BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) What's Your View? Tryout Fees

Several of our BOTC Threads have drifted into a discussion of tryout fees assessed when players are considering new clubs. Unlike Long Island's Youth Soccer scene, the local Lacrosse scene routinely assesses fees ranging from $25.00 to in excess of $100.00 with most clubs around the $50.00 mark.

Some of those in favor of these fees mention that it guarantees a higher quality tryout experience since the evaluation is more like a pure training session. Forcing all of the players at a tryout to share the cost of staging the event (as opposed to only accepted players picking up the cost) has also been cited as a reason for these tryout fees.

The arguments against tryout fees are more easily identified. From "open tryouts" where teams have already been selected to viewing tryouts as a fund raiser, for-profit tryouts impose a consumer fee for unknown gains.

So, BOTC would like to know your views. Are you comfortable with tryout fees? If so, what do you consider acceptable pricing? Would you consider more clubs and tryouts if the fees were lowered? What services do you expect as a result of attending a tryout? Do you think there should be more transparancy in the selection process?

Please offer your views on these questions and others related to "Tryout Fees".

I have no problem with a try-out fee especially when the try-out is run like a training session. Some of my sons tyy-outs have been excellent workouts , much better than some of the camps he has attended. Colleges charge an application fee that you do not get back even if denied.If the fee is too high then do not sign up.

There is a huge difference in passing on the cost of the try-out and making a profit off the try-out. Anything more than $20 is just fundraising for the team.

Transparency is a bigger issue. Are there really any open slots on a particular team for a “new” boy. How are the players ranked, by who and what are the results? This is important information. At the very minimum, a parent or player should receive a score card. A ranking compared to the competition. Maybe some take aways on what was done well and what needs to be worked on.

Last year’s players are very often given a boost up the chart, especially for the players on or near the bubble.

(as opposed to only accepted players picking up the cost) has also been cited as a reason for these tryout fees.
If you do the simple math 900 participants for a weekend x $50.00 = $45,000.00 looks like a potential profit. Did the cost of the clubs go up or down? UP As a consumer are you getting less for your money? Helmets, gloves, bags etc...
In my opinion we are getting less and paying more.

Are you comfortable with tryout fees? No, just like I'm not comfortable paying taxes. I think in order to cover costs $25.00 is probably more than enough. We do not need pinnies, they should have gatorade for the kids instead.


Would you consider more clubs and tryouts if the fees were lowered? I would have to say yes. I would also have to admit that if at the end of a tryout he was told he made it, that would probably be the team we went with. Than there would be no need for another tryout.

What services do you expect as a result of attending a tryout? I expect my son to be fairly evaluated. I would also like to have a copy of that evaluation so that he knows what he needs to work on, what are his weaknesses and strengths.

Do you think there should be more transparancy in the selection process?Absolutely, if there are only 5 spots on a particular team than let me know that. If you have told 10 kids they have a spot but at the tryouts you tell us there are 20 spots than we are getting lied too. Just tell us, I think most parents understand that all 20 spots are not open for a particular team.

As long as we continue to bring our kids to theses tryouts they will continue to hold them and charge us. Most likely, more than the year before.
The town team is a lot cheaper and no tryouts. Your son than has to play with the coaches son and a host of other kids that cannot catch and throw. To me the xtra money that I'm spending is worth getting away from little Johnny and his dad(Super Coach) In order to give my son the ability to play with kids that are just as good and hopefully better than he is.

hey genius......big difference between college fees and girls lacrosse team tryout fees.... where is yur head at?

My experience was that I took my son to express tryout (first tryout in his age) and he made Orange, so i did not go to any other tryouts and that was my plan all along, if 91 or fl$ was first and the made one of those he would have played for them, tryout was very well run as I heard 91 was as well. so $75 for a single two day tryout was OK, you don't want a pinnie from a team that cuts you or you choose not to pay for. If the tryout had been free a lot more kids would have shown up and if 91 and fl$ was free we still would not have tried out because we had already deposited with Express.

None of the legitimate clubs in the Mid Atlantic charge fees to tryout. By not charging fees, the club is trying to get a look at every compelling kid in the area. When a club charges tryout fees, its interests are not aligned with the parents.

