Skills Evaluation

"Skill Drills" won't weed out the good from the bad. How can they REVEAL A PLAYER'S MOST IMPORTANT ASSET IN A CONTACT SPORT - HIS "HEART"!


A T T I T U D E

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or SKILL. It will make or break a company . . . a church . . . a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past . . . we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude . . . I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you . . . we are in charge of our attitudes.”

By Charles Swindoll

Coach,

We run the incoming kids (or those moving up to the next age level) thru a short "Player Evaluation Combine". It's not a tryout, as noone is cut. We simply use it to attempt to distribute the "difference makers" amongst the teams as evenly as possible. Although Coach Mountjoy and Coach Easton are very correct in their assertion that no drill or exercise can tell you what kind of heart a player has, these drills at least tell us something about them as to what kind of athlete they are at this point in their life.

20/40 yard dash (also time at a 10 yard split if possible)
I/Pro Agility shuttle (15 yards)
vertical or standing broad jump
throw, catch and run a pass route (as demonstrated by a coach)
relay or other team competition (will give some insight as to their competitive nature and how they might interact with other players)

Best of luck coach. This is a place to start but again, as Oneback and TIGER ONE have already stated, you won't be able to truly see what a kid has until you hit the field with him. I encourage you to be willing to take a second look at your initial evaluations again once you've had the opportunity to see what kind of heart and determination he plays with!

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach