Timed mile for high school soccer tryouts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haha all the parents bristling at these tests are clearly just mad their kids are not fit. Why don’t you want your kids to do hard things? Soccer is also about building character. Sacrifice. Pushing your body to its absolute limit. If your kid can’t do it they can probably still make the team they’ll just have to keep doing the test until they pass. The cooper run (2 miles under 12 minutes) was always awful for me as a sprinter but it sure as hell got me in shape training for it.

Btw I’m female so it shouldn’t be as hard for boys.

You know at the high school and travel level an out of shape good(not great) athlete will beat 90% of the kids who are in great shape? In college we would have a fitness test at 6:00 am once a semester. A few of us would come straight from the bar and pass the test with no problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haha all the parents bristling at these tests are clearly just mad their kids are not fit. Why don’t you want your kids to do hard things? Soccer is also about building character. Sacrifice. Pushing your body to its absolute limit. If your kid can’t do it they can probably still make the team they’ll just have to keep doing the test until they pass. The cooper run (2 miles under 12 minutes) was always awful for me as a sprinter but it sure as hell got me in shape training for it.

Btw I’m female so it shouldn’t be as hard for boys.

You know at the high school and travel level an out of shape good(not great) athlete will beat 90% of the kids who are in great shape? In college we would have a fitness test at 6:00 am once a semester. A few of us would come straight from the bar and pass the test with no problem.

George Best played incredible fully drunk.

Dennis Rodman was king of crushing it after MJ pulled him out of a Vegas Bender.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haha all the parents bristling at these tests are clearly just mad their kids are not fit. Why don’t you want your kids to do hard things? Soccer is also about building character. Sacrifice. Pushing your body to its absolute limit. If your kid can’t do it they can probably still make the team they’ll just have to keep doing the test until they pass. The cooper run (2 miles under 12 minutes) was always awful for me as a sprinter but it sure as hell got me in shape training for it.

Btw I’m female so it shouldn’t be as hard for boys.

You know at the high school and travel level an out of shape good(not great) athlete will beat 90% of the kids who are in great shape? In college we would have a fitness test at 6:00 am once a semester. A few of us would come straight from the bar and pass the test with no problem.

George Best played incredible fully drunk.

Dennis Rodman was king of crushing it after MJ pulled him out of a Vegas Bender.

My husband and I always did our long runs in marathon fully hungover. We figured that on race day with no drinking the night before we’d feel glorious. It worked.

I credit the intense physical conditioning I did as a soccer player—and playing 90 min every game at center mid- why I still have incredible endurance and strength at 50. I can keep up with the young ones (and even beat many) at CrossFit and the like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haha all the parents bristling at these tests are clearly just mad their kids are not fit. Why don’t you want your kids to do hard things? Soccer is also about building character. Sacrifice. Pushing your body to its absolute limit. If your kid can’t do it they can probably still make the team they’ll just have to keep doing the test until they pass. The cooper run (2 miles under 12 minutes) was always awful for me as a sprinter but it sure as hell got me in shape training for it.

Btw I’m female so it shouldn’t be as hard for boys.

You know at the high school and travel level an out of shape good(not great) athlete will beat 90% of the kids who are in great shape? In college we would have a fitness test at 6:00 am once a semester. A few of us would come straight from the bar and pass the test with no problem.

That is exactly why you do it in a school based sport. It weeds out the kids who are only there, because their mom thought they should be on a HS team. It's not about finishing first. It's about seeing if you can do it. Some schools don't have the advantage of having 20 soccer clubs in their immediate area. They have to fill the team with some decent athletes along with actual soccer players, regardless of skill.

[Anonymous]

so here's a question for everyone - why don't club coaches use a fitness test as a tryout weed-out mechanism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so here's a question for everyone - why don't club coaches use a fitness test as a tryout weed-out mechanism

Because they are just filling a couple spots, not creating a team. They also know the backstory on many of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so here's a question for everyone - why don't club coaches use a fitness test as a tryout weed-out mechanism

Because it’s stupid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:George Best played incredible fully drunk.

