THE TRYOUT NEVER ENDS

This past summer our Junior National team was having a shoot around in preparation for an exhibition game with another country. It was early in the morning and many of the players were not too excited about having to be up that early. The shoot around took place and it was not one of the better performances by the players.

After the shoot around the coach pulled the players together and told them that they he was disappointed in their performance. He also asked if any of them knew who the gentlemen were, that were sitting off to the side when practice was taking place. The answer was no. Coach proceeded to tell them that they were all scouts for the NBA and they had just had their first tryout for the NBA and first impressions are hard to change. Needless to say we never had another poor shoot around. Anytime a stranger walked in the gym; the players assumed he must be another NBA scout and did not want to have another bad tryout.

Too often, players think a “tryout” is a one time event.

Players need to understand that every time they walk onto the court eyes are watching and conducting a tryout. Tryouts also occur off the court. The behaviour of a player before and after the game is just as important as the performance on the court. How a player handles being subbed. How she sits with her teammates on the bench. When a player shows up late for a practice, this is part of the tryout. When a player decides to sub herself out of a drill this is part of a tryout. When a player does not touch the lines in a conditioning drill, this is part of a tryout. When a player only goes 75% during a drill, this is part of a tryout. When a player misbehaves in a hotel room on the road, this is part of the tryout. All of these little details go into a tryout.

Players must take responsibility for their actions at all times. That means how they travel, how they handle meal time, bed time, meeting time, practice time and all the time in between. There are always eyes that are evaluating you... the tryout never ends.

(Thanks Coach MacKay)