Tips For Successful Soccer Tryouts

by Ron Hendrie

 

 

Start Preparing Early

 

Like many other things, your soccer skills require frequent attention and refining...in other words - practice! Not just any kind of practice will do. If you practice your skills using poor technique, you are only going to get really good at doing them the wrong way. So pay attention to your technique - in other words, your “mechanics”. A terrific way to hone your skills, if none of your friends are available,  is to play “wall ball”. Also, if you practice everything around cones or with stationary balls, you will have no experience in the real game where, by the way, there are no cones and the ball is almost always moving! My advice is once you have good mechanics put your skills to use in game-like settings. You will have more fun. If the games are small-sided, then you will get many touches and opportunities...and that’s even more fun. If you are having fun, you will undoubtedly practice more often and with more intensity. So what are you waiting for? Get some friends together and have some fun playing!...or find a wall - the one’s with no windows work the best!

 

Work on your fitness. Running laps around a track will certainly make you tired and give you long distance stamina. Don’t be surprised though when you get on the field and find yourself gasping for air. Think about it: game fitness involves lots of short sprints, cunning changes of direction, quick bending runs and agile movements; none of these things are happening when you are jogging around the track. It would serve you best to replicate game fitness every chance you can.

 

Better to start off slowly if you haven’t played in a while. Your muscles and connective tissue such as tendons and ligaments need some time to get toned. And don’t forget about your cardiovascular fitness. Alternate your hard days and easy days and balance your work to rest ratio. Too much work all at once will only burn out your body and expose you to overuse injuries. It will make it that much harder to make the team if you are playing with an injury! As your fitness improves, gradually increase the duration and intensity of your workouts.

Begin inserting fitness into your daily regimen early on because it takes a while to build up to the demands of preseason training.

 

Similarly, it takes time for your body to be properly hydrated, so begin this process days in advance. For that matter, eating a nutritious balance of foods, hydrating, and getting enough rest are arguably the things you can improve in the shortest period of time. Moreover, this may very well give you the edge you need over your competition. Although the rewards of eating right, hydrating, and getting rest still take time to see, these will certainly be much easier to do than learning to juggle a ball 2000 times!

 

 

A Peek Inside a Soccer Tryout

 

Every coach will run tryouts a little differently, and different age levels should have a different focus, but there will usually be a warm-up and some type of stretching, followed by activities to demonstrate your ball control skills. Tryouts usually end in some kind of game or scrimmage where you can show your knowledge of the game. Many times coaches will also be interested in seeing how fit you are.

 

As a coach, I would like to see that you are comfortable and confident with the ball, and that you use proper technique. I will take notice if you are a player who is able to read the game, make quick passes when necessary without giving the ball away, but also know when it is ok to hold onto the ball and create an opportunity. In addition, I look for players who do not give up after they make a mistake.

Early in the tryout I put players in tight dribbling situations to see how comfortable they are with the ball and how well they can be aware of their surroundings. There is only one way to get good at this - spend a lot of time with the ball at your feet.

 

I look to see that players can consistently make accurate passes with proper pace and timing. The better players will be able to disguise their passes so it is not so obvious where they intend to send the ball. They will also make good choices about where and when to pass the ball. The best players will be able to pick apart defenses with penetrating passes that arrive on time and on the correct side of their teammate.

When I run a tryout, I often have players try a few things above their ability level to see how receptive they are to learning.

 

In my tryouts I use small-sided games to showcase a player’s ability to control the ball, make quick passes, dribble, make supporting runs and to defend. I look for players that make good decisions, are fast, aggressive, and are always trying to make a difference in the game. The small-sided game gives many opportunities, whereas in the full field game a player might only get the ball a few times.

 

I do like to see players on a larger field as well in order to get an idea of their ability to cover the field, play a position, and keep the team in a shape.

 

 

How to Stand Out

 

Stay focused. Show a good work ethic. Be positive. Show confidence, but not conceit. Have a presence on the field by playing strongly and trying to be involved with the play - don’t just go through the motions.

During breaks, making good eye contact when the coach is speaking will demonstrate that you are attentive and interested. Follow the coach’s directions the first time. Don’t do things that will cause you to be remembered for the wrong reasons.

 

Don’t whine, don’t complain, and never make excuses. These will all make you look lazy and not interested in becoming better. As a coach I am very interested in a player who has the potential to improve themselves. Look for opportunities during the tryouts to get better.

 

Don’t expect to play perfectly. There is no doubt you will make some mistakes. When you do, keep your head up and get on with the next play. The coaches will be more likely to overlook your mistake if you don’t make a big deal of it. Don’t worry when you make a mistake. Everyone will make mistakes and there is not a player in the world who has ever played a perfect game. The wonderful thing about soccer is that within a short time there is often a chance to redeem yourself. If your touch is not “on”, try to relax and regroup by thinking through the mechanics of your technique. Still not working? Remember, you can always control how much effort you put into your game.

Bottom line: realize that everybody has the same nervous feeling that you have.

 

 

Parents Stay Low

 

Parents should remain quiet and out of sight unless you are called into action or there is a safety concern. Players get distracted, lose confidence, and get embarrassed when their parents are not allowing them independence. Calling out to your child while they are playing implies that you don’t trust that they can handle it on their own. This “joysticking” takes away from the confidence they need during tryouts...or the real game...or even real life for that matter.

 

The role of the parent(s) is to: get their child to tryouts on time; to ensure their child’s safety by making sure they are hydrated, well nourished, well rested, and that the coaching staff is knowledgeable about athletics, children and soccer; and that the playing facility and weather are safe. I have seen foolish coaches attempt to practice through electrical storms with lightening flashing directly overhead and nervous parents pacing in the downpour too bashful and unconfident to call their precious children off the field.

 

 

After the Tryout

 

It is important that you do not think less of yourself if you do not make the team. Certainly you will be disappointed if you put out less of a performance than you usually do. However, it is also not realistic to expect an atypical, stellar performance of yourself.

 

Over the years I have noticed different types of reactions among players who don’t make the cut. Some players give up and never touch a ball again, while others work extremely hard and wind up better than many of the kids that made the team in the first place. Which type of player are you?

 

If you do make the team, don’t think too much of yourself. Be humble. At this time it would be good to realize that there will be others that probably feel devastated that they were cut. They are feeling very “left out.” Celebrating in their presence will simply make them feel even worse. An arm around the shoulder of a pal that got cut shows them that, although they may have temporarily lost a teammate, they didn’t lose a friend. Kicking a ball around with them from time-to-time will not only help hoist them up to your level, but it will make them feel accepted. How would you want your friends to treat you if they made the team and you didn’t?

 

Remember that those players that are selected for the team are not necessarily the best players. They were the ones whose positive attributes were noticed the most during that particular tryout snapshot.

 

 

Summary

 

Realistically, there are only so many spots on a team’s roster. Some are going to make the team and sadly some are going to get cut. Your entire performance at a tryout is only a small snapshot of you as a player. What the coach is able to see of you at that tryout is an even smaller glimpse of you. Unfortunately, the coaches will be too preoccupied to be able to notice all of the good things that you will do. Likewise, they will be far too busy to scrutinize every one of your mistakes. Following the advice outlined above should help you make the most of your tryout opportunity and minimize some of the tension you may be feeling so that you can show the true player that you are.