• RankOneSport

    Before your athlete can tryout, they must be cleared with our on campus training staff. This link sends you to the online forms that must be filled out so that your athlete can be cleared.

    ALL forms must be filled out before they are allowed to participate!

    Comments (-1)
  • Team Breakdown
     
    There will be a 3-day tryout, along with a Varsity practice to follow.  Players that are not in the Varsity locker room will need to be at tryouts. Here are some of our guidelines for this season:
     
    1.  Our teams are fluid - kids can move up and they can move down throughout the season.  Our rosters are not set in stone.  
     
    2.  It is OK to be labeled a JV or a Soph player to start the season - kids are placed on these teams to maximize their practice time and maximize their opportunity to get on the field and play.
     
    3.  If we have a 10th grader that needs another year to develop on the Soph team, he will play on the Soph team again.  It is not a "right of passage" to move on to the next team just because you have been in the program for a year.  It is OK to still be developing within our program.
     
    Tryout Schedule
     
    Tryouts begin on Jan 20th!  All NON-VARSITY players will go through tryouts!  The schedule is as follows:
     
    Friday Jan 20th - 3:15 PM - 6:00 PM
     
    Saturday Jan 21st - 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
     
    Monday Jan 23rd - 3:15 PM - 5:15 PM
     
    Tuesday Jan 24th - 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM   We will meet face to face with every kid after school at the baseball field.  It will probably be a good idea to just let your son text you when his meeting is over so that you know when to come pick him up from the baseball field.  I will meet with every single kid to let them know how their tryout evaluation went (good or bad).  I will let them know that day what team they made or if we are not going to keep them for the 2023 season.
     
    Wednesday Jan 25th - Regular practice schedule begins (more information to follow on this) That night we will have our full parent meeting in the Lower LGI @ 6:00pm. 
     
    We are required to give tryout participants 3 opportunities to try out.  If your son is involved with another sport, we will communicate with him about when he needs to be at baseball tryouts.  For example, kids that are currently in basketball can come to tryouts after school on non-game days as long as our tryout does not interfere with their practice time.  9th grade basketball practices in the morning, so those kids can come to tryouts after school on the days they do not have a game.  Those kids will get their 3 opportunities as well to show us what they can do.  We will work around current sport schedules to make sure that happens.
     
    Tryout Procedures
     
    Kids need to look like a ball player at tryouts.  They should wear baseball pants, socks, a belt, and a hat.  Their shirts should be tucked in.  They need to be on time (early).  Water will be provided for the players.  They need to have cleats and flats (running shoes) for both field and cage work.  They need to bring all their baseball equipment, every day.  Parents are more than welcome to attend tryouts.  PARENTS THAT OBSERVE TRYOUTS NEED TO ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES:
     
    1.  Please stay in the stands and do not come onto the field.  We will have a lot of kids with a lot of emotions trying their best to make a team.  The kids do not need their parents standing next to them increasing their anxiety.  Please observe the tryout practices from the bleachers.
     
    2.  Do not yell at or talk to your son during the tryout about what they need to fix.  We will be giving coaching points to the kids to gauge their level of coachability.  They do not need to be confused between what we are saying on the field and what you are saying from the bleachers.  If you want to give them last minute coaching tips BEFORE they come to the field for tryouts, that is OK, but when they are with us let them learn our way of doing things.
     
    3.  Stay positive with your son, please.  Kids really want to be a part of this program.  They are going to try really hard to make it.  Sometimes when they do that, they make mistakes - that is OK.  We want to see them fail to see HOW they will RESPOND.  One mistake will not cost your son a spot on the team.  It is about the body of work he puts together over 3 days (or if they have been in the baseball period - the last 5 months we have evaluated them).  When they come home from tryouts, they need to come to a place that builds their confidence to go back out and get after it the next day, not be torn down to where they are afraid of making a mistake.  Nothing good will come from that.  So please be positive with your son - they are already winners for even coming out there in my opinion.  They are learning to take risks and open themselves up to criticism from peers and coaches.  That will carry them a lot further in life than playing baseball.
     
    Thank you for understanding our parent tryout expectations!  Coaching is constantly evaluating players and situations.  We grade everything - from eye contact in meetings to skill levels to response to failure to hustle.  THERE ARE A LOT OF WAYS TO MAKE THE TEAM!  Please make sure your son knows that.  We are telling them that here - if they hear at home too, we will get the best out of them!
     
    Cutting Players
     
    I hate cutting kids.  It is the absolute worst part of my job.  I wish we could keep every single kid that comes out and takes a risk and puts themselves out there to try to make a team.  However, this is just not possible.  If your son is cut, they will know exactly why and what they need to work on to improve.  We will not cut seniors, but we can cut any 11th grader and below that comes to tryouts even if they were on the team in previous years.  It just depends on roster availability for this year and next.  For example, if we keep a player as a JR, then he will be taking a Varsity roster spot as a senior.  We have to make sure that the player is projected to be a Varsity player as a senior in order to validate keeping them as a JR. 
     
    If we cut your son, and your son still has questions, he can set up another meeting with the coaching staff to talk to us about those issues again.  If it is still not resolved, your son can set up another meeting with us and have a parent attend the meeting with the entire coaching staff and we can all visit about the decision. 
     
    We want to teach our kids how to self-advocate.  Our tryout guidelines allow that to happen even if they do not make a team.  These kids are 4 years or less away from graduating HS and being young adults in college or holding a job whether they make our team or not.  They need to learn how to discuss things with people that make decisions and work through that process.  Meeting with us will not change our minds about whether we should keep a player or not, but it can bring some closure to the situation and it can help them better understand what they need to do going forward if they want to try out again. 
     
    Thank you for understanding the way our process works here in our program.