What is the purpose of team tryouts?

[mdamson 0]

I have watched team tryouts at many different levels now for years, and I am becoming a little confused as to the actual purpose of a tryout. Is the purpose to select the best players on the ice, or is it to look at players that you may not know about and decide if they can play on your team? Example, Player A is a kid who has always played at the top level on a 17 player team. He is very skilled and ranks maybe about 5th on the team, but he is lazy in practice and doesn't work hard. Player B is a kid who plays on the second tier but is a hard worker and would probably rank about 18th on the list. During tryouts Player A stinks up the ice for all of the tryout sessions (eg. make lazy passes, gives the puck up in his zone, and doesn't skate hard). On the ice, Player B is busting ass, and has a great tryout for his abilities, and plays much better than Player A, but would only slot in at about 17 if Player A was not there. Who gets picked? My experience says that Player A will get picked without a question based on reputation alone, since the coaches who are selecting have intimate knowledge of the players, and the association directors supply ranking lists to the coaches for tryouts. I have seen it happen time and time again, and the good players seem to be picked on reputation alone, if they don't show up on the ice.

The latest real world example happened at a local USA hockey development camp. 8 players were to be selected for the national camp. The player in question is a very good player. This particular player broke their collar bone and could not participate on the ice. They were given an alternate slot for the national camp. Why was this player not told "We are sorry that happened, but we cannot say you are one of the top 10 players in our region, without watching you tryout" ? I realize that it is an alternate position, but what does this say to the players who worked hard on the ice? So once again this situation begs the question, what is the purpose of a tryout? Any insights from coaches, players, scouts etc, would be appreciated.

[Zamboni 6]

Tryouts are to form your best team-fairly simple. Coaches don't need to see their top D from last season repeatedly nail the teams most rugged winger during 'puck thrown into corner drills' to know what those 2 are capable/willing to do in game situations.

What your asking for is a level playing field, decisions based on performance at the tryouts?

Not realistic, there's barely time to evaluate the bubble players at camps and tryouts....players proving what they can do have earned their spots.

[fatwabbit 93]

never really liked tryouts, cause no matter how much effort you put in, the 'ranked' players always get picked even if they were slacking during the tryouts... I've got some real good guys on my team back home, but in the end we all didnt care about going to tryouts anymore as it was favoratism at its best.

Also, most of the time the evaluators would pick guys from their own team, and in the end it was mainly their whole team that made it...

[tlminh 0]

I tried out for midget a long time ago, didnt make team A (the travel team this is considered better) but they offered me team B(which i declinde). I was new to the sport and didnt feel welcome by the coaches. Granted I wasnt very good, it wouldve been nice to been considered.

Our try-outs were 2 days, 5 hours each day

[mdamson 0]

That being said, I ask my question again. What is the purpose of the "tryout" then? Why not just hand pick the kids you want on the team and be done, instead of giving this illusion of a level playing field if it is truly not realistic?

Tryouts are to form your best team-fairly simple. Coaches don't need to see their top D from last season repeatedly nail the teams most rugged winger during 'puck thrown into corner drills' to know what those 2 are capable/willing to do in game situations.

What your asking for is a level playing field, decisions based on performance at the tryouts?

Not realistic, there's barely time to evaluate the bubble players at camps and tryouts....players proving what they can do have earned their spots.

[Zamboni 6]

Depending on the team of course, tryout allow an 8 year old who has moved into the area to make a rep team, or the AA 14 year olds who got bigger/ faster to challenge for AAA spot. Why would a coach ignore what he knows of players performance, both good & bad, in game situations tho and base evaluations solely on tryouts. Doesn't happen-no matter whats said....the coach knows most players and what they can do.

Relize that isn't what you wanted to hear, but not many teams have more than 2-3 spots available at tryouts at any level.

[JR Boucicaut 3808]

Um, because it's a cash grab?

[BK 0]

Um, because it's a cash grab?

Exactly.

