Picking New Recruits
With our coming decisions on who should make the team and who should not, I have to wonder what should be the correct process for picking people for the A-team. Do you want to go for a kid who has played his entire life and therefore really impresses based on the fact that he is straight up more experienced than his peers? Or is athleticism/enthusiasm more important? There are obviously a few kids that are pretty much shoe-ins to make the team as they have a little bit of both, but Ultimate remains a college sport and the ability for a person to pick it up freshman year in college and soon become a valuable contributor to the team remains, so the peripheral kids I kinda feel like it would be really hard to truly pick who should play A-team and who should be "cut".
Anyway, my real question is, to what extent should personality play a role in who is accepted onto the team and who is not? If a kid shows that he has a fair amount of experience coming in and is also pretty athletic, but is a total creep do you really want to take them? To a certain extent exclusivity is bullshit, but still i dont like weirdos. Hmmm, this probably has less to do with ultimate than just picking friends ahaha, but it is still a club sport, we are here to have fun in the end and we don't have an obligation to take them. On another note, if you see a kid who is a little bit better than another kid, but your not sure he will stay with the team (join frats and whatnot) who should you take? Basically at what level should you value your perception of a kid's devotion?
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3 comments:
My policy, is just to take too many people, always. While its true that your sense of how committed a kid will be is important, you also never know how kids will turn out. Anyway, I'd always rather take too many people and than too few. It's my belief that about half of the kids you pick will stay, but the key is seeing how many you can get hooked on frisbee and the team.
Also, at tryouts, watch the kids that DON'T stand out. Look for kids who have potential, athletically, mostly. How quickly they pick up throwing is another thing to keep in mind as well. I still believe that's 90% of the reason I made the team in the first place.
So the obvious stand outs = really athletic
or good throws.
less obvious kids I'd definitely take:
a kid who:
1. decent athletic ability (quickness over top speed)
2. smart on the field/picks ups drills quickly
3. seems to have a knack for picking up throws (watch for touch)
Bonus factor: intensity/enthusiasm