Tryout standards and evaluations

The way you pick your team depends a lot on what your goals are for that team.

The pros run tryouts and the first thing they do is time everyone in the 60 yard dash and then evealuate their arm strenght... When that is done 90% of the participants are excused and the remaining 10% so off the other BB skills.

Now that's not practical at youth levels but it does have merit...

I like to try to have several areas of evaluation, and try to make as many as possible OBJECTIVE as opposed to subjective... For example 60 yard dash (40 yard for 12U) A flat out who's the fastest??? I also like to get a radar reading on throwing velocity if possible. I also like to time an infielder (ss) from the time the ball hits his glove until it hits 1b glove... (Cs time from glove to 2B)... Pitcher I ask them how many times can they hit a spot out of ten....

Then you always have the subjective, Baseball moxy... Quickness... coordination... Attitude... Quality swing... Power (both objective and subjective)

Since I'm an engineer I usually will put all stats in a spread sheet or data base and then toal up all the points. 80% of the time you can name the top kids without looking at the stats but every try-out at least one kids surprises you.. and may not be flashy but is a rock solid player... Plus you have data for the inevitable question ... Why didn't little Jr make the team...

I also agree you want to have at least two dates available and ask players to attend both...

That all said, Every year my priorities have shifted... Pitching is always the life blood of a team and you can never have enough... but you'll never win championships on pitching alone (look at the Braves) You have tohave the hitting. So hitting takes a precedence over fielding... Its easier to teach fielding than hitting... and you can possibly hide a weak fielder but you can't hide a weak hitter...

Also, scoring a run on one swing of the bat, is a very nice commodity, but hitting isn't exclusively power... You need a good combination of power and contact... Also remember Hitting is very STREAKY and a new player to travel ball usually hits a prolong slump, until he adjusts to the pitching (takes a couple months in most cases). So judging hitting in a try-out is not an exact science...

The bottom line is you have to get a feel for the players and whether they are willing to learn and will put out the effort to reach for the goals you set for the team... Also you may want to evaluate the parents also... I would much rather have a dozen kids that want to learn and will work hard to exceed than a couple Prima Donnas who know everyting and think the world owes them a spot on the team... But if your priorites are to win a championship.. You find the best Ps you can and you find half of your team that can MASH a ball with a bat.... The rest can be taught....