Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Can someone please explain to me the whole UnderArmour tryout? My 2023 is registered but what should I expect? Is it only Thursday the 8th? What if he makes it? What would be the next schedule? What if he makes the Spotlight division? What schedule should I expect? Thanks

You should know that unless he is known by the current UA coaching staff he will not make the team!! There is nothing more political than the UA and Nike selection process.

Thanks for the help...next

Will give you my perspective after watching the tryouts for a couple years. The kids are broken up into teams. (It helps if your son lands on a team with talent. Doubt that there is any purposeful combining of talent on these teams, but clearly some teams have more talent than some others.) The coaches of these teams are sort of totems, and the kids seem to sub, most graciously, on their own. Of course, there is always the exception, but teams seem to deal with these types on their own. Each team plays about 3-4 mini-games (maybe 20 to 30 minutes running time). There are 2-3 evaluators at each game taking notes of their observations. After the 3-4 mini-games, the evaluators huddle someplace and select @ 45 kids they want to see go against each other in a call-back game. These 45 are broken up into 2 teams, which play each other in a full-time game, again with all evaluators on the sidelines. After the game, the evaluators meet again and select a 22(?)-man roster to represent the region. Don't believe the kids know anything before leaving the field, but are contacted later by the coach(es) if they've made the squad.

I won't dispute the fact that the coaches/evaluators know well many of the kids who will try out, and that this may influence some of their thinking. However, what they won't know is who will tryout and who won't, and if you don't tryout, then regardless of who you are, you're not going to be selected. Last year, 10 2022s (almost half the squad) were selected for the Highlight team. While some may have been premier players, the absence of many 2021s from tryouts probably had some bearing on the selection of the 2022s. Again this year, how many 2022s will tryout won't be known until 8 Jul. Some will try out, while others who are already verbally committed or have other playing requirements won't.

If your son makes the team, he can expect a couple practices in advance of the tourney. (As there is more the 3 weeks btwn the tryout and the tourney, perhaps there will be more practices than in the past, but I can't imagine the number will be overwhelming.) Can't help you at all with the Spotlight division, which is new to me. Thursday the 8th is the only tryout date. Best check the 2019 history of the tourney as last year was an aberration. Hope this helps. If I've missed or misrepresented something, the community is invited to chime in.

I can sum it up even better. While his tryouts and practice are in the ballpark, the tryouts are for very a few players. It is a great way to get in some games against great competition during tryouts, but that is it for majority of players. Coaches do know who is coming out except a few. The team is a coaches/friends/buddies coronation of some good players with a few unknow players thrown in. Not a tryout even in the least. All the taking notes is actually comical.