Our club is on pace for another record number of soccer players at tryouts for the 2017-18 season. With nearly 500 athletes in the u13 and younger ages alone, we have the strongest Chattanooga FC Academy coming this fall.

The most difficult part of the process is making the roster decision. Our entire coaching staff feels the pain of making a cut or placing a player on a team that did not match that athlete’s goal. When this happens, young athletes can feel like they will never reach their goals. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is now up to parents to deliver the positive message consistently.

When someone doesn’t make a particular team, the first reaction is usually hurt or anger. Some players will use this as a source of motivation for continued practice to be on that team. Others will take it as a personal attack and miss the chance to grow.

Tony DiCicco has coached all ages of soccer and led the U.S. Women’s team to the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal and 1999 World Cup title. DiCicco offers some excellent advice.

As tough as it may be for a coach to cut a player from the team, it’s a lot tougher on that player and her parents. There’s no getting around the embarrassment, the emptiness, the rejection.

The best thing I can suggest to parents is to offer unwavering love and unconditional support. It may seem like it to your child, but the world hasn’t ended and it’s up to the parents to keep the sport experience in proper perspective.

If parents get upset, it will be projected onto the child, only making matters worse.

What isn’t constructive is making excuses for your child by saying it was a political decision or that the coach made a poor decision. If you make excuses, you’re only teaching your child to deflect responsibility and discount the value of merit.

What you have to remember is that for the most part, coaches really do try to get it right. If there are 20 players on a team, odds are that practically every coach will agree on the first 10 players for the team. And most coaches will agree that the next five should be on the team. But probably more coaches will disagree on the last five players chosen.

Coaches have an image of what they want their team to be, and they’re looking for players who can help them attain that image.

As a parent, you must show love and support for your child, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into judging and criticizing the coach’s decision. If you do, everyone’s a loser.

Chattanooga FC Academy fully expects roster movement and guest play throughout the season. This has happened every year of the Academy.