Not a DC Express parent, but took my son to tryouts to see how he stacked up to the talent out there in case we have to switch teams before the spring 2018. Long timer reader, first time responding. I am responding because I could not keep quite to your post. I have taken my son to a lot of tryouts throughout his 6 years of travel lacrosse and this was one of the best tryouts he has attended. With that said, I think you are completely wrong with your evaluation of this tryout process. The best way to see if a kid can play, is by putting them in real games. If you want to buy a car, you take it for a test ride on the road, maybe even the highway to see how it performs, not in a closed course in the back of the dealer parking lot. If your son was trying out for a position which there were a lot of kids trying out for, then they had to take advantage of the few times they got to touch the ball or when the ball was on their side of the field. Even if they didn't get to touch the ball often, Were they doing the little things without being told to do so, like hustling, setting picks, communicating with their teammates, fIghting for ground balls, etc. DC Express had plenty of coaches out there evaluating all the players on two separate fields so there was no show of favortism. The kids played in four competitive games in two days, which is similar to what they would play in tournaments. By this point in their lacrosse careers, drills aren't going to show the coaches if the kid can play, when under pressure. Also by this point, the kids have to know how to catch and pass, especially on the move like in a game. Putting them in real games is the only way to correctly evaluate if they have a high lacrosse IQ, by making the right pass, moving the ball at the right times, if they can fake and pass or shot, etc. I'm sorry your son was not selected, but there was a lot of great talent trying out. It was impressive to see so many kids from so many different quality clubs trying out for DC Express. They will be a serious contender moving forward. They had quality coaches with their head on a swivel conducting evaluations. I did not see a coach looking at their phones, during the evacuation process, like I have at other tryouts. Good luck DC Express. Like, I said not a DC parent, but had the option to be.