No problem with paying fees for try outs. Team 91 charged $50 and to me, that's reasonable. Don't think I'd pay $75 or $125 just because of the name of the team. I just ask that my kid get a fair chance to be seen in the drills and scrimmages. It's up to him once he's on the field. I think to ask for a evaluation form of your kids strengths and weaknesses is missing the point. It's a try out for open spots, not an evaluation session. The teams are there to find the best kids with the limited time they have to see them. If you want an evaluation, get him into a camp or training where it will be provided.

I try not to worry about any particular team's ecomonics because it's not my business what they are making or not making. I'm also looking at the yearly fees and what my kid will get in return as far as the number/quality of tournaments, coaching credentials, gear, practices, etc. To me, that's were the real value comes into the equation.

One thing I learned early on is that even though you are trying out for a team, you'd be foolish to think that every spot on every team was open. The teams go into the season with a list of kids they want or who have already been offered spots. The number of slots open per team is anyones guess and I'm sure changes year to year. If your kid has a good try out, they will find a place for him. Maybe not on the team you want, but they offer to have him in the organization.

Top Gun was a fund raiser. Let's see about liberty and YJ

It's as simple as this:
If I am the owner/operator (which I'm not) of a club that is percieved as successful, people will want to join my club. If the teams that are in my organization are made up talented players, then likely only a few kids trying out are likely to be offered roster spots. The spots on the roster are sought after and in demand and therefore worth something. There are costs involved to run these try out, but there also seems to be some club making money on top of that, so long as they draw in players at try outs the system works. If the club is not that desireable and the price of try outs is too high, no one will show up and the club will be put out of bussiness. People remember, these teams your kids play on are businesses. If they are good business people they will make money wherever they can. They have to be careful not to turn off players with high tryout costs or it all comes crashing down. The only thing we can do to reduce try out fees is to not show up to them in numbers. By the turn out at some club you might expect even higher fees next year. I doubt complaining about high fees on an internet message board will have any effect on driving down the fees.

Liberty requires you to pay $450 at tryout. If your daughter is not selected they refund your money. Ridiculous.

My niece is on Top Guns. $35 tryout, which is resonable. Remember, the club still has to pay for equipment.

fl$ charged an outrageous $125 which is why the turnout was a joke. Most of the girls were siblings of boys that currently play. I heard every girl that showed up made a team.

I'll stick with PAL here in GC for my 6th grader for another year, great program and the girls have fun. Just my opinion, but I think that's more important than walking around with a $1400 (plus tournament/hotels) bag.

Everyone has an opinion, I saw the topgun tryout as a very thourough evaluation process that sorted out the talent very well. Then they were not afraid to shake up the rosters to accommodate new talent, good to see. It could be looked at as a fund raiser due to the number of kids compared to actual roster spots, not everyone is going to make it.

I think it is a good idea to have a tryout fee. $50.00 or under is a bargain. Pinnies, fields and evaluators cost money. Pinnies are absolutely necessary for the evaluators to do their job correctly and I've never met a player who did not want one.

To me, the toughest part of the tryout is making the commitment within 48 hours of the invitation. This might be a whole new thread, but I would like to hear what others think about this. On one side you have the players wanting to check out a couple of teams while the Clubs need answers right away to move on down the list and fill their rosters. What is fair? Clubs that have multiple teams in the same grade are filling a need for a lot of players. But with all the choices it takes players time to decide. Do the Clubs only institute the 48 hour rule for the top team? Top 2 teams?

GC PAL? Seriously!

not from GC. But record speaks for itself

One tryout we went to they gave us pinnies with numbers and after the tryout we returned them. tryout was $25.00 Pinnies aren't necessary yes the kids like them, they also love sugar but thats not necessary either. I think it was Stampede they charged two new lacrosse balls to tryout. Are they not a good enough club since they don't charge an exorbitant fee? My understanding is they have a very good club. Some of the new teams popping up are charging $50.00. Do they have the same expenses as the bigger clubs? Or are they just charging what they know is the norm?

