AAU Basketball Club Tryout Systems

AAU/Club tryout season is upon us, as programs begin auditioning players, conducting camps and getting ready to start the fall season.  This is the perfect time for coaches and program directors to share lessons learned and try to improve their own process for the mutual benefit of program, players and parents.  Our observations snow the following methods are most commonly used:

1) Formal Tryout.  These are often a one or two day affair, observed by coaches and program directors.

2) Ongoing Tryouts.  Some programs simply observe players during their own hosted camps, leagues or clinics and invite talented players onto their teams.

3) No Tryout.  Some of the most elite (and confident) programs eschew tryouts entirely to create a more exclusive feel.  With these, you have to ask to be on a team.  And if you have to ask, you’re not good enough.

Let’s analyze the strengths and weaknesses of these three methods.

Standard Tryouts

First, with specified date tryouts, you get the benefit of a standardized process with clear expectations.  If a player wants to be considered for the team, they need to arrive at a certain date and time and compete heads-up against other players under consideration.  This method can be open or closed to parents.  Programs needs to consider which of these options will better serve to minimize post-tryout parent complaints.  On the one hand, parents will always think their kid is better than do-and-so  no matter what they see.  In other cases, it helps parents to see what exactly their kid is up against.  Many times parents of players arriving from school or rec ball have never before seen players with the size, skill and speed of the top club players and it helps to show them they exist.  A formal tryout also creates a clean cut-off point so teams can form and begin to practice as a unit.  A constantly evolving roster can be counterproductive if it leads to player or parent dissatisfaction and/or poor team performance.  Of course, what do you do if you have a chance later on to get a great player?  Your system probably needs some flexibility.

A clear disadvantage of the one-time tryout is the very limited opportunity to spend time with players and parents.  There are of course very good reasons for kids to be switching programs for better opportunities.  But another reason they switch can be that the player or the parent(s) are a cancer and the prior program is thrilled to be rid of them.  Can you figure this out in a one-time tryout?  Also, players can look better or worse depending on the match-ups of the day.  Are they a workout warrior who looks good in drills but can’t actually play?  Are they awkward in drills but a high-motor contributor in live action?

Ongoing Tryouts

An informal tryout, such as an extended period of observation in skills clinics, can provide a more compete picture of a player, and also allow coaches to watch players in multiple settings and interact with parents before and after practice.  These conversations can lead to an important understanding of whether parents grasp the cost and time commitment of travel ball, or to help explain why a player is seeking out a new team.  The disadvantage is that you may not get the same opportunity to see the player matched up against other players trying out for a specific team, and you may instead observe them playing with kids of varying ages, which can be less instructive than an apples-to-apples tryout and scrimmage.

No Tryout

Another factor to consider is whether you’re only trying to fill a single team, or if you’re trying to sort players for an A team, a B team and even a C team.  The No Tryout option is clearly not a good idea if you’re trying to build depth across multiple teams and all age groups; having an open tryout is much better for that.  Using an invitation-only method will likely work only in cases where the program has an outstanding existing reputation and sense of exclusivity that will draw the best players seeking maximum exposure.  Program directors, be careful with this one.  This will work for the select few.  If you think you’re better than you are, you could find yourself without a full team.  But if you can get away with it, more power to you.  For the best-in-class programs, the lack of a tryout can be a virtuous cycle that leads the best players to want to be a part of such an exclusive group.

Conclusions

If you value chemistry and continuity, just grabbing players who show up at a single event may not be the best path.  If you’re trying simply for the best players regardless of intangibles, an open tryout is probably a great choice.  The Ongoing or Extended Tryout can be a workable middle ground, which allows for maximum flexibility and long-term player and parent observation.  Be careful to avoid frustrating parents and players with a lack of cohesion and clear, organized schedules.  Parents can quickly turn on you if you can’t tell them which team their son or daughter is on week-to-week.  If the No Tryout option works for you, congratulations, your program may have arrived.  The same warning applies here:  make sure you know what you’re getting into with parents and players.

In deciding which method to use for your tryouts, think long and hard about which type of program you represent or want to become.  By way of example, some programs have to rely on detailed organization, practice and player and parent chemistry to compete with all-star teams that roll the ball out there and win with talent.  At these opposite ends of the spectrum, these two types of teams have very different tryout systems.  And of course, there are many teams that fall in between, and they should plan carefully to maximize the experience for the program, the players and their families.