U9 Player Management

This entry was posted on 2/28/2006 7:45 AM and is filed under Policy.

This is a blog thread to generate some discussion on Player Management.   Please be respectful of others.

Some topics, but not limited to  ...
Player Playing time in general
How many kids to roster, # of subs vs playing time.
Player playing time in games (all almost exactly equal, or +/- 25%, other) [will always be greater than half the game].
Player playing time at various positions during games (do we have specialists as age 9)
Playing time wrt winning, do we sacrifice weaker players time for wins.  Always try to win or sometimes when we really need a win (losing streak)?
Playing time wrt practice attendance, overall commitment.
Player allocation across two teams: "Stong and weak" vs. Mix.  If mix, based on what?  History, friends, etc.
Team and Players objectives to play against appropriate competition, players playing up if opportunity knocks.
Retaining players
Getting new players, tryouts.
Dealing with players leaving .. (moving away from area, changing sports, finances, moving to another team)


I have many of my own thoughts.  Most of them are captured in the Philosophy section of the website.  Again, please be respectful of others.  All our kids have potential and they develop at different times.  However, of course, we are not all equal either.  Every kid should have the opportunity to play against appropriate competiton -- that is why we are here, otherwise, we'd all be in rec. league.  Enuff of me, what about you!

Because it is realted Jim has posted combined in the entry about roster changes below:

U9 Coaches Spring Roster changes

This entry was posted on 4/1/2006 6:25 PM and is filed under Red,White,Leaders,Substitutions.

as of 2/7/2006 Jim E posted:
U9 Spring Roster Changes background.  Both teams spring rosters should currently both be at 11.  Ryan is not playing in spring due to other sports and family conflicts.  I believe Don may have asked Thomas to rejoin Red after a 2 year Hiatus and some good indoor season play.  Christian R paid for spring outdoor.  His wrestling is ending so Deneen told me (Jim E) that he is itching to play soccer and will start comming now to Monday's trainer practices.  She plans to pay her fair share.  (Maureen should probably figure a fair partial charge and send an email note to Deneen).  Thier only aprehension was conflicts with Baseball which also effects half of our other players the same way.

 

New "Subs" if needed should be added to white roster because Gold level players may not "sub down" to Bronze level .

 

U9 Coaches please post below and weigh in on the following:

1. Do we need to expand our rosters for spring due to baseball. We can cary 14 on a roster. By default we will assume rosters of 11 like fall.

2. Jacob C is probably still our White Sub from Fall.  Do we want to update that postion. 

Jim E

 

2/8/2006 2:30 PM Don McBride wrote:
I spoke to Tammy Borg last night. If the White Coaches don't want Grant, then I suggested that by the end of today (2/8), they contact NSA (who have offered him a spot) and go with them. (If they do wnat him, call her now at 357-9165.) It is best for Grant that he play somewhere this SPring. Even if we can only offer him a sub spot, it is better for Grant to take the spot; however, chances are we will not get him back. I say this, not only as a family friend, but for any player. Once we lose these guys, it is unlikely we will get them back. I'm glad we got Thomas back! Don
2/8/2006 2:32 PM Don wrote: 
OK, I used the pronoun they too much. I suggest the Borgs contact NSA. ... If the White Coaches want him, ...

Don
2/8/2006 9:44 PM Jim E Jim H JD wrote:
Jim E spoke with Jim H. Jim H said it is fine to go to 12 on the roster if others agree. He leans slightly towards Nicky because he thinks he has some good potential.

Jim E thinks that baseball is less of a conflict if we can stick to sundays. However saturday games are a constant problem with baseball. Baseball games season ran last year April 30 - June 27. Outdoor soccer ran about April 7 to June 15.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Hill Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 6:44 PM
Subject: RE: White team coaches

Sorry for the delay in getting back to everyone. It sounds like we are wondering if we will have enough players to field a team for the Spring season with other sports maybe conflicting. Last year baseball games were usually on Saturdays, and soccer games are usually on Sundays.
During the fall the boys played soccer and football with the same type of schedule. I think if all players are returning including Christian Robert which I am confused if he is or isn't coming back we should be fine with the team that we had in the fall. If for some reason there is anyone that is not coming back then we will probably need to pick-up a player. This is only my opinion. If the coaches on the Red team or the Challengers organization feel we need to bring on some extra players for developmental reasons or if U10 goes to more players than 8V8 and we will need to bring on players next season it may make sense to have one or two extra players. Hope this helps!

