Tryouts week is dreaded. Without any understatement, the stress, social and territorial aspect between students in “what team you make” coupled with the added physical strain and mental desire to do your best the whole time takes a toll on your body.

Yet, tryouts successfully construct a team in the only way that is reasonable to assess and assign athletes to their correct team.

For certain sports like basketball, where only five people play at a time, it is understandable for tryouts to be in place. Yet for other sports, it is understandable to do away with the elimination process within tryouts, keeping a greater number of people on the team, like track, where there are a multitude of events and more possibilities for everyone to compete.

Even the process of sports tryouts is meticulous, rarely taking place for just one day, instead more likely to last a whole week. They allow an equal opportunity for all athletes to showcase their skill and prove what team they are qualified for.

They don’t discriminate against certain people or have the intention to be unreasonably selective. For coaches, it is an in-depth and well thought-out process that sometimes is necessary to cut athletes from their team. Furthermore, in lieu of injuries or other uncontrollable situations, it is up to the coaches’ judgement to provide a solution to some conflict that might arise in efforts to be objective and accommodate external circumstances.

The nature and intensity of tryouts can amplify weaknesses and illuminate strengths. They motivate and bring out the very competitiveness that helps accomplish things as a team.

Logistically, how would it work if all sports were no-cut and every team had a large number of players? Having immense numbers would create countless problems. It’s better to eliminate kids at the beginning of the season rather than giving them false hope that they would remain on the team or get any playing time, for that matter.

There are countless reasons as to why tryouts are in place. In the end, some opposing opinions might feel that tryouts are unfair on a personal level, but the process as a whole isn’t.

While the process to get on the team may not be the most ideal, tryouts remain the best option. Think about it. What’s the alternative?