It's done, tryouts are over. What a relief. As much as I love coaching, the J.O. tryout process sucks. It's not like school, where you have a finite number of kids who only have one choice, play for you or not. On the club circuit, they can tryout for as many clubs as they want, and they have ten days to decide.
I picked 10, and eight said they were in already, so hopefully they were honest. I don't think the other two are going to make the other clubs they tried out for, but we'll see. The important thing is that my libero and setter were enthusiastically in, and they are of core importance. The thing that surprises me the most is that they all pass pretty well. That bodes well for working my system.
I'm glad to see myself feeling generally positive and optimistic, which comes from two places. The first is that my '06 team was so terrible and apathetic that anything is an improvement from that. And the second thing is that I'm not dealing with a heap of bullshit and roster poaching the way I did every damn year I coached for Quicksilver (except my '04 team).
As the tryout went on, I had a chance to talk to most of the kids, which I've learned is important so you have an idea as to what their personalities are like. They seem like good kids. I suspect they'll get along well. I can't wait!
Next up, IAAPA...
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