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PostPosted: 31 Oct 2018, 13:35 

Posts: 4
Good Afternoon,

Hello, my name is Bob and I am a 2nd year coach for a 7th grade boys CYO team. I have 10 players on my roster and we play 8 minute quarters. My question deals with making substitutions during the game. I understand that at this level it's more about the boys learning the game than winning. I totally agree with that . However, teaching the boys the fundamentals but losing every game is very discouraging for any player and coach. Our league has a rule that every player must play a minimum of 7 minutes per game. I'd prefer to give the boys more than that but I'm struggling with how I can accomplish this. My starting 5 is clearly established and I have a 6th man who could fit into the starting rotation. My question is how do I get those other 4 guys on the bench ample playing time so they can feel like they're part of the team without sacrificing our competitiveness. For example, I don't have a bonafide 4 or 5 man on the bench so I always have to keep at least one of my starting big men on the floor. I'm looking for a simple system that allows me to coach the game and not worry about keeping a running tally in my head as to who played how many minutes. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated since we do have our first game this coming Sunday.
Thank you in advance,
-Bob


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PostPosted: 01 Nov 2018, 14:25 

Posts: 900
There are no easy answers here; it's more of picking a strategy and going with it. In your case, it sounds like you have six solid players and four developing players. I'd go with two teams that had 3 of my solid players and 2 of my developing players and run those for the first two quarters. Then you're done with the "playing time requirements."

When the 3rd qtr rolls around, it depends upon how the score is looking and who the other team is playing with on the court. If you're behind and the other team has all their strong players on the court, I'd go with the strongest 5. If they have a developing player out there, I'd have one of my four matching up with them.

I'm more of a sub to meet the needs on the court kind of coach. In other words, if you worry about the playing time for the developing players too much, you are correct, it makes it hard to coach and compete. You could have an assistant track the time for the four players and give you a nudge when it's time to get one of them in the game. It's not a bad idea anyway to make sure you're not ignoring a player altogether.

The best approach is to talk about this ahead of the season and games. You let the players and parents know that subbing will be done based on how the game is going. There will be very competitive games and games where you're better than the other team. On the more competitive games, the subbing might be a bit tighter. On the less competitive games, the subbing will be more fluid.

Hope this helps some.

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CRob


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PostPosted: 01 Nov 2018, 14:52 

Posts: 4
Thanks Rob. That definitely helps.

I appreciate your time.


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