Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find the limited number of coaches at tryouts to be shocking. We have been at tryouts in a relatively comparable area for soccer and have seen upwards of 7 coaches present to evaluate 30-40 players for top teams. Recently, at a really good club’s top boy tryouts, we saw 2-3 coaches looking at three different age groups. Not too impressive if you are trying to show that it is a credible and substantial process. This is a pretty low-cost, low-commitment opportunity to demonstrate a real dedication to your pipeline. Frankly, some of the clubs need to do a lot, lot better.

The tryouts are really just a triage to find kids to ask to practice with the top teams. The practices are the real tryouts.

So explain 7 coaches and 30-40 kids at a supplemental tryout? Are they just dumb? Or perhaps they are taking it a little more seriously?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Also most of the big clubs will only take a kid of they need one but they have to be a lot better then who is being replaced. Not even or a little better.

NP here - curious what are the "big clubs" around here? I am new to soccer world but understand travel sports in general and agree this is exactly what happens in those other sports.

Arlington is huge. McLean and Alexandria are big. SYC and Vienna are pretty big.

Anonymous wrote:

Also most of the big clubs will only take a kid of they need one but they have to be a lot better then who is being replaced. Not even or a little better.

NP here - curious what are the "big clubs" around here? I am new to soccer world but understand travel sports in general and agree this is exactly what happens in those other sports.

Anonymous wrote:I had the same impression from SYC tryouts. Like they didn’t know how to handle the kids, let alone properly filter them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As has been stated repeatedly in this forum, if you truly want to get your DC looked at appropriately then reach out to the coach of the team you want to be considered for and attend a training session or two. This lets the coach asses your DC independently and also allows him/her to measure your DC's abilities versus the actual team's players.

What level do people think this is appropriate for? I don't see a kid on Arlington Gold calling up BRYC Teal coach and saying...hey can I bring my kid out to be evaluated? I think this is only for top teams or a kid on a 2nd team looking to move to a 1st team. Thoughts?

NP here - curious what are the "big clubs" around here?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As has been stated repeatedly in this forum, if you truly want to get your DC looked at appropriately then reach out to the coach of the team you want to be considered for and attend a training session or two. This lets the coach asses your DC independently and also allows him/her to measure your DC's abilities versus the actual team's players.

I get all that and agree completely. But that does not address the point about having more than a couple of distracted eyes trying to evaluate multiple players at tryouts. It is simply a question of effort and getting more than a couple of eyes on players. Really good coaches can vary widely in their assessments of the same players, and having them talk and evaluate together can be useful. It also gives others a lot more confidence in the process. Sort of like the way the rest of the world generally has job candidates see more than a couple of people?

Also as been stated repeatedly here is tryouts are meant to fill in lower teams that some people call "cash grabs." True or not, tryouts aren't meant to find top team players unless there is a clear outlier. Coaches are asked to spot outliers or to ensure they fill in the necessary quota of players to fill the planned number of teams the club wants

You are simply restating what exists; I am questioning whether a different approach with minimal incremental costs could have significantly greater benefit for the club. Yeah. I get what they are doing now. It could be better and is in other places.

Anonymous wrote:All tryouts are like this. It seems to be the norm. If your kid is a standout, he'll standout. If not, he'll work his way through practice and training to get up to top team, if that's where he's headed.

Tryouts are tough, but it is what it is.

Also most of the big clubs will only take a kid of they need one but they have to be a lot better then who is being replaced. Not even or a little better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As has been stated repeatedly in this forum, if you truly want to get your DC looked at appropriately then reach out to the coach of the team you want to be considered for and attend a training session or two. This lets the coach asses your DC independently and also allows him/her to measure your DC's abilities versus the actual team's players.

I get all that and agree completely. But that does not address the point about having more than a couple of distracted eyes trying to evaluate multiple players at tryouts. It is simply a question of effort and getting more than a couple of eyes on players. Really good coaches can vary widely in their assessments of the same players, and having them talk and evaluate together can be useful. It also gives others a lot more confidence in the process. Sort of like the way the rest of the world generally has job candidates see more than a couple of people?

Also as been stated repeatedly here is tryouts are meant to fill in lower teams that some people call "cash grabs." True or not, tryouts aren't meant to find top team players unless there is a clear outlier. Coaches are asked to spot outliers or to ensure they fill in the necessary quota of players to fill the planned number of teams the club wants

Anonymous wrote:The level doesn't matter. If you want your DC to move to another club and actually want a better chance then speaking to the age group director is the way to go. You can explain what team your DC is currently on and that you either believe they are better than where they currently are or want to get looked at for fitment. The AGD can then refer you to the team that may fit best.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find the limited number of coaches at tryouts to be shocking. We have been at tryouts in a relatively comparable area for soccer and have seen upwards of 7 coaches present to evaluate 30-40 players for top teams. Recently, at a really good club’s top boy tryouts, we saw 2-3 coaches looking at three different age groups. Not too impressive if you are trying to show that it is a credible and substantial process. This is a pretty low-cost, low-commitment opportunity to demonstrate a real dedication to your pipeline. Frankly, some of the clubs need to do a lot, lot better.

I agree; may I ask what club?

SYC