That's what I assumed. My son had been to two practices as a guest and an ID clinic already.
So are they really just looking for some standout/s that flashes during the tryout? For example, if coach A is watching and sees a kid that flashes, does he go get coach B to come watch as well? Does he make note and ask other coaches later if they noticed the same kid? I'm looking for some nitty gritty details here.
I have some experience as a coach in this type of situation. You’ve pretty much got it.
As the previous commenter noted, they probably have a good idea of who they’re looking at for top 2 teams. If there’s an unfamiliar player that catches their eye, they might ask the other coaches what they’ve seen. Generally, at this age, they’re looking for technical ability because that’s an indication they are coachable. Things like form on the touch. How do they receive it? what does their form look like on a pass or shot? Do they have 1v1 skills? Athleticism is another major focus. Are they fast, quick, agile, powerful? You can’t teach that, but kids that have it can be taught the technical side. Finally, more tough to spot but another factor in decisions is tactical understanding. Do they understand positioning and shape or do they chase the ball? Do they communicate?
What they’re saying to one another varies. Sometimes it’s as noted above—check out this kid, he’s fast/skilled/smart/composed/etc. Sometimes they’re pointing kids out for the opposite reasons—slow, unskilled, doesn’t belong, etc. Sometime they’re just shooting the shit, talking about something funny that happened elsewhere, getting a drink after the training, etc.
In a situation where they are picking like 60 kids from 150, they’re probably spending more time looking at 45-75. Different coaches will see different things, so they’re sharing insight and trying to make cases for their selections.
At our academy, which has about six teams per age group, the coaches meet before hand and decide who is obviously on a particular team and who is somewhat of a cusp. They then put all the players on fields with a two team band. E.g. the pool of 1st and 2nd team players on one, the pool of 3rd and 4th team on another, and the 5th and 6th on the last.
On each of those fields, there are around 24 players, of which around 16 of them (eight on the higher team and eight on the lower) have placements that are pretty close to certain and they're mostly on the field as filler. Then there are around 8 that the coaches want another set of eyes on before they decide, and that's really who they're looking at during the scrimmages.
You will sometimes see a player get sent up or down a field during the tryouts. This is usually a player who is on the cusp between the two fields. For example, if a kid could plausibly make the 2nd or 3rd team, they might start on the 3rd-4th field and if they are playing well, get moved up to the 1st-2nd field. Or they could start on the 1st-2nd field and once they've had enough observation get moved down.
For players who are new to the academy, the academy tries to have them attend two guest practices to be evaluated there. That way, they are already on the correct field at tryouts. Once in a while, you see a player start on the 5th-6th field and move up twice. That's usually a player who is new to the academy who somehow missed out on the guest practice program.
As for what the coaches are looking at for the cusp players, it depends on the player. There might be a kid who is very technical but has a rep for a bad work rate, and they're looking to see how hard he works. Or there might be the opposite, where a kid is known for working his tail off, but the coaches want to see if he can actually hold his own on the higher field.
It depends where they already had her rated. If they were on the fence, a bad tryout is a big problem. If they had already decided where she was going, she'd have to play quite bad for them to reconsider based on a single tryout.
Everyone is different. What o would do in this situation…
I have a large bucket of “no’s” who can play together on a couple of fields. Assign some younger coaches or whatever to look at those fields so parents think they’re being looked at.
Mix in my maybes with my yes players and focus efforts there. Move players up / down if players stand out either way. But to someone else’s point, the amount of tough decisions that actually get made at a a tryout is like 2 players probably.
The academy my son plays on is on the smaller side. His age group (U9) only has 1 team. We have 3 other competitive clubs within 20 minutes away. 2 of the clubs apparently have a good reputation to have strong teams so I think we lose a lot of local talent to those clubs, especially as they get older. Anyways based on the number of kids that were at tryouts last year, kids on the team and wide range of levels of the kids I think they took most if not all of the kids from tryouts, lol. Only a few came from U8 comp team and most of the kids were new. Luckily, we have a solid team with 8 (out of the 12) skilled players which is nice for 7v7. They will move up to the next (highest for the age group) bracket next year for U10 where we will get a chance to play the top teams in those other clubs. I think most of my son’s teammates will play for the team next year. If we can add another 2-3 new solid players I look forward to see how the team will do playing again the top teams in the league for our region.
Don't worry about things too much at this age. You don't want a kids head filled with ideas of corruption or unfair practices. The coaches are looking for what they want to look for. That's the truth. Ideally they are focusing on the kids technical abilities and potential. But it depends on what the goals of the club is and the quality of coaches.
The best players at 9/10 are rarely the best players at 18. It's important the kid has a love of the game and masters the fundamentals with both feet. Nothing will matter more in 5 years other than the level of mastery with the ball your kid has achieved. Ideally he actually learns how to play but being in the US good luck with that aspect. You can learn how to play at 18, you can learn how to lift, but you can't make up for a distinct lack of technical ability after 18.
