Tryouts make kids nervous, and they make parents nervous in a different way. We run them, so here is the plain version of how to help your child show up ready, without turning the whole week into a high pressure event.
The week before
Do not cram. The night before a tryout is not the time to teach a new skill or run your child into the ground. The best thing you can do that week is keep everything normal. Let them mess around with a ball in the backyard for fun. Make sure they are sleeping and eating the way they usually do. A rested, relaxed kid plays a lot closer to their real level than a tired, anxious one.
Talk about it once, lightly, and then let it go. If your child wants to bring it up, listen. If they do not, do not force it. The more a tryout gets built up at the dinner table all week, the heavier it feels by the time they get to the field.
What to pack
Keep it simple. Cleats, shin guards, a ball, and more water than you think they need. Get them there about fifteen minutes early so they are not rushing in flustered while everyone else is already warming up. Arriving calm is half of looking calm.
Leave the brand new boots at home. A tryout is not the day to break in stiff cleats and end up with blisters in the first twenty minutes. Whatever they are already comfortable in is the right choice.
What to say in the car
This is the part a lot of parents get wrong with the best intentions. The drive over is not for last minute coaching or reminders about how important the day is. Tell them to have fun and to keep trying things even when they make mistakes. That is it. A coach watching a tryout is not only counting goals. We are watching who keeps competing after they lose the ball, who talks, who listens when we ask for something different. A kid who is loose enough to take a risk shows us far more than a kid who is too scared to make one.
And whatever happens, the ride home is for being their parent, not their coach. Tell them you were proud of how they competed. The evaluation is our job. The part nobody else can do is yours.
Zane and Julian Taha
Founders and coaches, Gioca Soccer Academy
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