JD

2/9/2006 7:00 AM Don wrote:
If you will NOT be attending the game this Sunday (Feb 13) please BLOG it! Connor will not be there and is looking for a Cubs player to swap a game. Thx Don

4/4/2006 10:05 AM Jim E wrote:
Nancy says Ryan has decided to play Spring again but after Rockford. Dave J says Gabe is available to start after the rockford tournement. I think Michael is going to another team but has not completed the paperwork. May be available for rockford Red Roster.  Nikki needs to complete paperwork for white team sub.  Jacob C. can be released or left on for a pinch. 

Then after rockford Nancy figured out Gabe was not returning for spring.  We had a coaches meeting and Brian summarized an email posted below:

Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 2:09 PM
Cc: challengerssoccer U9
Subject: Roster update

Parents of the U9 Challengers:

On behalf of the coaches from both U9 teams, I am writing this note to make you all aware of a need to make a roster change early in the season.   Players coming and going is a normal element of having a soccer team, as it is with any group of people, and we need to deal with the situation.  

 

As you may or may not be aware, two players from the Red team, Michael Carlston and  Gabe Johnson, have left for independent reasons.  They have both left with a favorable relationship with the Challengers.  For your information, Michael is returning to his old team, Ajax, and Gabe has decided to play baseball instead of soccer.  This has left the Red roster at 10 players to start the season. Adding Nicky Rafacz to the mix, the white team has twelve. The coaches have determined that 11 is the optimal roster size for each team, so we had a discussion to adjust the rosters.

 

The 5 coaches met and had an in-depth discussion about our options before reaching a consensus. To replace them, the decision was made to move Trevor to the Red roster. Because the season is already starting this weekend, and because of prior conflicts, Trevor will be moved after this weekend.

 

In addition to this move, the coaches discussed strategies for long term stability.  We agreed that getting to know potential new players would give us known options for any future attrition.  The best way we can accomplish this is by having extra players come to Friday practices for our evaluation.    At this time they won't be invited to trainer practices, and won't be playing in games.  If any of you know kids that might be interested in this, talk to the coaches.  

 

Regards,

 

Brian Schroder

on behalf of the U9 coaches.

 

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Comments

• 3/1/2006 10:07 AM Don wrote:
  There is no underlying message in this posting. It is simply meant to provoke dialog in the spirit that respectful, constructive, thoughtful, open communications is healthy. How is that for weasal words?
  Reply to this
• 3/14/2006 4:36 PM Don wrote:
  Hello - anyone out there?
  Reply to this
• 3/15/2006 12:17 PM Sally Hills wrote:
  Don,
  Now I know Challengers started a 2nd team but not really sure why? To help at practices with number of players? Is the goal of the team to have the players who really strive to better themselves on one and the other team to be more of friends? Still at a higher level than Subdivision or Park District. I'm not saying that one or the other team would be any less except for in commitment level? I know Trevor would love to play more, but he also is involved in other sports. Is his ability level any less than the players on the red team, I don't know? I REALLY like the Challengers mentallity where we are all connected and play a part. This can get tricky also because you really do not want to offend anyone and hurt feelings. In June do we have a tryout and mix teams up like you said based on ability level? Is the goal to learn and improve or just win?
  Coaching is a big part of it also. Styles are different between each one of you, one child may do better with one style than the other. Or, you switch it up so that you can get to know all the boys at the game competion level.
  I don't think you should hold anyone back from playing at a higher level, example Brandon, he has the ability to play higher, but that decision also needs to come from him and his family. He would maybe loose his comfort level of playing with friends.
  Also, who decides to add more players? I know this year we added a new player but no one really knew who he was? Who makes that decision? Was there a tryout? I know 2 kids who would love to be on the team but not sure what the procedure is for this.
  On your topic of player playing time, I don't know about anyone else but, I don't really keep track of that stuff, I'm to busy cheering on the whole team to notice when a player is out there longer than anyone else.
  Just some more thoughts from a new players mom.
  Sally Hills
  Reply to this
• 3/15/2006 5:41 PM Don wrote:
  Thanks for taking the effort to write down your thoughts, Sally. I appreciate, it takes courage. I encourage others to do so. I'm at work now, and there is a lot in your blog to address. Can't do it all now. I can say that our main goal is not to win, although we prefer to win. The main goal was just to get good competition, have fun, and improve as a soccer player. I think winning is tucked in there somewhere with fun, but it is not that one-dimensional. The Positive Coaching Alliance link off our website gives some good background and the philosophy link gets to where we are at as a club. As a rule, we don't bump kids from a team. The white team was created because there was interest and it was created with the premise it would not force anyone on the original team to change. Nothing more, nothing less. If you have players interested, talk to me or any coach and we'll have them at a practice if they are not part of another traveling program. If they are already in the NISL, that is a more complicated issue.
  
