How to Run Flag Football Tryouts

These are the stations the scorecard builder can add to the sheet, in the order they usually run. Delete the ones you are not running: a station on the sheet that never happened leaves a blank that looks like a missing score.

1. 40-yard dash. Two timers with stopwatches at the finish and a starter at the line. Each player runs twice from a standing start, and you record the faster time. Run it first, after the warm-up, while legs are fresh. Decide the distance for the age group, shorten it for the youngest, and run everyone the same distance. What to score: Record the time as a time. It feeds speed on the grid, but it is not the same thing as speed on the field.
2. Agility. A short shuttle, timed, and a cone drill with a plant and a turn, run for footwork. Mark the cones before the group arrives and demonstrate it once. Two attempts each, with the faster shuttle time recorded. What to score: Agility on the grid, and the shuttle time in the measurables table. Watch the feet and the hips: low and quick, or tall and long.
3. Routes and catching. Pairs of receivers and defenders, with the same quarterbacks throwing to every receiver. Run the same few routes, such as a slant, an out and a go, for everyone, and throw ten balls to each receiver. Count the catches and write them in the measurables table. Defenders cover the route so you see separation and not just a receiver running alone. What to score: Route running, catching and speed on the field. Score the route and the catch apart, and decide whether a miss was the throw.
4. Flag pulling. Pairs with a ball carrier and a defender, a short distance apart, with the carrier cutting once. The defender closes on an angle, slows down and pulls the flag. Run it a set number of times each and count the clean pulls, with the same carrier for each defender where you can. Stop the drill if any player makes contact. What to score: Flag pulling, with a note on the angle and the control. Do not score by flags pulled in the scrimmage, which depends on the matchup.
5. Throwing accuracy. Quarterback candidates throw to a target or to the same receiver, a fixed number each, at the same distances. Ask for volunteers, and give everyone else a short turn. Count throws on target out of ten, and watch the release and where the ball goes in relation to the defender. What to score: Throwing, and the count of throws on target in the measurables table. Keep the receivers the same for everyone.
6. 5-on-5 scrimmage. 5-on-5 in short series, using your league's rules for rushing and for no-run zones. Mix the teams every game, rotate quarterbacks and centers in with the same number of snaps, and make everyone play both ways. Put an evaluator on each side of the ball. What to score: Field vision and coachability, and a second look at anything that looked different from the drills.

The usual way to wreck a tryout is to run it with too few evaluators and ask each to watch everything. A workable plan, by turnout:

Two evaluators on every station is better than one, scoring independently, and impossible for most volunteer leagues. If you can only double up on one thing, double up on the quarterbacks, since every other score depends on them.

The scrimmage is the only place you see route timing, flag pulling and the quarterback under pressure all at once, which makes it the part most worth running well. A badly arranged one scores the arrangement.

• Use your league's rules. Rush lines, no-run zones, who may run the ball and how many players play are set by the league. Play the version your teams will play, so the scrimmage tests the game.
• Mix the teams every game. Two players who are always on the same team are judged as a pair. Write the rotation down before the session so nobody is choosing sides in front of the group.
• Give every quarterback candidate the same snaps. A quarterback who gets three plays and one who gets nine have not had the same tryout. Rotate them in and write the count down.
• Make everyone play both ways. A receiver who never defends and a defender who never catches are half-scored. Rotate positions so every player is seen on both sides of the ball.
• Keep the series short. A few plays at a time keeps the pace honest, because as players tire, their play becomes less representative of their usual level.

Average the independent sheets before anyone discusses a name, tell families privately and before the roster goes up, and keep the sheets until any appeal window has closed. The longer version, which applies to every sport, is the general tryouts and evaluation guide.

Once the teams exist, the paperwork is the registration form, the code of conduct and the equipment checkout.