Travel Tryouts

Who:  Players born between 2016 and 2010, as well as second graders born in 2017.

When:

1)      Who is eligible to play travel?

Any child that resides in the Cloverleaf School district, or any child from a neighboring school district that does not offer a travel program that plays in OHTSL. Special arrangements can be made for those children wishing to play for Cloverleaf and residing in school district that already plays in OHTSL as well.   However, there is a restriction on the number of these type of players per team.  Travel is for players at the U9 level and above (Players born in 2013 or later). U8 players are eligible to play but must have approval from the appropriate Travel Rep and board to do so.

2)      How are travel teams formed?

Travel teams are formed based on the Travel Evaluation/Tryout.  Players who are new to travel and returning players are put through a series of individual drills and smalls sided games.  Assessors are assigned to each age bracket and will evaluate your child’s technical abilities (shooting, dribbling, passing, etc), tactical abilities (how they play in the games) and both the assessors and the person running the drills during the evaluation will rate your child on how well they accept instruction.  In addition to this feedback, we will also get input from the players current Rec or Travel coach.  The information is tabulated and the Boys and Girls Travel Reps, Travel Coaches and assessors put together teams for travel.  

Players in Travel soccer are bracketed by their birth year.  For the 2022 season, a child born in 2008 would be considered a U15 and a child born in 2014, a U9.  Generally, we have one team per age group and at times we may need to combine age groups to make teams.  Players may play on a team 1-2 years older than their birthyear, but players may not play on a team younger than their birth year.   

CSA may move players to different teams for a variety of reasons.  If a player is playing up in age on a team and if during the next season that team gains players of the correct age bracket, the younger player (if there is a team available) will be moved to their age-appropriate bracket.  If we feel your child may benefit from playing up an age group because of their skill and maturity, we may move your child up.  As the travel players get older, the number of players on the field goes from 7v7 to11v11.  This may require some teams to be split up for a season and combined with an older team or moved to a slightly younger team in the same age bracket.  In all cases, the goals are to make sure we can provide travel soccer for all who are interested and able to play and to challenge the individual player enough that their development doesn’t plateau.

3)      What is a typical travel soccer season like?

The fall and spring seasons consist of 8 games (usually one per week) and two practices per week. The practices are usually 1.5-2 hours long.  Games are usually played on Sunday afternoons but there might be 1 or 2 played on a weeknight. Most teams also participate in one or more indoor soccer sessions during the winter months.  But indoor teams are at the coach’s discretion.  

4)      What is a Travel Bracket?

Cloverleaf plays Travel soccer in the Ohio Travel Soccer League.  In this league, players are first categorized by age (U9, U10, U11…U15).  Within each age group, there are brackets.  There typically 3 to 5 divisions within each age group.  Divisions 1 and 2 are typically competitive brackets where the best teams in that age group play.  Divisions 3 through 5 are typically regional brackets.  In these brackets, teams from the South and Southwest typically play each other and teams in the west or east typically play each other.  The goal of the regional bracket is to be able find the appropriate competitive division within 30 to 45 minutes of a community.  When a team gets into a higher bracket like 1 or 2, travel times could become longer.  Teams can move up and down divisions depending on how well they play each Fall or Spring season.  CSA strives to place teams in divisions which will challenge the team and not demoralize the team.

5)      How much travel is involved?

Each season (Fall and Spring) teams play 4 home and 4 away games in their league. The home games are played at the CSA fields off Buffham Road. The away games are played in other communities in and around Northeast Ohio. Most games will be around the west side of Cleveland; however, there are games that can travel as far east as Mentor, south to Ashland or Mansfield and west to Norwalk or Sandusky. Travel distance will be determined by what bracket that the team is placed in.  This is decided by the OHTSL and is determined by what teams have signed up in the same bracket.  Teams may also participate in tournaments picked by the coach. These tournaments can be all over Ohio or in neighboring states and can require overnight stays.

6)      How is playing time during games handled?

There is no guaranteed playing time in any age group. For newly formed teams, playing time may be divided up closer to the rec model of equal playing time for all.  For older teams, especially those in Division 1 or 2 brackets, playing time will not be equal.  Every player will be on the field for a period of time during a game; however, some players will have more playing time than others during games. 

7)      What type of commitment is required? 

It is expected that your child will arrive on time for all practices and games unless you have notified the head coach in advance. If a child has a schedule conflict with practices on a consistent basis it is expected that parents will adjust the conflicting schedule so at least one practice each week can be attended.   Players are also expected to be respectful to their teammates and coaches during practices and games as well as to refs and their opponents.  During practices players are expected to follow the coach or coaches’ directions and rules and not to be a distraction for their teammates.