I think if you go to a tryout and they call, you either accept after 24 hours or you take your chances with the other clubs you are looking to get on. It's not the other kids fault that you cannot decide where you wanna play. The clubs have a responsibility to get back to there prospective players as soon as possible. When you tell me 3 - 5 days than it shouldn't turn into 3 weeks. The reason it turns into 3 weeks is people like you that hold things up for everyone else. The decision should be made by who you tryout for, so if you make one of the teams be happy and move on. Do you tryout for teams that you do not want to play for?

The pinnies cost the clubs tops $5.00 a piece. Some probably only $3.00 charge me 45.00 instead of 50.00

The record indicates that the vast majority of gc top players on the girls side play travel lacrosse not just pal and school,but at the younger ages i can see the point.

For the record, Nor'Easter was the club requesting two new white lacrosse balls at tryouts. Remember that Nor'Easter is also coming forward with a free clinic for U/11 and U/13 boys on November 5th. This is a great chance to see a travel lacrosse group in action at a younger age group for a minimal price.

It seems that this $50.00 fee level has become the norm. Note however that True Blue this season offered free tryouts and had to close their registrations once they reached 250 players for just three age groups.

Something for everyone to think about at this point - it all comes down to value for money. Value can be measured in pure price, the quality of the tryout experience or the likelihood of making a team (knowing the number of open roster spots). There are probably a dozen other factors in evaluating value to these three.

I think try-out fees are absurd. Travel soccer does not charge fees to try-out and they have trainers down there evaluating as well. Lacrosse prices are out of hand. Hopefully with the growing popularity, the prices will go down, not up. I understand it is a business, but their league fees are high enough. For those that have already collected the try-out fees, if the child makes the team, they should deduct the try-out fee from their payments and refund those who did not make the team. Just my opinion. Are there any clinics being offered for the girls?

I never have and never will hold up anyone else. Any response required has always followed the condition set by the Club. I was just asking what other people thought was fair due to all the agony posted by people waiting to hear.

I would not let my son tryout for a team he would not play for. This reasoning advocates tryout fees. The fee ensures the players will show up. If the "perfect" club had no fee, there would be tons of players at the tryout that would be a logistical nightmare to evaluate. It would be great if a Club could manage this nightmare and field strong teams with great coaching. Easier said than done.

Express and 91 had hundreds per age group all willing to pay the fee. Good for them. As a business they should generate the revenue.

If you make the top team at one of these organizations or any other of the many teams available it is easy to commit within 24 to 48 hours. What about the remaining 75% of the players? Is it fair to them to commit to a team when there has been no coaches set? Is it fair to the Club to hire coaches they may not need if they cannot field enough players? Just some questions for the forum with hopes of generating good ideas.

Maybe fl$ is the smartest of the bunch. Very high tryout fee - will only get very interested players. They also limit the amount of registrants. Very high program cost - includes high end quality gear. Only 1 Team per age group - Coaches and tournaments set months ago. In this case it is not unreasonable to require a 24 hour response. Regardless of any one persons opinion about the cost, if they fill the rosters than they are in business.

Competition is the only thing that will change any of this. We should be thankful for all the new organizations sprouting up. I hope we get some good ones.

Hey 429lax this was your quote
"To me, the toughest part of the tryout is making the commitment within 48 hours of the invitation. This might be a whole new thread, but I would like to hear what others think about this. On one side you have the players wanting to check out a couple of teams while the Clubs need answers right away to move on down the list and fill their rosters".
I don't know if you hold anyone up all im saying is that if you tryout for a team and they call you already know if you want to play for them or not. Lets say 10 people decide to wait passed the 48 hour deadline thats 10 kids at home saying hey dad did you hear anything yet. I just think the decision process should be quicker. Your in or your out, like black jack.
I have a simple solution for the tryout logistical nightmare, do what true blue did first 250 are in, after that if your organization decides to hold another tryout great more kids get a shot. maybe it will take 4 tryouts to get the best kids, maybe only one. Personally I think it should be a business expense for the teams to hold tryouts. Stop nickle and diming me and just write off your expenses. It's the cost of doing business.

