It’s that time of the year when players go to club team tryouts to make a new—and hopefully better—team.

Want to know what a club coach looks at when players participate in a tryout? I met today with Mike Stith, who led the OC Batbusters-Haning team to a PGF 18U Premier National Championship last Saturday, and got his insights into what he looks for in a player who comes to “audition.”

A week from Saturday, on August 16 at Pacifica High in Garden Grove, Calif., Coach Stith expects up to 400 athletes to work out for a coveted spot on one of the Batbuster teams at the 18U, 16U and 14U levels. The older groups will try out at 9 am and the 14’s at 1 pm.

“The returning teams and the ones with seniority will be the first in line in the pecking order, ones like Mike Smith’s 16’s and Ken Briggs’s 18U team that won Platinum among others,” says the coach.

Obviously, most players won’t make the cut but Stith says he will let the girls know directly and promptly so they can try to work out immediately with other programs.

“I’m not comfortable sending them an e-mail telling a girl she’s been cut,” he explains. “I will pull them into a group and look them in the eye so they know right then and there so they can try to get into another program, even one like the So Cal A’s, the Firecrackers, Explosion, etc.”

But that’s at the end of the day… to kick off a successful tryout and make it optimal, Coach Stith says there are four things every player should be aware of to maximize her chances to make the program of choice, even one as prestigious as the Batbusters…

 

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Conditioning
“The first thing I can tell,” beings Coach Stith, “is if the player is conditioning. Has she taken care of herself and is in shape to go through all we will ask of her? Is she training athletically and working on her strength and stamina? We push and even test a bit at the tryouts so conditioning will become obvious very quickly!”

 

Skills
“This also becomes very apparent soon enough,” he continues. “Has the player worked on her positional skills and done what it takes to play at a high level? Does she have the skill set to do what it takes to succeed with other elite players? Obviously, she needs to have the foundation of skills that are necessary for us to teach her and the team how to win together.”

 

Fearlessness
“The one thing I preach,” says the Batbuster head coach, “is that I can’t teach scared people. We’re looking for those who don’t have the fear to fail, because players who are not afraid to fail are easier to teach as they’re not worried about mistakes. When players are scared, they’re tentative and don’t take in the teaching we give them because they’re thinking too much about what happens if and when they make an error.”

 

Independence
“Finally,” concludes the National Championship-winning coach, “we look for how the player carries herself, the small things like how they dress—is she a mess or is she buttoned up and dressed like she’s ready to play? Also, how does she interact with her mom or dad—does she yell at her mom to rush in a water bottle or make her dad carry her bag on the field? Is she wearing flip-flops at 9 am when the tryout starts or is she wearing cleats at 8:45? It’s the little details—this isn’t a popularity contest and college coaches, as well as club coaches, don’t want players who won’t play hard or those who give a fake handshake or an insincere hello. We want players prepared to deal with what it takes to be a champion.”