How many players on a team?

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I think the Ohio "SUPER TEAM" has to be one that carries enough players to be fresh in the loser's bracket... at a big college showcase or Nationals.

The best way to contend at big tournaments is to STAY OUT of the losers bracket as long as possible. This is usually done with dominant pitching and a rocksolid defense.

Out West or in the deep South .. you see teams who play 14u, 16u and 18u in the Spring. Those are the teams with girls playing one sport and one sport only. Most don't play HS ball if their team is not a state contender in their state. Probally why they have one girl from here and there.. players willing to put in the time and effort to be "seen" by college coaches versus playing on their HS team that is mediocre at best. That's the teams you see in the top 10 at Nationals year end and year out.

Not true in SoCal - 16u/18u travelball only practices during the HS season. There sure aren't any showcases since the college coaches are busy with their own teams.

A team who gains stamina from playing in double elims (can't get that stamina playing friendlies)... carrying a bigger roster... players committed to travel ball... and sees a purpose to their hard work to be seen by college coaches. They play in these events all Spring.. gaining stamina for when it counts.. at Nationals or college showcases in the Summer.

Teams rarely play double elim tournaments in SoCal. They can develop stamina in friendlies out here. Most teams play 3 games, but many teams play 4 games. Year around friendlies and practices is where they develop their depth to be successful in the big tournaments. The top teams are prepared to play a lot of games on tournament Sundays, regardless of the format.

Ohio next "SUPER TEAM" will be a team of 14-15 girls... with a team concept.. that is fighting every day for their starting position and not having the attitude.. "Well, I'm here.. where am I playing at ?"

You got that right - competing for playing time is a great motivator to work hard and the best preparation for playing in college.

 

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11 girls on a team. Couple seasons ago our team went with 12 girls, 4 pitchers, and seemed like never got enough playing time in for all DD's. Since then went with 11 and both DD's and parents have been happy.

 

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this is our first year with 12... kinda scared... wish me luck. 11 player roster caused us trouble due to vacations, injuries, and even heat kicked out butts. Planning for the strength to get us deep into Sunday. All have this message loud in clear and on a regular basis and all had the right to look elsewhere.

Now... any clever ideas on who to play when....

 

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My 18U will again roll with 11. Last year had very few issues. This year we will get a pick-up player or two for fall/winter but will be just fine for summer.

"Commitment" is the key word, and pray for no serious injuries. ;&

 

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this is our first year with 12... kinda scared... wish me luck. 11 player roster caused us trouble due to vacations, injuries, and even heat kicked out butts. Planning for the strength to get us deep into Sunday. All have this message loud in clear and on a regular basis and all had the right to look elsewhere.

Now... any clever ideas on who to play when....

Here is my view on handling 12 or more. If your team is fairly balanced most likely if you are objective you will find that around 4-5 players can fall into the revolving lineup sharing the last 3 spots during pool play and I am not talking just your outfielders. Also, utilize subs and DP/flex. This spreads the sub issue out early in the weekend and gives everyone a chance to show what they have been working on to get better. This gives two levels of incentive. All will want to be in that top 5 who rarely sees the bench. Others will understand and fight for that Sunday lineup spot. When bracket comes around you should have a line up. Play 9 and be your best.

 

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Les, I share your anxiety. We have also gone to 12 because as our players get older there are the inevitable conflicts (summer school being just one).

Jimjen has some interesting observations on managing 12. The one about a "bottom three", however, doesn't really apply to our 12, who are all very very good. Unless someone goes into a horrible offensive or defensive slump, we anticipate having all twelve involved if we have more than one game in bracket play. And we will use the flex/DP to get 10 players in the game as well as pinch runners.

In our case, our three pitchers have infield positions so at least one infield position needs to be filled each game and we will also be resting pitchers more now that we have 12.

Which is not to say that it will be easy to manage 12. But with these 12, we are going to track innings to make sure that no one who isn't in a slump gets dramatically fewer innings in either pool or bracket play than her teammates.

 

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I have actually gone 180 on this topic. The issue is not the number of players the issue is number of games.

Based on the discussion of how many games most girls/teams play in a season/year.

