Tryouts

Tryouts gives your organization an end-to-end digital workflow for running player tryouts. Admins set up the tryout in the management console, evaluators score athletes on the LeagueApps Play mobile app, and results roll up into a ratings view that admins use to make placement decisions. No paper. No spreadsheets.

A tryout is made up of rounds. A one-day tryout has a single round. A multi-day tryout has up to three rounds, for example a Saturday round and a Sunday round, each with its own date, time, and location. Evaluators score each round on its own, and every athlete gets a rating for each round plus one combined rating across all rounds, giving you a single ranked list to build teams from.

How it works:

1. Admins create a tryout from an existing registration program, set up one or more rounds, define a scoring system, and assign staff
2. Check-in staff use the LeagueApps Play mobile app to check athletes in and assign tryout numbers for each round
3. Evaluators use the LeagueApps Play mobile app to score athletes in each round against the scoring attributes you defined
4. Admins return to the management console to view per-round and combined results, then in one click, can hand off to the LeagueApps Team Builder tool to build teams with tryout ratings for every player

Jump to a section:

• Setting Up a Tryout
• Editing a Tryout After Setup
• Running a Tryout in LeagueApps Play
• Viewing Results and Ratings
• Managing Tryouts After the Event
• Frequently Asked Questions

Setting Up a Tryout

Prerequisites

There are a few things that must be in place before you can run a tryout:

• Admin access: Admins can create tryouts and rounds, build scorecards, and view results.
• A registration program: Tryouts pull from an existing registration program. Athletes who registered through that program will be the athletes available to check in and score.
• Staff on the registration program: Anyone who will check in or score athletes during the tryout must be added as staff on the registration program the tryout is tied to.
• LeagueApps Play mobile app: All check-in and scoring happens on the LeagueApps Play app (iOS or Android). Staff must install the app and log in with the email address associated with their staff account before the day of the tryout.

Step 1: Create a tryout

From your management console, go to Manage then Tryouts (under Logistics). You'll see two tables: Upcoming and Past.

Click the Create a Tryout button to begin.

You'll be asked to provide:

• Program: The registration program where athletes registered for this tryout. Athletes and eligible staff are pulled from this program.
• Tryout name: Defaults to the program name plus "Tryout." Up to 100 characters. Rename it if you'd like (for example, "10U Summer Tryout").
• Round 1 date, time, and location: When and where the first round takes place.

Adding rounds. A tryout can have up to three rounds. Click Add round to add another round, and give it its own date, time, and location. Rounds appear in date order and are labeled by their date, so an athlete's Saturday and Sunday results stay clearly separated. A one-day tryout has a single round; add a round for each additional day.

You can add, edit, or remove rounds later from the tryout's Settings, including after scoring has started (see Editing a Tryout After Setup).

Click Next to move to the scoring system.

Step 2: Build your scoring system

Your scoring system is the scorecard your evaluators will use in the field. You can add up to 10 attributes, and they apply to every round of the tryout. All rounds share the same attributes, so you set them once here.

For each attribute, choose one of four scale types:

• 1 to 3: Evaluator taps a number from 1 to 3.
• 1 to 5: Evaluator taps a number from 1 to 5.
• Yes / No: Evaluator taps Yes or No.
• Measurement: An open text field where the evaluator types a number (for example, "60-yard dash in seconds" or "number of strikes thrown").

As you add and rearrange attributes, the right-hand preview updates live so you can see what evaluators will see in the field.

Click Next when your scoring system is complete.

Step 3: Confirm your staff

On the staff step, you'll see the list of staff who are currently on the registration program. These are the people eligible to check in and score athletes during the tryout.

If a staff member is missing from this list, add them to the registration program first. You can return to add more staff at any time before or during the tryout.

Click Save to finish creating the tryout. You'll land back on the tryout dashboard.

The dashboard shows you:

• Number of athletes registered
• A link back to the registration program
• The rounds you set up, with their dates
• Staff assigned to the tryout
• Your scoring system

Editing a Tryout After Setup

You can edit a tryout at any time by opening it and clicking Settings. From there you can change the program, name, scoring system, and rounds.

Managing rounds. From Settings you can add a round (up to three total), edit any round's date, time, or location, or remove a round. You can do this at any time, including after scoring has started. Editing a round's date, time, or location does not affect check-ins or scores.

Running a Tryout in LeagueApps Play

All check-in and scoring happens on the LeagueApps Play mobile app. You cannot check in athletes or score from the web.

Before the day of the tryout

Make sure each staff member:

• Has the LeagueApps Play app installed (iOS or Android)
• Is logged in with the email address tied to their staff account on the registration program

Finding the right round

Each round of a tryout appears as its own card on the evaluator's home tab in LeagueApps Play, labeled by the round's date. On the day of a round, that round's card shows a green Open Tryout button. Rounds scheduled for a future date do not show the button yet, which keeps staff from entering data before that round.

