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I have heard Edina and WBL both have open try-outs. If that is the case, I find myself ?ing why forest Lake has "closed" tryouts. I have to think that Edina and WBL know what they are doing. What does your assc. do for try-outs. Does your assc. have kids try-out by position @ bantams?

old goalie85 wrote:I have heard Edina and WBL both have open try-outs. If that is the case, I find myself ?ing why forest Lake has "closed" tryouts. I have to think that Edina and WBL know what they are doing. What does your assc. do for try-outs. Does your assc. have kids try-out by position @ bantams?

Forest Lake has closed tryouts to keep you out It's the OG85 Rule.

That's kinda what I was starting to figure out. Thanks for confirming Puck.

Because its easier to hose ur kid and help their buddies kid without u standing there watching.

old goalie85 wrote:I have heard Edina and WBL both have open try-outs. If that is the case, I find myself ?ing why forest Lake has "closed" tryouts. I have to think that Edina and WBL know what they are doing. What does your assc. do for try-outs. Does your assc. have kids try-out by position @ bantams?

EP does closed tryouts as well. Asked someone there what was the reasoning. He stated that kids are already under enough pressure from the evaluators why put anymore on them from having a ton of parents etc watching.

Yes - The endless debate. Goes on every year.. I have worked evaluation for approx 10 - 15 different associations over the years. The Main "real reason" is Parents !!!! have you seen some of these parents? my God.... coach from the stands, complain if an evaluator talked to someone, copmplain with who they went out with, or against. everyone is afraid of being miss treated. Right now there are some associations fighting for certian coaches to be put in place because they feel their kid has a better shot at the top team if so & so is coaching. so much of a tryout process is judgemental, one persons perception vs another.. whos right? whos wrong? neither. its just a difference of opinion. and people do not like there opinions questioned. This debate will go on and on and on. there is no right answer.

As a parent I am happy our tryouts are closed. There is enough pressure on the players without having to deal with their parents sitting and watching their every move.

Andover also has open try-outs. So Edina/WBL don't have crazy parents ?

Each team picks it battles, some prefer to battle the pluses and minus of a closed tryout, while other choose those battles of an open tryout. As i mentioned before - there is not right or wrong way.

Scout716 wrote:Each team picks it battles, some prefer to battle the pluses and minus of a closed tryout, while other choose those battles of an open tryout. As i mentioned before - there is not right or wrong way.

EP likes to fix problems that don't exist. I'd say its a D6 thing (Minnesota Made), but Edina being sensible messes up that thinking. I never particularly enjoyed watching tryouts, but I also never saw a parent cause any kind of problem. Funny thing is that with closed tryouts the only people that are likely to cause a problem are INSIDE the closed doors.

I agree let's see whats going on in there. Truth is most will only watch a couple drills anyway. The Brick tryouts were open. I didn't see anyone going crazy there.Maybe shelter the poor squirts,but bantams should be able to handle it. I think all kids scores should be posted as well.

old goalie85 wrote:Andover also has open try-outs. So Edina/WBL don't have crazy parents ?

Andover parents are informed that cheering, coaching, clapping, gesturing, etc... is not acceptable. Okay to watch -- but do so without being a distraction. It seems to work out okay.

I like the open tryouts -- but more to watch other kids and see how they've progressed over the off-season and to see where the program is headed at different levels. Watching your own kid can maybe help a little in terms of giving them constructive feedback -- but there's the rub. Some parents are so wound up about the process that they overanalyze and overcoach their kids throughout tryouts and drive up the stress for their own kid. Others do fine with it and could take it or leave it since they know the kids are the ones who have to perform, and not them.

Parents neither select the drills nor the players, so closed vs. open tryouts only fuels debates about politics and conspiracies (mostly by the overanalyze-overcoach types). It's a no-win issue for boards as either route fans the flames for parents with strong opinions. If it's open, then they "clearly" see that their player deserved to play at X level. If it's closed, then they know it was all politics and their kid got shorted.

Tough to argue for or against closed vs. open since the problem parents will still be a problem either way. My two cents.

I don't really see how closed tryouts solve anything. A complaining parent is still going to have complaints either way, and the mistrust might be more with closed doors. A overbearing parent who has to wait in the lobby might not be coaching from the stands, yelling, etc, but will most likely be grilling the kid all the way home in the car.

Allowing parents to watch their children is a good thing.

Pressures and stress might be greater in smaller associations. In Edina, a kid just misses the AA team, he's on the A team. In OG85's FL, a kid doesn't make the AA team, he's on the B1 or B2 team. It's a bigger drop.

old goalie85 wrote:Andover also has open try-outs. So Edina/WBL don't have crazy parents ?

They're all crazy so it cancels each other out.

Not to take this in a whole different direction but it would be interesting to see how other associations score their players and how those scores are weighed into which team they are on. For instance 50% skating skills and 50% game play? 100% skills? 100% game play or some other combination. I talked to a parent from ER and they don't even do any skating drills at Squirt tryouts, its 100% game play. He said "they want hockey players not figure skaters". Kind of shocked me. Back in the day we skated crossovers forever. Not even sure what my association does(not sure they know either) as my son is a first year squirt.

I agree that at squirts, or any level, I am putting much more emphasis on actual game play than drills. I want to see how they perform in a game. A kid might not be a good practice player, or a kid's skill set might not line up with a drill. Maybe the kid doesn't stickhandle well but can really skate, never gets tired, and is a beast on the forecheck and always wins battles in the corner. How do you grade those qualities in a drill?

Bottom line, I want to see if a kid can play and how they will fit in on a team. Every team needs goal scorers, grinders in the corners, defensive minded players, etc. It's what makes a team.

Also prefer open tryouts to closed. I see more negatives to keeping it behind closed doors.

Probably 8 years ago it moved to almost all game play in most associations I'm familiar with. Warm 'em up and drop the puck. Interestingly, PeeWee tryouts were a big deal in game play as 3 or 4 Squirts don't want anything to do with checking. And, you don't know which 3 or 4. Sometimes it's one of your better Squirt players and that was impossible to see in drills. That is all now pushed 2 more years.

IMO, this idea that closed tryouts are warranted to take the pressure off of the kids is just perpetuating the trend to over shelter them from the real world and results in the loss of a prime teaching opportunity in dealing with pressure. I can maybe see it at Squirts but not at Pewees or Bantams. What's next, no spectators at games because the team might not play well with the pressure of performing in front of fans?

I guess I don't mind the open tryouts so much. What I do mind is all the kids wearing last year's jersey with their name across the back. If we had pinnies we could at least pretend that your last name doesn't matter.

I would also like to see independent evaluators, especially when you have parent coaches. I think sometimes kids can get pigeon holed as a certain type of player at Squirts and that reputation follows them forever, deservedly or not.

Problem parents - problem dad coaches. The system isn't perfect on either side of the coin. Just set up some ground rules for the parents to keep it civil and throw the best system out there you have. We all have our own opinions right or wrong, but full disclosure is always the best policy. And when dad coaches are involved, whether as a head coach or influencial assistant coach, make them accountable for their decisions. Just having on lookers does help somewhat to keep it honest. There will never be 100% agreement for any team that has a large number of kids coming out and we all have seen some ridiculous things happen on the bubble but that's life. Let's see it all and let everyone deal with it - full disclosure.

There is no logical reason to close tryouts in youth hockey.

old goalie85 wrote:I have heard Edina and WBL both have open try-outs. If that is the case, I find myself ?ing why forest Lake has "closed" tryouts. I have to think that Edina and WBL know what they are doing. What does your assc. do for try-outs. Does your assc. have kids try-out by position @ bantams?

What % does the coach get to pick?

Isn't lack of transparency a huge issue in society at large today. I can't think of a more talked about issue in the past 4 years. If there is another argument besides kids being under more pressure when parents are watching, please enlighten us. I as a previous poster also mentioned would like to know the % of grading that is going on, why is this top secret? It really speaks to the issue of non-transparency.

Parents need to stay out of tryouts. Who does it benefit? Not the kids. No matter what state you play in and what level it always seems to be more about the parents than the kids.

Our association hands out different colored practice jerseys and uses huge number stickers on the helmets. Open tryouts, and I have only seen a few parents with clipboards taking notes. I just laugh at them. My son didn't care that parents were watching--they all watch practices and games anyway--no big deal to him, even when he was a squirt.

I like to watch, but mostly it's just to see how he's progressed compared to the other kids. We both know he's going to keep playing no matter which team he's put on--he knows he's one of the young ones, and he sees it as an advantage long term (since he's almost always playing with older kids). However, I also like to watch so I can laugh at any drama that unfolds with the parents. Who needs cable when you have that kind of entertainment?