Travel sports and riding the bench

[Anonymous]

Is it typical for a team to have say 15 players, but 5 ride the bench the whole time?

[Anonymous]

Following. My kid was the last pick up on a travel hockey team (had some inside scoop on the draft, but at least he's a first year on a team that spans two birth years) and he/we are worried enough about this issue that we are doing three privates a week since tryouts plus 5 weeks of high quality hockey camps this summer hoping to get him to where he might be closer to a second line player by the fall. He plays other sports, too, but we decided as a family that if we accepted the spot on this team, this would have to be a summer of hockey. We will not be happy spending time and money traveling all over to watch our kid sit on a bench.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the sport and how many players are on the field/court at one time. If you have a 15 player roster for 11 v. 11 or 9 v. 9, even non-starters should be getting some good playing time. If this is basketball, the roster size is way too big and yes, there will be players who rarely play.

[Anonymous]

What sport?

[Anonymous]

all hockey players play - obviously not all as much but at least in hockey, all lines of kids play. If your kid is at the bottom of the pack, he might play only a third of the game but at least he will play.

Other sports I think are different.

[Anonymous]

I have seen travel where a kid was only getting 5 minutes a game. This league had multiple levels of travel teams, and he moved down a level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it typical for a team to have say 15 players, but 5 ride the bench the whole time?

Yes it is about winning. If these teams do not win players leave, less kids come out to the club, the club makes less money and coaches eventually will have to move on to higher paying clubs. There is little to no development for the non starters. The coach concentrates on the top 2-4 top players during practice and games. Kids who do not start have no confidence and when they get their limited minutes they are playing to not make a mistake and lose playing time. This is not true for the starters. As they get older the non starters will be pushed down teams.

Every day at practice and games they and all their teammates know they are not the coaches first choice but the last choice. It does not matter how hard they work or whatever. You can not become more athletic or faster from hard work. They also will not be given a chance to try corner kick, shoot a technical foul, etc. The coach sees them as the bottom of the roster. These will be the first kids to get cut when another shiny prospect shows up. Many time they get bullied by the starters or are just used as “scout team”/ bodies so the starters can practice. Remember you are paying for this. Find another team where your kid will start even if it is on a lower team.

Do not buy in to the college hype. Colleges are only interested in the top 2-4 players on a ten top teams. The non starter will not play in college. So find a team where he or she can start and have fun playing the sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it typical for a team to have say 15 players, but 5 ride the bench the whole time?

Yes it is about winning. If these teams do not win players leave, less kids come out to the club, the club makes less money and coaches eventually will have to move on to higher paying clubs. There is little to no development for the non starters. The coach concentrates on the top 2-4 top players during practice and games. Kids who do not start have no confidence and when they get their limited minutes they are playing to not make a mistake and lose playing time. This is not true for the starters. As they get older the non starters will be pushed down teams.

Every day at practice and games they and all their teammates know they are not the coaches first choice but the last choice. It does not matter how hard they work or whatever. You can not become more athletic or faster from hard work. They also will not be given a chance to try corner kick, shoot a technical foul, etc. The coach sees them as the bottom of the roster. These will be the first kids to get cut when another shiny prospect shows up. Many time they get bullied by the starters or are just used as “scout team”/ bodies so the starters can practice. Remember you are paying for this. Find another team where your kid will start even if it is on a lower team.

Do not buy in to the college hype. Colleges are only interested in the top 2-4 players on a ten top teams. The non starter will not play in college. So find a team where he or she can start and have fun playing the sport.

I don't agree with this sentiment that you can't improve from hard work. You can definitely become more skilled through hard work, and you can also become more athletic and faster. The top 5 players no our team all work together with a trainer a couple hours a week outside of team practice. They are better because they work harder.

[Anonymous]

My DS played travel baseball for many years. Our experience was they always had more guys on a team than could be in the field at one time because you never knew if someone would be out (sick or traveling or get injured.) As he aged, the boys started specializing and the programs we were with were good about not carrying a team full one specialized player, like five or six catchers. And the programs we were with would not take a player if they felt they weren't good enough to play. Now with that being said, because there were almost always more than 9 guys show up for a game, someone would have to sit. Our coaches were good with rotating who would sit. But if only one catcher would show up and there were 14 players, the catcher would never sit out. In baseball, almost anyone can play outfield but catcher is so specialized (equipment being one) the coach couldn't just throw anyone in at catcher if he was trying to get guys playing time.

If you are in an organization where your kid is never getting playing time, I would go find another organization. When you are paying top dollar, they should either not take the player to begin with or put the player in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it typical for a team to have say 15 players, but 5 ride the bench the whole time?

Yes it is about winning. If these teams do not win players leave, less kids come out to the club, the club makes less money and coaches eventually will have to move on to higher paying clubs. There is little to no development for the non starters. The coach concentrates on the top 2-4 top players during practice and games. Kids who do not start have no confidence and when they get their limited minutes they are playing to not make a mistake and lose playing time. This is not true for the starters. As they get older the non starters will be pushed down teams.

Every day at practice and games they and all their teammates know they are not the coaches first choice but the last choice. It does not matter how hard they work or whatever. You can not become more athletic or faster from hard work. They also will not be given a chance to try corner kick, shoot a technical foul, etc. The coach sees them as the bottom of the roster. These will be the first kids to get cut when another shiny prospect shows up. Many time they get bullied by the starters or are just used as “scout team”/ bodies so the starters can practice. Remember you are paying for this. Find another team where your kid will start even if it is on a lower team.

Do not buy in to the college hype. Colleges are only interested in the top 2-4 players on a ten top teams. The non starter will not play in college. So find a team where he or she can start and have fun playing the sport.

