Middle School Lacrosse Tryout Prep: The 3-Week Plan
Middle school lacrosse tryouts are usually the biggest, loosest group your kid will ever try out with: fifty or sixty players on one field, a third of them holding a stick for the first season, a handful who have played club since second grade, and two coaches trying to sort it out in two afternoons. At many schools everyone makes a team, and the real question is A team or B team, or which kids see the field first. Ask the coach or a parent from last year what the numbers looked like, because it changes what the days feel like.
Whatever the numbers, the sort happens on two things you can see from the sideline: can the kid catch and throw with both hands under a little pressure, and do they go through ground balls instead of around them. Almost nothing else separates a middle schooler at this point. Not speed, not size, not a fancy dodge. Stick skills and ground balls decide it, and both of those are built against a wall in three weeks.
The plan below assumes a kid who has a stick, a wall or bounce-back, a few balls, and about three weeks. It works for both the boys’ game and the girls’ game; where the rules or the gear differ we say so. If your kid has less time, run weeks two and three. If they have more, repeat week one before starting.
What coaches are actually looking for
A middle school coach watching sixty kids is looking for four things, and they are looking fast: does the ball stay in the stick when the kid catches it, can they throw with the off hand at all, do they get low and scoop through ground balls, and do they hustle when nobody is looking. A kid who does those four things is on the A side by the end of day one. A kid with one of them missing, usually the off hand or the ground balls, is who the coaches are still arguing about on day two.
Coachability shows up more at this age than at any other, because so much of the tryout is a coach explaining a drill and watching who listens. The kid who is looking at the coach during the explanation, jogs to the line, and does the drill the way it was shown gets remembered. The kid who is swinging their stick at the grass during the explanation gets remembered too.
In the girls’ game, coaches also watch for stick position and control, because the checking rules are strict and a kid who swings wildly at the ball gets whistled all day. In the boys’ game, checking rules at this age vary by league (many youth levels restrict or ban body checking entirely), so the coaches are looking for kids who play position defense with their feet and stick, not who can hit. None of that needs to be practiced at home. Body contact drills at home are a bad idea at any age; the stick work is where the time goes.
What the days themselves look like
Day one is usually a stick check (pocket depth and shooting strings, so string the stick legal before you get there), then line drills: partner passing, a passing-on-the-run line, ground ball lines, and some form of a catch-and-shoot line at an empty net. Coaches walk the lines with a clipboard. Expect a short conditioning piece, usually sprints across the field or a timed run, mostly to see who quits. Then a quick, messy scrimmage in mixed groups with a lot of whistles.
Day two narrows the groups and adds more scrimmage, often with the coaches moving kids between fields to see how they handle a faster group. Positions get sorted loosely here: kids who can catch go to attack and midfield, kids with longer sticks or who like the back end go to defense, and anyone who volunteers for goalie is usually taken seriously. If your kid wants to try goalie, say so before day one, and know that youth goalies should be learning with soft or lower-density balls until they have the gear and the flinch under control.
In the scrimmage minutes, the kids who stand out do the boring things loudly: they call "ball" and "here" and "man" on defense, they sprint to every loose ball, they throw the simple pass instead of the hero pass. A middle schooler who scoops six ground balls and loses the ball once is a very easy keep. A kid who scores once and jogs to four ground balls is not.
This was written for every middle school lacrosse player. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Their position, their team, what they’re working on, and what the next few weeks actually look like. Two minutes, nothing to sign up for.
Tryout day checklist
- Stick strung legal: check pocket depth and shooting strings the night before, not on the field. Coaches check on day one.
- Boys’ game: helmet, shoulder pads, arm pads, gloves, mouthguard, cup. Girls’ game: goggles and mouthguard, plus any headgear your league requires.
- Cleats broken in and a pair of turf shoes or sneakers in the bag in case the field is turf.
- Physical and any school forms turned in before day one. Coaches send kids home for this.
- Two water bottles and a snack for between sessions.
- Warm up both hands against a wall or with a partner for ten minutes before the coach starts, not just the strong one.
- Go through every ground ball at full speed, including the ones in warmups.
- Talk on defense from the first drill: "ball", "here", "man".
- When corrected, say "yes coach" and do it the next rep. Nothing else.
- After each day, write down three things you did well and one thing to fix tomorrow. Then let it go.
Does everyone make the middle school lacrosse team?
At many schools yes, especially where the program is new or has A and B teams. At bigger or more established programs there are cuts. Ask the coach directly or a parent from last year; the answer changes whether the goal is making the team or making the A side.
Can a kid try out for middle school lacrosse with no experience?
Yes, and it happens every year. Three weeks of daily wall ball is enough to catch and throw with the strong hand and get the weak hand started, which puts a first-year kid ahead of most other first-year kids. Ground balls are the fastest thing to learn and the thing coaches notice most.
What is the difference between boys’ and girls’ lacrosse tryouts?
The stick work and ground balls are the same. The girls’ game is non-contact with goggles and a mouthguard, and coaches watch for controlled stick checks and clean cradling. The boys’ game uses a helmet and full pads, and checking rules at this age vary by league, with many youth levels limiting or banning body checks. Neither needs contact drills at home.
Should my kid try out as a goalie?
If they want to, yes, and tell the coach before day one because most teams need one. Youth goalies should learn with soft or lower-density balls and full goalie gear, including a chest protector and throat guard, and a good program will start them that way.