In many leagues, teams are put together via a "Player Draft" process.
For coaches, this process can be somewhat nerve racking. Many coaches
may only know a handful of players, if any at all. While many leagues
have a try-out or "player combine", the drills in the try-out are
limited at best and don't give a coach much insight as to the strengths
and weaknesses of the players. Here are a few tips that will help
make your draft less stressful:
1. Find out what the Draft Process is BEFORE THE DRAFT. If the draft
order or anything associated with the draft does not seem to make
sense, bring it up before the draft begins. Bringing up an issue in
the middle of the draft, after a number of players have already been
selected, will be too late.
2. Do as much preparation work as you can before the draft. Prior
to the draft your league should have a list of players that will be
in the draft. Ask around about the players that will be in draft.
If the draft players are coming up from another level, seek out a
coach from that level and ask him/her to evaluate the players from
last years performance.
3. Before the tryout, make a short list of evaluation categories.
For baseball, the categories may be: Arm Strength, Fielding, Base
Running, Hitting. For Football the categories may be: Speed, Size/Strength,
Agility, Throwing, Catching, Blocking. Designate a number 1-5 for
each player, for each category so that during the draft you can easily
refer to your evaluation.
4. Most importantly, remember you're dealing with children and coaching
youth sports. This is not the NFL Draft. Your job as a coach is to
teach the children not come away with the "steal of the draft". There
are so many other things that are more important when coaching youth
sports. Don't get too caught up with the draft.
