Tryout
Apprehension - |
Hi, SAYSO Family! - These are the questions about the December tryouts that we start getting around this time of the year from families relatively new-to-SAYSO. We had fun writing the answers. Hopefully, you'll see our humor and humanity peeking through. |
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SAYSO (the board
of directors, the staff in the office, coaches, and everyone else in the royal
SAYSO 'We') appreciate you being part of SAYSO. We're committed to running a
top-notch organization, and to using our skills, experience, and knowledge to
create a really great experience for your child. We plan for good things to
happen to your child. Q. Is it normal for me to be apprehensive about tryouts? A. If you love your child, you'll feel a sense of insecurity about tryouts, but only for the first year or two of getting to know how SAYSO operates. After that, you'll know that your child won't be subject to arbitrary decisions. Until then, there will be a loud buzz coming from groups of parents who try to hedge their bets, prepare for all alternatives, investigate their options, and protect their children. It's a lot of apprehension and unrest for no good reason, but it's normal. Q. Does everyone in SAYSO have to tryout each year? A. Yes. Even the superstars. Even the coach's child. Even the team captains. Q. Why does everyone have to tryout each year? A. The players, no matter how good they are, should be able to look back at this youth soccer experience and feel like they' earned their places. In these days and times of too many undeserved entitlements, the players can really feel proud of themselves. It's a good part of growing up. Q. Will my child make it back onto a SAYSO team? Do players ever get dropped completely? A. I answer these questions as follows: (1) Having to tryout each year doesn't mean having to worry each year. (2) Compared to players from the public who show up at tryouts, because of their previous year(s) of SAYSO training, SAYSO players are almost always among the best, best, best at tryouts. (3) Yes, each year, a very small number of SAYSO players are not invited back, but it's seldom a surprise to anyone, including the players' parents. (4) If you have not already been in conversations with your coach about your child's progress, you probably don't have anything to worry about. Q. Does my child have to attend both days of tryouts? A. Yes. We need a supporting 'backdrop' of players against which to work with the public-player-hopefuls. How would Mia Hamm feel if she showed up and saw that there were only 2 other people interested in playing? We need everyone there to show that SAYSO is a hoppin' place. Q. [Choose one of the following.] We will miss tryouts, anyway. We can only attend one day out of two. It's a waste of our time. We want to go skiing that weekend. Our child is the best player on the team and SAYSO would never consider not taking him/her. Our coach/manager/priest/Michael/etc. said we didn't have to attend. A. Each year, we have a really, really resistant family who just doesn't see the value of trying out, and who boycotts the event in favor of going skiing. And, of course, there are people who are legitimately absent - such as those whose children are too ill to attend. SAYSO is not an unreasonable, inhumane, or vindictive place. However, the absence will be noticed. All of the players trying out wear big numbers. Tryout results are tabulated by name and number. All of the SAYSO coaches will see the list of who tried out and who did not. All of the coaches in an age group get together to discuss the results. If you don't tryout, we'll all know the reason, and we'll go on from there. Q. Will the old team stay the same? Will my child stay on the same team with his/her friends? Will there be a lot of changes? A. The spring season (as determined by the December tryouts) is the primary time when we move players between the red, white, and blue players. It's also when we add new players from the public. Each year as your team ages upward, the amount of change in a team decreases. For example (and, these are hypothetical cases that don't have anything to do with you personally, your team, or your age group), there might be 3-5 different faces on U9 and U10 teams, 2-4 on U11-U12 teams, and 1-2 on older teams. Teams that make a transition from class-3 to class-1 start the cycle all over again, no matter what age. Q. Our age group will now play 11v11, and I've heard the teams are going to merge. What happens to the white (blue, green, etc.) teams? A. "Merge" and "Combine" are inaccurate, because they sounds like two will become one. Existing teams will continue. There can be cross-pollenization between the teams, and it is likely that previously-white players will join the red team, but the white team continues. Q. Are team changes normal? Is it normal for people to join or leave the team? A. It is so very normal. After 23 years, I know this happens every year. It doesn't mean that SAYSO is falling apart. It doesn't mean that your team is falling apart. Change is inevitable, but change is not chaos. Q. Does SAYSO have a plan for growth, or do changes just happen? A. Yes. SAYSO grows from the bottom up. We add 4-6 new U8 teams for boys and girls each spring. We keep the existing older teams. It's a sound plan. Q. Is SAYSO planning on adding any new teams? Dropping? A. Adding, yes. Dropping, no. Q. Will teams be formed just to absorb all of the public players who show up? A. No. Not only can't we support an unlimited number of teams, but there is a real playing ability-driven cut-off below which we can't go. Q. Will teams be eliminated based on their current records? A. Gosh, no. Q. Why would SAYSO not bring back a player? A. I have to reiterate that the number of players who don't get invited back is cosmically small - it's, like, 1 out of a hundred or something. But, the reasons would be logical to any observer. (1) The player doesn't want to play soccer anymore. (2) The player is physically unfit or has an injury that is not going to heal in a short amount of time. (3) The player's ability or willingness to attend practices and games is decidedly inconsistent with being part of a team. (4) The player or parents cause us so much grief that we're worn out. Q. Who makes decisions about team changes? What is the approval process? Do we, as parents, have any control? A. The coaches in the age group academy, together, not unilaterally, make decisions about players in an age group. I, as SAYSO's Coaching Director, attend all of the coaching meetings that follow tryouts in order to monitor the process and approve all significant player changes. I am the Oversight Committee. SAYSO's Board of Directors is mine. Players are not forced to move 'up' in team level (i.e., from blue to white or from white to red). Parents and players have the ultimate say in that, and we have some players who want to stay with their friends on an existing team. At least, for a season or two. But, rarely, thereafter. Q. My child has been on the white/blue/green/yellow team for 18 seasons already. When will he/she move to the red team? A. Just as soon as the coaches see that he/she will have a good experience there. Q. My child hasn't learned anything during this last season. He/she never practices at home. My child has zero skill, and even less intensity. He/she isn't very aggressive, and getting hit by the ball or injured by another player is terrifying to him/her/us. We have to fight with him/her to go to practice. My spouse and I yell at the players and referees during games. We talk about the coaches behind their backs. We feel personally deflated every time that the team loses. I tell my child what he/she/the team/the coach did wrong after every game. My child is the best player on the team, and if only he/she were put in the right place or got to play the entire game, we'd win every game. We video all games, and I watch the video twice during the week, after dinner. We think that paying $500 for a season of soccer is too much, and we tell everybody how unreasonable that amount it, particularly when AYSO can do it for $100. I could do a better job coaching the players than the coaches, and I'd do it for free. We're mad that we have to buy new uniforms for the spring, because we just bought uniforms 12 months ago, and SAYSO should have stocked up on a 10-year supply from Adidas in anticipation of Adidas discontinuing the current style. We won't do anything to help the team, because it's the club's responsibility to line the fields, market, fundraise, and recruit, set up goals, provide referees, and attend meetings. We absolutely won't drive to games in San Jose or tournaments in Walnut Creek. If our team doesn't start winning soon, we're going to leave, anyway. Should we worry about our child being kept on the team? A. Hmmm. Let me think about it for a few minutes. Okay, that's enough time. |