I am bad at surprises and lying. I enjoy being pleasantly surprised, but I startle and scare easily. I tell my kids what our fitness tests are going to be, and try to give them a timeline of when they will be tested on them. The point of the fitness tests is not to see how fast they are. The point of the fitness test is to get them to prepare to take the fitness test. That preparation puts the miles on their legs and the stress on their body that allows them to make it through tryouts and 2.5 months of soccer 5-6 days a week with a significantly reduced risk of injury. I honestly don't care how fast they run a mile. I wanna know that they have run miles and miles and miles in preparing to run that one that I timed them for. I don't care how many push-ups they can do, I want their bodies to be strong so that when they go up against another player for a header, if they get knocked, their body is strong enough to absorb that impact and not get hurt. I strongly suggest that you tell your players with their expected fitness tests are, don't surprise them. And let them know, but the point of the fitness test is to prepare for the fitness test.