I don't agree with this sentiment that you can't improve from hard work. You can definitely become more skilled through hard work, and you can also become more athletic and faster. The top 5 players no our team all work together with a trainer a couple hours a week outside of team practice. They are better because they work harder.

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it typical for a team to have say 15 players, but 5 ride the bench the whole time?

Yes it is about winning. If these teams do not win players leave, less kids come out to the club, the club makes less money and coaches eventually will have to move on to higher paying clubs. There is little to no development for the non starters. The coach concentrates on the top 2-4 top players during practice and games. Kids who do not start have no confidence and when they get their limited minutes they are playing to not make a mistake and lose playing time. This is not true for the starters. As they get older the non starters will be pushed down teams.

Every day at practice and games they and all their teammates know they are not the coaches first choice but the last choice. It does not matter how hard they work or whatever. You can not become more athletic or faster from hard work. They also will not be given a chance to try corner kick, shoot a technical foul, etc. The coach sees them as the bottom of the roster. These will be the first kids to get cut when another shiny prospect shows up. Many time they get bullied by the starters or are just used as “scout team”/ bodies so the starters can practice. Remember you are paying for this. Find another team where your kid will start even if it is on a lower team.

Do not buy in to the college hype. Colleges are only interested in the top 2-4 players on a ten top teams. The non starter will not play in college. So find a team where he or she can start and have fun playing the sport.

I don't agree with this sentiment that you can't improve from hard work. You can definitely become more skilled through hard work, and you can also become more athletic and faster. The top 5 players no our team all work together with a trainer a couple hours a week outside of team practice. They are better because they work harder.

No they are better athletes. I never understood how people refuse to see this. The top player specially before college or professional league can dominate on just athleticism- stronger, faster, quicker, etc.

[Anonymous]

It can be. What sport and what age?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it typical for a team to have say 15 players, but 5 ride the bench the whole time?

Yes it is about winning. If these teams do not win players leave, less kids come out to the club, the club makes less money and coaches eventually will have to move on to higher paying clubs. There is little to no development for the non starters. The coach concentrates on the top 2-4 top players during practice and games. Kids who do not start have no confidence and when they get their limited minutes they are playing to not make a mistake and lose playing time. This is not true for the starters. As they get older the non starters will be pushed down teams.

Every day at practice and games they and all their teammates know they are not the coaches first choice but the last choice. It does not matter how hard they work or whatever. You can not become more athletic or faster from hard work. They also will not be given a chance to try corner kick, shoot a technical foul, etc. The coach sees them as the bottom of the roster. These will be the first kids to get cut when another shiny prospect shows up. Many time they get bullied by the starters or are just used as “scout team”/ bodies so the starters can practice. Remember you are paying for this. Find another team where your kid will start even if it is on a lower team.

Do not buy in to the college hype. Colleges are only interested in the top 2-4 players on a ten top teams. The non starter will not play in college. So find a team where he or she can start and have fun playing the sport.

I don't agree with this sentiment that you can't improve from hard work. You can definitely become more skilled through hard work, and you can also become more athletic and faster. The top 5 players no our team all work together with a trainer a couple hours a week outside of team practice. They are better because they work harder.

No matter how hard you work, for a young athlete, it's hard to get better when you get no playing time in games. Heck, I've seen soccer clubs where the bench players don't even get to play in practice scrimmages. If this is your kid, find a new team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it typical for a team to have say 15 players, but 5 ride the bench the whole time?

Yes it is about winning. If these teams do not win players leave, less kids come out to the club, the club makes less money and coaches eventually will have to move on to higher paying clubs. There is little to no development for the non starters. The coach concentrates on the top 2-4 top players during practice and games. Kids who do not start have no confidence and when they get their limited minutes they are playing to not make a mistake and lose playing time. This is not true for the starters. As they get older the non starters will be pushed down teams.

Every day at practice and games they and all their teammates know they are not the coaches first choice but the last choice. It does not matter how hard they work or whatever. You can not become more athletic or faster from hard work. They also will not be given a chance to try corner kick, shoot a technical foul, etc. The coach sees them as the bottom of the roster. These will be the first kids to get cut when another shiny prospect shows up. Many time they get bullied by the starters or are just used as “scout team”/ bodies so the starters can practice. Remember you are paying for this. Find another team where your kid will start even if it is on a lower team.

Do not buy in to the college hype. Colleges are only interested in the top 2-4 players on a ten top teams. The non starter will not play in college. So find a team where he or she can start and have fun playing the sport.

I don't agree with this sentiment that you can't improve from hard work. You can definitely become more skilled through hard work, and you can also become more athletic and faster. The top 5 players no our team all work together with a trainer a couple hours a week outside of team practice. They are better because they work harder.

No matter how hard you work, for a young athlete, it's hard to get better when you get no playing time in games. Heck, I've seen soccer clubs where the bench players don't even get to play in practice scrimmages. If this is your kid, find a new team.

Not play in practices!!!! Wow. Can't believe anyone puts up with that. What exactly are you paying for at that
point?

[Anonymous]

We were in this situation two years ago, and the comment about "Kids who do not start have no confidence and when they get their limited minutes they are playing to not make a mistake and lose playing time." is incredibly true. DS lost all his confidence and when he got on the field was terrified of messing up, so he did and got pulled 3 minutes later.

DS escaped this trap when 5 top kids left the team and he got to be a starter but the dads of the kids still on the bench repeated that quote verbatim all year.

You can improve, but, it's unlikely you'll change your coaches mind without something else happening to upset the table.