How many to carry

[Momo'sDad]

Based on your story, I would take 11, or 12 at the most. Young players need playing time in games to get better. If you're looking to develop players on a 10u/12u team, the smaller roster will allow you to get all the girls a significant amount of playing time.

 

[rydog73]

Thanks for all the replies. We do have 2 solid pitchers and 2 more that want to pitch and are taking lessons. We have 3 catchers who are all pretty even in skill set so will probably use all 3 especially when we get to the heat of the summer. The reason I'm asking this is the girl that would be the 13th is the worst skill set wise of the 4 girls we are looking at but if we pick her up she would be one of the fastest girls on our team and speed is our weakest point right now. Also we can bat roster in most tournaments here up until state tournaments so we would do that to make sure girls are getting at bats.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Thanks for all the replies. We do have 2 solid pitchers and 2 more that want to pitch and are taking lessons. We have 3 catchers who are all pretty even in skill set so will probably use all 3 especially when we get to the heat of the summer. The reason I'm asking this is the girl that would be the 13th is the worst skill set wise of the 4 girls we are looking at but if we pick her up she would be one of the fastest girls on our team and speed is our weakest point right now. Also we can bat roster in most tournaments here up until state tournaments so we would do that to make sure girls are getting at bats.

It sounds like, as a coach, your heart is in the right place. If you're willing to take on a new softball player and planning to bat the roster, then it sounds to me like you are more interested in overall team improvement and less interested in merely trying to field the best possible team right now to go win a bunch of games. A lot of teams wouldn't even give that girl a chance. I think you deserve a lot of credit for that, Coach.

I must share this, though. I had a similar idea last year with our comp team. We had an ideal roster size of 11, but then 2 more players wanted to join. I thought adding them was the right thing to do because of my personal views on participation. Going to 13 turned out to be a mistake. Nothing against the players, but we were only allowed to bat 9, so I had to put 4 girls on the bench every inning for the entire season. Wanting to keep the team competitive while also balancing playing time was a major chore, but I did it.

 

[PA SB Dad]

So with an average 6 games a tournament weekend, you can't get all the players in, whether 13 0r 15 players.....Or in another way, playing 6 games a weekend without rest makes you love the game?

Or even, being the isolated bench sitter each time rather than a group of younger or more inexperienced (or resting) bench players makes you love the game.

Or your spot being guaranteed makes you work harder...

Once again taking things out of context I see. I'm very glad you take the time to read so carefully.

How often do you see 12U teams use their 6 best players every inning of every game and use their remaining players as scrubs? I see it too often at 10U and 12U and I personally don't like it. My point to the new coach was that some organizations have line up rules that allow you bat 11 players and freely substitute them on defense. On the other hand, if you bat 9, you are limited by the reentry rules. For an inexperienced coach who may not know how to manage a game with an 80 minute time limit, he may end up with a situation where he plays his starters every game for 3 innings and has trouble getting his other players into the game (Tell me that doesn't happen to a lot of new coaches!)

 

[BB875]

Everyone has different ideas. I'm just saying I coached a 10U team with 13 players and it was not a good number for me. Four kids on the bench every inning is painful.

And heck yes, in TB you play your top players. Keep the roster at 11 and you're good to go! If you're short a weekend or two, get some pick up players and have fun!

 

[Momo'sDad]

Screwball, I understand what you're saying, but game management involving the clock is something a coach only learns by actually doing it. Being an assistant and observing this can help, but it's trial by fire for most new head coaches. A highly regarded veteran head coach gets more leeway with their teams' parents, because game management has a direct impact on their DD's playing time. If that experienced, in-demand coach has 13-14 girls on a 12u team, it's probably because a lot more talented players wanted to be on that team or that their parents wanted them to be on that team. Those 4-5 players who sit the most innings do so because they and/or their parents feel that the knowledge they are getting from that coach is worth not getting as much playing time.

Rydog73 seems less experienced and this team is new. He/She is probably not going to get as much leeway from the parents in regard to playing time for their DDs. For a new team with a less experienced coach and for a team that is not planning to be super-competitive, a roster of 13-14 players is far less beneficial to the girls than a roster of 11-12 would be. As Coach Rydog has laid on their plan, 11 is the ideal number. They can pick up as needed.

 

[abbygale]

12U mid-level ball. 2 + pitchers, 2 catchers (minimum), fill in the gaps as best as possible. 11-12 total.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Geez, maybe need to plan more kids' parties or weddings or something to understand planning. How do you get through work at your job?

Sorry but this is a peeve of mine.

We have few pick up players here that are not rec level. Where is this goldmine of players that you can get without breaking roster rules, who will also want to sit most of the time after driving a long way and changing their plans?

I don't deal with the parents of young athletes in my job, so I would say that's apples and oranges. For teams that are transitioning into competitive ball at the 10u/12u level, those parents tend to be different than those parents on the more experienced TB teams. At least that's how it is in much of California, and I often read reports from other areas of the country about similarities between parents in other sports. When you've got a TB team of 12 players, there are no less than 12 different agendas in play. And when parents start teaming up, that factor can be multiplied.

With regards to the roster question, the rosters are generally frozen on a per tournament basis. A player cannot play for multiple teams in a single tournament. That is just common sense. In ASA, championship rosters are frozen until a team exits championship play. If an ASA-registered team isn't playing championship qualifiers, then what you're talking about does not apply to them. Rydog has not stated their intentions, but it does not sound to me like they are planning to make a run at Nationals. There are plenty of pick-up players and opportunities for them in northern California, but even if there are fewer in Rydog's part of Kansas, that doesn't mean it isn't allowed.