Are Preseason Open Gyms Really Optional?

Every fall the flyer goes up: open gym, Tuesdays and Thursdays, all students welcome, attendance optional. And every fall, kids and parents ask the same question in the hallway. Is it really optional? Or is the coach quietly taking attendance and using it when roster spots get decided?

It is a fair question, and coaches disagree on the answer. Some believe showing up is the first test of commitment and should matter. Others believe “optional” has to mean optional, or you lose trust with families before the season even starts. I have spent a lot of years around freshman and JV programs, and I think both sides are protecting something real. Here is how to sort it out and set a policy you can explain to anyone.

Start With the Rules You Have to Follow

Before getting into philosophy, know your rules. Many state associations and school districts have specific rules about open gyms, and they are not the same everywhere.

Check Your State Association and Your AD

Some states require open gyms to be open to any student in the school, not just players the coach has in mind. Some limit how much instruction a coach can give during that time, or whether coaches can be in the gym at all. Some make it clear that attendance cannot be required or used as a condition of making a team. Your athletic director should be your first call. Get the rules in writing, and build your policy around them.

Know the Difference Between Open Gym and Practice

Open gym is not practice and it is not tryouts. If your open gyms start to look like structured workouts with drills, evaluation sheets and mandatory attendance, you may be running something your rules do not allow. Even where the rules are loose, calling something optional and then treating it as required creates a credibility problem you do not want.

The Case for Counting Attendance

Coaches who want attendance to count are not trying to be unfair. They are trying to reward the kids who put in the work.

Showing Up Is a Real Signal

The players who come to every open gym are usually the players who love the game, who will show up early to practice and who will be in the gym over winter break. Commitment is a skill, and you see it before the season starts. It feels wrong to treat the kid who came twelve times the same as the kid who came zero.

Open Gym Builds Chemistry

Kids who play together in the fall arrive at tryouts already knowing each other’s games. That kind of familiarity, which you can read more about in building chemistry during the offseason, shows up in how a team plays early in the season. Coaches naturally want players who are part of that.

Players Get Better

More reps mean better players. Kids who play regularly in the fall are usually sharper at tryouts than kids who have not touched a ball since summer. In that sense, open gym attendance already shows up at tryouts whether you count it or not.

The Case for Truly Optional

The other side has an equally strong argument, and at the freshman and JV level in particular, it matters a lot.

Optional Has to Mean Optional

If you say something is optional and then hold it against a kid, you have told a family one thing and done another. That damages trust with the player, the parents and anyone they talk to. Trust is hard to rebuild once a family feels misled about tryouts.

Not Every Kid Can Be There

Some players are in a fall sport. Some have jobs, younger siblings to watch, rides that do not work or schoolwork that has to come first. Some are new to the school or new to basketball and do not know open gym exists. If attendance quietly counts, you are often rewarding circumstance rather than commitment.

It Can Shrink Your Pool

When kids believe the roster was decided in open gym, the ones who could not go often do not bother coming to tryouts. That costs you players, and at the lower levels you need as many kids in the gym as you can get.

Where I Land

My recommendation is simple. Keep open gym truly optional, say so clearly and mean it. Then make sure tryouts are where roster decisions get made.

Evaluate at Tryouts, Not Before

Everyone gets a fresh look at tryouts. The player who came to every open gym will probably look sharper, and that is fine. That advantage was earned through reps, not through attendance points. But the kid who was busy with another sport or a job still gets a fair chance to show what they can do.

Reward Commitment After the Roster Is Set

Commitment matters, so measure it where you can require it: practices, film sessions, team events and how players treat each other once the season starts. That is where clear expectations, like the ones described in setting non negotiables in your program, should do the work. Hold everyone to them equally.

Use Open Gym to Recruit, Not to Sort

Open gym is one of the best tools you have to get more kids interested in basketball. Treat it as a welcome, not a filter. Invite kids from PE classes, other sports and the hallway. Make it fun and low pressure. A freshman who shows up once and has a good time is more likely to come to tryouts.

If Your Program Has Always Counted It

Some programs have treated open gym as a quiet tryout for years, and changing that can feel like lowering the bar. It is not. You are moving the bar to a place where every player can reach it. If your head coach or staff is used to the old way, have the conversation before the flyer goes up, not after a parent complains. Walk through your state and district rules together, talk about the players you may be losing, and agree on one message. If the staff decides attendance will be considered in any way your rules allow, then say that openly and stop calling it optional. Either answer can be defended. A hidden answer cannot. What you want to avoid is a staff where one coach says it does not matter and another coach keeps a list, because players and parents will figure that out quickly.

How to Communicate Your Policy

The fastest way to end the rumors is to say clearly what open gym is and is not.

Put It in Writing

Write a short paragraph for your flyer, your website or your preseason message to families:

• Open gym is optional and open to all students, according to school and state rules
• Attendance is not taken and is not used in tryout decisions
• Roster decisions are made during tryouts only
• Open gym is a chance to play, get in shape and meet teammates

Say It Out Loud

Tell players at the first open gym. Tell parents if they ask. Tell your staff so everyone gives the same answer. Consistency is what makes people believe you.

Then Live It

The policy only works if your actions match. If a coach on your staff makes comments like “I noticed you have not been coming,” the message is gone. Keep your words and your decisions in line. When a new player shows up for tryouts in November, help them feel part of the group quickly. The ideas in bringing new players into your culture apply here.

Final Thoughts

The open gym debate is really a debate about fairness and commitment. Both matter. The answer is to put each one in the right place. Keep open gym open and optional so every kid has a fair path to tryouts. Make tryouts the only place roster decisions happen. Then build your expectations around commitment once the team is set, and hold everyone to them.

If you are building out your preseason calendar, communication plan and team expectations, you can find the playbooks, practice plans and resources I lean on inside Underdog Hoops University. Getting the preseason right makes everything after it easier.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a coach require players to attend open gym?

In many places, no. Many state associations and districts treat open gym as voluntary and open to all students, and some restrict coach involvement. Rules vary, so check with your athletic director and your state association before you set any expectation.

Should coaches be in the gym during open gyms?

It depends on your rules. Where it is allowed, a coach can supervise, keep things safe and make kids feel welcome. Avoid turning it into an evaluation session or structured practice unless your rules clearly permit that.

How do I reward players who came to every open gym?

You usually do not need to. The reps they got will show up at tryouts. After the roster is set, recognize commitment in ways that do not affect selection, like thanking those players in front of the team or giving them leadership roles they earn through their daily habits.