How many players should you have on your Team at the end of Tryouts or In Season?

[Davemy]

As a Coach or Parent what do you think? Is it different for 10U vs 16U? Is it different for a Team that plays a High End tournament schedule?
How does the goals of your Team come into play? or your daughter goals. Cost of Team?
One of the reasons I bring this up is there are so many Teams looking for players. A Teams or B Teams. It doesn't matter.
Can parents and players be happy if you leave tryouts with 11 players and then the next best thing shows up and you go to 12 players?

So many teams seem to be leaving tryouts with 8,9 or 10 players and never get to 11.

 

[lewam3]

I think that players and coaches have dreams and desires that run sky high at the beginning of tryout season. Those dreams sometimes result in a period where players that aren't quite what the coach is expecting don't make the grade. The tryout season ends, and those players at the level the coach was hoping for, never materialize. That's not necessarily the coach's fault, he or she is trying to build a team based on those original dreams and desires. But the reality is that the players aren't there anymore and he or she is stuck with 8,9.
From the player's perspective, they dream of making that squad that has it all... good players, winning reputation, great coach,
and some unfortunately get passed up. The player doesn't give up, attends another tryout, maybe with a team that is not all that, and accepts the position.

Coaches need to realize that players are less likely to be caught without a team, than a picky coach is to be left with an incomplete one. In the majority of cases, it is the coach's fault, not over saturation, or a lack of pitchers, etc. Experienced coaches will always have the roster at 12 or so at the end of tryouts, and if the next best thing comes along, the roster grows to 13,14, etc. while this isn't necessarily good for the players who are bubbled, its what keeps the organization healthy and the teams full.

 

[jd100]

From a parent perspective this is easy to answer. You want as few girls as possible on the team so you maximize playing time for your daughter. This is the answer at all levels from a parent perspective. 10 dedicated players at any level is perfect from the parent perspective.

From a coach perspective, it is easier to keep everyone happier with a small team. But the coach more to manage than just playing time. He/she has to balance playing time vs winning, and each coach will weigh this differently. It is easier to find a small team (10 girls) who are dedicated at 10u. But as girls become involved in more things it is difficult to get through a season with just 10.

 

[CARDS]

We always wanted to have 12 that were well rounded that included three pitchers.

At the younger ages 10/12 play should be about developing skills and learning so the ladies should get playing time in a variety of roles and positions. We did this and won (a lot) including an ASA national at 12U.

At 14U and above the ladies start to play a more specific roll for the team but we still had ladies that contributed in more than one position through 18U (but looking at some of the other team we were blessed with some talented ladies that could do what we asked so we were able to move ladies around and not really miss a beat).
Our pitchers pretty much pitched. We would get them some spot time at their secondary position pinch hit/run if that was a strength for them. Playing a lot of ASA we used the DP/Flex a lot that allowed us to get the most of what we had.

 

[FastBat]

From a parent perspective this is easy to answer. You want as few girls as possible on the team so you maximize playing time for your daughter. This is the answer at all levels from a parent perspective. 10 dedicated players at any level is perfect from the parent perspective.

From a coach perspective, it is easier to keep everyone happier with a small team. But the coach more to manage than just playing time. He/she has to balance playing time vs winning, and each coach will weigh this differently. It is easier to find a small team (10 girls) who are dedicated at 10u. But as girls become involved in more things it is difficult to get through a season with just 10.

I'm a parent and I wouldn't allow my dd to start a season 8-10 players. It's just not smart. They will likely not make it beyond one game on Sunday. Think about how many pitchers a team can have with 10 players, maybe 2? Besides the rest of the team would be beat up by Sunday, let alone towards the middle of summer. The subs would be a nightmare.

As a parent I like to see minimum of 12, very minimum.

Another unusual thing, I think as a parent, I hope my dd is the third best pitcher on the team. I know how much she works, she is decent and if there are two better pitchers than her, then the team will likely not be terrible.