If you have your son trying out for a team than you must trust the organization is going to do the right thing like get really good coaches. If you do not trust the organization than you should not be trying out for a spot.

I am just of the opinion (opinions are like A#$holes everyones got one) that the fee for a tryout is a total ripoff. I think it is nothing but a money maker for the business. Really do not believe that there is any benefit for my kid or myself. Just my opinion.

Seems to be working very well for fl$, the players and the parents. Thank God there are other teams out there cause fl$ is very expensive.

From another thread discussion, school programs will soon be banning players from playing on these travel teams anyway. Will they all go out of business? Somehow I doubt it. Watch what happens to the school programs that try to enforce this, I bet it doesn't work out. Meanwhile, if a club makes money, good for them, I don't want my kid playing for a finacially struggling club that may not be around in a year from now. Let them have their fees, remember this is not your town team where daddy is donating his time for free.

I agree with you on the try out fees. Total money maker, but not going away anytime soon.

With regard to teams letting people know about tryout results and kids holding up teams, it's all meaningless on the top teams. Many times there are kids who don't even try out and just appear on the team. Its usually a very talented player. You think your son or daughter is on the starting mid field. New kid shows up, and your kid is on the second line. Believe me, on any organizations top team it happens more than you know.

Express "tryout" $75 fee was a joke for a couple of reasons. 1) very nice pinnie, that he will never wear again. 2) Was not a two day tryout. The second day was a joke in which we all got to be entertained by kids already on the turtles and orange team. I watched a midfielder get a shift and half in an hour and a half tryout. 3) If coaches hold clipboards should they actually write something on the paper or just use them a props? 4) If you are going to have over 120 kids in a grade should you not secure more than one field? Maybe if they charged $100 they could have secured two fields.

Unfortunately, I agree that it is meaningless with the top teams within an organization. Past that, the biggest complaint was a lack of any kind of response.

For the remaining 75% of players it seems that Clubs have to be more forthright with their invitation. State upfront that they are fielding "X" amount of teams and they need "Y" amount of players and you are number "Z" on the list. Ideally, "X" and "Y" should be disclosed before the tryout. I forget which Club has recently done so on BOTC. This is not an unreasonable demand particularly when a tryout fee is collected.

In my opinion, there is enough people out there who would support Clubs that are upfront and honest making them very successful.

This parent will soon find out in 7th grade that his daughter is far behind the kids playing travel lax from 4,5 or even 6th grade. I know I've been there.

fl$ called us within one hour of making the team.

I think it is more of whether or not they got in touch with the kids that did not make it.

There were no cuts to the girls who tried out for fl$. My daughter is on the 6th grade team, she played lacrosse for the first time w PAL last year and enjoyed it. Our neighbors son plays on fl$ and mentioned they are forming a new girls division, so we decided to give it a try. I agree with a previous poster- it was a very low turnout and the talent pool appeared to be equal (inexperienced).A few heavy set big girls were more physical with their sticks but I think that will be balanced by the girls who can run.
The fee was $125, which is not a problem for me financially but is steep considering the club fee.
Best of luck to all the teams this season.

Don't be ridiculous. A high school team cannot bar someone from playing on a travel team. Could there be positive/negative ramifications if a HS player plays for a certain club? Sure. But banning travel play? Give me a break.

Semantics. If you or your child feels the ramifications would indeed be quite negative then the ban is essentially in effect without it being stated outright.

Every organization is free to charge whatever they want for a tryout fee. Does this mean that if one group charges $100 they are better than the rest? Are they better than a group that is charging two new white lacrosse balls? No they are not. Bottom line is they can get whatever the market is paying. Just like any other product out there. Nor’Easter Lax is a program that is charging two new white lacrosse balls for their tryouts.

Nor'Easter Lax is a five year old organization that was formed to host Long Island lacrosse teams in a Showcase Tournament on Long Island. Since its inception we have attracted teams from a wide variety of areas and not just Long Island. This over the years has become a very successful venue for college recruiters. This past summer we had 25 college coaches on our sidelines for the showcase event. Additionally we began to organize and run a Men’s Grand Masters and Men’s Masters Summer League. These two leagues are successful and popular. Finally it was time to organize and run a Men’s Open and Women’s Open Division Summer League. They both have become popular and are the best priced on Long Island. The Men’s Open began with four teams. This past summer we expanded to nine teams. Summer of 2012 we are anticipating expansion again, and along with that we’ll be keeping our fee’s the same as if it were still 2011.

