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Perhaps the most famous example of a player spotted at the exit trials is Watford's Theo Robinson. He had been released by Stoke but Watford took a chance. Robinson spent last season on loan at Hereford honing his skills and scored 16 goals as the Bulls won promotion from League Two.
Unfortunately there are no official stats available about how many players have been signed by a club after being spotted at an exit trial. However, Hawkins and the Football League's hardworking youth development business manager Jim Briden estimate that 55% of the players at last year's trials had contact with another club.
Some of the boys might attend all three days of the trials, which finish on Wednesday, while many scouts will attend at all the venues as well.
The trials cost around £15,000 to stage but I imagine that Hawkins, Briden and their team would try to put them on even if they cost a lot more. You can argue about the merits of youth systems and academy football, suggest that it is under-funded and not producing enough players, but the intention behind the exit trials must be applauded.
I got a real sense that, for the Football League's youth development team, the boys were not products or a commodity but young people who had to be cared and looked after. In an era when football is a wealthy global business, people can be reduced to statistics, but the exit trials are an example of football's human face. As Hawkins said to me with great sincerity: "The care and welfare of the players is paramount."
I imagine that for many boys the exit trials will be another step as they slip further away from their dream of playing professionally. But if just a handful of those at Bisham Abbey or Lilleshall or Leeds are picked up then it will all have been worth it.
For Jimmy Becque (Coventry), Grant Brown (West Ham) and Dawayne Campbell (Crystal Palace) - all of whom I spoke to on Monday - I hope you did enough to earn a scholarship.
And if it didn't work out, at least you had a go.