Youth Soccer Tryouts: Lessons to Be Learned From the Process
A new soccer season starts and soccer tryouts are part of the fabric of our youth sports system. How can we, youth coaches and partens, do the best for our youth soccer players? Here are some ideas on lessons to be learned from the tryout process.
Tryouts are upon all of us as towns and clubs begin the selection process for teams. Youth soccer players may be experiencing showcasing their talents for the first time, while others may have a few evaluations behind them. Every player will experience some type of anxiety associated with playing in front of groups of evaluators with clipboards and pencils jotting down their every move.
Coaches can be a positive force in making sure the players on their current teams understand the set-up and the organization of tryouts so they can start to visualize the event. Coaches should use positive words and motivational terms in practices leading up to tryouts.
As coaches we should play a role in helping players feel confident and calm when they display their skill level to the evaluators. Each team is different from season to season, I would remind the players that it does not matter what team they are selected for but that they are playing this great game. Let the players know how great the season was with them on the team and their next coach and teammates will be thrilled to have them onboard. We need to start to talk about next season is all positive terms so the focus in on playing versus on tryouts.
Tryouts are not immune from flaws. There are many scenarios that may arise from tryouts. In all scenarios parents must be sure to understand that the towns and clubs are doing their best to most effectively place players on the correct teams. In most cases the towns/clubs get it right and if there are concerns we must not react from an emotional perspective but take time to think through the best way to respond to the scenario so that our children will not suffer in the end.
What if my child does not make the higher-level team while their friends/past teammates do?
This will be a difficult discussion to have with your child since they will be playing on a team filled with unfamiliar faces. When we label teams (Division I, II or A, B) we create a hierarchy in youth sport. This hierarchy grants more prestige to the higher level teams and also creates a gap within the program between the haves and maybe the have not’s.
Children want to be with their friends but in some cases the best decision for the program is to have that player match up with athletes of the same or similar talent level. I have told many parents that it may be better for your child to play on a lower level team so they can build confidence and be able to execute skills in a more precise manner free of pressure than they ever could have on a higher-level team.
Sometimes it makes sense to have your child play on a team where they will contribute more to the team results versus on just playing on a higher tier team for status purposes.
What if your child has a poor tryout, what can you do?
Tryouts in some towns/clubs happen over one day or course of days. Usually players are evaluated on a number of criteria from coach evaluations, to game play, and to formal tryouts. When you have a series of criteria to generate a score for each player, you can rely on a more accurate picture when players are selected for teams.
There is usually not much parents can do once scores are recorded for these tryout sessions. Administrators are human and most have children and deal with issues like this each year.
A friendly email or phone call to the administrator explaining the issue is probably a good idea, but do not expect the town/club to make any exceptions.
This can be a teachable moment for your child, they need to understand that come test day we need to try our hardest and sometimes our body may not cooperate and that is okay too. All of the players are winners and that uniform they get at the start of the season should serve to celebrate their accomplishments as a soccer player.
In many cases coaches get to select their team based on a ranking derived from the tryout evaluations.
Should coaches take a chance on a player who may not score high on tryouts assessment but may fill a role on your team?
I am in favor of taking chances on athletes who show consistency and have not had the chance to play up on the higher tier teams. As coaches we need to really examine the skills and attributes each player can bring to the team versus just the scores from tryout results. Having the chance to watch players compete in games and to review prior coach evaluations add much more to the selection process over just the tryout results. Coaches may realize that a soccer player who has been playing at the B level over a number of years may be that spark needed in the midfield for the A level team.
How do coaches get selected for teams?
Before the players demonstrate their skill levels in small-sided situations, decision-making stations, and technical areas, coaches are selected for teams. My concern over the last few years is that our volunteers are being ranked to coach teams and are pulling their lesser skilled child up a level because of where they are selected to coach.
For example, if I am the highest ranked coach for U12 Girls I would be granted the opportunity to coach the A team and my daughter who may be a B level player can play up due to my coaching position. I would argue that teams need to be selected first and coaches should be placed where their children are placed. What is wrong with the highest ranked/educated coach working with lower skilled teams, in fact isn’t that what player development is all about?
On the other hand, what if my daughter is the top player for U12 Girls and I am ranked to be a C level coach? This is a great dilemma for towns, this is a time when my daughter should play for the A team and I should still be coaching – right?
Why not create a system where we have co-coaches or more assistant coaches in order to do what is best for the players and to still keep volunteers active in the program. Town administrators must take a look at coach selection process moving forward to avoid these issues.
It is clear that player tryouts and coach selections are not easy tasks for administrators. Scores are too black and white and when we are assessing human performance there are many gray areas we need to consider. Towns and clubs need to create policies, communicate the standards to all players and coaches, and be fair and consistent through all selection processes.
In the end, we all want the whistle to blow so we can watch these soccer players enjoy this great game.
SoccerToday’s columnist Dr. Dina Gentile is a Professor of Sport Management at Endicott College. A volunteer youth coach herself, Dr. Gentile understands from both practical and theoretical experience what happens on the soccer field. Gentile has also coached the Endicott College Soccer Team for 11 years. Gentile is also the owner/director of Precision Soccer, LLC, which operates camps, clinics, and coach education training throughout the year. She is a former All-American and Academic All-American at Adelphi University. Gentile has been inducted into the Adelphi University and Endicott College Halls of Fame. In addition, she is a trainer with Positive Coaching Alliance and the Girls Program Director with New England Premiership Club – Benfica USA. She is the proud coach of her daughter’s and son’s soccer teams in her hometown.
