Tryouts (May 2023)

This page has details about our May 2023 tryouts. We’ll update it with information about our May 2024 tryouts in early May 2024.

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Does your daughter love to play soccer? Does she want a bigger challenge? Was she born in 2016 or 2017?

If she scores a hat trick of “Yes” answers, we encourage her to attend our Junior Academy Girls tryout sessions! Tryouts will take place May 22-24, 2023. We’ll invite players who show potential and a love for playing to join our Junior Academy Girls group for the 2023-2024 soccer year.

This page is for the Tophat Marietta Junior Academy Girls group. The Marietta group is based at two Cobb County locations:  Metro North Park in east Cobb and United Quest Park in northeast Cobb.

If you’re interested in joining the Tophat Academy at another location (Buckhead, Lake Point, Milton, Smyrna, Woodstock) or an older age group, click this link for more information.

May 2023 Tryouts quick links:

• About the Academy
• Tryout schedules
• Registering for tryouts
• Tryout notes
• Tryout questions
• Player invitations
• Summer schedule
• other frequently asked questions
• Information for families who move into the area after tryouts

Spring 2023 season update:

The Tophat Marietta Junior Academy Girls program has a mix of girls born in 2015 and 2016. Our older (2015) girls will soon be aging up into the U9 (under-9) age group. So we’ll be looking for girls to fill these newly-opened Junior Academy spots for the upcoming 2023-2024 soccer year. Girls are eligible for the Junior Academy program if they were born in 2016 or 2017.

The Tophat Academy staff identifies qualified players in three phases:

1. Scouting:  We evaluate players during training sessions and games with their NTH recreational teams.
2. Guest week sessions:  We invite Junior Academy prospects to come to our guest week training sessions in May. You’ll get to practice with Junior Academy players, meet the Junior Academy coaches, and see what the Junior Academy is all about. Just wear your usual practice gear, bring your soccer ball and plenty of cold water, and join us for some soccer fun!
3. Tryouts:  We conduct open tryouts May 22-24, 2023.

If we think a player is a strong candidate, we’ll invite her to join the Junior Academy. There is no obligation to join, however. If the level of commitment isn’t right for your daughter or family, the NASA Tophat recreational program is available as another option. It includes U8, U10 and U12 leagues (along with leagues for younger and older ages), and participation doesn’t require a tryout.

Tryout schedules:

Tryouts for the 2023-2024 Junior Academy Girls start Monday, May 22 and continue through Wednesday, May 24. You can click / select a park name to display a map, directions and field layouts.

Tophat Marietta Junior Academy Girls 2023 tryout schedule:

Day, Date	Time	Park	Field
Monday, May 22	5:30 - 6:45 PM	United Quest	Field #7
Tuesday, May 23	5:30 - 6:45 PM	Metro North	Tops
Wednesday, May 24	5:30 - 6:45 PM	United Quest	Field #7

Link:  older age groups’ tryout schedules

Tryout notes:

Who may attend?

• Junior Academy Girls tryouts are open to all age-appropriate girls (girls born in 2016 or 2017), whether they currently play at NTH, another soccer organization, or are new to soccer. Link:  soccer age chart. There is no fee required to try out.

Which session(s) to attend:

• We ask players to attend any two of the tryout sessions. But they are welcome to attend all of the sessions.
• When you register your daughter for tryouts, you can specify your preferred park (your home park). For Marietta, that’s either Metro North Park (MNP) or United Quest Park (UQP). If your daughter’s home park is MNP and she attends tryouts at UQP and is invited to join the Academy, she’s being invited for her home park; you’re only switching parks for tryout sessions, not the actual soccer season.
• This only applies to the Tophat Marietta locations. Link:  NASA Tophat locations

What if my daughter only attends one session?

• In some cases, coaches can determine if a player is a good fit for the Academy after a single tryout session. In other cases, coaches may request the player to attend a second or third session. (Some players have a case of nerves and aren’t their real selves during the first session.) You can check with coaches after your daughter’s tryout session for a status update.

Schedule conflict?

• If your daughter is interested in the Academy, but isn’t able to attend tryouts, check with the appropriate coach for information about arranging an evaluation.

Register for tryouts in advance (opens May 1):

All returning and prospective Junior Academy players should register on-line for tryouts, even if they are unable to attend.

• On-line registration is free and helps streamline the tryout check-in process. (Players can register at the fields, but it’s much quicker to do it on-line ahead of time.) You only need to register once, even if your daughter plans to attend multiple sessions.
• New to NASA Tophat?  You will need to create an NTH / PlayMetrics website account in order to register for tryouts. Open this link:  https://www.nasatophat.com and then select Join NTH Soccer via the button in the middle of the screen. You will be prompted to create an account and add a player.
• Current NTH players (Junior Academy or recreational):  You can register on-line using your existing NTH account. Open the web site, open the menu at the top right, then select Login.
• Once you log in, you should see your daughter’s name, along with a list of available programs. Look for the 2023/24 Academy Tryouts program, also referred to as U8 (2016/2017). Select Continue and follow the prompts. Best wishes to your daughter during tryouts!

Financial aid:

• NASA Tophat offers confidential, needs-based financial aid. If you would like to apply, your can do so when you register your daughter for tryouts. Look for the Financial Aid option at the top of the Club Programs page, or click this link.

