Tryout Process

Academy, Club Teams and Tryout - How it all works

Our Programs

Lightning Soccer runs two programs – the Academy and Travel or Club Teams.  The Academy is designed for younger ages - 5 - 11-year-old players while the Club Teams begin at U19 and progress to U18 teams.  

The Academy

The Academy is designed to help younger players develop skills and a love for the game.  The Academy’s goal is to prepare players for our Club Teams.  The Academy is open to any enthusiastic soccer player within the age range whose goal is to play Club Soccer.  At times such as the November/December Holiday Academy, we open up the Academy to all players.

The Club Teams

The Club Teams are formed in June each year and play together for a year.  The teams play in a Fall and Spring league and also participate in tournaments.  At the June tryouts, players must tryout and be selected for a Club Team.  The Club Teams for U15 and below operate on an annual cycle – tryouts in June, the team is selected in early July, practice begins in August, fall league and one tournament, winter training, spring league and two tournaments ending in June.  This allows us to work with a team for a full year and eliminates the stress and complications of multiple tryouts and team selections.   Having said that, we take a fresh look at the whole age group in June and make our best judgment for the next annual cycle at that time.

The Club Teams for high school-age players (U15-U18) only operate in the spring season.  Tryouts for these teams are in November of the preceding calendar year.

Mid-Year Changes to Club Teams U15 and below

While the Club Teams for U15 and below are designed as a year-long program, due to various factors roster spots do open up throughout the year, particularly for the Spring season.  

If a roster spot opens up, we will look to the alternates and practice players on the roster first.  If there is a good fit there, we will fill the roster spot from that pool.  If not, we will notify the players in the age group in our database of the opening and invite them to tryout.  Typically these players are playing at the Academy at this time so we tend to have a good idea on everyone’s level.  The evaluation in this case typically happens during a practice session of the team or at the Academy. 

Rarely would we “cut” a player after the Fall season to make room for a stronger player for the Spring season.  Once we commit to a player and a team in the Fall, we are strongly inclined to stay with that group for the year.  Only if there are behavioral issues or a significant drop in quality would we consider making a change mid-year.

Summary

Our plan, as stated above, is to make the very best selection at the June tryouts for our U15 teams and below and then to work with that group for an entire year before re-evaluating.  We believe this honors the reciprocal commitment we are asking from the players and families.  If there is a roster spot opening, we will look to alternates, practice players, and then the general pool of players at Lightning.