Travel Soccer Assessment Process
Whether it’s your first time or third, we understand that travel assessments can be a stressful time for you and your children. We hope by explaining the process, it will help alleviate some of that stress and let your child enjoy their travel soccer experience. Our Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3 travel teams all practice on the same fields, wear the same uniforms, travel to the same Essex County towns and are coached by our volunteer coaches. Placement on the right team should lead to a great soccer year.
Goals
The goal of the assessment process is to maintain a fair, objective and thorough process for assessing player abilities and skills in order to place each player onto a team that will best challenge their current level of play. Additionally, it’s our goal to place all players who want to play travel soccer whenever feasible based on numbers of players in an age group and the availability of coaches.
Process
ASA uses a three part process to place players on the appropriate team. Information from each part of the process is used to form the teams.
- Assessments: Players are evaluated during two days of assessments. Teams of evaluators rate players on performance during a series of stations that showcase a variety of soccer skills and abilities. Players wear numbered pinnies and are not identified by name or current team.
- Coach Evaluations: Written and verbal evaluations from a player’s current coach are included to help place players.
- Game Observations: Age Group Placement Committee members watch players play during regularly scheduled games when additional information is needed to place a player.
While no one process is perfect, ASA believes this process does a good job of providing fair and unbiased evaluation of player’s current abilities and skills and provides the right information for proper placement.
General Information
- Players must be registered with ASA before the assessment nights and players must bring the signed Travel Soccer Agreement to the first night of assessments. This will be sent to players prior to the first day of assessments.
- Travel Soccer is a two season commitment. Travel teams practice two times per week with games on Saturday in Andover or any of the Essex County towns. Game times are usually from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.
- Players are expected to attend both days of assessments, if at all possible. Players who do not attend at least one day of assessments will not be considered for a Division 1 or Division 2 team, unless special circumstances (illness, injury, prior important family commitments, etc.) are communicated in writing via email to the ASA Vice President, Chris Webster (cwebster@yahoo.com). When possible, this should be done prior to the first day of assessments.
- Players will be organized into age-pure groups for evaluation.
- Players must wear shin guards, bring a soccer ball and water to assessment days.
Assessment Days
A team of evaluators watch players each day and record a rating on each player. Volunteer evaluators may include current and former ASA coaches, ASA board members, soccer playing parents and community members, local college athletes, and hired professional coaches. Evaluators agree to keep their evaluations confidential.
- On assessment day, players are checked in and given a numbered pinnie. That number is the player’s identification for both days of assessments. All observations are recorded by pinnie number only on standardized forms. Players are not identified by name or current team. This entire process is repeated for both days of assessments.
- Players go through an age-group warm-up and are then randomly divided into smaller groups. Groups report to game stations as instructed. Evaluators explain the game and then watch the players for about 10 minutes. Groups then advance to the next game station. Players perform a variety of skill and technique based activities, small-sided games and bigger field scrimmages.
- Each night, the evaluation forms are collected from each evaluator and the assessment data is compiled.
Team Formation
An Age Group Placement Committee is formed for each age group of players (i.e. U12 Girls, U12 Boys, U13 Girls, U13 Boys, U14 Girls and U14 Boys). Each committee is comprised of three or four members that include ASA board members and qualified ASA volunteers. No coach or parent with a child in the age group is allowed to participate in any part of that age groups assessment process.
Each committee reviews the compiled assessment data and coach evaluations. This information forms the foundation of player placement. The committee members observe players in games when additional information is needed to properly place the player. Team rosters are completed and then presented to the ASA Board for final approval. ASA Board members with a child in a particular age group are excluded from discussing and voting on team rosters. Each Age Group Placement Committee assesses the team strength for each team in their age group and recommends placement in one of three divisions in the Essex County Travel League: Division 1, Division 2 or Division 3, with Division 1 being the most skilled. The placement recommendation is based on the skills and abilities of the players on the team. Players will be notified of their team placement after the conclusion of the spring season.
What do we look for?
Below is a sample of things we might be looking for during the assessments:
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Dribbling – ball control, inside/outside foot control, pace of dribbling, feinting, inside/outside cutting skills, acceleration and deceleration with ball, head up while dribbling.
Passing –technique with both feet (inside/outside of foot), crisp/accurate passing to feet and to space, pace of pass, movement after passing. First Touch/Ball Control – trapping and receiving ball in front of body, positioning to field when receiving, head up and field awareness after controlling ball. Shooting/Finishing –technique of driving shot with laces/inside of foot, body position on shot, follow-through, decision on when/if to shoot, following shot for rebound Defending – marking player, pressuring player without over committing, body position when defending, stopping forward progress, tackling/gaining control of ball, knowing when to clear ball vs. dribble/pass Shielding – body position when under pressure, “showing the ball” or shielding from defender, back to defender or side to defender. Heading – attacking/striking ball with forehead, heading for control, passing or clearing. Speed – quickness off/to ball, acceleration to ball/space, change of direction and deceleration Strength – standing ground and/or winning position Aggressiveness – attacking and going to the ball on defense, attacking and dribbling around/through defenders on offense, attacking and finishing shots Communication – calling for the ball, directing players to space Field/Game Awareness – head up view of the entire field/game, awareness of other players, knowing when to pass vs. dribble or shoot, seeing plays materialize and moving to position Attitude – are they having fun? Positive to other players/referees, not giving up on plays, sportsmanship, coachability, overall potential.