Tryout season has given me a bunch of really good topics to write about. Reading the posts that coaches create to draw players to their tryouts and, ultimately, their teams are loaded with many things that just don’t make sense. Here is the worst one yet:
Distance is not an issue!
Of course it’s not an issue for you, Coach. You’re not the one who is traveling!
I understand that many families feel like they have limited options close to home so they are willing to travel, in some cases, great distances to practice and play with a team. I tell the story often that when I was coaching at Tennessee Tech, I flew out to California to watch a player from Nashville play with a team from New Jersey. Yes, that’s right. I drove past her house on my way to the airport in Nashville to get on the flight to California. And that was before Team Parking Lot became the popular thing it is now.
So, I’m not really judging the families who feel that they need to travel to be a part of the team. What I am saying is:
Why is the Coach, who isn’t doing the driving, telling a prospective player that the distance that player will travel isn’t an issue? They’ve already decided to travel to you when they contacted you.
Now the real questions might be, Is it worth traveling to be on this team?
