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The Athlete · № 15

Made the Travel Team

Selected for an all-star team, travel team, or club team through competitive tryouts, or won a tournament in your discipline.

The idea

Tryouts are the moment your kid competes against strangers, not teammates. They have to show up assuming they're behind. Most kids who get cut underprepared because their home gym felt fine. Coaches see who came ready. Two extra weeks of focused work right before tryouts beats six months of casual practice, because tryout day is the only data the coach has on your kid.

Steps
  1. Find out the tryout criteria. Train for them specifically.
  2. Show up two weeks early to extra practices.
  3. Compete against teammates like strangers during tryouts.
  4. If cut, ask the coach what specifically to work on.
What counts

Selection onto an all-star, travel, or tournament team. The roster announcement or trophy is plenty.