I have talked to coaches before who have tried to butter up players by saying "We look for talent in teamwork situation. Just do the best you can at what you do and the rest will work itself out".

When really its like you said, a cash grab. In my opinion, most coaches/reps/scouts know exactly what/who they want before anybody even hits the ice.

[Zamboni 6]

No doubt the 'cash grab' exists, heard of excessive charges-and AA players must try out for AAA each year before returning to their own teams. Flip side, many orgs like ours charge $8 for the hour, and quickly 'cull the herd' so theres only 5-6 over the 15 skaters required at 2nd skate. Any money made goes into the orgs general pool, not towards an individual teams budget so there is no incentive to 'bolster' tryout numbers.

Coaches are judged by their teams records-most want to ice the best team possible. Tryouts are the worst part of coaching-no one enjoys cutting kids.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

Our local tier 2 team made close to $20000 (it was $175 for 4 hours of ice and there was around 110 people there) on rookie camp alone. I do not feel as though I am part of the cash grab since I have a legitimate shot at a roster spot. But that's the only reason any team has a rookie camp, they could easily do some scouting and send out invitations to the best players around to come to main camp.

[starscream 0]

Um, because it's a cash grab?

Winner!

Regardless of the number of kids who show, there's usually a few guys with guaranteed spots on the team.

Sure you may need 12 guys for a team, so you let 50 kids come to tryouts, but the kicker is that you've already mentally handed out 7 of those 12 spots.....

it's all about the cash flow.

[jeffw 1]

Um, because it's a cash grab?

Not everywhere, lol.

I coach Midget A U-16 & we recently had our first tryouts/evaluations. The president told me the main purpose for the first round was to get an idea of how many players we were gonna have (we're a small organization) and to get a look at any new guys coming in. We also gave the players a written critique so that they know what they need to improve over the summer for the second tryout in August.

The tryout was $50 which gets credited towards your registration fees if you signed up that day. It also includes once a week skills & drills sessions until teams are picked and practices start in September.

If any of you guys play in the CBHL check out Hagerstown. Best prices in the league and probably more practice ice than any other oprganization. HYHA Webpage?

/shameless plug

[jmiro 55]

i have went to try outs. Played my but off. Then to find out the team was already picked prior. And No matter how many goals I scored how hard I played I was only making the b team. And the only reason for that was because of the people I knew. One try out I remember I played better than 99% of the players. Same thing happened. They just need the money to fund their team.

[Cheesehead 0]

Um, because it's a cash grab?

Not everywhere, lol.

I coach Midget A U-16 & we recently had our first tryouts/evaluations. The president told me the main purpose for the first round was to get an idea of how many players we were gonna have (we're a small organization) and to get a look at any new guys coming in. We also gave the players a written critique so that they know what they need to improve over the summer for the second tryout in August.

The tryout was $50 which gets credited towards your registration fees if you signed up that day. It also includes once a week skills & drills sessions until teams are picked and practices start in September.

If any of you guys play in the CBHL check out Hagerstown. Best prices in the league and probably more practice ice than any other oprganization. HYHA Webpage?

/shameless plug

I play in the CBHL for The Blue Ridge Bears. Played Bantam A last year and we beat you guys in the first round of the playoffs. Just curious, how many practices do yall have a week? Last year we only had 2 a week.

[jeffw 1]

Two a week @ 1.5 hours each.

[GSHL99 0]

I have watched team tryouts at many different levels now for years, and I am becoming a little confused as to the actual purpose of a tryout. Is the purpose to select the best players on the ice, or is it to look at players that you may not know about and decide if they can play on your team? Example, Player A is a kid who has always played at the top level on a 17 player team. He is very skilled and ranks maybe about 5th on the team, but he is lazy in practice and doesn't work hard. Player B is a kid who plays on the second tier but is a hard worker and would probably rank about 18th on the list. During tryouts Player A stinks up the ice for all of the tryout sessions (eg. make lazy passes, gives the puck up in his zone, and doesn't skate hard). On the ice, Player B is busting ass, and has a great tryout for his abilities, and plays much better than Player A, but would only slot in at about 17 if Player A was not there. Who gets picked? My experience says that Player A will get picked without a question based on reputation alone, since the coaches who are selecting have intimate knowledge of the players, and the association directors supply ranking lists to the coaches for tryouts. I have seen it happen time and time again, and the good players seem to be picked on reputation alone, if they don't show up on the ice.

