August is well under way which means we only have a few weeks until try-out season starts; some of you
have less than that. Most of you are in the two week window where you are not
allowed to coach your players and some of you are about to start that. These
two weeks are truly needed for players who’ve just finished club season along
with team camp and individual camps. Players should be spending these next two
weeks taking a break and simply training their body instead of playing.
Coaches, this
is the time for you to clean up the equipment closet, prepare uniforms, and
finalize tournament schedules. You should be e-mailing players the try-out
schedule if you haven’t already and you definitely should be sitting down with
the assistant coaches to plan out exactly what will be happening for try-outs.
Having a drill by drill layout that is posted at the beginning of the day for
coaches and volunteers to see is ideal.
For try-outs themselves, you need to look at how you are going to pick players. Do you do it solely based on what you see when they play, i.e. attitude, hustle, communication, etc., or do you look at numbers, i.e. block jump, touch six time, serve receive average, serving accuracy, etc.? Using a mix of those two is most common and more often than not, the numbers won’t lie and they offer hard evidence when you are going to make cuts.
For most
programs, cuts aren’t necessary due to a low turn-out, you just have to
determine where to put a player. In fact, for programs with a low turn-out
rate, I highly recommend not cutting any player but offering a practice
position to those who want to be a part of the program. I will preface that by
saying that a senior trying out for the first time who can’t serve the ball
over the net may need a bit of a reality check instead of flat-out cutting her.
Those with
high turn-out are less fortunate in all honesty as they simply don’t have room
to keep everyone. I do recommend that you speak to every player instead of
simply putting up a list of names for people who made the main team. For those
players who were on the cusp, you should speak to them about what they should
do in the off-season to make the team. If you have enough freshmen or sophomores
for two C-teams then you should speak to your athletic director as soon as
possible to discuss the possibility of a C-team and a B-team. The freshman team
has the lowest retention rate so the more freshmen you can train the better.
You’ll have more talent coming back into the program the following season.
One thing
that everyone should do is record exactly why you cut a player. If a parent
comes back and wants to insist that their daughter was unjustly cut, a coach
needs to have documentation of exactly why they chose to cut someone. This is
where getting stats the first day of try-outs helps. It can be a very dry first
day or half day but once you’ve seen the numbers you can compare players that
are similar. If player A and player B both have great hustle and would be great
as a libero, how do you decide? Well, if player A is averaging 1.8 on serve receive
and player B is averaging a 2.2 then you pick player B. Numbers don’t lie. This
should be continued for playing time as well. Some athletic directors will back
up the coach whereas some will back the parent and the coach will have to
adjust to what the athletic director tells them to do.
Parents, if
you have not received a schedule for try-outs, e-mail your coach. If you cannot
contact them, e-mail the athletic secretary or look online for the times. Most
schools should already have them posted. Also, do not schedule any vacations
during volleyball schedule. If your child cannot attend a
practice/game/tournament because of this they will lose playing time and they
will be perceived as being uncommitted to the program. If a coach can’t see the
player during try-outs then they don’t have anything to judge on besides the
fact that the player chose to be elsewhere. It is a bad way to start the
season.
Players,
contact your coaches and ask questions. Get on your coaches radar by asking
questions about try-outs and what you should be prepared for. You should be
prepared to play a lot of volleyball in a short period of time. When try-outs
come around, volunteer to be first for every drill, help set up the nets; if
you don’t know how, pair up with someone who does. Be vocal throughout every
drill. Be respectful when a coach or volunteer is talking. These are things
that get you noticed. If you are a freshman, wear something distinctive.
Volleyball shirts are not distinctive, however bright colors, distinctive
headbands, fun spandex, or shirts with an interesting slogan will be noticed
and coaches can more easily pick you out of the crowd. Also, wear proper
equipment. Keds and converse are not court appropriate shoes and the coach will
remember you for the wrong reason. You need to wear athletic shoes. If you can’t
afford volleyball shoes, find cross-trainers.
While you are
waiting for try-outs to start, you need to train. If you are new to the sport,
get touches on the ball. Have one of your parents toss a ball for you to pass
or set back to them. Pass repeatedly against a wall if your parents are busy.
If you can out pass another new player then you are more likely to get a spot. Returning
players who’ve spent the summer playing club and going to camps, take a break
from the ball itself and train your body. Work on your vertical, your sprints,
your reaction time, and your approach. Coaches will notice if your numbers have
improved from the previous season.
Everyone
should be excited though. Volleyball season is the best season of the year.
Enjoy preparing for try-outs!
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