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Tryout & player evaluation forms
Two free tools for the part of the season that decides who plays where: a tryout scoresheet built from the skills your sport actually scores, and a player evaluation you can hand a family at the end of it. Plus what we have learned about running a tryout that produces scores worth keeping.
Which one do I need?
A scoresheet is for you. An evaluation is for the family.
These two documents get confused constantly, and handing over the wrong one causes a bad afternoon.
A tryout evaluation scoresheet is a working document. It is fast, numeric, built to be filled in on a clipboard while athletes are still moving, and it exists so that a selection decision can be defended later. It is not written for parents and should not be shown to them. Raw tryout scores read as a verdict on a child, because that is exactly what they are.
A player evaluation form is the opposite. It is written to be read by a family, it covers a season rather than an afternoon, and most of its value is in the prose rather than the ratings. If you only ever produce one of these two documents, produce this one: a tryout decision affects a few weeks, and a well-written evaluation is the thing a twelve-year-old remembers.
Scoring criteria by sport
What actually gets scored, sport by sport
The scoresheet loads real criteria for the nine sports below. The skills a coach in that sport genuinely marks, in the order they tend to mark them, with the intangibles last. Every other sport gets an all-purpose set you can rename in place.
Archery tryout criteria
- Stance
- Draw
- Anchor
- Release
- Aiming
- Grouping
- Range safety
- Focus
- Coachability
Badminton tryout criteria
- Grip
- Clears
- Smash power
- Net play
- Serve
- Court coverage
- Shot selection
- Coachability
Baseball tryout criteria
- Hitting
- Bat speed
- Fielding
- Arm strength
- Throwing
- Baserunning
- Awareness
- Coachability
Basketball tryout criteria
- Ball handling
- Shooting
- Finishing
- On-ball D
- Help defense
- Court vision
- Rebounding
- Basketball IQ
- Coachability
Bowling tryout criteria
- Approach
- Release
- Ball speed
- Accuracy
- Spares
- Lane reading
- Average
- Coachability
Boxing tryout criteria
- Stance
- Footwork
- Jab
- Hooks
- Head movement
- Defence
- Combinations
- Conditioning
- Coachability
Cheerleading tryout criteria
- Jumps
- Tumbling
- Stunting
- Motions
- Dance
- Projection
- Flexibility
- Showmanship
- Coachability
Cricket tryout criteria
- Batting
- Shot selection
- Bowling action
- Line & length
- Fielding
- Throwing
- Running
- Awareness
- Coachability
Cross Country tryout criteria
- Running form
- Pace judgement
- Hill strength
- Finishing kick
- Race tactics
- Consistency
- Toughness
- Coachability
Curling tryout criteria
- Delivery
- Weight control
- Line accuracy
- Sweeping
- Shot selection
- Ice reading
- Teamwork
- Coachability
Cycling tryout criteria
- Pedalling
- Bike handling
- Climbing
- Sprint power
- Endurance
- Group riding
- Tactics
- Coachability
Dance tryout criteria
- Technique
- Flexibility
- Turns
- Leaps
- Musicality
- Retention
- Performance
- Coachability
Diving tryout criteria
- Approach
- Take-off power
- Body line
- Somersaults
- Twist control
- Entry
- Consistency
- Coachability
Equestrian tryout criteria
- Seat
- Use of aids
- Transitions
- Rhythm
- Jumping
- Accuracy
- Horsemanship
- Confidence
- Coachability
Fencing tryout criteria
- Footwork
- Blade work
- Distance
- Timing
- Attacks
- Riposte
- Bout tactics
- Coachability
Field Hockey tryout criteria
- Stick handling
- First touch
- Passing
- Shooting
- Tackling
- Positioning
- Endurance
- Coachability
Figure Skating tryout criteria
- Edges
- Spins
- Jumps
- Footwork
- Artistry
- Musicality
- Consistency
- Coachability
Football (Flag) tryout criteria
- Speed
- Agility
- Flag pulling
- Route running
- Catching
- Throwing
- Field vision
- Coachability
Football (Tackle) tryout criteria
- Speed
- Agility
- Physicality
- Tackling
- Blocking
- Catching
- Position play
- Football IQ
- Coachability
Golf tryout criteria
- Full swing
- Ball striking
- Driving
- Iron accuracy
- Short game
- Putting
- Course sense
- Etiquette
- Coachability
Gymnastics tryout criteria
- Strength
- Flexibility
- Body tension
- Tumbling
- Apparatus
- Balance
- Consistency
- Coachability
Ice Hockey tryout criteria
- Skating
- Acceleration
- Puck handling
- Passing
- Shooting
- Positioning
- Physical play
- Hockey sense
- Coachability
Lacrosse tryout criteria
- Stick handling
- Catching
- Passing
- Shooting
- Dodging
- Ground balls
- Positioning
- Conditioning
- Coachability
Martial Arts tryout criteria
- Stance
- Technique
- Forms
- Sparring
- Flexibility
- Power
- Discipline
- Coachability
Pickleball tryout criteria
- Serve
- Dinking
- Volleys
- Third shot
- Positioning
- Shot selection
- Partner play
- Coachability
Powerlifting tryout criteria
- Squat
- Bench
- Deadlift
- Bracing
- Strength
- Mobility
- Consistency
- Discipline
- Coachability
Rowing tryout criteria
- Catch
- Drive
- Recovery
- Blade work
- Crew timing
- Erg score
- Endurance
- Coachability
Rugby tryout criteria
- Passing
- Catching
- Tackling
- Breakdown
- Running lines
- Kicking
- Work rate
- Game sense
- Coachability
Sailing tryout criteria
- Boat handling
- Sail trim
- Steering
- Starts
- Mark roundings
- Tactics
- Rules
- Safety
- Coachability
Soccer tryout criteria
- First touch
- Passing
- Dribbling
- Shooting
- Defending 1v1
- Off-ball
- Endurance
- Awareness
- Coachability
Softball tryout criteria
- Hitting
- Bat speed
- Fielding
- Arm strength
- Throwing
- Baserunning
- Awareness
- Coachability
Swimming tryout criteria
- Stroke
- Starts
- Turns
- Underwaters
- Breathing
- Pace judgement
- Endurance
- Race times
- Coachability
Table Tennis tryout criteria
- Grip
- Forehand drive
- Backhand drive
