By Tim Bradbury, Director of Coaching, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
It is an unfortunate and tragic truth that tryout season causes so much stress and heartache for players. I work hard to try and alleviate the stress and, much to my dismay, often struggle to keep all calm.
The situation is not aided by having players far too young playing travel soccer and in truth having players who would be better served playing 3v3 and 4v4 than 7v7 or 9v9 that hinders their development.
Perhaps a few Club Directors reading this can send some time looking at the Belgium Soccer Association approach.
As most clubs and leagues are in a desperate rush to larger games, competitive league play and by default, tryouts, I offer the following advice.
Philosophically