  I agree that you have to let excelling players challenge themselves at a higher level. Bluntly, if we don't allow that, they will find another club where they can do it.
  
  My view and all the coaches views at this point are not to make any roster changes this Spring. We made that clear in December. As far as opportunities to play higher, as the opportunities present themselves we can offer some players these opportunities. Until we mixed up the teams this winter and coaches got a chance to see each others players play, we didn't know where players stood. I didn't see much conclusive in practices last Fall because there were so many absences. Football seemed to get in the way.
  
  Last for now, rather than asking me questions, I was hoping to hear what you, all or you, wanted. I'd like to see each state it explicitly.
  
  As an example, one might say "I'd prefer the kids play with their closest friends and make that a priority.", or "I'd prefer that once on a team, you stay on the team until you willingly leave." (as it is now), or "I'd prefer to have the best 11 on the top team and the rest on the white, unless one of the top 11 wants to play on the white." Something like that.
  
  Finally, playing time is a huge issue. It can't be overlooked.
  
  Thx
  
  don
  Reply to this
• 3/16/2006 10:27 PM Vasken Hajakian wrote:
  Hello Don, to start with I apologize, I have not been involved as much as I should be. I would like to add that you and rest of the coaches have been doing a great job and I would like to thank you and the other coaches all your hard work. I feel that the teams as they are now (white and red) are fine. I do feel however that you do have specialists or position players on each team. A serious consideration should be give on assigning positions to individual players. We all can see that some of the boys are not as good as others on every position. In terms of the white team I do believe we have a good TEAM as a whole. The fact is the white team has only been together since the fall season, not even a full year. This is why we should keep the teams in tact for now.
  
  I also think that adding 1 or 2 more subs on each team would help. This will obviously cut down a bit on each players playing time, but it will help out in absences. In terms of playing time, the club philosophy should be used as it’s stated on the website. I like the philosophy and this is why we signed up. Just like most of the kids on the team Jacob is in multiple sports, I want him to have the opportunity to be in multiple sports. The Challengers philosophy promotes that opportunity.
  
  Thanks again, and keep up the good work
  Reply to this
  1. 4/5/2006 12:05 PM Don wrote:
     Vasken, Thank you for the kind and encouraging words and insightful comments. Glad to hear our written words are being read. Sorry I did not respond earlier.
     
     As the boys develop and skills emerge, we will try them at new positions. Practice is where this should be exercised. Trying something new in a game is generally not a good idea, but is sometimes a necessity.
     
     I hope all players are challenged throughout the season. For some, this may mean occasional opportunities on a higher level team. These opportunities should not conflict with their regular team's schedule.
     
     Lastly, the best way to avoid disappointment is by providing communications with the coaches. Establishing common expectations is fundamental.
     Reply to this

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