Player Tips for Main Camp Tryouts

It’s that time of the year when Main Camp tryouts are beginning and players will be competing for positions for
the 2023-24 season.

This is a nerve-racking and stressful time for both players and their families, but if you prepare the
correct way and understand what coaches will be looking for it can greatly improve your performance
and thus your chances of making the team, while helping to eliminate much of your stress and anxiety.
What coaches typically look for can be divided into two categories:

1) Tangibles
2) Intangibles

Let’s first look at “tangibles”. Tangible characteristics are a player’s actual physical skills and abilities. For
forwards and defencemen, this includes such things as a player’s size, skating, puck handling, passing
shooting, shot-blocking abilities, use of deception, IQ, whether the player wins puck battles – to name a
few key areas. For goalies, tangible characteristics can include size, skating, ability to play the puck
outside the crease, ability to eliminate rebounds, quickness, tracking the puck, and overall technical
form.

Tangible characteristics are the base skills a player needs to demonstrate he or she should be considered
a serious prospect for the team. Obviously the better the player is at each of these individual tangible
skills, the better their chance is to make the team they are trying out for.

Now let’s look at the “intangibles” coaches look for. There are two categories of intangibles – enhancing
and diminishing intangibles.

1) Enhancing intangible characteristics include, passion, effort, leadership, and compete level.

2) Diminishing intangible characteristics include things such as a lack of enhancing characteristics,
as well as displaying bad body language (this is a “killer”), selfishness, not being a team player or
even parents who interfere with the tryout process in negative ways.

It is important to note that intangible characteristics are essentially 100% within the control of the
player and family. If a player and family exhibit enhancing intangible characteristics, it greatly enhances
the perception and value of the player in the eyes of coaches and his team. Further, if a player and
family ensure they do NOT exhibit any of the diminishing intangible characteristics – that too is also a
positive.

In summary, when players participate in main camp tryouts, it is important to pay attention to both the
tangible and intangible characteristics cited above. The tangibles are often what players tend to focus on
and that’s great, but do NOT forget about the intangibles! Coaches LOVE players that work hard, skate
hard on and off the bench, show leadership, congratulate their teammates after goals, or pump them up
on the bench between shifts. They also like players who help others out on and off the ice, stand up for
their teammates, the players that help clean up the dressing room without being asked to, and those
that are polite & kind to all others.

By displaying both tangible and intangible skills at main camp tryouts, you will greatly
enhance your value in the eyes of coaches and thus improve your odds of making the team!