It’s that time of year where there is a lot of noise on tryouts both within the club and from other clubs trying to get your son or daughter to play. 

Firstly, we want to assure you all that our club is in a great place. Long-time Everton coaches, Leon Othen & Marty Walker, have just been announced as taking over operations. We feel this has had an immediate positive impact. The club is starting to see the benefits with new club-wide events and a sense of community that having an operational face on the field can bring. We have also secured the long term lease on our fields and have been accepted into some great new Leagues and tournaments.

We encourage you to check out the 2019/20 team offerings for your son or daughters age group. 

To help with any confusion here is a quick lowdown on tryouts for 2019/20 for existing players

• Tryouts are for new players. If we have not been able to evaluate a player over the past year and placed them appropriately, this will have been down to individual players being absent from too many practices and/or games. A one-hour tryout in May will not decide existing player placements. However, we still ask current players to register and attend as it makes it much easier for us to compare the ability of new players against our current ones if we physically have them competing. 

• Top players on each of our teams have been offered places for next year. It is in the interest of the club to secure these players and ensure the club has strong teams moving forward. 

• You may be given a pre-tryout offer as a pool player. This is a good thing and shows that we would like to commit to your son or daughter's development next year. The player may or may not be on the top team. The following weeks are a great opportunity for players to make a last push and I know many parents take advantage of the communication coaches provide on the progress of players. Next year, all players, no matter what level, will be offered the same amount of practices. It is also easier to move a player who has accepted a pool player position up to the top team than to commit to a player being on the top team and then having to move them down if they are struggling. 

• Some offers will go out before others based on lots of moving parts. A players favorite position, where your name stands alphabetically or even that a practice or game gets in the way of sending out an offer. 

• We will be committing to players that show great work ethic, arrive on time, and represent the club in the right way, including wearing the correct uniform. Players that disrupt the learning environment with negative behaviors or bad attitudes will not be offered places. Parents that do not represent us in the correct way affect their son our daughter's eligibility. It is not fair that a small proportion takes up the majority of coach and admin’s time away from the team and the club as a whole.

• We have elected to give preference to existing players. If a player from another team wants to try out, they have to prove they are better than existing players in order to get a spot. The work we have done with existing players and knowing their strengths and weaknesses will be in their favor.

For parents that have had their head turned by other clubs…. Please read below.

READ THIS ARTICLE ON WHEN A PLAYER SHOULD BE LOOKING TO CHANGE TEAMS

Be aware of the soccer landscape and what it means.

MLS Team Academy - Top Soccer for boys. No High School soccer or other soccer activities allowed.

Development Academy - With the MLS Development Academy’s now distancing themselves from other Development Academies in both price ( All MLS Development Academies are free) and league play - where there will be little to no games against MLS clubs, the advantage of Academy play is training four times a week and playing in prestigious tournaments across the country. No High School or other soccer activities are allowed.

NPL & ECNL - The highest level of club soccer for players also wanting to play high school. College scouts recruit MLS Academy, Development Academy and NPL & High School. However, do not forget it is up to the player and parents to put together an attractive package to impress potential schools. Playing in one league or another will not determine any commitments. We have a proven track record of getting players into good academic schools and at a level where players will continue to play soccer in college.

Pre Academy / Pre ECNL - Beware any clubs offering ‘PRE’ team positions. This is basically a second team that uses the words “Pre”…. To entice parents into thinking their son or daughter are playing at a higher level than they actually are. We encourage players who are good enough to play ECNL or Academy soccer to test themselves at that level. Many "Pre" teams play at a lower level than our NPL teams. Please do not get sucked into this.

Please ask the following questions.

A) “Am I getting good soccer tuition and an opportunity to learn life skills?”

B) “Is the traveling I’m doing affecting school work and am I able to commit to the level required?

C) “Will I be training/playing at the same convenient location?”

D) “Are the coaches approachable?”

E) "Are there any hidden costs such as additional tournaments, mandatory fundraising or mandatory additional kit?"

F) "Where am I in the pecking order on the team? - Will I get better when sitting on the bench? Will college coaches see me if I'm not playing?"

Have more questions? - Check out our Tryout & 2019/20 FAQ Page.