A general note to clubs about tryouts

[Anonymous]

My kid is on a first team in a big club and we had two kids from the rec side added to our team last fall at U14. They are really good too. They just showed up at tryouts and tried out. And I have heard there are other talented players on the rec side who just can't afford travel. So its not unheard of and I don't fault parents with no experience with travel sports (not just soccer, any travel sport) expecting something called a tryout to be a real tryout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another hijacked thread.
Soccer parents... go back to your SOCCER forum!

This applies to all sport. Lots of sports have tryouts. And fake tryouts.

Yep, big baseball clubs with lots of teams do this, too. This is a tryout convo, not really a soccer convo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another hijacked thread.
Soccer parents... go back to your SOCCER forum!

If you have helpful info from a different sport, feel free to share it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on a first team in a big club and we had two kids from the rec side added to our team last fall at U14. They are really good too. They just showed up at tryouts and tried out. And I have heard there are other talented players on the rec side who just can't afford travel. So its not unheard of and I don't fault parents with no experience with travel sports (not just soccer, any travel sport) expecting something called a tryout to be a real tryout.

I’m assuming this is Arlington or Alexandria or a similar large club if there is a “rec” side to the club. I highly doubt they just showed up. Their coach or someone within the organization probably recognized that they are very talented and encouraged them to try out and will likely help them with the finances if they need it.

I’m sure some coaches are connected or have access to informal Hispanic leagues in the area and try to encourage and recruit players that they’ve seen from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is on a first team in a big club and we had two kids from the rec side added to our team last fall at U14. They are really good too. They just showed up at tryouts and tried out. And I have heard there are other talented players on the rec side who just can't afford travel. So its not unheard of and I don't fault parents with no experience with travel sports (not just soccer, any travel sport) expecting something called a tryout to be a real tryout.

I’m assuming this is Arlington or Alexandria or a similar large club if there is a “rec” side to the club. I highly doubt they just showed up. Their coach or someone within the organization probably recognized that they are very talented and encouraged them to try out and will likely help them with the finances if they need it.

I’m sure some coaches are connected or have access to informal Hispanic leagues in the area and try to encourage and recruit players that they’ve seen from there.

You really made some logical leaps there. These rec kids must be poor, Hispanic kids, who have to be told about tryouts by a coach and not just....see it on a website like everyone else. And, there couldn't possibly be any other kind of good rec player who would make a higher U14 team. Not without---gasp----paying for years and years on a lower travel team! What was it all for? lol

[Anonymous]

We are on a competitive team (top EDP levels) that is mostly Hispanic and occasionally have friendly scrimmages or participate in small Latino/Hispanic tournaments. We played a rec team from PWSI that was all Hispanic and we lost.

There’s a world of other “travel” soccer played in other communities. Advertised by word of mouth and still cash-based if you can believe that. They’re not checking out big clubs websites unless someone has told them to look into.

Otherwise, at least where we live, our local neighborhood rec leagues are not diverse at all. All the Hispanic kids play on Hispanic teams that run their own rec leagues. I’m sure some other areas have better rec leagues but ours aren’t great. Some of the kids also play travel soccer at the same time and they are playing on lower level teams.

[Anonymous]

Can someone share whether basketball tryouts are the same way?

If I have a kid coming from Rec or CYO basketball, would teams be open to having them practice before tryouts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone share whether basketball tryouts are the same way?

If I have a kid coming from Rec or CYO basketball, would teams be open to having them practice before tryouts?

It depends on the club. A lot are quiet over the winter and may or may not even be practicing. When my kids were much younger, their club played in a very low key fall league and would just add anyone who inquired to the roster. If they do CYO, reach out to players on their teams who play aau

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone share whether basketball tryouts are the same way?

If I have a kid coming from Rec or CYO basketball, would teams be open to having them practice before tryouts?

AAU basketball is much more wild wild west. It all kind of depends on that particular coach and that particular team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another hijacked thread.
Soccer parents... go back to your SOCCER forum!

Basesball is VERY similar.

[Anonymous]

I generally think travel is a ridiculous waste of money -- almost none of the kids will end up playing college, literally none will play pro ball. And I hate traveling far away on the weekends.

But... if I had it to do over again, if it was something my kids really really wanted to play, I'd have them try out for travel the very first year it opened up because it's infinitely harder to make after that. There's also far less difference physically between the kids when they're younger-- and I've noticed that coaches care a lot about how the kids "look" (are they tall? big? etc) and you can't control that when you're 10/11. And by then, the rec league isn't very competitive. Which is frustrating for all.