Many Southern or Cali teams they will routinely play 120+ games per year. While I think most teams from the Midwest with get in 60-80 games in a year. If your team is full of serious players who want to put in the work and hit 10+ tournaments starting in May then you need 12-13 girls. If you are a more local type team that is going to work around with the girls other interests then you are going to do about 6 tournaments starting in early June. Then you need to consider keeping the number down around 11 if possible.

The reason to me is reps. While the girls need to learn to compete on there own roster for playing time at the younger ages they need the reps. And there are only so many innings to go around.

 

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There is no "cookie-cutter" answer to this question, because it all depends on team goals + other "issues", and no two are identical:

* Parental views/goals differing from team/coaches goals
* Diva player attitudes accentuated by clueless parents
* Showcase exposure team or local tourney team
* 100+ games or 30 - 40 games
* Team commitment + outside conflicts
* Any combination of the above

When you throw a team of 11 or 12 together and just ONE family isn't buying into the team plan, look out...

An more appropriate question might be: "How many players on an EXPOSURE team?" or "How many players on a RECREATIONAL team?" etc.

 

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When my oldest dtr. played at 16-18u her teams always carried 14 due to girls having jobs, other commitments ect.....

 

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My daughter's 16U team last year had 13. The coach was using the West Coast style of thinking - that is: have a large roster so that you always have fresh players available on weekends. The only problem is that he didn't rotate players out enough. I don't think that the SS, CF, & RF sat an inning the entire season. (And it wasn't Daddy Ball, either.)

If you're going to use the premise of "Freshness", make sure your essential positions aren't worn down by Sunday afternoon... Even the fastest race car has to pit once in a while!

 

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I am a 10u coach. As I read this thread I have seen alot of support for 11 plus players on a team. I dont recall seeing one post where a team had only 10 on a team. Well I guess I will share my success story with only 10 players. I started my season in April with 10 ultra committed players/FAMILIES. That was the key from day one. We played 78 games over the summer (14 tournaments) and the only hiccup I had was when I had a player leave the team in Mid June and had to replace her. Luckily, the injury bug never hit. My plan all along was to have 10 very talented players and 10 totally committed families. All were on board with what WE as as TEAM were trying to accomplish and it was really was easy to make sure playing time was given to all 10. By the way, we were 69-8-1, so needless to say we played at a very high level for 10u.

I dont know if this would work at any age level except 10u.

 

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oiler pride:

Congrats on your successes with 10 players. We've done it with 10, and even for a short while with an "iron nine", though we didn't have the win/loss record that you have achieved. But I think you are correct in your thought that it is too risky once the girls get older. Older girls = players who are more aggressive, leading to more injuries; players who have significant commitments to other school sports; players who have summer school or summer jobs; players who "have a life" involving school dances, boyfriends, community service, religion, etc. etc. While I am nervous about 12, I would be completely freaked out about a roster of 10 at the 16U level.

 

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high game count helps if the rotation is good...nothing like playing more games and sitting even more for some. I don't have a weak spot to pick on. All can hit and actaully better than I've ever rostered. Fielding is good too. I will most likely have 4-5 players rotate. Some others will never sit due to their ability. All have the incentive to become "non-sitting" players. Cool families help too.

 

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11 anything more and it's very difficult to manage playing time.

 

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I just can't imagine trying to do a summer schedule filled with showcase invitational tournaments (14u and above) with fewer than 12 players. We used to do games with 9 or 10 players in the local park baseball league, but that's a little different level. Being two states away without a substitute player because of one with an injury, one with cramps and another with "flu" makes for some VERY unhappy parents.

There is no excuse for getting booted early from a college showcase for lack of players. Even with 12+ players, unforseen circumstances can and will happen, but are VERY rare. Carrying too few of players to a high level tournament is a symptom of a coach trying to please everyone, and in the process failing his/her team. You are at a showcase to be seen - at least through late Saturday. Going home early on Saturday due to forfeiting cheats the rest of the team of what they were there for in the first place.

 

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Sammy-you mean like taking 11 to Tenn. and having a separated shoulder, hit by pitch in forearm and taken for x-rays, and a bad hop knock teeth loose in your first game......;& Iron Man (or Girl) is great as long as no injuries. HS basketball ususally carries 12-14, HS Bball and Softball usually do the same, and we played more games in three weeks than oldest DD did in entire HS sb season.