At some point in your coaching career, you will need to organize a tryout for specific teams. This can be an overwhelming experience for the novice coach. However, a well organized tryout can run both efficiently and productively. It is important to be well prepared and able to delegate responsibility to the appropriate volunteers. As in any situation being ill prepared is a recipe for disaster. Not only will you incur extra stress, but you may also find yourself in the midst of angry parents and athletes. And although it is natural to think that we can handle all of this by ourselves, as coaches we must be able to delegate responsibilities necessary to organize a successful and rewarding tryout. This is not to be confused with being lazy or not fully committed. Of course, you can not handle every aspect on your own and expect to keep your sanity. You must be willing to enlist the help of others. Volunteers are your most important asset at this time. These individuals have the ability to handle the everyday mundane tasks that can distract you from being the very best coach your team deserves. When organizing your tryouts, some of the responsibilities that you could delegate to your volunteers include making and distributing posters, collecting forms and fees from athletes, answering frequent questions, assisting the judges, and organizing athletes. For your more experienced volunteers, you could also have them assist with spotting tumbling skills, tabulating scores, and videotaping practices and tryouts. Most of the time it is easy to find volunteers to help with your tryout process. Senior cheerleaders and their parents, as well as faculty or an unbiased coach from another school or organization are a good place to start when looking for volunteers. Be sure when recruiting your volunteers that their are no conflicts of interest. You would not want to enlist the help of the parents, brothers, sisters, or any other relative of an athlete that is trying out. Biased judges and faculty members as well as rival coaches are also unreliable volunteers. Overall, a good tryout is based on the preparation you as a coach take in advance. Delegate your responsibilities as needed and give your full attention to the tryout process. It will not only benefit the athletes trying out, but also your team as well.
Tip:
Take these steps to improve your tryout process.
Here’s how to do it:
Book your tryout facility
Begin Advertising
Select judges and volunteers
Determine judging criteria and prepare judging sheets
Design participant tryout form and print copies
Hold parents meeting
Arrange tryout material
Schedule practices for tryouts
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