Assembling a team that you are confident in and proud of is the number one goal of any hockey tryout. To achieve this, it is essential to structure your tryouts to ensure a thorough evaluation of your players.
From selecting the proper evaluators, demonstrating drills, gathering scoring criteria, and everything in between, this blog covers the necessary steps for conducting a hockey tryout.
Step 1: Debrief Evaluators
You have selected evaluators for your tryouts, and now is the time to debrief them on:
A) What drill(s) they will be evaluating
B) What makes up a perfect score for the drill(s) they are evaluating? I.e, A perfect score (of 10) for puck handling is when a player can maintain close control of the while maneuvering their stick and can quickly change directions without losing control of the puck.
Step 2: Assemble Scoring Criteria
Get your pen-and-paper forms in order to score athletes. Alternatively, consider using a hockey evaluation app to score athletes on your mobile devices AND gain instant access to real-time data through auto-generated reports (immediately after tryouts finish).
Use this data to see how your players stack up across categories (passing, shooting, and skating) or specific skills within a category (edgework, forward skate, starts and stops within skating).
Categories evaluated in SkillShark
Metrics evaluated in SkillShark
Step 3: Set Up Drills
With the help of volunteers or other evaluators, get ready for the first couple of drills, ensuring all necessary equipment (cones, pucks, nets, etc) is set up on the ice.
Tip: To determine how many hockey drills you can set up at once, refer to the below:
Types of drills:
Full ice drill: One drill using the entire skating rink.
Half-ice drills: Two drills, each using half the rink.
Station-based drills: Four to six drills, each using a portion of the rink.
Step 4: Register Players
Check in players who are present at tryouts and add any walk-ons (players who haven’t registered beforehand.
Upload your players ahead of time into SkillShark (either from player management software or a spreadsheet).
Create player lists: Segment players by age, region, or groups I.e., A player list will be made for Day 1 Group A, Day 1 Group B, and Day 1 Group C.
Select a player list and check in players (or add walk-ons) as they arrive.
Player lists
Player Check-in
Step 5: Guide a Stretch
A warm-up should aim to increase heart rate, improve range of motion, and warm up muscles.
Some warm-up drills include:
Rondo circle passing: Players will assemble in a circle on the center of the ice, taking turns passing the puck to each other.
3-speeds: Players will skate at 50%, 75%, and 100% speeds from opposite ends of the ice.
3-shot shooting: One by one, players will stand at three different areas on the ice, attempting to successfully shoot the puck from each spot.
Step 6: Demonstrate Drills
Describe the purpose of each drill and break down the execution of the drill.
Example: Suppose one of your hockey drills is the Figure 8 Drill
Purpose: Test a player’s edgework, sharp turns, and speed.
Explanation: Two pylons are placed 6 feet apart from each other at different stations on the ice. Players will skate in a figure-8 pattern around the cone for a total of 10 times. The first 5 times they will skate forward, and the next 5 times they will skate backward. Players must stay close to the pylons during each turn.
Step 7: Run Through Drills
Your drills are explained, your players are warmed up, and your evaluators are ready to score!
Now is go time.
Spend the necessary amount of time running through all of your tryout drills. The duration of tryouts will largely depend on the number of players you are evaluating and the amount of drills you have planned.
Step 8: Provide Closing Remarks
Allocate a few minutes at the end of tryouts (typically when players will be stretching & cooling down) to give any closing remarks. During this time, thank players for all their hard work at tryouts and give information on the next steps (i.e., how soon team placement decisions will be made, when practices will start, etc..)
Wrapping Up
Hosting hockey tryouts is essential to make accurate decisions about who to place on your teams. With a well-structured plan and the help of hockey evaluation software to streamline the process, hockey tryouts can be stress-free, enjoyable, and efficient for all coaches.
Explore how SkillShark has transformed careers and organizations through real-life success stories. Join our community and streamline your hockey evaluations today.
We have streamlined everything, and immediately know who our top picks are for the upcoming season.
Kris Versteeg
Youth Hockey Coach
SkillShark has been an invaluable tool for our high-performance tryouts.
Justin Dee
High Performance Director (Delta Region of USA Volleyball), Head Volleyball Coach (Belhaven University)
SkillShark software makes it easy for our coaching staff and guest coaches to record data and share it instantly.
Scott Searle
Softball Canada Coaching Committee Member
SkillShark is easy to understand, easy to check in players and has a very simple user friendly interface.
Cory Trann
PA Minor Hockey — Evaluator
I wouldn’t even be able to calculate the time SkillShark has saved us.
James Mays
Technical Director, PA Minor Hockey
We really like how parents had their kids results as soon as they stepped off the ice.
Chris Chelios
Hockey Director, Chicago
FAQ — Tips for Running Hockey Tryouts
How far in advance should coaches prepare for hockey tryouts?
Coaches should prepare for hockey tryouts as far out as one month in advance. This provides sufficient time to secure a tryout date and inform athletes.
What are some basic tips for ensure hockey tryouts run smoothly?
1. Select a mix of hockeytryout drills
2. Choose unbiased evaluators
3. Debrief evaluators
4. Plan drill stations
5. Explain drills
6. Score players
7. Make timely drafting decisions
8. Provide athlete feedback
How should hockey drills be selected for tryouts?
Make a list of hockey skills that are most important to measure. I.e., Skating, shooting, and passing.
Choose 3-4 drills under each skill. For example, when measuring shooting ability, a couple good hockey drills would be around-the-cone and shoot and the 3-shot drill.
When should team placement decisions be made after hockey tryouts?
Players want to hear back within a reasonable time frame regarding their team selection process and what position they made. As a general rule of thumb, post results within 48-72 hours after the tryout.
Although sticking to a timeline is important, ensure you have taken the time to thoroughly review athlete scores (i.e., rank and compare players) and debrief with other evaluators.
How does a hockey evaluation app help make tryouts run smoother?
SkillShark offers a streamlined solution to save coaches countless hours typically spent on data entry and report creation.
This hockey evaluation app serves as an all-in-one tool for scoring players, generating insightful reports, drafting teams, providing athlete feedback, and more.
Danielle Stringer
Danielle is a dynamic content marketer with a unique blend of creativity and analytical expertise. She is driven by her passion for helping companies scale through lead generation, always finding distinctive ways to connect with her audience. Drawing from her extensive background in B2B SaaS, she is thrilled to apply her skills and knowledge in her current role at SkillShark Software Inc.