How to Run Youth Sports Tryouts With an App

Running a youth sports tryout doesn't have to mean juggling clipboards, data entry into spreadsheets, and relying on memory to fill in the gaps. A youth sports tryout app takes the stressful, monotonous tasks off your plate, giving coaches an easy, accurate, and reliable way to evaluate athletes.

We'll walk you through step by step how to use this app to transform the way you assess talent, draft teams, and deliver feedback.

Tips for Choosing the Right Youth Sports Tryout App

Toss the pen-and-paper forms before your next tryout. Instead, save time, reduce stress, and develop your athletes with a youth sports tryout app. Look for one that offers:

• Intuitive interface for coaches and evaluators — Minimal setup, works on any device, and guides you through each step of the process.

• Customizable evaluation templates — Build templates with specific skills, metrics, and scoring ranges based on your coaching needs.

• Mobile scoring — Easy navigation between athletes, offline capabilities (no wifi required), and the ability to add comments and videos alongside scores.

• Auto-generated reports — Rank and compare players immediately after evaluations, with data syncing automatically and reports ready for review.

• Messaging capabilities — An in-app messaging center to update athletes and parents on drafting decisions, tournament schedules, and practice updates.

How to Use A Youth Sports Tryout App

1. Create Custom Evaluation Templates

Not every sport, or even team, evaluates players the same way. That is why building customized templates tailored to your unique requirements is essential. With sports tryout apps like SkillShark:

• Select from a pre-set evaluation template, customize your own, or combine both.

• Add subjective scores (fixed scale between 1 and 5) and objective scores (single measurement).

• Create a set of predefined comments for quick insertion during evaluations. Note: This works best for comments you think evaluators will use often, covering both positive and critical feedback.

2. Import Athletes and Assign Evaluators

Before tryouts begin, there are still a couple of remaining steps to take so yoy are set up for a smooth, organized session:

• Import your athlete roster from Excel or a team management app.

• Do a quick check to ensure all player data is mapped correctly. Do all jersey numbers line up? Are player positions correct?

• Assign evaluators to drill stations (ideally one evaluator at each station).

• Send evaluators their station assignments and confirm they have app access before tryouts begin.

3. Score Athletes

Evaluators will score athletes from their tablet or phone at their designated station. Not only does mobile scoring save time and reduce paperwork, but it also reduces the risk of scores being misentered or lost when transferring them to spreadsheets after an evaluation.

• Evaluators can easily navigate between athletes.

• Scores are entered quickly with a slider.

• Comments and videos can be added for an extra layer of feedback.

4. View Evaluation Results Instantly

No need to manually transfer data from spreadsheets into Excel (only to format it into reports) after an evaluation. With a tryout app, you can access auto-generated reports minutes after your evaluation is complete. Simply choose the report you want to view and:

• Rank athletes on a specific skill or overall performance.

• Compare athletes to identify top performers.

• Create weighted reports to determine the best athlete(s) for each position.

5. Share Feedback with Athletes

Regardless of how they performed after an evaluation, informing athletes of their strengths and areas for improvement is key. With a youth sports tryout app, such as SkillShark:

• Securely share individual report cards. Complete with scores, benchmarks, and comments.

• Share developmental resources (videos or PDFs) with players who scored below a set threshold.

• Send a copy of the report cards to parents as well for full transparency.
  

What we like best about SkillShark is being able to provide instant feedback. Before SkillShark we used the old-school method of pen and paper. Now using SkillShark we can view results right after the evaluation is complete. We wouldn't be without it.

Derek Bloski. Coach — Scarborough Hockey Association

Wrapping Up

Making the switch to a youth sports tryout app is simpler than most coaches expect, especially with the right onboarding in place. Coaches gain a platform to analyze evaluation data and make accurate decisions. Evaluators can leave behind the demanding, time-consuming task of pen-and-paper scoring. And athletes benefit most of all, walking away with clear, meaningful feedback.

Interested in seeing how SkillShark's youth sports tryout app can provide a seamless evaluation experience for everyone involved? Book a walkthrough with a product expert. We'll walk you through our features and get your free account set up.