How to Run Effective Soccer Tryouts

Anyone familiar with soccer tryouts will have seen the same scenes many times — stressed parents sitting uncomfortably in the bleachers, nervous players, and patient volunteers and staff members checking in, organizing, and evaluating athletes. We are here to help you understand how to run a successful soccer tryout.

Saying soccer tryouts are stressful is an understatement, but it doesn’t have to be that way if you follow the tips listed below.

1. Send Information to Parents and Players

After selecting the logistics for the tryout day(s), send an initial email to players & parents 3-4 weeks before tryouts. The contents of this email should include the date, time, and location of tryouts. If there is any necessary paperwork that parents or players need to fill out, make sure to attach all forms ahead of time.

In addition, send a reminder announcement 1-2 weeks before tryouts. The contents of this email should inform players what to bring and how to best prepare before the big day.

2. Gather Evaluators

Parents, family friends, and former coaches are all examples of biased evaluators. With close ties to an athlete, they are likely to have a negative impact on final scores.

In order to ensure fairness in evaluations and create a level playing field for all athletes, choose evaluators who have no personal connections to the athletes for your soccer tryouts. As a result, athletes will be assessed purely on their technique, character, and skill level, ensuring equal opportunity for all.

Tip: To streamline your soccer tryouts, designate one evaluator for each drill to ensure efficient flow. This allows evaluators to become proficient in the specific drill they are assessing.

3. Select a Variety Tryout Drills

Positioning, shooting, dribbling, coordination, and passing. As a soccer coach, you are likely going to evaluate your players across all of these core skills. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, choose 3-4 drills for each skill. I.e., When evaluating passing, a few soccer drills would be the triangle, four corners, and square passing drills.

If you're looking to get started with drill selection, check out these top 5 soccer tryout drills

4. Obtain Proper Equipment

Compile a list of equipment you’ll need for the evaluations – including whistles, balls, bibs, numbers, and cones.

Assign specific staff members to follow up on this equipment, and they should ensure they are available on D-day. The staff should also make sure the equipment is set up for every drill. By assigning these tasks to others, there is less stress for the event organizer on the day of.

5. Organize Registration

It is important that the registration process is seamless and goes smoothly. When there’s a delay in the check-in process, the entire tryout session may be thrown off schedule. Instruct volunteers on how to ensure every player is correctly registered — double-checking they have the right number and are assigned to the right try-out group.

6. Lead Warm-Ups

This is overlooked, but warm-ups are an important part of the evaluation. Most coaches fall into the trap of concentrating on the drills that will be run; however, they shouldn’t forget that the warm-up is important for athletes to get their blood flowing and muscles stretched.

7. Provide Assistance to Evaluators

Last but not least, soccer tryouts are ready to begin! Although you should have enough evaluators to cover each station, walk around frequently to make sure drills are being run according to schedule and answer any questions evaluators might have throughout the day.

Wrapping Up

Hosting soccer tryouts is essential to make accurate & confident drafting decisions. With a well-structured plan and the help of soccer evaluation software to streamline the process, soccer tryouts can be stress-free, enjoyable, and efficient for all coaches.