The latest real world example happened at a local USA hockey development camp. 8 players were to be selected for the national camp. The player in question is a very good player. This particular player broke their collar bone and could not participate on the ice. They were given an alternate slot for the national camp. Why was this player not told "We are sorry that happened, but we cannot say you are one of the top 10 players in our region, without watching you tryout" ? I realize that it is an alternate position, but what does this say to the players who worked hard on the ice? So once again this situation begs the question, what is the purpose of a tryout? Any insights from coaches, players, scouts etc, would be appreciated.

Well it depends a bit on what level of hockey. Playing as a kid the "try-outs" were to make sure the two Squirt teams were even talent wise and to pick who would get on the PeeWee A team and the B team. Those were, of course, free try-outs. When you start getting into the Bantam, Midget, and Junior levels (assuming there are open try outs for the Junior team) you'll find that most coaches already have travel squads picked and try outs are just to place players a on "B" or "C" team. Or just cut them and in either case make out like a bandit in fees.

I think this seems confusing because most Americans are used to the concept ot try outs we had with competive sports in Jr. and Sr. high school, namely everyone interested shows up and the coaches fill the roster with the best players. I tend to think it would benefit the sport of hockey to abandon the cash grab "try out" process, or at least make it transparent so those that show up realize that they aren't competing for 18 roster spots, but 1 or 2 open spots.

[TapOrSnap 0]

Most of you nailed it on the head. When a player shows up, most of the spots are probably taken already. It's like varsity sports, you show up knowing that most of the spots are already taken by returnees but you're still gonna try to battle for those 2-3 spots that just opened up with grads leaving.

But typically, one's gotta do something pretty spectacular to make the team when they're middle of the pack.

[thorpedo26 0]

time for tryouts again :) <_<

[Langenbrunner15 0]

Wow, thats really late. Tryouts for teams are over by a month or two by now around me.

[Sniper15 0]

i have went to try outs. Played my but off. Then to find out the team was already picked prior. And No matter how many goals I scored how hard I played I was only making the b team. And the only reason for that was because of the people I knew. One try out I remember I played better than 99% of the players. Same thing happened. They just need the money to fund their team.

I'm pretty sure that if you played better than 99% of the players on the ice pal you would have been selected for the team. I agree politics plays a part in every tryout situation but it seems like every person who doesn't make the team always plays the "It was bullshit politics" card. Politics aside, if you go out there and really stand out and are clearly one of the top players on the ice you are going to make the team. The people who usually get hurt by politics are middle of the pack players. Bottom line, if you're one of the best players on the ice you are going to be on the team regardless over who your parents know.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

Wow, thats really late. Tryouts for teams are over by a month or two by now around me.

Most likely Jr. tryouts are the ones he's talking about. They start around August.

[thorpedo26 0]

Wow, thats really late. Tryouts for teams are over by a month or two by now around me.

Most likely Jr. tryouts are the ones he's talking about. They start around August.

i wish that was the case :D maybe in a few years

highschool tryouts

[Cheesehead 0]

Wow last season tryouts were in the begging of August, but this current season they where near the end of May.

[Langenbrunner15 0]

Wow, thats really late. Tryouts for teams are over by a month or two by now around me.

Most likely Jr. tryouts are the ones he's talking about. They start around August.

i wish that was the case :D maybe in a few years

highschool tryouts

That's wierd too, my HS has 'tryouts' in November I think, but we do have a summer league were they get the feel for the new guys coming in.