Now for 2012 we’re ready to have summer select teams represent Nor’Easter Lax at summer and fall events. We’re starting with U11 & U13 only. We want to develop kids, not just run a program with multiple teams to bring in revenue. Once established, we’ll certainly expand to other age groups including the Varsity level. Our goal as any program will be to win, however, our main goal is to develop players and prepare them for the next level. Additionally we’ll help the parents and educate them for the recruiting process as we are now including College Athletic Advisement to our program along with private lacrosse lessons and clinics.

John Lang and Rich Petillo, the co-directors of Nor’Easter Lax are currently HS coaches who have been involved in the lacrosse world for 27 years. Building many relations with local HS and numerous college coaches nationally! Year after year, more and more college coaches come to us for players. This year alone we have 11 players signing National Letters Of Intent! Three of our alumni have NCAA National Championship Rings.

Nor'Easter Lax is offering a FREE CLINIC on Saturday, November 5th, 2011 for all U/11 and U/13 Boys interested in expanding into travel and premier lacrosse. This special one-day clinic is brought to Long Island's Lacrosse Community along with Back of the Cage to allow these age groups to experience Nor'Easter in a free, low-pressure setting. In addition you will be emailed an evaluation of your child’s workout at our clinic. If you want to enjoy an extra training session or experience a new environment, you are invited to attend our Nor'Easter Lacrosse clinic with Coaches Rich Petillo and John Lang!

Additional Tryout Date, Times, and Details
NEW TRYOUTS : Saturday, November 12th, 2011
Age Group : U/11, 12:30pm to 2:00pm
Age Group : U/13, 2:30pm to 4:00pm
Location : PAL Sports Complex, Holtsville, New [lacrosse]
Tryout Fee : Only Two New White Lacrosse Balls!
You Cannot Beat That Price on Long Island!


In closing, as long as John and Rich are the directors of Nor’Easter Lax our tryout fee will always be two new white lacrosse balls. If we ever have two hundred kids come to a tryout that would translate into 400 lacrosse balls! Nor’Easter Lax works closely with many youth organizations that sure could use them as our way of giving back to the community!

Visit our website www.noreasterlax.com for more information or shoot us an email if you’ll be attending our Free Clinic. Email is noreasterlax@yahoo.com

great job rich66.

Hey Rich do you know of any pick up games in the area for the older guys? Do you know if there is a winter league for us old farts?

Yes I do know of leagues and games. Email me your information at noreasterlax@yahoo.com and I can forward your info out to the teams that play in our outdoor league. They're currently playing indoors and are always looking for free agents. Also, we'll be having pick up outdoor games as the weather remains playable.

It's actually the other way around - clubs will be banning kids from playing on HS teams, mostly in their senior year once they have made a college committment, this is already happening in soccer, I personally know a highly recruited soccer player from a big time LI club who's a HS JR and was already told he can't play his senior year (actually kind of sad), but once the club does all the showcasing and recuiting they want to be able to deliver the player in one piece

Its pay for play, if its a full ride it could be worth $50,000 per year and if he keeps the scholraship all 4 years thats $200,000. For that kind of money, take the senior year off. THIS IS THE EXCEPTION NOT THE NORM!

It's the start of a trend is what it is

At what level does it become worth missing your senior year 10K/year? 20K/year? 50K/year? I think it's ssad for the student/player, but at some point all these high end travel teams (lax, soccer, aau basketball) become beholden to the recruiters that help them justify there existence, as with anything else in life there's the quid pro quo part of the equation that needs to be factored in, ie I'll help you out with a kid or two that are on the bubble, but in return I want XYZ, which might include keeping their primary recruit off the field for their senior year and making sure that they show up in top shape or steering a kid to a certain program that might not be their first choice. Look at all the YJ players who are suddenly finding their way to University of Florida, coinsidebce? I don't think so

I that coincedence?