"Tryouts" should be used lightly when you're making teams for six, seven, and eight year-olds, but it is still an important step in the journey of a young athlete. Tryouts are stressful for parents, no question. The players? I'd be surprised if they even understand what's happening. And if you come at me with "my kid knows exactly what's happening, they've been doing air squats and bench press in the garage just to prepare," then great, good for you. 

For everyone else, little kid tryouts are important to get right because the placement of the players is a big life step. Making or not making a team is part of team sports and its part of live. Young athletes diving into team sports quickly learn there's a natural heirarchy, and this may surprise you, but I think that awareness is great. I have a nine year-old niece who talks glowingly about the best player on her lacrosse team, and it ain't her (in her opinion - in my opinion she's the greatest lacrosse player anywhere ever, but what I think doesn't matter). To heap praise on a peer at a young age is a positive sign for the present and the future. 

So how do we test the players properly? At U7 - U9 levels, the basic foundation of hockey's core skills are all that matters. We want kids to be placed with kids of similar ability. Similar speed, similar passing skills, similar shooting skills (although there's always one kid who has an absolute cannon). The coaches are going to teach fundamentals at this level, so we want kids with a unified set of fundamentals to be placed together and developed at the same pace.

Each of these drills are going to separate the players into two or four groups, so make sure you have two colours so you can easily separate. Just two, not four. You should arm four coaches with clipboards and names for their group, and have them rank each player in each event. The same can be done with evaluators in the stands.

The drills are also designed to give maximum eyes on each player. There's some standing around in line, but that's by design. Coach and puck placement is also important so everyone can watch as much as possible.

Drill 1: Circles (Skating - 10mins)

• Separate the group into four lines on top of each in-zone circle
• Make sure coaches are positioned where they can tell players to start without using a whistle
• Players skate around the circle by heading towards the boards first, stopping at the start of the line, and then skating back around the circle until they cross the blue line
• Rotate three times so each player skates at each station twice, once forwards and once backwards (friendly reminder - if a player can't skate backwards, that's fine, now you'll know where to rank them! But you can also tell them to skate forwards so they don't get embarassed)
• Goalies can do this too

What to Watch For

• Can the players perform efficient crossovers?
• Are they comfortable on their edges (inside foot, outside edge, outside foot, inside edge)?
• Are they maintaining basic control of their upper body?
• Straight-up speed - who's the fastest?

Drill 2: The Weave (Skating with Puck 10mins)

• Put the goalies back in the net )if you don't have goalies that's ok, players can shoot on an empty net
• Combine two groups to stand on the boards at each side of the red line
• Players weave through pylons using crossovers or edges
• Accelerate at the end of final turn and shoot
• Switch sides after five minutes

What to Watch For

• Do the players maintain control of the puck on their stick?
• Does their upper body stay in control with two hands on the stick?
• Are they scanning the ice to see where the next pylon is?
• Straight-up speed - who's the fastest?

Drill 3: 2on0 Pass & Shot (Skating, Passing, Shooting 10mins)

• Players line up on either side of the red line and start when the coach passes to either line
• Each player has to make at least one pass
• Shoot on the goalie and go to the net for a rebound!

What to Watch For

• Can players make accurate passes that their partner doesn't have to stop for?
• Can the players maintain forward momentum while passing the puck?
• Are they scanning the ice to see where their partner is?

Drill 4: 1on1 Racehound (Skating, Skating With Puck, Checking 10mins)

• Players line up on each side of the red line
• Players who are racing have to start with one skate touching the red line
• A coach blows the whistle for both sides
• Coach places a puck in the middle or toward one side
• Whoever touches the puck first goes for a breakaway or plays offence
• The second player chases and tries to get the puck back

What to Watch For

• Can't hide in this one! Who gets the puck first?

Drill 5: Scrimmage (Everything! 20mins)

This is why the kids are here: to play games and have fun. Your rankings will be pretty evident even at this point, so hop on the bench, throw a puck on the ice and let the kids play.