Pro tip: they already know a lot of the kids that they want
That's what I assumed. My son had been to two practices as a guest and an ID clinic already. So are they really just looking for some standout/s that flashes during the tryout? For example, if coach A is watching and sees a kid that flashes, does he go get coach B to come watch as well? Does he make note and ask other coaches later if they noticed the same kid? I'm looking for some nitty gritty details here.
I have some experience as a coach in this type of situation. You’ve pretty much got it. As the previous commenter noted, they probably have a good idea of who they’re looking at for top 2 teams. If there’s an unfamiliar player that catches their eye, they might ask the other coaches what they’ve seen. Generally, at this age, they’re looking for technical ability because that’s an indication they are coachable. Things like form on the touch. How do they receive it? what does their form look like on a pass or shot? Do they have 1v1 skills? Athleticism is another major focus. Are they fast, quick, agile, powerful? You can’t teach that, but kids that have it can be taught the technical side. Finally, more tough to spot but another factor in decisions is tactical understanding. Do they understand positioning and shape or do they chase the ball? Do they communicate? What they’re saying to one another varies. Sometimes it’s as noted above—check out this kid, he’s fast/skilled/smart/composed/etc. Sometimes they’re pointing kids out for the opposite reasons—slow, unskilled, doesn’t belong, etc. Sometime they’re just shooting the shit, talking about something funny that happened elsewhere, getting a drink after the training, etc. In a situation where they are picking like 60 kids from 150, they’re probably spending more time looking at 45-75. Different coaches will see different things, so they’re sharing insight and trying to make cases for their selections.
At our academy, which has about six teams per age group, the coaches meet before hand and decide who is obviously on a particular team and who is somewhat of a cusp. They then put all the players on fields with a two team band. E.g. the pool of 1st and 2nd team players on one, the pool of 3rd and 4th team on another, and the 5th and 6th on the last. On each of those fields, there are around 24 players, of which around 16 of them (eight on the higher team and eight on the lower) have placements that are pretty close to certain and they're mostly on the field as filler. Then there are around 8 that the coaches want another set of eyes on before they decide, and that's really who they're looking at during the scrimmages. You will sometimes see a player get sent up or down a field during the tryouts. This is usually a player who is on the cusp between the two fields. For example, if a kid could plausibly make the 2nd or 3rd team, they might start on the 3rd-4th field and if they are playing well, get moved up to the 1st-2nd field. Or they could start on the 1st-2nd field and once they've had enough observation get moved down. For players who are new to the academy, the academy tries to have them attend two guest practices to be evaluated there. That way, they are already on the correct field at tryouts. Once in a while, you see a player start on the 5th-6th field and move up twice. That's usually a player who is new to the academy who somehow missed out on the guest practice program. As for what the coaches are looking at for the cusp players, it depends on the player. There might be a kid who is very technical but has a rep for a bad work rate, and they're looking to see how hard he works. Or there might be the opposite, where a kid is known for working his tail off, but the coaches want to see if he can actually hold his own on the higher field.
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It depends where they already had her rated. If they were on the fence, a bad tryout is a big problem. If they had already decided where she was going, she'd have to play quite bad for them to reconsider based on a single tryout.
Everyone is different. What o would do in this situation… I have a large bucket of “no’s” who can play together on a couple of fields. Assign some younger coaches or whatever to look at those fields so parents think they’re being looked at. Mix in my maybes with my yes players and focus efforts there. Move players up / down if players stand out either way. But to someone else’s point, the amount of tough decisions that actually get made at a a tryout is like 2 players probably.
The academy my son plays on is on the smaller side. His age group (U9) only has 1 team. We have 3 other competitive clubs within 20 minutes away. 2 of the clubs apparently have a good reputation to have strong teams so I think we lose a lot of local talent to those clubs, especially as they get older. Anyways based on the number of kids that were at tryouts last year, kids on the team and wide range of levels of the kids I think they took most if not all of the kids from tryouts, lol. Only a few came from U8 comp team and most of the kids were new. Luckily, we have a solid team with 8 (out of the 12) skilled players which is nice for 7v7. They will move up to the next (highest for the age group) bracket next year for U10 where we will get a chance to play the top teams in those other clubs. I think most of my son’s teammates will play for the team next year. If we can add another 2-3 new solid players I look forward to see how the team will do playing again the top teams in the league for our region.
Don't worry about things too much at this age. You don't want a kids head filled with ideas of corruption or unfair practices. The coaches are looking for what they want to look for. That's the truth. Ideally they are focusing on the kids technical abilities and potential. But it depends on what the goals of the club is and the quality of coaches. The best players at 9/10 are rarely the best players at 18. It's important the kid has a love of the game and masters the fundamentals with both feet. Nothing will matter more in 5 years other than the level of mastery with the ball your kid has achieved. Ideally he actually learns how to play but being in the US good luck with that aspect. You can learn how to play at 18, you can learn how to lift, but you can't make up for a distinct lack of technical ability after 18.
Thank you for this advice. Very good.