The 4 keys for the first day of tryouts

The first day of tryouts is key to setting the tone for a good season. Going into the gym you want to make sure to relax and focus on building a relationship with the players so they have confidence in you.

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In the last post, How should I prepare for tryouts? we covered the key things you need to prepare ahead of time including promoting registration and developing a plan that includes a schedule and drills. Naturally, you want to get to the gym on time with any registration information you have an a schedule for the day already completed.

Aside from executing that plan, you only need to focus on three things when it comes to the evaluating the players.

1) Account for all the players

You need to make sure that you can account for all the players. Accounting for everyone includes identifying any player within 1-2 seconds and tracking with whom you need to communicate with the rest of the week.

Identifying players quickly is important because you don’t want to attribute skills to the wrong players when review your evaluation later. While that may seem unlikely,  you might be surprised by the scenarios that could lead to confusing two players on the first day. While you’re in the gym, you need to support and coach them effectively using their name without

You also need to account for every player’s attendance, mostly so you can give everyone a fair chance. It is only fair to players that are finishing other sports or have other issues that cause them to miss the first day. On the other hand, players may decide this is not for them and not return for the second day. Depending on your scenario, you may want to follow-up to make sure you know why they didn’t return.

There are several options to keep track of the players. I suggest starting with a list from the pre-registration process to create name tags and a roster to verify contact information as players arrive.

Of course, as a coach, you likely don’t control the registration process and you may have to resort to manually writing name tags and the entire roster, but it will be worth the effort.

Of course, it helps to have captured as many names that you can through a pre-registration process. I have used LeagueAthletics.com for a middle school program. Although, I’m sure there are other options available too. Aside from capturing names, phone numbers and emails, it also collects participation fees. Having the list and commitment ahead of time, greatly simplifies the registration process the first day.

Use the pre-registration information to prepare name tags before you get to the gym. This way you have a reason to introduce yourself, let all coaches communicate with the players on a first name basis and allow everyone to use first names. Details like this can end some of the first day nerves for players who are trying to make the team and not embarrass themselves.

Bonus TIP: Add numbers that split the names into groups of 2,3,4,5 that align with your practice plan. This way you can quickly group players for drills by having them look at a specific number on their tag.

You should also create a master contact list for you to use during the registration process or check in for the first day. You may also want to have copies for any assistant coaches that you have that will be evaluating players so that they can take notes. Leave blanks on the list for players that did not register but can still tryout. One of the first things on your schedule is to take attendance during your introduction to make sure you have not missed anyone.

2) Identify strengths

Be ready to record a list of strengths for each player. Make no mistake that basketball coaches are sizing up players as soon as they walk through the door. Their physical dimensions, their posture, their attire and their behavior are all being filed away in the back of your brain.

That is exactly why I suggest using a grid of fundamental skills to make sure you are looking at players as a package. It will also allow you to see that you are sure you’ve given everyone a good chance to help the team in some way because it helps you be more balanced.

While it is easier for some players, you should try hard to find the top 2-3 strengths for all players. You may find that a unique strength of one player is enough to supplement a weakness of the rest of the team and keep that player on the team.

All too often, your first impression as complete basketball player does not equate to their value to the team. Plus, it is easy to forget the strengths of weaker players, unless their only strengths are the same as everyone else.

3) Identify individual weaknesses

If recording strengths are important it’s not too difficult to guess, acknowledging weaknesses for all players are important too. However, it is not meant to focus on minimizing players, but to help you find team weaknesses.

Again, using the same grid of fundamental skills, find 2-3 weaknesses for each player. While this is all too easy for the overall weakest players, this is particularly important for even your strongest players. It is very unlikely, that it would keep them off the team, but it is important to see if the rest of the team shares the same weakness.

For example, perhaps due to the NBA or ESPN Top 10 Plays popularity, it seems rebounding and defense are skills that too many ‘good’ players can’t do well. Depending on the degree of the weakness as a team, you may need to fill that team weakness with whomever you can find.

This is key to making sound decisions around developing a complete team. This is especially key if you have the difficult task of making cuts.

4) No NOT plan for positioning players (too much)

It is important to focus on the team’s skills and not put kids into specific positions at this point of the season. Player position assignments will develop with time as you teach the play book.

In my opinion, for players of all ages, but especially before high school age, you want to create well-rounded players, not specialists. Keep that in mind throughout the season. Players need to know every position in practice because they may fill an odd position during a game due to injury or foul trouble.

The value in amateur athletics is the experience of improving your skills, not in the wins or losses. The more positions they play at grade school level, the more comfortable they will be when/if they continue to play. Your players will help each other grow more during practice, than any game will team them.

Therefore, during evaluations, you should seek the most complete team skill set you can find at the start the season. You will be able to make those early practices become the fastest improvement for every player.

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