Tapping Open Tryout brings you to that Tryout round for check-in and scoring. When you finish a round and close out, you return to the home tab.

Checking athletes in

After you confirm the round, you land on the Not Checked In list, which contains every athlete registered to the program, sorted alphabetically by first name.

To check an athlete in:

1. Find the athlete in the list (scroll, or tap the search icon to filter by first or last name)
2. Tap Check In
3. Enter the tryout number you've handed the athlete (bib, jersey, penny, etc.)
4. Confirm

Tryout numbers are assigned per round. Numbers apply to the round you're checking in. An athlete may have a different number in a later round, which is expected and does not cause any problem.

The athlete moves off the Not Checked In list. You can repeat this rapidly as athletes arrive.

Duplicate tryout numbers. If a staff member enters a tryout number that's already in use, the app will surface a warning but won't block the assignment. This is intentional. Some organizations use two sets of pennies (for example, youth and adult sizes) where numbers can legitimately overlap. The warning gives the staff member a chance to catch an actual mistake.

Undoing a check-in. If a staff member checks in the wrong athlete, switch to the All Players tab, find the athlete, and tap Edit. From there you can undo the check-in, which returns the tryout number to the pool and puts the athlete back on the Not Checked In list.

Scoring athletes

Once check-ins are underway, switch to the Scores tab to begin scoring. This tab shows only athletes who have been checked in for the round, sorted by tryout number.

Each athlete row shows the scoring attributes you set up. To score an athlete:

• For 1 to 3, 1 to 5, and Yes/No attributes: tap the value. Tapping the same value again clears it.
• For measurement attributes: type the number into the open field.

Use Private notes to capture freeform observations on an athlete (for example, "really nice footwork" or "easily coachable"). Evaluators can use their device's native voice-to-text to dictate notes hands-free.

Filtering attributes (great for stations). If your tryout uses a station model (for example, you've assigned an evaluator to only score the 60-yard run), tap the filter icon and select only the attributes that station is responsible for. The scorecard collapses to just those attributes, making scoring faster.

Your filter selection applies to the round you're scoring. When you start a new round, the scorecard shows all attributes again, so re-apply your filter if you're running the same station across rounds.

You can show all attributes again at any time. Multiple evaluators can score the same athlete on the same attributes, and their scores roll up into a single average in the results view.

Late check-ins. Evaluators who are scoring can flip back to the Check-In tab at any time to check in an athlete who arrives late for that round. The new athlete appears on the Scores list for all evaluators automatically once they're checked in.

How scores are saved

Scores are saved to the evaluator's phone the instant they're entered, then uploaded to the server in the background as connectivity allows. If the venue has poor Wi-Fi or cell service, scores are not lost. They queue up and upload as soon as the device reconnects.

When the evaluator closes the tryout, the app will either:

• Confirm "Your tryout data is uploaded" (everything is in)
• Show a brief uploading spinner while pending scores sync
• If sync fails, show a message reassuring the evaluator that scores are saved locally and will upload once the device is back on good connectivity

Viewing Results and Ratings

When the tryout ends, return to the management console, open the tryout, and click the Results tab.

Results are organized into tabs: an All rounds tab, shown first, and one tab for each round, labeled by the round's date.

All rounds tab. One row per athlete, showing: the athlete's overall rating, combined across all rounds, on a 1 to 10 scale; each round's individual rating; and attribute averages, grouped under each round's date.

Per-round tabs. Each round's tab shows the results for just that round: attribute averages, measurement averages, and that round's rating.

For any round:

• Attribute averages: For each scoring attribute, the average score across all evaluators who scored that athlete. Decimals are expected, since they represent the average of multiple evaluator scores.
• Measurement averages: Same logic, calculated as the average of measurement values across evaluators.

Drilling into an athlete

Click any athlete to see the individual scores each evaluator left, organized by round.

You can also search the results table by name to jump to a specific athlete.

How ratings work

Each athlete gets a rating for each round on a 1 to 10 scale, based on their scored attributes in that round.

• An athlete who receives the top score from every evaluator across every scored attribute would get a rating of 10.
• An athlete who receives the bottom score from every evaluator across every scored attribute would get a rating of 1.
• Everyone else lands somewhere in between, normalized across the included attributes.

Each athlete also gets an overall rating, combined across the rounds they were scored in. This is the single comparable number you sort and rank by when placing athletes on teams.

Editing what's included in the rating

By default, all scored attributes (1 to 3, 1 to 5, Yes/No) are included in the rating. Measurement attributes are not included. Measurements use different units (seconds, counts, distances) that can't be normalized together without adding significant complexity. This is by design.

To adjust which scored attributes count toward the rating, click Edit Rating Settings. Toggle attributes on or off, and the ratings recalculate live so you can see the impact. Because attributes are shared across rounds, your selection applies to every round.

For example, if you set up four scoring attributes but only really care about pitching, you can turn off the others and the rating will reflect pitching only. Your selection is saved for the tryout.