- Spin
- Serve variety
- Return
- Footwork
- Match tactics
- Coachability
Tennis tryout criteria
- Forehand
- Backhand
- Serve
- Return
- Volleys
- Footwork
- Point play
- Toughness
- Coachability
Track & Field tryout criteria
- Sprinting
- Acceleration
- Top speed
- Endurance
- Technique
- Starts
- Consistency
- Coachability
Ultimate Frisbee tryout criteria
- Backhand throw
- Forehand throw
- Catching
- Getting open
- Marking
- Awareness
- Endurance
- Spirit
- Coachability
Volleyball tryout criteria
- Serving
- Serve receive
- Setting
- Attacking
- Blocking
- Digging
- Awareness
- Communication
- Coachability
Water Polo tryout criteria
- Eggbeater
- Swimming speed
- Ball handling
- Shooting
- Passing
- Positioning
- Strength
- Coachability
Wrestling tryout criteria
- Stance
- Takedowns
- Defence
- Top control
- Escapes
- Pinning
- Conditioning
- Weight class
- Coachability
Pick your sport in the builder and click Load scoring criteria for this sport and the columns rebuild themselves. Nothing is locked after that: add a column for a position-specific skill, delete one your age group never tests, and rename anything that your league calls something else.
Before, during, after
Planning a tryout that does not fall apart on the day
-
Two weeks before
- Decide how many spots exist, and say so publicly. A tryout with an undisclosed number of places reads as rigged whether or not it is.
- Recruit evaluators from outside the parent group where you can.
- Collect medical consent and emergency contacts in advance, not at the door.
- Publish what will be tested. Athletes preparing for the right things is a feature.
-
On the day
- Numbered pinnies, and scoring by number only. Names come back after the sheets are in.
- Brief the evaluators together: what a 3 means, and that they do not confer.
- Run the drill that tests the skill you are scoring. A "coachability" column needs a moment that tests it. Teach something new mid-session and watch who adjusts.
- Leave a cell blank rather than guessing. Blank is honest and averages correctly.
-
Afterwards
- Average the independent sheets before anyone discusses a name.
- Tell families privately and before the roster goes public.
- Give every athlete who asked one or two concrete things to work on.
- Keep the sheets. Next season they are the only record of what a player looked like a year ago.
The rest of the paperwork
What else a tryout weekend needs
The scoresheet is the document people remember to build. These are the ones that matter more on the day, and they are in the same toolkit.
Medical Consent & Emergency Contact
The one form you genuinely cannot run a session without. Allergies, medications, who to call.
Open the generator →Liability Waiver
Participation and release, on your letterhead, for athletes who are not yet registered members.
Open the generator →Team Roster & Contact Sheet
For the moment the tryout is over and the selected players become a team with phone numbers.
Open the generator →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.
Common questions about tryouts
What forms do I need to run a tryout?
Three things, and only one of them is the scoresheet. A tryout evaluation sheet for the evaluators, a medical consent and emergency contact form for every athlete on the floor that day, and a liability waiver if your league does not already have one on file. Registration paperwork can wait until a player accepts a spot, but the medical form cannot - it is the one you need before anybody runs.
How many evaluators should score a tryout?
At least two, scoring independently, and more if you can staff it. Two sheets that agree are evidence; one sheet is an opinion. Keep evaluators from conferring during the session - once they compare notes mid-tryout you have one opinion written down twice, which looks like agreement and is not.
What rating scale works best?
A 1 to 5 scale is the usual answer, because most people can hold five distinctions in their head and will quietly collapse a ten-point scale into five anyway. What matters far more than the range is deciding what each number means before the session starts, and saying it out loud to the evaluators.
Should tryout scores compare players to each other?
No - score against what the age group should be able to do, not against whoever else turned up. Ranking within the room means a strong 12U group makes an average player look weak, and a thin year makes an average player look like a standout. The scores stop meaning anything across seasons.
What is the difference between a tryout sheet and a player evaluation form?
Audience. A tryout sheet is a fast scoring grid for coaches making a selection decision, and no parent should ever see it. A player evaluation form is written for the family - it is an assessment of how a season went, with room for the things a number cannot carry.
Do you have tryout forms for my sport?
The scoresheet loads real criteria for baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, soccer, lacrosse, tackle football, flag football and cheerleading. Any other sport gets an all-purpose set of criteria that you can rename in place, which is more honest than inventing a rubric for a sport nobody here has coached.
How should we tell players who did not make the team?
Privately, quickly, and never by leaving a list on a wall or in a group chat. Tell families before the roster is public, give one or two concrete things to work on, and say where they can play instead. The evaluation sheet is what makes that conversation specific rather than vague, but hand over your own notes rather than the raw scores.
After the tryout comes the roster
Playbook Logix takes the part that starts once the team exists: registration, medical forms parents fill in on their phone, who has paid, and a roster that is the same in everyone's pocket. There is a free plan.