Why are HS Boys tryouts in February?

[Guest]

It really doesn't make sense to me when practices for the newly formed teams will only start in June and cut or displaced players may have to play a spring or trapped player season with their old teams for several more months.
I see a few select clubs deferring their tryouts to May. That makes a lot more sense.

IMO its dumb. Such a large gap in time gives opportunities for drop outs, second thoughts, injuries during the HS season, etc.

Why is it this way?

[Guest]

This is a good question so I hope someone who knows answers. I also wish there was a better way to deal with the dual age team - so many good players get dropped down and it seems painful every year.

[Guest]

No one is going to like this answer, but I don’t like watching athletes finishing games on Sundays and having to be evaluated Mondays and risking injury along the way.

so why tryout Monday, not Tuesday, after the season?

clubs don’t want their players shopping their options and training with other teams. They want them to finish, and come to tryouts the next day and take a spot on the offered team because they have no other options.

tryouts shouldn’t even happen. It’s a product consumers buy. They need to be free to switch product if it isn’t working. But they aren’t and because of it clubs get away with being sub optimal for the players development.

[Guest]

And why do we sign up for teams now and pay for nothing?

[Guest]

The most charitable explanation (which is partly true) is that doing the tryouts now reduces the tryout congestion and burdens on clubs, coaches, fields and families in May when the older girls and all youngers are doing their tryouts. But the clubs also like locking everyone in, getting some money in the door, and not having people shopping around and having kids talking one another into moving clubs as they play high school throughout the spring.

[Guest]

Money, same as everything else in youth soccer. They want the lock-in now and you start paying immediately for a full season even though your kid won’t actually play for the club for another three months. It’s a money grab, it’s always a money grab

[Guest]

No one is going to like this answer, but I don’t like watching athletes finishing games on Sundays and having to be evaluated Mondays and risking injury along the way.

so why tryout Monday, not Tuesday, after the season?

clubs don’t want their players shopping their options and training with other teams. They want them to finish, and come to tryouts the next day and take a spot on the offered team because they have no other options.

tryouts shouldn’t even happen. It’s a product consumers buy. They need to be free to switch product if it isn’t working. But they aren’t and because of it clubs get away with being sub optimal for the players development.

100% spot-on

[Guest]

No one is going to like this answer, but I don’t like watching athletes finishing games on Sundays and having to be evaluated Mondays and risking injury along the way.

so why tryout Monday, not Tuesday, after the season?

clubs don’t want their players shopping their options and training with other teams. They want them to finish, and come to tryouts the next day and take a spot on the offered team because they have no other options.

tryouts shouldn’t even happen. It’s a product consumers buy. They need to be free to switch product if it isn’t working. But they aren’t and because of it clubs get away with being sub optimal for the players development.

This is absolutely stupid. Nothing prevents you from leaving your club.

if you dont like your situation, leave. Then you can go anywhere you want.

[Guest]

This is absolutely stupid. Nothing prevents you from leaving your club.

if you dont like your situation, leave. Then you can go anywhere you want.

Absolutely stupid is pretending that limited club choices, geographical league rights, collusion to hold tryouts on the same days, thousands of dollars in non-refundable season fees, and roster rules preventing club switches during the season are all significant switching costs of barriers to kids who may be in a bad situation at their existing club.

[Guest]

Absolutely stupid is pretending that limited club choices, geographical league rights, collusion to hold tryouts on the same days, thousands of dollars in non-refundable season fees, and roster rules preventing club switches during the season are all significant switching costs of barriers to kids who may be in a bad situation at their existing club.

Pretending they *aren’t* significant switching costs or barriers…