New to McLen Youth Soccer Tryouts - Predetermined Groupings?
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Anonymous
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My family moved from NJ to McLean during winter. My daughter was on the second level travel teaming NJ and this spring she was aiming to try out for the same level team which as I read is the white team for McLean.
During yesterday's tryouts I was confused watching the groupings. I finally asked another parent and they said the groups are based on current teams. I noticed my daughter was not in the second level team group but with the third level team and rec players. Do the coaches move kids up into other groupings on the second day of tryouts? How does a kid try out for a certain team? Do they need to ask? Do I? Any assistance is appreciated. My daughter was frustrated all evening wondering why she was playing in scrimmages with rec players (she asked them which team they were on). Anyone know how McLean Youth Soccer conducts their tryouts? |
Anonymous
| Yes the groups are already made up by the coaches and unless a kid really stand out they always pick their own kids first. If the coaches pay attention and see your kid stands apart they may move her to another group. The problem is that third group you're talking about has tons of kids (gold team and 10-15 rec kids) so it's really hard to stand out when it's basically a ball of girls running around. It's 2-3 vs 1 nonstop. Never been a fan of how they do tryouts. |
Anonymous
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It's not a Mclean-specific thing -- most clubs do this.
Coaches and staff (i.e., the evaluators) will attempt to organize the players into different groups based on perceived skill level / ability. Usually the evaluators look to move kids into higher or lower groups as they watch them performing drills and small-sided scrimmages. The idea is to try to cluster the players into first group, second group, third group, etc. It's not perfect (and it's not easy) and often clubs will run multiple tryout sessions so that they have time to look at each player and adjust the groupings. By the ends of the tryouts, they have an idea of who would be candidates for Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, etc. There isn't anything you need to do as a parent, other than getting your kid to each tryout session for the club, being positive, and encouraging your kid to do their best and keep working hard and paying attention during every tryout session. After offers go out to players for the various teams, if you think that your player has been offered a spot on a team that is not up to her skill level, you could call the club and ask to speak with them about it. And clubs do sometimes move players up/down during the year (or by the end of the year). |
Anonymous
| How many kids will they roster for each of the 3 U12 teams? |
Anonymous
Green team is 15-16 kids. White and Gold are at 12 kids. They can go up to 16 but they don't. So it's 16, 12, 12. |
Anonymous
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Coach here, not from McLean. We normally group the kids within the current team and quickly figure out the on the bubble kids. Bottom of 1st and top of 2nd, I pay most of my attention there on day 1. While I do that we have a mixed group of outside kids and we have coaches that monitor that until we see something to move them into the bubble group. I know which one of my kids already have a spot for next year and although we make them come, I already know they have offers.
My goal is to determine how many midfielders, attackers, etc i need for next season. Caveat, i'm normally U15 and up. |
Anonymous
How often do you move kids into your group for consideration on the second day? |
Anonymous
How many open spots do you generally have on the first and second teams |
Anonymous
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They have multiple tryouts for this reason. Assuming you have attentive coaches this shouldn't be an issue.
We tryout at multiple teams yearly for practice and when you go into a team without them knowing you that is what they do. The goal is to make it to the big field with their top players who are already there. My suggestion is to talk to the coaching director and tell them about your recent move and ask to join a practice to get the feel of the game. |
Anonymous
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McLean usually starts the tryouts with current players on each team grouped by their team (Green, White, Gold). All new players are placed in one group (Travel+Rec). Players that stand out (or don't) get moved up or down a group. The "locks" for a particular group often get offers after the first tryout at McLean. Bubble kids and new players happen after second tryout. They do move kids from the new player group to the other groupings throughout the tryout process.
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
If this is at MYS Thursday is the last tryout OP won't have time to practice with any team. |
Anonymous
Correct. Most of the kids who are guaranteed spots get their offer today (day after first try out). My kid has gotten the offer always after day one. I actually wish they didn't do this because it's ALWAYS leaked to the other kids and it's not fair to many of them. |
Anonymous
| If it doesn't work out at McLean you have many other options close by |
Anonymous
My kiddo was a bubble kid and the wait was agonizing and it was compounded with the kids that were chatting about it at tryouts. Ultimately we got the offer desired after a significant wait (at least once was a week or so AFTER tryouts had concluded). Part of the issue was waiting on the higher level teams to receive and accept offers to determine placement of players further down the line. |