How many is to many ?

[Outlaws]

What's everybody opinions on how many is to many?
Very competitive group all are on the same level .
What's the avg number of girls you take ?
Is 11 to many ? I usually keep 10 but have a chance to get a very strong
11 but don't want to lose any of my others .

 

[29dad]

What's everybody opinions on how many is to many?
Very competitive group all are on the same level .
What's the avg number of girls you take ?
Is 11 to many ? I usually keep 10 but have a chance to get a very strong
11 but don't want to lose any of my others .

What age? I don't know any "very competitive" teams with a 10 player roster.

 

[Outlaws]

First year 12u . Had a very good 10u season with 9
Most of the year .

 

[marriard]

First year 12u . Had a very good 10u season .

For this age group, 12 is the ideal number

10/11 is too few and asking for trouble. One injury and you are basically in huge amounts of trouble and you end up having guest players most weeks. It might not have happened last season, but it will sooner or later.

We had 11 last season and we had a huge rash of injuries, sicknesses and school related events. Hurt us big time. We scrambled every week from the second tournament when our SS went down with an ankle injury for 3 weeks. By end of season we didn't have many truly healthy players.

With 12 as a coach you start to take advantage of ALL the DP/Flex/Substitution rules. There are plenty of reasons you can find to bring players into the game game over game. Most coaches don't do enough of this. We bring players in and out of the game all the time. Everyone is getting some game time - even our last player is getting in as a courtesy or pinch runner in a championship game. Your role as a coach becomes more complicated, but it is worth it long term.

You have to remember - everything gets more intense with bigger, faster and stronger players as they grow up. There will be more injuries as they get older... and more school stuff and other events.

So short version: Take that 11th strong player and be happy you have the opportunity to do so.

 

[Greenmonsters]

If you can't figure out how to keep 11 happy (OK, relatively happy).... With injuries, illness, heat, vacation, weddings etc., even 11 is cutting it dangerously close IMO; 12 is usually just about right.

 

[MNDad]

18U DD guested on a team with a very large roster and made an interesting observation. When she was younger on small rosters it's lonely on the bench and you don't feel like part of the team. With the new team there were 4-5 girls with her and she always felt like part of the team. She didn't feel the stigma of sticking out because you're one of a couple girls not in the game. Younger girls would probably feel the same way, but I doubt many parents would go for it.

 

[canyonjoe]

I like to have 11. Right now our 14U team has 13 but with injuries or missing tournaments usually have 10 or 11 for our tournaments. I love having 10 for the tournament when possible. We've done 9 a few times and it's really scary.

 

[vdubya]

Err on the side of too few, but have a network of coaches with whom you can borrow and lend players. Eleven is ok, but more than that means generally that half of the team will be happy and half won't. (Three on the bench sub in for three more who move to the bench. It is usually the same six (half!) and at this age kids need to be playing, not watching. With a roster of twelve, the three coaches kids (3) and the other (3) best players stay in the game nearly 100% of the time. Six happy, six half-timers. Next year when six leave you place an add looking to add a few pieces to your 'great core of girls' and the cycle starts again.

Err on the side of too few, but have a network of coaches with whom you can borrow and lend players.

Good luck.

Edit to add: PS: Outlaw, I'm sure you are in the 2% of all coaches who don't play it that way. Many many coaches lack this perspective.

 

[smddad]

I'm looking to have 14 or 15 on my team this year.

 

[KCM]

The 16U team my daughter is on right now has 14 and the one she plays pick up with has 12 (she just fills in when other players cannot make it).