Building teams in Team Builder

Tryout ratings flow straight into Team Builder, so you can go from results to rosters without leaving the platform or reconciling a spreadsheet.

From the Results tab, click Build your Teams and choose the destination program where you'll build teams. Team Builder opens with this tryout already set as the source, so there's no setup to do. Each athlete's tryout rating appears on their player card, and you can sort the player pool by tryout rating as you drag athletes onto teams.

If a program has more than one tryout, use the tryout selector in Team Builder to switch between them, and the player cards update to that tryout's ratings.

Prefer a spreadsheet? Click Export to CSV at the top of the Results tab to download all athlete results, including individual evaluator scores, per-round averages, per-round ratings, and the overall combined rating.

Managing Tryouts After the Event

From the main Tryouts page (Manage, then Tryouts), past tryouts live in the Past table. You can:

• Open any past tryout to review per-round and combined results
• Edit Rating Settings to recalculate ratings
• Launch Team Builder to build teams from the tryout ratings
• Export results to CSV
• Edit the tryout, including its rounds (same rules as Editing a Tryout After Setup above)

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the scoring system or program after scores have been captured?

Yes, but with a tradeoff. If you change the program or the scoring system on a tryout that already has check-ins or scores, the system will wipe those check-ins and scores before applying the change, across every round. This keeps every evaluator's data consistent. You'll see a clear warning before this happens, so it won't be a surprise. Changes to the name, or to a round's location, date, or time, do not affect existing check-ins or scores.

Can a player be checked in after a round has started?

Yes. Evaluators who are mid-scoring can flip back to the Check-In tab in the LeagueApps Play app at any time, check the late athlete in for the round in progress, and assign their tryout number. The athlete then appears on the Scores list for all evaluators automatically.

Some scores aren't showing up in my results. What happened?

The most common cause is an evaluator's phone hasn't synced its scores up to the server yet. This happens when the venue had poor Wi-Fi or cell service. Scores are saved to the phone the moment they're entered, so they aren't lost, they're queued for upload. Ask the evaluator to get on Wi-Fi and open the LeagueApps Play app. The queued scores will upload, and the missing scores will appear in your results shortly after.

Does Tryouts work with both free and paid registration programs?

Yes. Tryouts pulls athletes and staff from whatever registration program you connect it to, and that program can be free or paid. Payment (if any) is handled by the registration program itself, not by Tryouts.

Do parents get a notification when their athlete is checked in?

No. Tryout check-ins do not trigger parent or athlete notifications. Check-in is an operational step for your staff and is not surfaced to families.

What happens if an athlete registers on-site during the tryout?

If they register through the same registration program the tryout is tied to, they'll show up automatically on the Not Checked In list in the LeagueApps Play app. The list refreshes as new registrations come in, so on-site walk-ups are supported without any extra setup.

Can multiple staff check athletes in at the same time? Will it sync?

Yes. Tryouts supports multi-device check-in. Multiple check-in staff can work in parallel on different devices, and check-ins sync across devices in near real time so every staff member sees a consistent Not Checked In list as it draws down.

Are "measurement" type attributes included in the overall athlete rating?

No. Measurement type attributes are scored and stored, and their averages appear in the Results table, but they are excluded from the 1 to 10 overall athlete rating. This is intentional, since measurements use different units that can't be normalized together without significantly complicating the calculation. Adjust which scored attributes (1 to 3, 1 to 5, Yes/No) count toward the rating using the Edit Rating Settings link.

How do I run a multi-day tryout?

Add a round for each day. When you create the tryout, enter the date, time, and location for the first round, then click Add round for each additional day, up to three rounds total. Evaluators score each round separately in LeagueApps Play, and the management console shows each athlete's per-round ratings alongside one combined rating. You can add or adjust rounds later from Settings.

How many rounds can a tryout have?

Up to three. This covers the common two-day and three-day tryout formats.

Can I use different scoring attributes for different rounds?

No. A tryout's scoring system is shared across all of its rounds, so every round uses the same attributes. If you need a different athlete pool or a different scorecard (for example, a callback with a smaller group), create a separate tryout for it.

What happens if an athlete misses a round or joins late?

Their overall rating is based only on the rounds they were scored in. A missed round is excluded from the combined rating rather than counted as a zero. For example, an athlete who only attends the Sunday round is rated on Sunday alone.

Can I add or remove a round after scoring has started?

Yes. You can add, edit, or remove rounds from Settings at any time. Editing a round's date, time, or location won't affect existing data. Removing a round that already has check-ins or scores permanently deletes that round's data, and you'll see a warning listing what will be removed before you confirm.

How do I use tryout results to build teams?

From the tryout's Results tab, click Build your Teams and pick the program where you want to build teams. Team Builder opens with the tryout set as the source, so each athlete's tryout rating shows on their player card and you can sort by it as you form teams. If you'd rather work outside the platform, you can still export results to CSV.