What to wear / what to bring:

• Players should wear proper soccer attire, including shin guards covered by soccer socks. It’s OK to wear club practice shirts or game-day uniforms. (We recommend this. Players will feel more relaxed, and coaches will be able to recognize your daughter more easily.)
• Bring a soccer ball (size 3 for Junior Academy) and plenty of cold water. (We recommend you label your daughter’s water bottle with her initials or name.)
• If a player has long hair, she should wear a headband or something to keep her hair out of her eyes.
• Please leave jewelry at home.

Bring lots of cold water!

• It’s likely to be hot! Your daughter should start increasing fluid intake before tryouts, and drink plenty of water during and after tryouts. This will allow her body and mind to perform at a higher level for a longer period of time. Link:  hydration tips

Check-in early:

• We recommend arriving 15-30 minutes early so your daughter has time to get checked in and warmed-up prior to the actual starting time. Check-in consists of verifying (or recording) player info on our tryout roster, marking a tryout number on the player’s leg or arm, plus distributing informational material about the NASA Tophat Junior Academy program.

Weather updates:  In case of storms or heavy rain, check the NTH field status site.

Tryout questions:

Information below applies to the Junior Academy program. Older Academy age groups (U9 through U12) may have different procedures.

What happens during tryouts?

• Players check in at a tent near the field and are assigned a tryout number. Coaches then gather the players for a brief intro and warm-up activities. After warm-up, we spend most of the session playing scrimmage games. We rotate players through multiple positions and multiple game formats (3v3 up to 5v5). We may also do running and agility evaluations.

What do the coaches look for in a player?

• We’re looking for girls who love to play.
• We’re also looking for three characteristics:
  1. Awareness:  knowing what’s happening on the field, and reacting quickly as game situations change
  2. Personality:  desire, enthusiasm, creativity, competitiveness, self-motivation
  3. Athletic ability:  coordination, balance, agility and quickness.
• Current technical skill is a bonus, but if a young player has the other attributes, we believe she can develop technical skill through focused training sessions and by playing with and against strong players in training and games.

For players:

• What can I do to make a good impression? Soccer is a game, not a job. You’ll learn, play your best and have the most fun if you follow three simple rules:
  1. Give your best effort.
  2. Be enthusiastic.
  3. Treat yourself and others with respect.
• There are two other things you can do to make a good impression:
  1. Be creative. When you get the ball, have a plan — dribble, change direction, pass or shoot — don’t just kick it or dribble straight into another player.
  2. Don’t get upset if you make a mistake. We all make mistakes! What matters is how you react after a mistake. Try to learn from it, and definitely keep trying your hardest!

For parents:

What can I do to help my daughter?

• Register for tryouts in advance. This will help speed check-in, which can be an awkward process for your daughter if she isn’t a tryout veteran.
• Make sure she eats healthy food and drinks plenty of water prior to tryouts. Links:  Nesquick simple Game Day Eating guide  /  hydration tips
• Once the tryouts start, it’s her time to show her capabilities. Sit back and watch her and the other girls play! We ask that you not coach your daughter or otherwise try to participate. (It’s her tryout, not yours.)
• If your daughter does well, outstanding! If your daughter struggles and fails, this isn’t permanent. Handled properly, it’s a great opportunity for her to learn resilience and develop self-motivation.

Player invitations:

Coaches will meet after each tryout session to decide which players we’ll invite to join next year’s Junior Academy Girls group. We’ll post these players’ tryout numbers on our Junior Academy tryout results page, and follow-up with in-person conversations, phone calls or e-mails.

If we invite your daughter to join, please respond via phone or e-mail to the appropriate coach to let her/him know if you accept the invitation.

If your daughter isn’t invited to join, we strongly encourage her to continue playing! (Handled properly, this is a great opportunity for her to learn resilience and develop self-motivation.) The NASA Tophat recreational program has leagues for players age 4-19, and participation doesn’t require a tryout.

She should set a goal of becoming a player who wants to have the ball at her feet (has the confidence to dribble and looks to score goals), stays alert when teammates have the ball, and works hard on defense to regain possession when the other team has the ball. If your daughter wants ideas for improving her skills, please check our play at home activities.

If she loves the game and sticks with it, she’ll always have a chance to achieve her goals. Players develop at different rates, and a player who isn’t invited to join this time around may blossom by this time next year.

Over the 22-year history of our Academy program, we’ve had many cases where players tried out one year and weren’t invited to join, but kept playing and made it into the Academy program the next time around. These players showed that determination and effort (and sometimes an extra year of maturity) can help you reach your goals.

Summer 2023 schedule:

Does your daughter want to put her soccer ball away for a while but stay active? Swimming, tennis, dance, gymnastics or martial arts are good options. They keep players in shape and help with overall athletic development.

Summer is also vacation and nature camp time. Feel free to enjoy the break from regular soccer!

We may have an occasional informal (optional) kick-around, but we won’t have any regularly scheduled team training. If girls want to practice skills on their own, here’s a list of play at home activities.

Tophat offers summer training programs and camps for players who are interested in scheduled training.

When do we start our fall season?

• We start fall season prep with Academy Team Camp in early August.
• We start regular practices the week following team camp.
• Junior Academy groups won’t play a pre-season tournament.
• Weekly Academy play starts the weekend after Labor Day. We usually receive our fall season game day schedule in late August.

Missed tryouts?

If your family moves into the area after tryouts, or if you have a vacation conflict with tryouts, you can still arrange to have your daughter evaluated for the Tophat Academy. Please contact the age-appropriate coach for more information.