Quote: Does anyone think that most coaches, especially ones with already good teams, know who will be on the team before tryouts? I mean, why get a new player with certain risks involved when you can just keep an old player who you know well and know the "risks" associated with taking them?
Quote: Agree 100% about finding the right place for each kid, but that kind of testing/playing doesn't intentionally happen on the highest level teams as the kids get older. It may still happen, but I'll wager it isn't the coaches original plan. Teams below the top level are the place where these experiments happen.
I had (perhaps mistakenly) assumed we were talking about the highest level teams since the thread was about tryouts.
For the record, I was referring to teams that require tryouts, although my personal involvement (U18 Classic and high school varsity) is not at what is considered the top competitive level. Sometimes good things can happen that weren't part of the "original plan"...all part of adaptation to circumstances and observations. As Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
