What every club lax parent needs to know before tryout day
Tryout season is fast approaching, and the same question comes up every year: what should we actually expect from a club lacrosse tryout? More importantly, how do we prepare our kid for it?
Let’s be honest — whether your player is 7 or 16, tryouts are one of the more stressful weeks of the year. That’s true for the kid and for you. Here’s what tryouts actually look like, and what we tell our own kids before every one.
The Size of the Tryout Changes Everything
Typical tryouts run 1 to 2 days max, in 90-minute to 2-hour sessions. That’s not a lot of time. It’s not enough for coaches to truly evaluate a full group of players, and it’s not enough for your kid to make a lasting impression.
Depending on the team, age level, and club, tryouts can pull anywhere from 20 kids to well over 100. Both numbers come with their own challenges.
When Only 20 Kids Show Up
At a 20-kid tryout, you can pretty safely bet your kid will get a spot. The real question to ask as a parent is: why are there only 20 kids trying out for this team?
A few years back, one of our kids had friends trying out for a competing local club team. Eighteen kids showed up to that tryout. The coaches knew our kid had played for another club in years past. When they let us know our son made the team — no surprise there — coaches promised us the moon: a starter spot, time on man-up, year-round practices and opportunities. Our son chose to stay on his current team instead, and thankfully so. That winter, the team he didn’t choose never got together once. His own team practiced from November through February. When summer rolled around, the team he passed on had exactly one practice before its first tournament.
If a tryout is drawing far fewer kids than you’d expect for that club, that’s worth asking about. Do it before you commit, not after. We cover more of these warning signs in our earlier post, How to Choose a Club Lacrosse Team.
“A small tryout isn’t always a red flag — but it’s always worth asking why.”
When 80 or More Kids Show Up
At the other end of the spectrum, tryouts with 50, 100, or more kids come with a different problem — and we’ve lived through one of those too.
Recently, one of our son’s teams carried the “second tier” label in town. That changed by that summer, when it became the team everyone wanted to beat. The tryout that year drew well over 80 kids, including players from the “first tier” team who wanted in on the new hot team. The whole thing happened in a single night, two hours.
Looking back, we’ve never seen our son compete harder than he did in those two hours. He knew exactly what was on the line: other kids gunning for his spot, coaches watching every rep, the intensity dialed all the way up. He made the team, deservingly we’d like to think, though luck plays a part too.
But that’s the reality of an 80-kid tryout crammed into two hours: coaches can’t get it exactly right every time. Looking back now, there are a few kids who didn’t make that team who are genuinely good players today. That’s not a knock on the coaches. It’s just what happens when coaches have to evaluate that many players in that little time.
“With that many kids and that little time, no tryout gets it exactly right — that’s not a flaw, it’s just math.”
What a Typical Tryout Actually Looks Like
It all starts with signing in and getting handed a practice jersey or pinnie. Before a single drill starts, the kids are already sizing each other up: who’s the biggest, who’s the fastest, who am I actually competing against for a spot? That happens before a coach says a word.
From there it’s a short speech from the directors and coaches on what they’re looking for. Then it’s right into stretching and warm-ups. Coaches use this stretch to split kids into small groups, usually by age or position, so nobody’s standing around waiting for a turn. Then it’s straight into stations.
Regardless of the number of kids, most tryouts follow the same basic shape. The first half is almost always drill-intensive: ground balls, catching and passing, both hands. Coaches use this time to get a baseline read on athleticism and skill. We’ve been told that by the end of this stretch, coaches have already made some quiet cuts in their heads.
Coaches watch the kids who’ve stood out in the drills closely once the second half starts: scrimmaging. This is where coaches want to see game action. Who hustles, who doesn’t, and who shows real lacrosse IQ, especially as players get older.
How to Prepare Your Kid
Here’s what we tell our own kids before every tryout.
Hustle Gets You Noticed
Coaches are watching who’s dragging on and off the field, who’s last in line. They’re also watching who’s sprinting everywhere, first in line, chasing every extra rep. The kid diving for every ground ball gets noticed. Every time.
This Is the Time to Stand Out
If there’s ever a moment you want your kid to go all out, even a little selfish, it’s tryouts. The kid who does the “right” thing — gives up the ball, lets himself get pushed to the back of the line — isn’t standing out. We tell our kids to play to create, not to avoid a mistake. Coaches don’t care about mistakes; every kid makes them. They want to see the kid who’s aggressive and trying to make things happen.
Attitude Matters
Separate from hustle, coaches are watching attitude. Who’s making eye contact when a coach is talking, not just half-listening? Coaches will “coach” during tryouts. Who takes that instruction and applies it on the next rep, and who ignores it? And when a kid makes a bad play, which every kid will, how do they respond? Head down and sulking, or right back to hustling? More than one coach has told us attitude sits right next to ability when they’re building a roster.
The Tryout Doesn’t Define Them
Let’s not sugarcoat it — these kids want to make the team. First, because (hopefully) they love the game, which we cover in our very first post, Should I Put My Kid in Club Lacrosse? Second, there’s a pride factor at any age. Most kids trying out know several of the other kids trying out, often friends or classmates. Whether they’re 7 or 17, not making a team is a tough pill to swallow. We understand that as parents. But our kids need to hear it too: making the team, or not making it, is a spot, not a verdict. No tryout result, good or bad, defines who they are.
Have Fun
We always tell our kids, at tryouts, at practice, at tournaments: have fun. We see too many parents forget this is a game. A fun-less tryout tends to lead to a multitude of issues down the line, usually ending with a kid quitting sooner rather than later. The kids who really excel aren’t just skilled and hardworking — we mean the ones who are genuinely great. You can see them having fun doing what they love. That’s usually the difference.
Common Tryout Questions
Is It Okay to Try Out for Multiple Teams?
Definitely. If your kid is on the fence, not only is it okay, we’d strongly recommend it. Commit to just one team and your kid doesn’t make the cut? You’re scrambling for options at best, or missing a season of club lacrosse at worst. On the flip side, trying out elsewhere still has value even if you feel good about your kid making their top-choice team. It gets them in front of other coaches and shows them what else is out there. The club lax world is small, and you never know what next year brings.
Are Tryouts the Place to Ask Questions About the Program?
Not really. We wouldn’t suggest cornering coaches at registration or right after tryouts wrap up. That’s not the time, and it won’t leave the impression you want. A better move: ask for basic information when you register. Talk to other parents at the tryout who may have had a kid on the team last year. That’s usually the most honest, direct feedback you’ll get. Want a more structured way to evaluate a program before you’re even at the tryout stage? Our Club Program Evaluation Tree walks through exactly what to look for and ask — grab it free from our post, How to Choose a Club Lacrosse Team.
The Bottom Line
Tryouts are stressful for the kid stepping on the field and for the parent standing on the sideline. But the outcome, good or bad, doesn’t decide who your kid is or where their lacrosse journey goes next. What you can control is how you prepare them going in: hustle, attitude, and a reminder that this is still supposed to be fun.
Every tryout looks a little different, but the goal doesn’t change: give your kid a fair shot to show what they can do. If this helped, join the ClubLaxLife community below. We send this kind of straight-talk advice straight to your inbox, no fluff.