Spring 2024 PAC Team Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. What’s the goal of Spring Basketball?
The primary objective of Spring Basketball is player development. During this season, the focus is on pushing players to enhance their skills, learn how to compete and work on areas where they may have weaknesses.
Q: We are on Spring Break, is there any other opportunity to tryout?
Tryouts will recommence following Spring Break as part of our initial training week beginning April 1st. Individuals unable to attend the initial tryouts will be included in the sessions during the first week of April.
Q: What is the purpose of having tryouts?
Tryouts are essential to evaluate each player's current skill level and determine the most suitable team placement. Players are assessed based on their abilities, and this assessment guides the team placement process. Since maturity and skill levels can evolve annually, a player's evaluation in one year may not necessarily be the same in subsequent years. This approach ensures a fair and balanced program.
Q: Who will assess the tryouts?
Our PAC coaches and trainers will be responsible for evaluating the players. We will have a team of 8-10 coaches assessing the players.
Q: Are there any plans for additional tryouts before Spring Break?
Yes, there may be additional tryouts depending on the group and teams. If we have a significant number of players, we will aim to have more evaluators observe them before Spring Break.
​
Q: When will the teams be announced?
Teams will be announced via email as soon as they are finalized.
Q: How many travel teams will there be?
Depending on grades, it will most likely be one per age group. We also will discuss with the team if they can commit to traveling due to cost and other commitments. As an organization, we prefer our non-HS players to stay local and train. With our partnership with Under Armour, we have a unique opportunity to experience the circuit and provide a path for high level competition.
Q: When is the practice schedule set to begin?
Practice sessions will commence during the first week of April.
Q: What is the usual number of players on each team?
Typically, there are 8-10 players on each team, depending on the total number of players who try out and the number of teams we form.
Q: Will every participant be placed on a team? How many teams are available?
Our program aims to include all players without making cuts, although this may not always be possible. We offer the UA Select Team, Tournament Teams (which compete locally), and our Development Teams.
Q: If we make the UA Select Team but do not want to travel, can we play on the local Tournament Team?
Yes.
Q: Will we receive a refund if we are not placed on our preferred team?
Certainly. Our program prioritizes player development, aiming to place individuals on teams that will facilitate their growth. If you feel that another program would better align with your goals, we fully support your decision and will provide a refund accordingly.
Q: What is the process for selecting coaches?
The majority of our coaches are PAC coaches/trainers. They are required to fill out an application and undergo a background check to qualify for coaching positions. Additionally, we may have parent coaches in our program who have a successful coaching background within our community.
Q. What is covered by our Spring Registration fees?
The Spring Registration fees cover:
- 2-3 practices/trainings per week
- Participation in 3-6 tournaments
- Uniform and Shooting Shirts
- Team Insurance
- Coaches/Trainers
Please note that travel and accommodations are not included in the fees.
Q: We have applied for financial aid. When can we expect to receive notification regarding our application status?
We will provide a response as soon as possible. The approval of financial aid depends on our capacity to secure funding and resources to offer support. This process involves ongoing discussions with each family that requires assistance. Our objective is to offer at least partial assistance to every family facing financial constraints.
Critical Additional Questions:
Why are parents not allowed to watch tryouts at The PAC?
Here are just a few bullet points:
-
Reducing Pressure: Sometimes, parents' presence can increase the pressure on players, leading to nervousness and affecting their performance during tryouts. By excluding parents, players may feel more relaxed and able to showcase their skills without added stress.
-
Maintaining Objectivity: Coaches need to evaluate players objectively based on their skills and performance rather than external factors like parental influence or expectations. This helps in forming fair and unbiased assessments of each player's abilities.
-
Focus on Development: Tryouts are primarily focused on assessing players' abilities and potential for improvement. Without parental distractions, coaches can concentrate on providing constructive feedback and creating development plans for each player.
-
Avoiding Interference: Parents may unintentionally interfere with the tryout process by offering unsolicited advice or opinions, which can disrupt the coaching staff's evaluation process and create confusion among players.
-
Ensuring Equal Opportunities: By conducting tryouts without parental presence, organizations can ensure that all players have an equal opportunity to showcase their skills and compete for team placements based solely on merit.
Overall, the decision to exclude parents from basketball tryouts is often aimed at creating a conducive and fair environment for player evaluation and team selection. This decision may be correct or incorrect, but it is the one we believe is best.
Reason Why Parents Should Not Watch Practice? (Taken from the Internet and we fully concur with this sentiment)
1. A parent’s role in their child’s sports endeavor is to be supportive.
Outside of this supportive and encouraging role. We find ourselves saying things such as “You should pay better attention to the coach when they are talking.” or “You kept passing to the other team, you need to be more focused.” or “I sure wish you would try harder.” When we watch practices, we open the door to talking about a part of our child’s sport experience we should not be talking about.
2. Sometimes it’s better not to know.
It’s better not to know if our child isn’t paying attention, or if our child is struggling with the speed of play and giving the ball away, or if our child is not working as hard as we know they can. It’s better not to know because when we do know these things, the stress creeps in.What our child needs to receive from us is our support, not our stress. They need to know that we believe in their ability to be their best. When our child feels our stress, they hear “You should have done better” instead of “I believe in your ability to be your best.”
3. When we watch practices, there is a clear shift in the dynamic between our child and their team and coach.
After all, as parents, we are the most authoritative figure in our child’s life. Naturally, they will feel different when we are watching practices. We limit our child’s ability to be a teammate when we insert ourselves into their team dynamic, even if it is from the bleachers or from a distance.
4. Being a teammate is an honor and a responsibility.
Our children must learn to play for their teammates and their coach, not for us. When we are in attendance, they are naturally playing for us – to show off to us, to win our approval. We need to allow our children to concentrate not on winning our approval, rather on winning the approval of their teammates and coaches through their personal level of commitment (see 5, below).
5. Our child’s commitment to their team needs to be a decision they make, it can’t be anything we try to facilitate.
If we are involved in this decision, our children will eventually burn out or lose interest. If we want to support our children as they develop an identity as an athlete and team member, we must allow their commitment to their team to come from within them. When we are too involved, we hamper this development.
6. Parents should have better things to do than watching practice.
If we put our children front and center in our lives, to the point that we are bringing heaters out to training so WE can stay warm and watch, like I witnessed the other night, we are putting too much pressure on them. We are quietly telling them that our happiness, in some way, depends on their performance. That’s too much pressure. Our happiness should depend on us – on the walk or run we could take, on the book we could read, on the other things we could accomplish in the hour and a half of their training.