TRYOUT DAY - WHAT TO EXPECT:  Even though the actual tryout is only one of five evaluative settings applied to the Player Placement, WSA still recognizes the intense focus that can be driven towards this particular event for the child and parent. 

The day of the tryout players will report to the assigned facility.  It is important to be sure you have the date, time, facility address, and field number accessible.  

The club will assign age groups to the same field with the entire age group staff.  In some cases a "single team" will have a separate tryout if logistics require.  However, in most cases all tryouts will occur by age.  

Reminder that prior to the tryout at least 3 evaluative settings have already occurred, and it is TRUE that coaches will have pre-evaluated, and in some cases pre-selected players to teams via the 5 evaluative settings applied.  These pre-evaluations allow coaches to modify, arrange, and structure the tryout process based on the numbers who have attended with some pre-determined indicators in mind.  

Also it is important to keep in mind that coaches can plan, but cannot always predict the number of players who will attend a session. It is possible that there are more or less players attending than expected, and this could influence the structure of the tryout.  

The goal of the tryout is 3-fold for each coach, and it is important for the player and parent to understand this 3-fold approach.  In many parent's minds (sometimes player's minds) the preconception is that the coach is focused solely on your single player and making sure your single player is evaluated fairly.  

The 3-Fold Approach for the Coach:

1. Communication.  This includes welcoming new arrivals as a priority as a good host.  And secondarily welcoming all the coach's returning players.  There will be a pre-tryout communication provided to help provide an outline of the session process, and expectations throughout the process. 

2. Roster Management.  The coach will be evaluating the players present while also evaluating during the evaluation which players who have not attended are committed or not committed to the team.  The coach IS EXPECTED to multi-process this data real-time to create the most informed feedback for each player.  This can be frustrating if your player has a great moment during the session, and the coach may be focused on a discussion or phone call required to collect real-time information.  

3. Evaluation.  By observation the coach will render opinions and evaluative metrics that will be integrated into all previous context of the player's evaluations from the 5-settings mentioned above.  New players will be given additional focus if they have not been previously evaluated.  This is in keeping with WSA's policy that the new soccer seasonal year creates opportunity for an "open" process for players to join WSA Teams from outside of the WSA Community.  In many cases WSA Staff may be inclined to only take new players who have proven or appear to have the capacity to qualify as a top tier player in the team.  Returning players will often be shown loyalty in decisions if there are only marginal differences between the new arrivals and returners.  It is beneficial therefore in this process to have been in the WSA program longer.  It is also critical that WSA is open to adding players to improve team rosters through a team development model.