Here’s the email that was sent out to the 50+ families who had registered their girls for our upcoming ECNL tryouts.
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Hi all,
My name is Mark Abboud, and I'll be coaching the MTA 09G ECNL team. I'm looking forward to seeing all the girls tomorrow for our first evaluation session.
You will be receiving a final details email from the club later today, and that email will provide insight on what to bring, the on-site reg process, post-tryout notification timeline, etc.
Just a couple things from me...likely not very well formatted because...well...because formatting isn't this BYGA system's forte...
What To Expect
We currently have 50 girls registered at this age group, and will likely see a handful more register today online and tomorrow as walk-ups. The goal will be to form an ECNL team with 16-18 players, then form an NPL team with another 18 players in a few weeks. I know a majority of your girls are coming to try and make the ECNL roster. If that does not work out for them this year, I strongly encourage you to consider our NPL option. More information about the strength and successes of our NPL program will be available tomorrow on-site.
In terms of the session itself, we'll start with a 40-yd dash assessment. Nothing super scientific or precise here. Just comparing speed to get a rough idea of where everyone is at. We'll then move on to a 1v1 to 2v2 to Goal exercise, play some 4v4 to Goal, then finish with some 8v8 - 11v11 depending on the numbers.
On Wednesday we'll start with some shooting/finishing, then move to 11v11.
Note that I said we are starting with a 40-yd sprint tomorrow. Your daughter should be warmed up and ready to do this right away. There will likely not be a ton of space inside the fence on the turf leading up to our start time due to other tryouts going on, so the girls may need to get creative in terms of how they get ready. If it's a complete zoo tomorrow and I feel the girls can't get warmed up well, they'll have some time to do so on the field once it becomes available.
Only Interested in the NPL Team?
I know a couple of you are only interested in playing on the NPL team. In the forthcoming email from the club, admin will ask you to let them know about this NPL-only interest, so please take a few minutes to respond to the admin email if your daughter falls into this category so we are prepped before tomorrow's tryout session.
All players are welcome to the ECNL tryouts. Your tryout reg fee covers both the ECNL and NPL tryouts, and even if the ECNL is of no interest to your daughter, out-of-comfort zone experiences can be beneficial for a player's growth.
What I'm Looking For
To state the obvious, I'm looking for players who can compete at the ECNL level. The reality is that your daughter may dominate on her current team and in her local league, but that doesn't mean that she will be suited for ECNL competition. The national league features the 100+ of the top youth clubs in this country, and the level of play at the older age groups is far different from what most of you are used to.
At this younger ECNL age group, skill is important for sure. However, skill is not nearly as important as heart, desire, work ethic, fight, determination, and overall athleticism. I'm looking for girls who LOVE to compete without being over-competitive, who hate losing at anything but who are not sore losers, and who will run through a brick wall for their teammates. I can't teach any of this stuff. It all has to come from within each player. I can foster these traits, but I can't instill them.
I can teach the skills and the tactics of the game, but in my opinion, without these traits mentioned above, success on the national stage will always be limited.
Obviously, with 50+ girls in the pool there will be varying levels of these traits exhibited. Just because your daughter doesn't make the ECNL roster doesn't mean she doesn't possess any of them. Also, in my experience, many of these traits can show up over time, with renewed focus sometimes kick-started by disappointment.
With that said, I'm not looking to take a raw athlete over a skillful player. Raw athletes interested in eventual ECNL play (and who show soccer potential) will be best suited for our NPL team this year where they can build experience and hone their craft.
Mistakes are OK
Tryouts are stressful for young players, and this stress/tension will undoubtedly lead to more mistakes on the field than one would currently see. And that's completely fine. I'm not focused on the mistakes. In fact, I'm actively looking for them so that I can see how each girl will react AFTER the mistake happens. Do they tune out, get lost for a bit in the exercise/game, spiral downward, etc, or do they immediately fight to make up for the mistake to help their team, and can they learn from their mistake and get better from it?
Because I'm very familiar with the tryout environment, I've tried to reach out to many of you in advance to get background info, and have spent the last month+ watching games (most of the time incognito) to see the girls in their comfort zones. I know I will see many of you in games at the USA Cup Tues morning before tryouts. I haven't connected with everyone, and haven't seen all the girls play, but did my best with what my scheduled allowed and with the information you provided in your registration.
Size 5 Soccer Balls
Many of you spent the last year playing up to U13 and are familiar with this. For those who don't know, we use a size 5 soccer ball beginning at the U13 year. If your daughter has one, please have her bring it tomorrow.
There is no need to bring a size 4 if that's all you have at this point. We are hoping to have extra size 5 balls around.
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That's it from me. I appreciate your interest/continued interest in our club, and am really looking forward to watching all the girls do their thing tomorrow evening!
