How to Run Lacrosse 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. Line drills. Two lines passing and catching at a set distance, then cradling while moving, with both hands and a catch on the move from each side. Show the grip and the cradle once, and keep it moving. Take a sprint and a shuttle time from groups in turn, and count wall ball catches in thirty seconds if you have a wall. What to score: Stick handling, catching and passing, and which hand the player trusts. Write the sprint, the shuttle and the wall ball count in the measurables table.
2. Ground balls. Loose balls rolled or tossed to a player, 1v1 against a partner and then in a small group, at a controlled speed. Look for the first step, the feet moving through the scoop and the stick protected on the way up. Count successful pickups out of ten. What to score: Ground balls, with a note on effort. Score the footwork and the stick protection, not only whether the player came up with it.
3. Shooting. Players shoot from set positions and then on the run, a fixed number each, with a goalie in full protective equipment and a feeder. Include a shot after a catch and a shot off a dodge. Count shots on target out of ten if you like. What to score: Shooting: the technique, the placement and the decision. Keep the speed in the notes, and keep goals off the grid.
4. Dodging. Dodges from behind the goal and from up top against a defender at a controlled speed, a few each, with a change of pace and a change of direction. Ask for both hands. Stop the drill if the contact stops being controlled. What to score: Dodging and stick handling under pressure: the protection of the stick, the first step and whether the player beat the defender cleanly.
5. Defensive footwork. Defensive footwork against an attacker moving at a controlled speed, then stick checks on a stationary or controlled partner, taught the way your league teaches them. No live checking where your league restricts it. Demonstrate each rep, then watch the player do it. What to score: Positioning and the defensive criteria: the feet, the angle and the legal check. Leave the cells blank for a group that ran none.
6. Goalie shot series. Goalies in full protective equipment take a fixed number of shots from the same spots, from the same shooters, after a proper warm-up. Include low, high, bounce and long shots, and a clear or outlet pass after each save. Ask for volunteers at the younger ages. What to score: Reaction, positioning, the first move and the outlet pass. Do not compare save counts, which depend on who took the shots.
7. Scrimmage. Small-sided games without checking, then a larger scrimmage, with the teams mixed every game and everyone playing the position they auditioned for and one other. Use your league's rules for the age group, and substitute at set times so everyone gets similar minutes. What to score: Positioning, conditioning 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 clubs. If you can only double up on one thing, double up on the scrimmage, where opinions differ the most.

A goalie is a position of its own, with its own gear and its own tryout, and the number most people reach for, goals allowed, tells you the least. It depends on the quality of the shots and the pressure in front of the goalie, so give every goalie the same test and score what they do.

• Same shots, same spots, same shooters. A fixed number of shots from set positions, taken by the same players for every goalie, after a proper warm-up and in full protective equipment. Anything else compares the shooters.
• Positioning and stance. Where the goalie stands in relation to the shooter and the goal, and a balanced ready stance with the stick up. This shows before the shot, so watch the setup as closely as the save.
• Reaction and hand speed. The first move toward the ball, and how quickly the stick and the hands get there. Score the move, not only whether the save was made.
• Saves on the pipes. Low, high and corner shots close to the posts test a goalie's reach and footwork. Include them in the series, in the same order for everyone.
• Rebound control. What happens to the ball after the save: absorbed, steered away from the shooters, or left in front. A save that gives up a second shot has done half the job.
• Clearing and outlet passing. A save is the start of a possession. Score the decision and the accuracy of the clear or the outlet pass to a teammate, not only the distance.
• Directing the defense. Calling the slides, the ball and the matchups. A goalie who talks sees the whole field, and it shows in the scrimmage more than in the shot series.
• Composure. What the goalie does after a goal. A player who resets in a few seconds and plays the next shot well is worth more than one who saved the first three.
• Do not rely on goals allowed. It depends on the shots taken, the shooters and the defense in front. Keep any count as context, and never rank goalies on it.

• Ranking experience and not ability. A veteran will beat a first-timer on every drill. Teach one thing and score the improvement, or you will keep only the players who started early.
• Over-reading shot speed. A hard shot at the goalie's pads is not a good shot. Score the placement and the technique, and keep the speed in the notes.
• Judging stick skills only in lines. A clean catch in a line is easy. Stick handling under pressure shows in the dodging and the scrimmage.
• Forgetting ground balls. They do not look dramatic and they separate a group faster than almost anything else. Give them a station, and count the pickups.
• Ignoring the off hand. A player who is good with one hand is easy to defend. Watch both.
• Forgetting the goalies. If your evaluators spend the session in the drills, the goalies get a half-scored sheet. Give them their own evaluator and the same shots.
• Rewarding the early developer. In any age group the oldest players are almost a year older than the youngest. Check the birth date on the sheet before you decide that a player looks behind.

This is the lacrosse version. The general tryouts & evaluation works for any sport, and the lacrosse forms and templates page lists the other 5 lacrosse documents.

Playbook Logix provides customizable templates for informational and administrative use. They are not legal advice and will not meet the requirements of every organization, sport or jurisdiction. Review anything you intend to rely on with your own attorney or your insurance carrier, and check your league and state requirements.