Player of the Year and All-area selections: How do you do it?

[Logan]

I'm new to picking POY and AAs. For the last year and half I've basically selected players who I believe are very coachable, possess above average to superior ability and a few other characteristics like sportsmanship, leadership and how they play under adversity - all parameters that in my mind separate players from playas.

What system or criteria do you use to compile your listings for your publication? Do you base your decision on purely on stats and playing ability? Does academic standing, community service or other factors figure into your process. I'm hoping to learn something...anything that might enhance my decision making process.

Thanks in advance.

~ L

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Whenever possible with teams, I try to pick a pure all-star team. So for soccer, for instance, it's not 15 mids and 5 strikers, I try to pick stoppers, sweepers. It's not based purely on stats because sometimes they don't tell the whole story. Sometimes we get complaints, so and so had 3 points more than Johnny who you had as an all-star. Well Johnny can win faceoffs and backchecks so...

Depending on the size of the area and the sport, there will be good players who you don't pick. I've had to leave off scholarship baseball players in the past, whereas most of our girls hockey players don't go on to play in college. Also, I compare them to the other players in our coverage area, not the other players in the state at large or in thier own league.

For more individual sports like swimming and track, I put more weight on the times at state meets. Those are the ones run under the same conditions, with the same timer and against top competition.

For Player of the Year I do consider how well a team did as a tiebreaker. If the kids are of similar abilities and stats but its evident that one kid lifted his team beyond expectations in the playoffs, that counts. At the same time, if the stats/abilities aren't close, I try not to let the postseason hamstring him.

Something I see a lot is colleagues tyring to hard to think outside the box with player of the year, trying to make a splash or discover some kid who's better than who everyone else sees as the de facto choice or the preseason favorite. Don't fall into this trap.

We don't factor in community service or grades when breaking ties between kids of similar abilities. We have a seperate scholar athlete award for that.

 

[Appgrad05]

The big challenge we have is that our area is across four classifications. The only way for us to not make it the big school all-area team is that we judge an athlete by how they did against his/her competition. We get some complaints from the big schools, but I always just point out that the small school kids do with what they have — who knows how they would do if they had better offseason training opportunities and more (and often better) coaches.
I don't pay any attention to year in school. Like JimmyHoward, I pay attention to someone's role and try to not just pick five scorers.

 

[Batman]

Never let off the field stuff play into it, unless the player is serving time in jail or indicted or something.
We generally look at stats first to narrow the field. A kid hitting .400 in baseball gets in the conversation, while someone hitting .220 doesn't even if he's Ozzie Smith with the glove. After that, we'll look at any all-district or all-state awards. It's not a make or break thing, but it is a factor. If someone makes all-state you look pretty stupid if you leave them off your all-area team.
How the team did and a player's role in its success also plays into it. If a pitcher goes 10-0 for a state championship team, he'd likely get the nod over a pitcher who went 8-2 for a team that lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Lastly, talk to the coaches in your area. We always get their input and see if there's anybody we're clearly overlooking. If they've played each other, you can also ask them about other teams and see if anyone stood out.

In sports with clear positions like football and baseball, we usually pick it by positions by make an extra spot or two for utility players, DHs, athletes and kick returners. In soccer and basketball, where players move around a lot more, you can just pick the top players.

 

[TyWebb]

There is no fool-proof system to it. There will always be a parent or a coach that said you gave one of their kids the shaft ... and no not that shaft. That is a whole different problem.

In general, what I do is collect nominations and stats from all the local coaches, talk it over with some of the writers I work with, take into account the postseason and the level of competition and try to pick the player that was the most integral in his/her team's success. It is not necessarily the best player. For instance, this year in basketball I covered a center at a large school that nearly averaged a triple-double, but his team finished in third in the region and was ousted in the first round of the playoffs. On the other hand, I covered a PG that didn't have as big of stats (but still impressive) and he led his team to a region title and a spot in the final four of the state tournament. The latter kid is POY.

As for All-Area teams, I try and keep it specific yet general, if that makes any sense. Like I'll pick a true all-star team like JimmyHoward said, but I won't get too specific with the positions. I'll pick three guards and two forwards for the first team instead of trying to nail down a point guard, shooting guard, power forward, center, blah blah blah. That gives you a little flexibility. Then I do the same for the second team. And ANY kid that is nominated by a coach receives an honorable mention.

