Considering that you are in a parks & rec league, I would try to do equal playing time for the most part. Actually, I would advise to do equal playing time for all youth teams. You never know who is going to develop into a great athlete and who is not. Try to get every player to start at least one game. Every kid deserves a chance to start.

Anyways, one thing I’ve done in the past is devise a numbering scheme. If you have 8 players, you number them 1 through 8. You assign a number to player and tell them to remember that number, because that’s how they are going to get playing time.

When, the game starts, you put numbers 1-5 into the game. If you play 4 quarters, you can substitute at the midway point of each quarter and at the beginning of every quarter. So, if you have 6 minutes quarters, you would substitute at 3 minutes of every quarter. At the first substitution, you would tell 6, 7, and 8 to go in for 1, 2, and 3.

Here is an easy way to track who needs to come out:

Write down the number of the last player that came out.

So, if 4, 5, & 6 came out. 6 would be the last player. You take the last number which would be 7. That player and the next two players in sequential order come out. In this example, 7, 8, 1 and would be the next rotation to come out of the game. 1 comes out next, because there are no players numbered after 8.

If it’s possible, you want to have a good post player and a good guard on the court at all times. For this example, you may want to have your good guards numbered 1 & 5. Your good post players numbered 2 & 6.

If you do not use a numbering scheme, chart out your players’ playing time before the game. You may want to have an unbiased assistant substitute players during the game, so you can focus on what the players are doing out there. If you do not have an assistant, you can also do it yourself.