatever shape you’re in, are you willing to push it and try and get in better shape? I’ll notice people who keep digging deep when they’re tired and people who give up easily when they’re tired.
Do you know how to listen? We’ll be doing a bunch of different drills, some of which might be new. Its OK if you don't know a drill, but its not helpful to you if you do not pay attention to directions.
And are you willing to actually follow directions? I’d rather someone look a little awkward trying something new than repeat a bad habit that they’re comfortable with. For instance, we’ll be doing layups from both sides. If you use the hand you’re more comfortable with from the other side and make it, I’ll like that less than the player who misses but uses the correct hand on the correct side. If you’re not willing to try new things, all of the coaching in the world won’t make you better.
Finally, do you think basketball is fun? I love basketball; it’s why I coach. I hope to be able to coach a team who enjoys playing basketball.
With that said, let’s get started. I need X equal lines on the baseline.
Overall the tryouts went well. I had them do a couple of dribbling drills, with both hands, to warm up. We then did full-court layups, followed by 1 vs 1 dribbling. Next we did triangle passing. I then gave them the choice of a shooting drill or a rebounding drill and they voted for the shooting drill. We then concluded with some hard running, something I don’t really do during practices, as it’s a shortcut to see who can really dig deep.
To be honest the number of players through me as it was more than I was expecting, but not so many that I needed to go to the back-up plan I had, and would have gone to if we’d been closer to 25. Things took longer than expected, of course, and I didn’t get anywhere close to done with my plan, but that’s the way I like it.
I then gathered everyone in and told them that on Wednesday, if they’re at the tryout they’ll find out that night if they made the team or not. Otherwise they’ll have to wait for it to be posted. I also explained that each of them would get a card saying what they had done well and what they could improve on. I am planning on making clear tomorrow that they will find out privately if they made the team or not. The idea is to be humane, not to publicly humiliate a kid.
The Players
I’ll just say that with-in a few minutes of practice it became clear that not only were we going to be an A team, but we might be a better A team than I was expecting. Going in order on their tryout number.
Cameron – He’s clearly improved from last year, both absolutely and relative to his peers. Jon put him down as a yes. I see him as a maybe. We’ll have to see how he does in games.
Tom – I talked about how possibly there could be 11, though my plan was to take 10. If Tom’s not in the top 10 he’d be a reason to take 11. I think that highly of the kid. He was very unimpressive to me, but Jon has him as a yes, which is a relief.
Scott – One of the triplets. I think it’s possible he’s a better all around player than David at this point. In fact, in our two objective drills (full court layups and hot shots) he had the highest combined number of shots. He’s a definite yes.
Brian – Second of the triplets. Had the second highest total between our two objective drills. His defense looks better, which isn’t surprising as his ankles should both be fully healed from a bad run of luck he had last year. Definite yes.
Jack P – Jack P is in real danger of not making the team. His ball handling is excellent. However, his shooting continues to be abysmal. I should have NO problem finding ball handlers on the team, so he’s going to need to impress me with his defense tomorrow. Jon has him as a yes.
Rodrigo – This kid is big but uncoordinated. Seems like a real nice kid. My only definite No.
Brian H – Last of the triplets. Last year he was one of the two best players I saw play. Like so many early stars his peers are catching up to him. However, if he was 4th Grade Hall of Fame material last year, he’s at least All Star level this year. After tryouts I very privately talked to his mother. I said that I have at least 20 players trying out and it wouldn’t be fair to give him a slot if he can’t commit to the full season. She said she understood but that I really needed to talk to her ex-husband. Of the adults involved in the triplets lives (mother, step-mother, father, and two care takers) he is by far my least favorite. The jerk came to 3 games, including playoffs, last season, where as step mom was at 2/3. Dad and mom alternate weeks of custody so that means step mom was there weeks that she didn’t even have the kids at her house. Anyhow, I am going to have to call dad tomorrow. Definite yes.