But don't worry if you get complaints. You always will and it will usually be over the smallest stuff, like "why is my daughter on the second team but not the first?" Just try to build as solid a case for each selection as you can and live with it. Don't back down from them, like an ump defending a pitch that was clearly outside but was called a strike and cost my softball team the intramural title.

But am I bitter? ... Yes.

 

[apeman33]

My paper only covers four schools. I cover all the games of the main school. However of the six other teams (three boys, three girls) only one sends me anything on a consistent basis. Two others are irregular at best. The other three send nothing.

So for me, this would be pointless. Makes me lucky, I guess.

 

[Idaho]

bribes from AAU coaches, principals, opposing coaches and tennis moms.

 

[slappy4428]

Biggest thing to remember, other than the tennis moms, is that you aren't picking team based on college potential. You're picking it on current value to the team and what they did on the season.

 

[Den1983]

For football, we pick a MVP, Off. Player of Year, Def. Player of Year, Coach of the Year and then 11 players each on offense and defense. For basketball, we pick MVP, OPOY, DPOY, COY and then five players (two guards, two forwards, center). We only cover seven high schools, so it's not too hard and the best players generally stand out. This year, though, we did have a Co-MVP (which I HATE to do).

We account for stats, postseason play and significance to team's success as the factors. And, yes, you'll have plenty of people (i.e. unreasonable parents) disappointed, but that's par for the course.

 

[schiezainc]

For the last year and half I've basically selected players who I believe are very coachable, possess above average to superior ability and a few other characteristics like sportsmanship, leadership and how they play under adversity - all parameters that in my mind separate players from playas.

Jesus, just how many JV players who try hard make your team? :)

 

[Logan]

For the last year and half I've basically selected players who I believe are very coachable, possess above average to superior ability and a few other characteristics like sportsmanship, leadership and how they play under adversity - all parameters that in my mind separate players from playas.

Jesus, just how many JV players who try hard make your team? :)

They would have to be a D1 prospect as a freshman to have a shot ... LOL ... We have 19 schools in our area of coverage with enrollments from about 120 to 1,300.

 

[JimmyHoward33]

I don't pay any attention to year in school.

This is a big one....I've had to convince coaches it's OK if they have a sophomore hitting .440 and their best senior is a .292 guy.

As for All-Area teams, I try and keep it specific yet general, if that makes any sense. Like I'll pick a true all-star team like JimmyHoward said, but I won't get too specific with the positions. I'll pick three guards and two forwards for the first team instead of trying to nail down a point guard, shooting guard, power forward, center, blah blah blah. That gives you a little flexibility. Then I do the same for the second team. And ANY kid that is nominated by a coach receives an honorable mention.

Exactly...we don't actually list positions, but we usually do a Dream Team depending on how many all-stars there are. But I always go over a potential dream team in my head as I'm looking at it to make sure I don't neglect any position. And I'm pretty liberal with honorable mentions.

 

[Starman]

Man, this is about the eleventy-thousandth thread on this, but what the heck, it's fun, so here's how I've done it when I've been in complete control:

1) Make a concerted effort during the season to actually physically cover as many of the better teams in your area as possible. Make your own observations as to who are the better players. Have a staff meeting including all staffers, stringers, photogs, anybody who saw the teams, to talk over the list. If your paper purports to be an authority on prep sports coverage in your area, don't be afraid to act like it. (If not, you probably shouldn't be picking all-area teams.)

2) Solicit "informational input" from the coaches: stats, comments, etc etc. DO NOT tell the coaches you are taking "nominations" -- they will assume that means their "nominations" are guaranteed to make the team. Allowing the coaches formal say into the process just opens it up to all sorts of politicking, favoritism, sandbagging, etc etc.

3) Pay no attention to class standing, academics, etc etc. You are picking the best basketball players in your area, nothing else. Pay no attention to how good a guy, how hardworking, etc etc the player is supposed to be -- according to the coaches they will all be just wonderful young men or women. The only exception to this is, if the player missed any significant playing time due to academic, disciplinary (or these days, legal) ineligbility, do NOT, in any way whatsoever, give him any credit for how good he "might have been" if he had been able to play. If his absence hurts his team, grade him down accordingly. Give him credit for what he did do while he was actually playing in games -- everything else is a zero.

