A couple of weeks ago as I was busy wasting time scrolling through Facebook I came across something that made me think I must have fallen asleep in front of the TV and not woken up for three months. It was an announcement from a couple of teams about “open workouts” (translation: tryouts) for the 205-2026 season.

“Wait, what?” I thought. I mean, the high school season is still in high gear everywhere high school softball is played in the spring, and travel teams are still working their way through their “shake off the rust” tournaments in preparation for the travel season to begin in earnest.

So why in the name of Carol Hutchins are travel teams already looking for players for the next freaking season??? (You know I’m not happy because I used three question marks instead of one.)

This is just insane. Coaches should be focused right now on the players in front of them and helping each and every one of them reach their potential this season, not out looking for new players so they can unceremoniously dump anyone on their roster they don’t think measures up.

But of course, that’s one of the problems in today’s game. There aren’t as many coaches as there used to be, at least by what I would define as a coach.

Instead, they have been replaced by “managers” who, instead of developing the players they have, are always on the lookout to acquire players someone else has taken the time and effort to coach up. Like Pokemon cards, if you collect enough of those already-baked players you can just throw them on the field and watch them bring home the trophies/rings/banners/whatever is being given away to tournament winners these days.

So now it’s a race to see who can get to those high-level players first.

Now, admittedly, that’s nothing new. I remember when teams used to hold tryouts after the current season was over.

There were always a couple of programs that would try to jump the gun, either by playing in sanctions that ended earlier so they technically were into next season or by holding “special tryouts” maybe a week before their season ended. These organizations would pressure the kids who tried out to make a decision right then and there so they could lock up the talent before anyone else had a chance, although if someone better came along the original offer might be rescinded anyway and then those kids would have to scramble to find a new team.

But even those shenanigans occurred right around the end of the season for everyone.

Now they’re looking for next year’s team while this year’s team is just getting going with their season. And people wonder why players don’t seem to be as loyal to their teams or coaches as they used to be.

In my opinion, and the opinion of a lot of coaches I know whom I respect immensely, the focus during this season should be on helping the players you have now get better rather than finding their replacements. That’s the way to build a winning culture and create a positive experience.

Holding public workouts for next year’s team, before you even know what players or positions you may need, is a sure way to create divisiveness and negativity within the current team. It could even drive some of your current “good” players out because they’re not feeling valued or loved by the organization or the coaching staff.

It’s also a bad idea because you never know who is going to step up during this season and surprise you. If you listen to current high-level college players talk about their early days in the sport, you’ll find many of them were not studs right out of the gate.

Many, in fact, sat the bench a lot (although that’s a travesty in and of itself). Some of the best pitchers today were the #4 or #5 pitcher on their travel teams before they grew, or the mechanics from their lessons kicked in, or someone just gave them a chance to pitch some quality innings and it all came together for them.

It just seems wrong to me for teams and organizations to be ignoring who they have in front of them right now in search of some mythical team for the future. At least if they really believe in the stuff on their website that says they’re “in it for the girls.”

There will be plenty of time for tryouts or other events to convince top talent that they would be better served with a new team that’s “more at their level” than the one they’re on now. I wouldn’t even object so much if you did it right before the end of the season, although don’t be surprised if a few of your “lesser” players on the current team decide not to spend the time and money going to whatever nationals you’re heading to if they’re feeling like you’re planning to cut them once the last out is recorded.

But seeking out new players at the beginning of your primary season? That’s just ludicrous.

Run with the players you have now and help them finish the season better than they started. You just might find you don’t need as many new players as you thought.