Bad tryouts pick the tallest kids and the loudest parents' kids. Good tryouts produce a roster you can defend line by line — to yourself, in November, after a five-set loss.
Day 1: Measurables and skills
Station work, everything scored on paper:
- Serving: 10 serves, points for zones hit
- Passing: 10 balls from a real server, 3-2-1-0 scale
- Attacking: entries off a live set, scored for kills and smart errors
- Athletic screen: approach touch, lateral speed
Day 2: Play volleyball
Mixed teams, short sets, re-mixed every 20 minutes. You're watching for the things stations can't show: who talks, who competes at 18-all, who lifts the weakest player on their side instead of freezing them out.
Making the cuts
Rank three lists separately — skills, athleticism, compete level — then build the roster from the compete list first. Skills you can coach. Compete you mostly can't.
The conversation
Cut kids deserve two sentences of truth and one concrete thing to work on. No email cuts. You're a teacher; teach on the way out too.