Making the Team by Ken Gamble

(This article discusses ODP, but is equally applicable to a travel team or a high school / middle school team)

As parents, we tend to look at ODP as a destination when we should have our children view it as a journey. We want to protect our children against unnecessary disappointment. So, emphasize to them that the main reason players should be trying out for the state ODP pool is to get the top-notch training available – not just to make the team. There are a lot of knocks against the ODP concept. Among them are that it is too expensive, coaches tend to pick players from the clubs they know, and that the choices are too subjective. All of those are true. But it also true that ODP provides a chance for players to play against the better players in the state and to increase their skill level in a way they might not otherwise. 

Eight Steps to a Better Tryout Performance

Have you ever been in a situation where you desperately wanted to make a team, but you had to go through a grueling tryout period?  In the tryout, you are accompanied by a hundred or so other players with the exact same goal.