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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have one child who tries out well and one who doesn’t. The one who tries out well isn’t the better athlete. He just has the attitude that tryouts are really fun. I have no idea where that comes from. My son who tries out poorly keeps asking to tryout again. So at least he isn’t giving up. We just help him to reframe failures as practice opportunities for future tryouts.

By the way, my son who tries out well actually has severe anxiety on the field in game situations and was sent down a team after the season started. He has teammates who moved up after it was clear they just had a bad tryout. And some of the kids who started out on the bottom team and looked shaky at best are now far better players than my son two years later.  As for my son’s anxiety on the field, it’s frustrating and there hasn’t been an easy answer. What has helped is that his coach recognized where he is strongest on the field and keeps him there. I know it goes against the advice you read about specializing but it keeps him in the game (and we aren’t looking for a college scholarship) . The more success he has in his position, the more confident he is. He definitely still has bad days but we worked a lot on coping statements for when he makes a mistake (“flush it” or “the most important play is the next one”).

If this year doesn’t work out, try for a select level team so he gets good training and come back next year. [/quote]

Yes.  In the pros they call the one that can't play well in games a "practice player".  I see a lot of kids that can look good in a tryout or practice, but never perform in the games.

The other issue is really the tryout format.  Some kids' style of play doesn't fit the tryout mold of chaotic scrimmages where nobody passes and don't know how to move.  They do this in older age groups too--don't give the ball up so they have more time with it to be seen more by evaluators--and keep dribbling into the ground.  Tryout format like that does not favor intelligent players.

That's why, in an ideal world, kids would be based on things other than merely scrimmages.  With the size of tryouts in this area it isn't possible. For one kid, I really had to search high and low for somewhere that really saw him for what he was. He is now in a position that requires speed and the coaches talk about his speed...and two Clubs prior to that cited it as one of his weak points which we never understood because he could chase anyone down and was a very quick decision maker, had agility.  He is one of the faster kids on the field now--and hasn't hit his growth spurt just shy of 13.  Finally, got him out of the bottom tier and he is on a top team and excelling.  I still don't get the speed thing--except at first tryout at U9 they were timing kids and he was one of the few that didn't cheat and go off the line much earlier than the whistle.  Why anyone is timing U9 players is frickin' beyond me as well....[/quote]

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