The trial finished three days ago. The club said up to two weeks. The kid asked yesterday morning, again last night, and is reaching for their phone every twenty minutes. The framework for the 7 to 21 day wait: what the kid needs, what to say when they ask, what to never do.
What the kid needs during the wait
One. Normal training, on time, every session. The kid is at their regular club training all week as if no trial happened. Skipping training signals that the trial decision is the only football that matters. The regular club is where the football continues regardless.
Two. Phone on the kitchen bench from 6pm, charging, until breakfast. The selection news will still come whether the kid checks every twenty minutes or not. Compulsive checking does not bring it sooner and noticeably worsens the wait.
Three. A different activity in the down time. A swim, a hit of cricket, a movie with friends. Anything that breaks the football-only frame. The wait is easier when the kid's life is wider than the selection email.
What to say when they ask
The kid will ask every day or two, in some version of: "Have you heard anything." The honest answer is short and the same every time.
"Not yet. The club said up to two weeks. Let's see how the next [N] days go."
Three rules for the answer. Be calm, be brief, be consistent. Do not speculate. Do not say the news will come tomorrow. Do not check the club website with them. The answer settles them only if it is the same answer each time.
If the question is coming three or four times a day, the conversation needs to shift from the news to the anxiety. "Waiting on it is harder than the trial. Let's go for a walk." The walk is the intervention.
Three things to never do during the wait
One. Do not email or call the club asking for an update. Selection takes the time it takes. Wait the published window plus three days before contacting the club.
Two. Do not give the kid your own prediction. A confident prediction in either direction is a quiet promise. If wrong, the kid takes the disappointment doubled. The right parent posture is honest agnosticism. The coach makes the call. The parent does not predict.
Three. Do not let team chat speculation reach the kid. If teammates are messaging theories about who made it, mute the chat in the evenings. Chat speculation is rarely right and always destabilising.
When the news arrives
If the kid is selected, congratulate them once, briefly, and move on to the practical next steps (training schedule, kit, paperwork). The bigger the parent reaction, the heavier the next trial becomes.
If the kid is not selected, hold the conversation for the kitchen table that night, not the moment the email lands. Acknowledge it. There are usually three or four trial pathways in any season. The next one is on the horizon.
The boring procedural close
Three actions across the next two weeks. Normal training, every session, on time. Phones on the kitchen bench from 6pm. The same calm answer every time they ask.
For the related rule on what to say when the news arrives and the kid was not selected, see when your child's retention is reversed without explanation. For the related rule on the car ride home and the conversation patterns parents fall into around selection, see the car ride home.