Your kid has packed the bag four times. Shoes, pinnie, water bottle, spare hair ties.
Everything comes out. Everything goes back in.
They are trying to control tomorrow with a zipper.
Do not add a speech.
Give the evening one small job
Pack the bag together once. Check the time and address. Put the keys where you can find them in the morning.
Then close the bag.
If dinner has not been planned, use the ordinary meal your kid already eats. The pre-tryout dinner does not need to become a nutrition experiment or a family ceremony.
Let them choose the conversation
At 11 or 12, your kid knows what selection means. Asking How are you feeling? can be useful when they want to talk.
It can also turn the whole room toward the thing they were trying to set down.
Try a smaller opening: Want company while you pack, or do you want space?
If they talk, listen. If they ask what the coach wants, say what you actually know and stop there.
Do not promise a roster spot. Do not turn the bedroom into a late practice.
The younger versions need a different touch. For a first tryout, read the age 5-to-7 night-before script. For a kid who wants more detail about the schedule, use the age 8-to-10 plan.
Keep tomorrow ordinary too
Use the normal bedtime. Set one alarm. Leave enough time that nobody has to shout about a missing sock.
On the drive, let your kid pick the music. A useful last sentence is:
Play hard. Be a good teammate. We will see you after.
That is enough.
If this is their first serious travel selection, the 11-to-12 travel tryout guide covers the expectations and the result. Tonight is smaller.
Bag closed. Lights out. Parent steady.