First time tryouts tips and cautions

[youthsportsuggghhhhgghh]

At 10-- I would start close to home and price . The clubs you mention are all very good and big name, there are also several other good clubs with excellent coaches at the younger ages. Your team will more than likely come across those big names (1st, 2nd, 3rd team) at some point and you can observe how they run their teams. Then at some point if your daughter wants more, then look at where the best fit is.

 

[Woodwork]

As far as tryouts/practices, your job is to keep your mouth shut and smile. We have all seen decent players not make a team because the parents wouldn't shut up.

This is literally the only thing you need to worry about. Learn to shut up. Let your kid alone during practice. Keep your comments to your kid to a minimum before and after. Soccer practice and games are between them and their teammates and the coach for the kid, just like school.

Your kid will make a team and the club will take your money. Don't worry about that too much.

Just like school, your time is when the kid comes home. In my experience, about 35% of development happens in-game, about 15% from team practice, and about 50% from the extra things the kid does on her own time. The kids who are really good are spending as much time practicing, training, and playing away from the team as they do with it.

Ages 8-10 level doesn't matter, what you do in free time matters more. By 10-12 the gaps start to widen in terms of speed of play and competition (in-team and outside, which helps drive your kid's individual development) so you need to make sure you are moving up in league levels if that matters to you. I would say moving from a middle flight to the top flight isn't too jarring at that time. But I would say a serious player should be playing at a higher level flight by 13. By 13, if your kid hasn't spent a lot of time playing at the top levels, then the gap between the top levels and the middle is so big that should resign your expectations to staying in the middle ages 14-17.

 

[Jamisfoes]

If she doesn't have the dribbling to stand out, she can stand out by being the aggressive one. Tell her to be ultra aggressive in the tryout. Go after the ball, and if she loses it get it back. She gets knocked down, get up right away. Don't worry about passing in the tryout. Push and shove.
If you are trying out for the big clubs, you will see they will take just about everyone. It's just a matter of which flight she ends up with.

 

[Socal-Soccer-Dad]

First and foremost, good luck to you and your daughter. Secondly, I would identify which club/team you want her to try out for and email the coach. A huge advantage you have is that since your daughter is not currently playing club, essentially she can come to team trainings now, as there is no NorCal conflict. So to answer your question, you should have no trouble trying out for multiple clubs between now and the end of try outs.

I came to say this.

Definitely reach out to coaches and attend some practices as a "try out".
My kids did this - one kid when switching clubs and another when moving from rec to club.
They both "secured" spots before the actual tryout because they fit with the kids and also was able to keep up with the practices.
The actual tryout was just a formality after that.

At the VERY least, attending these "in practice tryouts" will give you a flavor of their practices and drills they run and she'll be more ready for the actual tryout.

It's free to check out club practices in my experience so if you were up for it, you can line up Mon/Wed with one team, Tues/Thurs with another... get a few weeks of practice in leading up to the official club tryout and be super ready for it

Good luck!

(Oh and I'd try to get a feel for the parents... you're going to spend a lot of time with them during the club year... you can't spot the a-hole right away sometimes... but I'd avoid teams with them if you spot one )

 

[SJNoob]

Thank you all for the advice! We did schedule for her to go to a practice with one club so we'll see how that goes! We reached out to another club and they didn't get back to us. Do all clubs do these practice tryouts or do the bigger clubs not need to?

 

[crush]

I came to say this.

Definitely reach out to coaches and attend some practices as a "try out".
My kids did this - one kid when switching clubs and another when moving from rec to club.
They both "secured" spots before the actual tryout because they fit with the kids and also was able to keep up with the practices.
The actual tryout was just a formality after that.

At the VERY least, attending these "in practice tryouts" will give you a flavor of their practices and drills they run and she'll be more ready for the actual tryout.

It's free to check out club practices in my experience so if you were up for it, you can line up Mon/Wed with one team, Tues/Thurs with another... get a few weeks of practice in leading up to the official club tryout and be super ready for it

Good luck!

(Oh and I'd try to get a feel for the parents... you're going to spend a lot of time with them during the club year... you can't spot the a-hole right away sometimes... but I'd avoid teams with them if you spot one )

Some of my dd top coaches never held official tryouts, ever, just the club held tryouts for the B and C teams. I know of many C team players that are now D1 players so it doesn't matter where you start in youth soccer, it's how you finish Some coaches would invite potential recruits to our practice and even a game or two to see if the player would be a fit. These were all YNT type players and the parents that came with them. One of the best players around tried out for one of my dd kids team and they ((parents)) expected a certain position and 100% starts to make a long drive worth it. My dd coach said no one on his team has that deal and right now as he see it, your dd is coming off the bench and if she works hard, yes she could be a starter. He did guarantee all of us 25% starts.

 

[youthsportsuggghhhhgghh]

Thank you all for the advice! We did schedule for her to go to a practice with one club so we'll see how that goes! We reached out to another club and they didn't get back to us. Do all clubs do these practice tryouts or do the bigger clubs not need to?

They will all do it. Is easy for them to see how your player would fit in and either get you into the club on a team, possibly not on the team you wanted or easily move on.

 

[Anon9]

Thank you all for the advice! We did schedule for her to go to a practice with one club so we'll see how that goes! We reached out to another club and they didn't get back to us. Do all clubs do these practice tryouts or do the bigger clubs not need to?

You should have no problem getting to come out to a practice since you have no club affiliation. Email the coach directly, not the club.

 

[Brav520]

9v9 , so I’d ask the coach how many he plans on taking ( our club limits it to 14) and try to get a straight answer from the coach on what his philosophy is on playing time .

Make sure your daughter is committed to it , because you are probably looking at about $2000 all in for season when you include uniforms and tourney fees

 

[dad4]

To get an idea for playing time and coaching style, watch a real game. By the end, you'll know whether the bench players play 10 minutes or half the game.

 

[Emma]

To get an idea for playing time and coaching style, watch a real game. By the end, you'll know whether the bench players play 10 minutes or half the game.

Keep this in mind while watching - the individual players and the competition. If the team is losing, the bench playing time may be reduced. I'd suggest watching a few games. If the game decides league winners, coaches are going to try their best to play to win in order for the team to win league because it's important to the players. If a player is only in for a short while every game, pay attention to why. Sometimes coaches see potential in kids and give them advice, but the bench player chooses not to put in any effort to improve it, so may not deserve any additional playing time. Or the player hasn't gone to practice or isn't putting in effort at practice.

The combination of practicing with the team and watching games with the team will help. It will also help you see the dynamics on the team. Sideline conversations are very indicative of team culture and a few games will reveal whether there are toxic parents on the sidelines.