St. Louis Park Soccer Association

Summer 2012 Registration-Opening July 2011!
Summer 2012 Traveling registration will be opening July 2011.  We request ALL players be registered prior to attending tryouts.  Processing player registrations on-site at the last minute is very congestive to our small check-in area, please register prior to attending. 

August Tryouts-Explanation
There is a very small window of opportunity to host outdoor soccer tryouts in the State of MN.  Teams must be submitted to MYSA(governing body) by March 1st(generally), while there is still frozen ground under our fields with snow!  This prevents most soccer clubs(including SLPSA) from holding outdoor spring tryouts.  Late Fall tryouts are not allowed due to MN State High School League rules which do not allow us to perform tryouts for high school eligible players during the High School soccer season which starts mid-August and runs thru the early November, once again a good possibility of frozen ground and/or snow on the ground!  Outdoor tryouts for most clubs throughout the State are held during the same early August timeframe. 

Tryout Attendance
Player attendance at tryouts is critical for the SLPSA Team Selection Committee to obtain a snapshot of a player's skills and their ability to perform on the field.  Comparative tryout data is an important part of our process and your player's attendance is critical to improving our chances of providing a successful soccer experience. 

*If your player is unable to attend either of the tryout dates posted, please contact SLPSA Coaching Director, Luis Ocampo at midwestkarateslp@aol.com.  Please note, complete lack of tryout attendance may limit your player's ability to earn a spot on an upper level team.

MYSA Birthyear Guidelines
A guideline to the birthdate definitions of U9, U10, etc. can be found at http://mnyouthsoccer.org/leagues/birthyear.cfm .

General Tryout Information
Tryouts are divided into two disciplines, skills and scrimmage.  Skills scores will be combined with scrimmage scores for all U9 thru U12 players.  *NEW THIS YEAR* - Tryout scores for U13 players and up will be based on scrimmage scores only(no skills scores will be used). 

All U9 thru U12 players are encouraged to attend just one of the age appropriate skills sessions AND at least one(preferably both!) of the age appropriate scrimmage sessions.  If both scrimmage sessions are attended, the higher scrimmage score will be used for the final ranking.  

U13 and up players are strongly encouraged to attend both scrimmage sessions.  If both scrimmage sessions are attended, the higher scrimmage score will be used for the final ranking.

Regardless of age, it is in the best interest of the players to attend BOTH scrimmage sessions!

Playing-Up 
If a player is interested in competing for a roster spot on a older age team(referred to as 'playing-up'), they must attend each of the following:
 
1.)  Attend one skills session (U9 thru U12 players only-either the appropriate current age group or the play-up age group is acceptable).
2.)  Attend at least one scrimmage session(preferable both!) of the current age group (failure to attend at least one scrimmage at their own group may limit the player's ability to be rostered on a higher competition team at their own age level if they do not make the play-up team roster).
3.) Attend at least one scrimmage session(preferably both!) of the play-up age group (this will allow the player to be compared to the players on the upper age group).

Participating in all 3 steps improves SLPSA's ability to find the best fit roster placement for your player.

Team Formation/Announcement Timeframe
Team formations should be completed and announced by the end of September by the Team Selection Committee.  Tryout data will be combined with input from the previous season’s coaches (who have observed the players for an entire season) to obtain a player's overall ranking.  These rankings (combined with a limited number of Coach's picks) will be used to determine team rosters.  SLPSA makes every effort to reserve a spot and correctly place the players who register and try out. 

Please see the tables below for tryout dates and times! 

• All tryouts listed below will be held at the Louisiana Oaks Fields.
• Rain dates for cancelled tryouts will be August 12, 13, or 14th, 2011.  Schedules for weather cancelled tryouts will be posted as needed.
• Side note-There wil be no tryouts for Fall 2011 soccer per usual.  Fall teams are based primarily on the previous season Coach's evaluation.