I miss the way it was when I was a kid. I think I played rec until I was 13 because that's when the travel league started. I played in middle and high school and on the college club team, so was a decent player. But I suspect travel leagues will continue getting younger, not older. Wait until they open it up to Kinders...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I generally think travel is a ridiculous waste of money -- almost none of the kids will end up playing college, literally none will play pro ball. And I hate traveling far away on the weekends.

But... if I had it to do over again, if it was something my kids really really wanted to play, I'd have them try out for travel the very first year it opened up because it's infinitely harder to make after that. There's also far less difference physically between the kids when they're younger-- and I've noticed that coaches care a lot about how the kids "look" (are they tall? big? etc) and you can't control that when you're 10/11. And by then, the rec league isn't very competitive. Which is frustrating for all.

I miss the way it was when I was a kid. I think I played rec until I was 13 because that's when the travel league started. I played in middle and high school and on the college club team, so was a decent player. But I suspect travel leagues will continue getting younger, not older. Wait until they open it up to Kinders...

They already have skills classes for kinders

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Question: my child tried out for a sports club that rhymes with "Pallor" that had three teams already. They had two tryouts last week and a third one much later (this Saturday). We were told that the first team received their offers before tryouts began and the tryouts were actually just for the lower teams and that was standard for "Pallor".

At what point should we assume our child has not made the second team? We wouldn't pay $4k for the third or possible fourth team. Or if the offer for the second team hasn't come yet, is it safe to assume our child was a last pick and won't play much?

And another question, do they wait to make offers until after the third tryout? Why is the third tryout so much later in time than the first two?

This little subthread is making me LOL. I can only speak to what's going on in one of the age groups. There have been multiple rounds of offers. Some kids got offers early to stay on their same teams, at least for the first and second teams. But not all kids on those teams got offers at the same time because some were apparently on the bubble to move up or down. Then another round of offers went out to kids on the bubble confirming their placements, as well as kids placed on the third team.

I don't know how many new kids have gotten offers. But I would not expect a second team offer to be coming if you haven't yet heard anything.

Is it true that the first team kids all got offers to stay on their teams before the tryouts started and that the tryouts actually aren't for any open spots on the first team?
I---naively--thought it was a real competition for all the teams (oldest kid what can i say).

That's what I heard from a friend who has a child on the first team. He got his return-to-the-team offer before the first tryout and so did other kids.

Well that's because their season IS the tryout. We had some flip flopping in our club- kids swapped from top to next team and vice versa. This was before any other offers went out.

Yes, this is what we were told. I feel bad for anyone whose coaches lead them to believe that tryouts are a chance to make a big move. If you kid is on the cusp of being moved up, you probably have some indication of that by being invited to guest play or practice sometimes with the higher team. If your kid never starts a game, isn't getting great feedback from the coach, and gets less playing time than others, then you're probably on the cusp of being moved down. Tryouts just help solidify what the coaches are thinking. They are constantly talking all season about who should be where.

It's pretty obvious. Why would a one or two time scrimmage tryout be the time to show your stuff instead of a real game when it counts? Anyone can have a good tryout.

Having moved several times including 2 overseas moves, not all the kids are known quantities. Tryouts are also for kids who are new to the area, switching clubs, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I generally think travel is a ridiculous waste of money -- almost none of the kids will end up playing college, literally none will play pro ball. And I hate traveling far away on the weekends.

But... if I had it to do over again, if it was something my kids really really wanted to play, I'd have them try out for travel the very first year it opened up because it's infinitely harder to make after that. There's also far less difference physically between the kids when they're younger-- and I've noticed that coaches care a lot about how the kids "look" (are they tall? big? etc) and you can't control that when you're 10/11. And by then, the rec league isn't very competitive. Which is frustrating for all.

I miss the way it was when I was a kid. I think I played rec until I was 13 because that's when the travel league started. I played in middle and high school and on the college club team, so was a decent player. But I suspect travel leagues will continue getting younger, not older. Wait until they open it up to Kinders...

But you can do both! DD still plays rec with her buddies and then travel as well. Same with her basketball friends- they do AAU and our rec team. And it's a blast!

[Anonymous]

My kid is on a Tier 1 hockey team with just one team at each level. They gave no timeline—just said “you will hear from us with an offer or you won’t hear at all.” Fortunately, our coach called an hour after tryouts with the offer. The club didn’t send email for multiple days.