 

[Static_97_North]

From a coaching point of view. I always tried to have 3 at least 3 pitchers and 2 catchers and a utility player or two. Once you get to 16u and even 14u the more girls you can rotate in and out the better off your team will be. If you can keep them fresh the better chance of winning you have. You must be honest with them and their parents up front and let them know the roll they are playing. If you have a high end team playing in the right tournaments you will not have a problem with 13 or 14 girls or team cost. The players and parents at this level know what it takes to win and if the girls do not get some kind of rest along the way then you are just kidding yourselves from the start. Now to join one of the high powered teams is not easy or cheap and most are going to have to work their butts off to pay the dues with fundraising or whatever to make the dream come true. No different than working their butts off to get the college coaches there that they are interested in. It does happen but very unlikely you will be noticed from a college coach if you do not do your homework and reach out to them. Nothing easy about this sport if taken seriously. You can also be looked at and get to where you want to go on local teams as well, just takes more work and creativity on your part to make it happen. All depends on what the daughter and parents want out of it. I will say that I have 3 daughters and one is graduating college this year and the other 2 are freshman and they all play college ball but they did not only get there on their play, they mainly got there on their grades. Grades are the most important thing you can have and with them comes the most money any college can give. GRADES out weighs everything else you can do. Ball or no ball. Also all you hear is D1, D1, D1, this usually is from the parents and not the girls. Most parents think their daughters are the best and should never sit out a play, inning or game. You should think your daughter is the best but be realistic about it at the same time as well. Listen to them and talk with them and keep an open mind. This is one thing I wish I would of done more of as a dad and a coach. I was not only their coach, I treated all players like my daughters and did my best to help each and everyone of them. Every player I coached from 16u and on is either playing in college or had the chance to play in college and I feel very good about that because we did what we had to do to get to that point. I was very blessed with exceptionally great parents and players as well. Goodluck to all of you and I hope that everyone of you reach your goals out of this sport. This is the best sport going by far!!!

 

[Fairman]

12: with 3 solid pitchers and 2 solid catchers is the absolute minimum that should be on any team. The pitchers and catchers need to rest and not play every game. Even at 12 you cannot afford a vacation or an injury or everyone will get to many innings and be exhausted for a Sunday run. Having a 13th that can play infield/outfield is a good insurance policy. Having a few players on call that can step in at the older age groups is prudent to cover for graduation parties, prom, work and weddings......

(10 is asking for trouble, kids will get hurt and then you are done and for goodness sakes don't let your dd pitch (or catch) herself into a repetitive stress injury.)

 

[Rdsherman5]

I don't know that there is a "correct" or an "incorrect" answer to the questions. I kept 14 last year and I have 15 for my team this year. My basic plan is to have 3 pitchers (even at that, last summer I had a tournament where one was missing, one got hurt and one had just thrown back to back games; if we would have won that semi final game and gotten to the finals I would have pitched my "emergency" kid [my 1B that could also pitch] that had thrown 4 innings all summer) , 3 catchers (even at that, during the high school season last year one was playing firts base because of a broken finger, one was playing first base because of a bad shoulder and one was still catching but had a sore arm), 3 outfielders (I think that is the number of spots out there), 2 short stops (they can usually help in the outfield), 2 second base (they can usually help in the outfield), 1 third base (catchers often have that as a secondary position) and 1 first base (many pitchers have that as a secondary position). We play in tournaments that provide a significant number of pool games guaranteed. We tend to still be playing later on Sunday. We get to play in front of lots of college coaches. We use lots of courtesy runnners, pinch runners, pinch hitters and defensive substitutions in bracket play so the players are on the field a lot and the number seems to work out OK for us.

The key to this working is to make sure everyone knows the situation in advance (everyone is going to sit sometime), to make sure that the players are versatile enough to effectively pay more than one position and to make sure that no player was kept just to have a specific number (you should only keep players that are actually good enough to play, not that you have around "just in case" they are needed).

 

[coachjwb]

My thoughts ... at the end of tryout season, you should have at least 10 confirmed players on your roster, ideally 11. And in season, you should have at least 11, ideally 12 for ages 14U and below, and at least 12, ideally 13 for 16U and 18U. You should always assume that at least one player is going to quit, change teams, get hurt or move. As a coach, I'd love to have more for a variety of reasons, but dealing with parents who are unhappy their children don't play all the time isn't worth it ...