Tips for Drafting Youth Sports Teams

You are gearing up for another season, which means one thing: tryouts and drafting teams. However, the key to drafting teams is kind of like a recipe: if you miss one crucial step, the final result won’t turn out the way you intended. 

This guide runs you through how to seamlessly determine evaluation criteria, score players, and analyze results to draft teams that are well-balanced, fair, and competitive.

1) Create an Evaluation Template

A standardized evaluation template ensures consistent scoring: all evaluators use one template that follows the same format, level of detail, and scoring scale

Make sure your evaluation template is finalized a few days before tryouts. Here are some tips to follow when:

• Determine the skills you want to measure. I.e., Bunting, hitting, speed.

• Define the metrics (aka the measurable criteria) that will be used to assess each skill. I.e., Contact, mechanics and placement are the measurable criteria under the skill of bunting.

• Select the type of score for each metric.
  
  

Evaluation template

2) Score Players

Instead of printing separate evaluation templates and requiring evaluators to switch between them (while risking misentered or lost scores), an athlete evaluation tool streamlines the scoring process. With an evaluation app like SkillShark, the process is as follows:

1. Select the players to evaluate.

2. Select the skills. *Since evaluators usually score at only one or two stations, they can select only the skills relevant to them.

3. Score players on the criteria under each skill.

4. Optional: Add comments. Choose from pre-defined comments (usually set by the coach beforehand) or type in your own comment.

5. Navigate to the next player.

Scoring players in SkillShark

3)  Analyze Results

After tryouts, take some time to review evaluation data with all key decision makers to ensure selections are based on objective insights rather than impulsive judgments.

 *Once scores have been transferred into Excel (if using the pen-and-paper method), it is recommended to configure this data into graphs. This approach offers a visual snapshot, making it simple for you to interpret data and make quick decisions.

Each graph should answer the following questions:

• Which players have the highest score in [insert skill]?

• Which players have the highest overall score?

• How does an athlete vary between two (or more) skills?

• How do players compare against each other?  I.e., Looking at your top 5 overall players, where do their strengths vs. weaknesses lie?

• Which players progressed the most during tryouts? *Only if tryouts were 2+ days.

 Note: With SkillShark, real-time player data is available to you immediately after tryouts in a report-ready format. No need to collect individual sheets from each evaluator and hand-type each score onto a spreadsheet before configuring reports. Simply choose a type of report (player ranking reports, comparison reports, or player progress reports) and view the data instantly.

Answer all the above questions using SkillShark's reports, without any legwork required from you!

4) Run Tiered-Draft Reports

See how much each skill and event (aka evaluation session) counts towards a player’s ranking. From there, automatically draft players onto teams based on these rankings.

Example: Here’s what the process looks like for generating tiered-draft reports after two days of hockey tryouts:

1. Assign event modifiers- If you have multiple days of tryouts, one day might be weighted more heavily than the other. *If you only had one day of tryouts, this step doesn't apply.

   • Skate #1: Weighting of 60%

   • Skate #2: Weighting of 40%
     
     

2. Under each position, select how much each skill will be weighted. For example, when choosing players for a ‘Forwards’ position, a coach might assign the following weight to each skill:

   1. Skating 35%

   2. Passing 21%

   3. Shooting 28%

   4. Game sense 9%

   5. Character 7%
      
      

Based on the weightings set above, this report will automatically rank the top Forwards players. From there, SkillShark will group players onto teams for you using either a ranked or balanced approach:

1. Ranked teams- Groups players of similar skill together. I.e., The highest-ranked forwards go to Team 1, mid-level forwards to Team 2, and beginners to Team 3.

2. Balanced teams- Ensures each team has a similar overall skill level. I.e., A top, intermediate, and beginner player are put on one team so all teams have roughly the same skill level.

5) Communicate Drafting Decisions

Once the teams have been finalized, now comes the time to notify players & parents of your decision. Regardless of whether an athlete was selected for the team(s), make sure to communicate your decision in a timely manner. We recommend drafting two email templates, one for selected players and one for those not selected and personalizing each email with each player's name.

Wrapping Up

Conducting tryouts and drafting teams doesn’t have to be a process filled with headaches, bias, and reactive decision-making. With consistent evaluation criteria, a simple scoring method, and thorough analysis of player data, each youth sports team you draft will be accurate and well-balanced.

Looking for a digital evaluation tool to conduct tryouts and draft teams? SkillShark is the all-in-one evaluation platform that lets you create standardized templates, easily score players, access auto-generated reports, and draft teams—all in one day, even.