3) Pick a first team (or 'dream team' or whatever fancy name you want to give it) corresponding to a starting lineup in the sport. Five basketball players, 22 football players (plus maybe a kicker), 8 baseball/softball players (plus 2-4 pitchers). Pick the team by position so that at least in theory, your team could actually take the field/floor for a game. DO NOT duplicate positions (4 QBs, 8 shortstops, etc etc) although it's OK to fudge positions a BIT if you need to do so to assemble your team.

4) Pick a second team corresponding to a "full roster" -- 12 basketball players, about 20 baseball or softball, about 50 football players.

5) Throw anybody else on the coaches' "input list" or who you even remember playing decently on honorable mention. We're not talking about a sacred institution here, it doesn't hurt anybody to put 2 extra kids on HM, but it makes 2 extra sets of parents buy a paper.

6) Never ever ever ever pick co-players or co-coaches of the year. Have some balls.

7) Once the teams are selected, run the stories, then "never explain, never complain." Anybody calls to *****, just tell them, "we took all the info into consideration and we made our call." That's another great reason not to base the whole thing on a coaches' vote, because if you don't, nobody can call in demanding to see the ballots.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

I always took nominations from the area coaches from their own team and made sure I got stats and any other incidental information they were willing to provide. For wrestling, I set up a points system (1 point for every win, 2 for tournament championships, 2 for area championships, and so on) that I thought worked really well. Then I picked my teams based on all that information. It takes some legwork, but I found it saved me some headaches later on. I just figured if their own coach wouldn't nominate them, they weren't worthy. I didn't get too many complaints. The most memorable one centered on my all-area quarterback one year. I had two guys with similar stats, similar college offers and were held in similar esteem by opponents. So I used winning as the tiebreaker. The other guy's mom didn't like it. That's the nature of the beast. She called, and we had a lengthy discussion in which I just laid out my case, and while she didn't agree with me, she at least felt like her voice was heard. Make no mistake, you're going to get phone calls. Where it gets bad is if you get that call and cannot make a case for your decision. Make your case, and be polite about it. Most people, though they may not like it, will accept that.

 

[HanSenSE]

No matter who or how you make your picks, you're gonna get calls. Be ready. But how many of us have gotten this call:

"Podunk Press sports"

"Yes, my son just made the Bigtown Times All-Region team, and I was wondering if you were going to do a story."

I'm always tempted to answer:
"No, because they're our biggest competitior, but, you know what, we're putting him on our All-County team, so you can call them and ask if they'll do a story about that."

 

[Dan Hickling]

Is there any real value to doing All Areas and POYs? If so, what?

 

[schiezainc]

Is there any real value to doing All Areas and POYs? If so, what?

Money. </Every ad rep ever>

Pride in your work </Ever reporter who hasn't completely checked out>

 

[Starman]

Is there any real value to doing All Areas and POYs? If so, what?

Money. </Every ad rep ever>

Pride in your work </Ever reporter who hasn't completely checked out>

yeah, those two, and if you do a reasonably-decent job, it does somewhat enhance your paper's rep for prep coverage. Not like it's a huge, huge deal, but it's worth a couple work shifts.

No matter who or how you make your picks, you're gonna get calls. Be ready. But how many of us have gotten this call:

"Podunk Press sports"

"Yes, my son just made the Bigtown Times All-Region team, and I was wondering if you were going to do a story."

"No." Click

 

[spud]

7) Once the teams are selected, run the stories, then "never explain, never complain." Anybody calls to *****, just tell them, "we took all the info into consideration and we made our call."

I don't necessarily agree with this. If you have any conviction behind your picks, you've got it thought out already and, hopefully, the defense is either ironclad or at the very least it's good enough to make sense to the rational. Doesn't mean you have to get into a shouting match, or even an argument, but if anybody calls in questioning our girls' bball POY (and I know they will) I've got my defense, and I'm sticking by it.

Sure, after a time there's only so much you can say, but I'm A-OK standing by our pick and letting people know why we went the way we did.

 

[wisportswriter]

Is there any real value to doing All Areas and POYs? If so, what?

Only if you like people talking about your section/product.