Failing to Make the Team 1
By: Paul Olson - About Volleyball
Why Some Make It and Some Don't
After tryouts, many players are plagued with questions:
- What did I do wrong?
- What could I have done differently?
- Why did the coach not see how good I am?
- Why did the coach not like me?
Parents are not immune.
- What could I have done to better prepare her?
- If only I had sent her to one more camp.
Both have feelings of disappointment, frustration, and rejection. Perhaps they turn to accusations of the decision being political.
- You had to know someone to get on the team.
- Unless you played for the right club, you did not have a chance of making the team.
I have coached at a local YMCA for years and each year I am excited for and proud of my players that make their school team and hurt with and for the players who do not make it. I am always absolutely astounded by some of those who are passed over and do not make their school team.
However, one year, it hit home. My daughter did not make her school team.
I am sure I had similar feelings and thoughts as any other parent, plus all of the feelings and thoughts as a coach. After all, in addition to raising her, I have been the only coach she has ever had (excluding camps and clinics). Of course I wondered "doesn't the coach know who her dad is? Does the coach not understand how well I have trained her? Does the coach not realize how much money I have invested in camps and clinics to prepare her for tryouts? What is the coach's problem?"
The answers are very simple: the coach does not care. Furthermore, she should not care. The coach's responsibility is not to build her team to my specifications. Her responsibility is to build a team, as she deems necessary to be successful. In addition to my daughter, I had several other players who did not make their school teams. These are players who: ensured my teams ran the way I wanted them to; players I considered my leaders; players I count on to run the team on the floor; players that I would love to have on MY school team. These are also players that without seeing who was selected for their school teams, I can say with absolute confidence that they would have helped their teams and made them significantly better. I have often said that I would love to form a team out of my players that are cast off each season; I know we would be a contender for the league championship. Although I firmly believe that, I also say it knowing that is also because they are so familiar with me and I am familiar with them.
Am I saying that I am right and their coaches are wrong? Not at all. Each coach has a different "ideal player" they are looking for and they select the members of their team based on how well the players come to fitting that mold. That means that the perfect player for one of my teams may not be suited to playing for their school coach.
There may be many things that affected the coach's decision:
- The players may have done something that hit the coach's hot button - I know I have mine and if a player hits that button, they have to work hard to overcome it.
- The player may execute a skill in a way that is just different enough from the coach's way to cause a level of concern.
- When choosing from two players of similar ability, a coach will usually select the player that they "know."
I have caught myself doing this. It is only natural for a coach to select the players that they are most comfortable in being able to teach and train.
You never know what another coach is looking for and you should not let that one coach's opinion affect your desire to play the game or to try out for next year's team.
