10 players.

= playing time.

Controlled subs.

So I have to submitt a rotation prior to each game. Every four minutes subs come in. So what I get is five on, five off. Same five each time. Those are the rules.

Here is the team.

1- great range, quickness, strength, speed. He can score, handle, and looks to pass.

2- great range for his age. Probably in the top % in the league as far as shooting goes. Not guard material as far as his handle goes. Works to get open and consistantly shoots well.

3- 5 kids fit in to the "3" catergory. Learning the game from zero. Average strength in all areas of game for this age group. They can all manage to dribble the ball down the floor with no stand outs. They can all reach the rim, with no stand outs, ect.

4- 3 kids that are at the very basic stages of athletic development.

I would hope and expect to see an improvement in every kid, at the same time I would expect the catergories to hold up, as in 3 levels of development.

I have 2 assistant coaches. My inclination is to split the kids in to two groups and have them rotate through stations. Each practice stations will have a general relation to each other and incorporate all the skills we're working on for that day.

Since I essentially have two, fixed squads, does anyone think I should break these kids up into their projected squads right off? Would it hurt, help, neither?

Also, does anyone have suggestions on how I form the squads? I was thinking my 1 and 2 kid on the same squad so they can learn from each other, and finish that sqaud with kids from the 4 group, while having my other squad consist of kids from the 3 group. Or maybe I should just shuffle the kids around all season.

So you are forced by the rules to play with 2 units of 5 in the games? I have 10 on my team and strive for equal time, but I don't like making 5 at a time substitution. You always end up with an entire group of boys that are cold. I like to sub 2 or 3 at a time every 2 minutes. At the end of the game the playing time is nearly equal.

But to answer your question, I don't think I would set the 2 groups in stone yet. Here would be my concern with having Unit 1 be the top 2 players and the 3 weakest players--the 1 and 2 are going to feel that they have to carry the whole team. On offense you might get away with it, but can they play defense if you have them divided like that.

I like to start and finish games with the strongest team I can put out, but mix it up in the middle.

Just my 2 cents.

Yes, you're right, I have to sub all five kids at the same time, no room for dispute no questions to be asked. I don't much like it but I have no choice. In the event of over time we play 4 minutes, so the starters end up playing the entire over time period, nothing I can do about that either.

As far as defense goes we have to play a zone, (I know what you're thinking at this point, where can I sign my kid up to play) so I was thinking I'd put one of the kids on the left guard position and the other at the left forward position, since the kids go right 95% of the time at this age.

On offense I honestly wouldn't be surprized if these two kids do carry the team. Neither will pass up an open shot, but I wouldn't say either one of them is a ball hog, so other kids will get opportunities.

Maybe it is best to break them up, I just feel like I'd be depriving these two kids if I didn't have them play together, especially the number 2. If he's the best kid on the floor I'd put him down for a solid 6-8 points per game, if he's playing with the number 1 there's no telling, but it could be a lot.

If I remember right you're dealing with 9 yr olds, so I assume we're talking a rec league here?

First of all, I applaud your league for their attempt at ensuring equal playing time. Too tempting for coaches to play their better players (at the expense of less playing time for others), even at the rec league level. Downside is like CoachDoug said, you end up sending 5 cold players out plus you have no flexibility if one of the teams isn't really playing well together.

If it was me I'd separate your #1 and #2 kid, then try to even the teams out according to skill. Again, since this is a rec league, I'd probably switch things up to allow different kids to play with each other.

Yes, it is a rec league. I feel very strongly that the kids should have equal minutes and I've seen what tends to happen when the league allows the coaches to figure out those minutes for themselves. In the absence of a system I haven't thought of it's probably better to just have structured subs as we do.

I think probably with your feedback and coach dougs I'm going to keep them split for the most part, but let them have a few opportunities to play together through out the year. It's just a bummer that once I set the rotation it can't be changed.

Here is what I did last year. I started with two squads of 5 relatively equal in talent. So my 2 best ball handlers where point guards for each squad. I broke the other players up to equalized the teams as best as possible. I ended up too frustrated with one or two kids on each squad not interested, not listening, and having no clue what they where doing. About midway, I changed them up. Squad one was my 5 best players -- not only in terms of athletics, but also in terms of understanding how to play. The other 5 where the rest of the kids. I put the first five out and they gelled like a well oiled machine. The other 5 looked like the keystone cops. My thought is to be flexible and mix them up if you can. Otherwise it may get stale. Good luck.