Jack M – Jon didn’t have a yes or no for him. If he makes the team his role is going to be reduced. Last season he was missing for our first play-off game against a team we’d KILLED two time previously. As he was our main point guard besides David, we, not surprisingly, had offensive problems that day such that their coach thought we were going to lose our next game. If we’d had the same team that day we would have, but Jack was the difference. However, he’s short, and his peers have caught up to him in a lot of ways. He’d be a soft yes (like Tom) if not for one other factor: he’s very fragile emotionally. Losing was really rough on him. Even losing a drill in practice was rough on him. So more losing and a less featured role? Could be poison for chemistry.
Andrew – This kid appeared out of the woodwork, but I am hardly complaining. He told me before tryouts that he had a broken foot last year when it was time for tryouts. This kid looks to be a good, though not great, dribbler, passer, shooter, and on ball defender. Definite yes.
Daniel – I have no real sense of this kid. Jon has him as a definite no and his absolute scores aren’t very high but I have at least remember which kid he is before I make him a no.
Matthew – Tried out last year for me and then played on the B team for JCC, our arch rivals (more on them in a second). He was actually the worst scored player at last year’s tryouts. At our game against them I paid extra attention to him and felt that I had made the right decision cutting him. He’s definitely no longer the worst player on the court, but is still a likely no.
Justin – Justin’s being at tryouts alone would have equaled the karma balance of possibly losing David to JCC. JCC was a team which had a player as good, if not better, than David, this kid’s name was Luke. We played 3 epic games against their A team and 1 semi-epic game against their B team (where they actually brought Luke down just to give him a chance to beat us). Justin was on their B team. I heard he was from GL and was astounded that he was on their B team. He was a great player, he was able to dribble, pass, shoot, and rebound. I know his mother commented at our game on how much nicer I was than his coaches. And I was. Anyhow getting this player to tryout out for our team was something I had previously hoped for, but had recently, in my anxiety, forgotten. And I didn’t even mention the best part: he’s a center. Even playing up in the After the triplet’s he was the first kid who I marked down as a yes. Really funny? I’m waiting with the triplets for them to be picked up and Brian starts telling me how good Justin is and how maybe he didn’t show it tonight but that he’s really good inside. And I’m thinking, don’t worry, Brian. I’m salivating at the thought of having a true center. Definite yes.
Jake – I don’t remember this kid, but he had the best score of any kid on Hot Spot so I need to give him a second and third look. Jon also didn’t comment on this kid.
Noah – You could tell he had worked on his skills as he’d definitely gotten better since I saw him last spring. Jon marked him as a maybe and he’s a tentative yes for me.
Dante – I found Dante very uninspiring. Jon has him marked down as a yes and he’ll likely make the team because having a back-up center is good and he’s a great kid. But man is he slow. I mean he’d be the slowest kid I took.
Miles – Jon has him marked down as a no. I continue to like this kid, though not as much as last year. I was impressed with his defense so he’s got a somewhat neutral slate as far as I’m concerned.
Kevin – No comment from Jon or I. Can’t really remember anything he did, good or bad.
Colin – Another kid who I don’t remember much about. Jon has him as a no and I think I agree.
Gordie – Jon has him marked as a no. And I think I agree. But I feel like I owe it to him to give him a few more chances. I had prepared myself for this so while it makes me sad, at least I saw it coming.
Going Forward
We didn’t play any games tonight. My new practice plan for tomorrow looks like this:
Introduction Have players recap yesterday’s speech as a reminder/intro for players not there yesterday INDIVIDUALLY TELL FOR CUTS
Suicides
Full-court lay-ups
Animal Rebounding
Three Man Weave/2 on 1 back
Guts
3 on 3
5 on 5 no dribble
Thank yous INDIVIDUALLY TELL FOR CUTS
The idea is to spend most of the time on 3 on 3 and 5 on 5, ideally 40 of the 60 minutes, though I have a feeling it’ll be closer to 30-35. No Jon tomorrow so that changes some of what I will do. Wednesday will then be a lot of games, with the exception of a drill or two to see some skills for kids on the border. Between definite and probable yeses I have 7 players, Scott, Brian, David, Andrew, Justin, Tom, and Lucas so there are at least 13 kids fighting for the last 3 (maybe 4) spots. Wednesday will be brutal for me, but after today, which was better than the best case scenario I’d ever envisioned (getting the triplets plus Justin), I’m fine with it, especially as I know it’s the right thing to do for the players, and that counts more than how I feel.
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