Decision-Making for Player Selection
A key factor impacting the long-term growth of the program will be the tryout selection process
Strong planning leads to success
As I suggested in the previous post that outlined the design of a tryout, the Head Coach should make final decisions with the staff’s input. Depending on their experience level, coaches for the lower level teams should have input regarding the teams for which they will be responsible. Dialogue between staff should be open, encouraging frank discussions regarding who to keep or cut and why.
The decision-making process is vital to the health and longevity of the overall program. Let’s consider a number of factors that should be included as you work with your staff to finalize each team for the season.
A depth chart by team with the players that are participating in tryouts should be a fluid mechanism used daily to analyze the current potential rosters. There will be overlap - between teams (players that might make varsity or JV, or Frosh and JV, for instance) and duplication in positions (a player that could play middle and/or right side).
In building the depth chart, one must decide how many players do you want for each position on a team. Typically a team of twelve would have 2/setters, 3/middles, 4/pin hitters, and 3/libero-DS players. Depending on skills and experience, these numbers will fluctuate season to season.
Position Depth in the Program
Besides the team depth chart, a second aspect will be the depth chart for the program. This will show the players by position for all of the teams. Experience is gained through practice and in matches. As you move through the season, you may find that a player on a lower level team is making greater gains then a player on the varsity that isn’t seeing much court time. If a varsity player sustains an injury, it may be best to move a starter up from JV and let them compete with the current varsity players for that open position.
This leads to the placement question.
PLACEMENT in the Program
As you adjust the depth chart - an important decision relates to playing time. When you consider the long term stability of the program, players that are earning court time in matches at the lower levels will usually become key players in the future. As you make placement decisions, your staff should always consider playing time and how to maximize it for the players. If a younger (non-senior) player would sit 85% of the time on the varsity or would start the majority of time on JV, placing the player on JV would provide the most benefit.
It may be tempting to include a player’s past or future club experience into the decision making process - however, in most cases, the club factor is out of your control. I would suggest you ignore this influence and only deal with the factors you are able to control.
role on the team
Each players perceived role should be reviewed to insure the pieces all make sense. Your staff should discuss short-term starters (if season started today - who would be the starting six) along with possible replacements for each position.
The important program decision is to make sure key position players are getting court time at all levels and, on each team, there is appropriate competition for playing time. Your long-term program goal should be to make sure every position has enough depth that no individual believes they “own” the position.
player wants vs program needs
In the short-term tryout window, players become invested in making the highest level team in the program. Players with more maturity will prioritize playing time over the immediate thrill of making a higher level team (only to end up becoming the 11th or 12th player on the team and not seeing any court time.
Two important considerations from this previous paragraph must be addressed in your program’s culture:
The programs needs (a strong depth chart providing appropriate training and playing time) must be the priority.
Once you begin deciding which players will be #10,#11, and #12 (vs. playing on a lower level team), you and your staff must discuss those individuals - their skills, attitude, and ability to contribute in a minimal role.
There will always be players that you think will accept these minimal roles. Unfortunately, between them and their parents, many will end up being unhappy by mid-season. This can cause team chemistry issues and be a distraction.
avoid distractions
Deciding these final placements is the most challenging part of tryouts. Here are a few thoughts to consider as you work through these decisions. Note - none of these are absolutes. Each season I would make decisions based on my knowledge of the current players.
At the varsity level, a senior should be able to contribute. If you don’t think the player will see any playing time (other then the early preseason) you may better serve your program’s goals by cutting this person. This is one of most difficult decisions as this player has been in the program for three years.
This leads to the next question - if you are keeping a junior on the varsity as a #10,#11, and #12 - do you actually see them playing a significant amount in their senior year. In my experience, the majority of these players may be passed up by a younger, more talented player if they end up sitting most of the season. Which placement of this junior will best serve the player and the program? This same question will be repeated for a number of your decisions.
Keeping more than 12 players
Every few years I have encountered the situation where the staff was discussing cuts and the question of keeping more than 12 players on one or more of the teams. Once again, this is a challenging question. My experience (over the majority of instances where I kept more than 12 players) was that this ended up causing team chemistry problems. It is difficult to keep that many players happy through a season and as you get into the last part of the season, coaches tend to stick to a primary line-up and substitution pattern.
There will be a few times when the extra players embrace the role and it works out. My advice is to either place these players on a lower level team so they will play or, if necessary, make the cuts.
Now that you have your teams for the season, we will review goal setting and team bonding in the next blog post.