Few topics generate more discussion in youth sports than fairness at hockey tryouts. Every season, hockey associations invest significant time and resources into creating balanced rosters and placing athletes on the appropriate teams. Yet even when organizations work diligently to … Read More
Author Archives: Zach Crouse
World Cup Lessons for Youth Sports Clubs: What Coaches Can Learn From the World’s Biggest Stage
1. Early, Structured Development Wins 2. Bigger Stages Build Better Players This year’s expanded 48-team format gave more federations, and more players, a shot at the world stage than ever before. That expansion mirrors a lesson that applies just as … Read More
The Ultimate Hockey Tryout Structure: Sessions, Scoring, Evaluators & Team Placement Best Practices
Many hockey associations spend countless hours debating individual players but very little time designing the hockey tryout structure itself. Unfortunately, even the best evaluators can struggle if the hockey tryout structure isn’t designed properly. A weak evaluation process often leads … Read More
Heat Safety for Youth Sports: 6 Ways to Keep Young Athletes Cool and Safe
Summer tryouts, camps, and practices often land right in the middle of the hottest stretch of the year. Young athletes are especially vulnerable in high heat — kids sweat less efficiently, generate more body heat relative to their size, and … Read More
Elevating USA Rugby: How Eagle Impact Rugby Academy Perfected Player Assessments with Athlete Evaluation Software
Developing elite athletic talent requires much more than running intense drills and scheduling extra practice sessions. At the highest levels of any sport, developing a world-class player requires a continuous loop of objective, actionable, and specific feedback. For Salty Thompson, … Read More
Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games: What It Is, When It’s Happening, and What’s on the Line
The Commonwealth Games are coming back to the city that hosted one of its most beloved editions in 2014, and Glasgow 2026 is set to bring together thousands of elite athletes from across the Commonwealth for eleven days of competition. … Read More
The Open Championship 2026: Top Storylines, Contenders, and What It Teaches Us About Evaluating Young Golfers
Golf’s oldest major returns to a reshaped Royal Birkdale this week, and the 2026 Open Championship (July 16-19) is shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable Claret Jug chases in years. Whether you’re a coach, a club director, … Read More
Best Practices for Balancing Teams and Managing Parent Expectations
Operating a successful youth sports organization requires mastering balancing youth sports teams. On one side of the equation, you have the athletes who want to compete, develop their skills, and have fun playing the game they love. On the other … Read More
The Complete Guide to Conquering the Chaos of Youth Sports Tryouts
The arrival of evaluation season brings a unique kind of anxiety to youth sports club directors everywhere. You spend months preparing for a few crucial days that will ultimately determine the competitive success and financial stability of your organization for … Read More
Ways to Avoid Burnout in Young Athletes
School. Practice. Homework. School. Practice. Homework. For many youth athletes, that is their schedule for the majority of the week, all year round. While it sounds monotonous — and busy — it’s the reality for many athletes. As the competition … Read More