So did Paul Gascoigne, and Wayne Rooney still does. None of them quite fulfilled their potential though. Wonder why? Geroge Best probably came closest, but then again - in those days half the players on the field were nursing hangovers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haha all the parents bristling at these tests are clearly just mad their kids are not fit. Why don’t you want your kids to do hard things? Soccer is also about building character. Sacrifice. Pushing your body to its absolute limit. If your kid can’t do it they can probably still make the team they’ll just have to keep doing the test until they pass. The cooper run (2 miles under 12 minutes) was always awful for me as a sprinter but it sure as hell got me in shape training for it.

I think you’re confused. Soccer is about kicking the ball into the opposing team’s goal more times than they kick it into yours over the course of 90 minutes. Maybe you’re thinking of an Ironman? Ultramarathon?

[Anonymous]

Haha all the parents bristling at these tests are clearly just mad their kids are not fit. Why don’t you want your kids to do hard things? Soccer is also about building character. Sacrifice. Pushing your body to its absolute limit. If your kid can’t do it they can probably still make the team they’ll just have to keep doing the test until they pass. The cooper run (2 miles under 12 minutes) was always awful for me as a sprinter but it sure as hell got me in shape training for it.


I think you’re confused. Soccer is about kicking the ball into the opposing team’s goal more times than they kick it into yours over the course of 90 minutes. Maybe you’re thinking of an Ironman? Ultramarathon?

Spoken like someone who has no appreciation for the sport. Bravo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so here's a question for everyone - why don't club coaches use a fitness test as a tryout weed-out mechanism

Fitness can be raised to a fairly high standard by playing and practice. Highly skilled players are hard to come by. You can train for fitness and 95% of the kids will pass the fitness test. You can train for technical skills and soccer iq but only around 5% will become highly skilled.

I have seen a lot of players who look good running(coaches always love a player who looks the part) and are in great shape but all they do is run. They are just not very productive on the field. They seem to run because they are always in the wrong position, miss read the flow, do the same thing every time(too predictable), seem a 1/2 step behind(even though they are fast), etc. Other players may look off...pigeon toed or a little heavy or too skinny but you hold your breath or stand up to watch when they get the ball. They make things happen. If they are out of shape they still make the team because you can get them in shape.

I would rather watch them play vs run them through a fitness test. You can pick out the top players with in a few minutes. The hard part is the bottom of the team. There you may use fitness if everything else is equal.

[Anonymous]

Leeds wins games with fitness. They have maybe four solid technical players, but nowhere near the amount Manchester City has. Guess what? They just beat Man City 2-1. Leeds played a man down for the entire second half even.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so here's a question for everyone - why don't club coaches use a fitness test as a tryout weed-out mechanism

Nobody uses fitness tests as a weedout mechanism. Including this high school coach. And some travel clubs certainly do fitness testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so here's a question for everyone - why don't club coaches use a fitness test as a tryout weed-out mechanism

Fitness can be raised to a fairly high standard by playing and practice. Highly skilled players are hard to come by. You can train for fitness and 95% of the kids will pass the fitness test. You can train for technical skills and soccer iq but only around 5% will become highly skilled.

I have seen a lot of players who look good running(coaches always love a player who looks the part) and are in great shape but all they do is run. They are just not very productive on the field. They seem to run because they are always in the wrong position, miss read the flow, do the same thing every time(too predictable), seem a 1/2 step behind(even though they are fast), etc. Other players may look off...pigeon toed or a little heavy or too skinny but you hold your breath or stand up to watch when they get the ball. They make things happen. If they are out of shape they still make the team because you can get them in shape.

I would rather watch them play vs run them through a fitness test. You can pick out the top players with in a few minutes. The hard part is the bottom of the team. There you may use fitness if everything else is equal.

Also - note that the HS season is too short to get a player fit. It takes a few weeks to get fit - and by that time the season is over.

[Anonymous]

Fitness can be raised to a fairly high standard by playing and practice. Highly skilled players are hard to come by. You can train for fitness and 95% of the kids will pass the fitness test. You can train for technical skills and soccer iq but only around 5% will become highly skilled.

No, they are not, at a large high school. My son is on Alexandria's white team (second to top), has played travel since he was 9 (so many years) and could definitely run that time and has good technical skills. However, he is not among the very very best players in Alexandria (since he is not on the red team). I have no confidence that he will make (the new) Alexandria High School's travel team in two years. It's not impossible, but certainly not definite. There are hunderds and hundreds of kids at that school.