Youth soccer tryouts.
There is no one calendar to check. Every club posts its own dates on its own site, a few weeks out, one age group at a time. A date only appears here after it has been matched back to the page it came from.
Spring window: roughly April to June. Most clubs, most levels.
Fall window: some clubs hold supplemental sessions in August and September.
ID camps and open training sessions run year-round at many clubs.
The clubs picked their fall rosters back in June.
April to June is when nearly all of it happens, and once a club has its team the spot is gone until next spring. A few clubs run supplemental sessions in August and September to fill places that opened up late, so it's worth asking your club directly if you're looking right now.
the primary window, April to June
Most clubs give a few weeks' notice, and a lot of parents find out after the fact. Give us your ZIP and we'll send one email when clubs around you start posting next spring's dates. One per window, and nothing else.
What actually happens at a tryout
Your kid's first competitive tryout is two evenings of small-sided games with coaches watching from the touchline. Here's when they run, what the sessions look like, and which level is worth trying for.
Most US clubs run primary tryouts in spring, roughly April through June, forming rosters for the fall season. Some clubs hold supplemental tryouts in August and September.
Show-up-and-play sessions: warm-up, small-sided games, a scrimmage. Coaches watch. Offers come back within days to a couple of weeks.
Trying out a notch above your current level often produces the best development, even if your kid ends up back at their current tier. A tryout is information, not a commitment.
"U12" is a bracket, not your child's age. From 2026-27 a league may set its cutoff at January 1, August 1 or September 1, so the same child can be U11 at one club and U12 at another. Each club posting shows the dates it uses.
Which level should they try out for?
Trying out a rung above where they play now is usually the right call, but only you know how far above. The roadmap puts a number on it: their level today, the clubs at each rung inside your drive time, and what the jump costs.