Open and Fair Tryouts

Our commitment to a transparent, unbiased, and developmentally appropriate tryout process for all players.

Our Commitment

Clackamas United Soccer Club is dedicated to providing a fair, transparent, and unbiased tryout process for all players. Our goal is to place every player on a team that will challenge them and foster their development in a positive environment. We believe that open tryouts are the best way to assess players and form competitive and balanced teams.

Core Principles

Objective Evaluation

Coaches, Evaluators and the Director of Coaching will work as a team when evaluating a cohort. All members of the Coaching Team will have input in final player placement decisions of all teams in a cohort.


Player evaluations are conducted by our qualified coaching staff. We use a standardized evaluation form to ensure consistency across all age groups. Players are assessed on four key components of soccer:

  • Technical Ability: Dribbling, passing, receiving, shooting, and ball control.
  • Tactical Awareness: Decision-making, spatial awareness, and understanding of game principles.
  • Physical Attributes: Speed, agility, strength, and endurance.
  • Psychological & Social: Attitude, coachability, work ethic, and teamwork.

Equal Opportunity

Players’ previous "track records" playing in the competitive program will also be considered important data when making roster decisions.

  • Data includes but is not limited to: prior attendance, commitment, training habits, attitude, personality, maturity, coachability.
  • CUSC will make efforts to have previous coaches of a cohort provide input to the team of Coaches/Evaluators evaluating a cohort.
  • Previous CUSC coaches may provide information on players’ previous track records playing in the competitive program.

Transparent Communication

The club will clearly communicate the tryout schedule, process, and evaluation criteria in advance. Following the tryouts, families will be notified of team placements in a timely manner. While we cannot provide detailed individual feedback for every player due to the high number of participants, our process is designed to ensure each player is thoroughly and fairly evaluated.

Player Placement

Final decisions on team placement are made by the club's technical leadership, including the Directors of Coaching, in collaboration with the age group coaches and evaluators. The primary goal is to place players in an environment that is best suited for their individual long-term development.

Questions & Concerns

We understand that the tryout process can be a stressful time for players and parents. Please encourage your child to relax, work hard, and have fun. Any questions regarding the tryout process should be directed to the appropriate Director of Coaching, not to individual coaches or evaluators on the field during sessions.