Basic question re starters/play time

[Anonymous]

I’m completely new to the sport (and all sport, I’m an immigrant and team sports like this is not how I grew up!) - DD started this year in a club team. They played in a tournament this weekend and every match the coach played the same line up - the same players started every time, there were a few subs throughout and there were 2-3 kids who only played for a few minutes in some games or didn’t play at all. Is this pretty much what will happen for the whole season, or will the coach change it up? I get that the team needs to be the best it can to win, but the players who never play don’t get much opportunity to improve

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m completely new to the sport (and all sport, I’m an immigrant and team sports like this is not how I grew up!) - DD started this year in a club team. They played in a tournament this weekend and every match the coach played the same line up - the same players started every time, there were a few subs throughout and there were 2-3 kids who only played for a few minutes in some games or didn’t play at all. Is this pretty much what will happen for the whole season, or will the coach change it up? I get that the team needs to be the best it can to win, but the players who never play don’t get much opportunity to improve

How many players does your DD's team have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m completely new to the sport (and all sport, I’m an immigrant and team sports like this is not how I grew up!) - DD started this year in a club team. They played in a tournament this weekend and every match the coach played the same line up - the same players started every time, there were a few subs throughout and there were 2-3 kids who only played for a few minutes in some games or didn’t play at all. Is this pretty much what will happen for the whole season, or will the coach change it up? I get that the team needs to be the best it can to win, but the players who never play don’t get much opportunity to improve

How many players does your DD's team have?

The number of players is a big deal. At a recent tournament, two different teams had 15 girls and several of them didn't play a single minute in any game. It's just a money grab to have that many girls.

My DDs team definitely has girls who play more often, but the coach has a good set of rotations where everybody at least plays some during each set.

So to answer OPs question, I think it's common, but that doesn't make it okay. It's one thing to ride the bench on your high school team, but a different story entirely if you're paying for hotel rooms and travel only to do nothing. Next year, definitely ask teams how many girls they plan to have.

[Anonymous]

One club my DD was on clearly articulated that playing time is not guaranteed and is at the discretion of the coach. Some players on that team almost never stepped in the court weekend after weekend.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Team has 12 in it. It’s fine that a couple didn’t play in this tournament much, but I was wondering more about the rest of the year because it seemed like every game this weekend was played in the exact same way with the same starters, the same brief subs, etc

[Anonymous]

I thought this blog series was a good explanation. Basically it’s a function of roster size and rotations but really every kid should get a chance to play during bracket play.

https://www.mvsavbc.org/news_article/show/1322456

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Team has 12 in it. It’s fine that a couple didn’t play in this tournament much, but I was wondering more about the rest of the year because it seemed like every game this weekend was played in the exact same way with the same starters, the same brief subs, etc

Were the games close?

If a game is close, the coach will keep the starters in to win. If the opponent is weak, the coach should involve the non-starters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Team has 12 in it. It’s fine that a couple didn’t play in this tournament much, but I was wondering more about the rest of the year because it seemed like every game this weekend was played in the exact same way with the same starters, the same brief subs, etc

The MVSA blog posts explain that when you have 10 players, playing time is often distributed as follows:
S1 & S2: 50%
OH1: 100%
OH2: 50%
MH1 & MH2: 50%
OPP1 & OPP2: 50%
DS: 50%
L: 90%

When there are two additional players, they must share playing time with the 10, depending on their positions. For example, if there are two DSs, each may play 25%, depending on their relative skill levels.

The coach will use the best 10 players to win games. When playing against a weaker opponent, they may give weaker players more playing time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One club my DD was on clearly articulated that playing time is not guaranteed and is at the discretion of the coach. Some players on that team almost never stepped in the court weekend after weekend.

+100
This isnt the neighborhood rec league.

[Anonymous]

Op - what position is your DD?
If it's like a libero, a bit harder to find a good one, verse an OH, which are a dime a dozen.

[Anonymous]

She’s playing DS, she’d also happily play libero. She did get lots of playing time, I was just wondering about the girls who did not get any and if that is going to change next time.

[Anonymous]

That’s the lineup your coaches like. There might be some flex along the way … someone gets hurt, someone is off, etc. but if they are playing to win, you are likely looking at the lineup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One club my DD was on clearly articulated that playing time is not guaranteed and is at the discretion of the coach. Some players on that team almost never stepped in the court weekend after weekend.

That's the rule on competitive teams. If you are on a developmental team, you should expect all the players to get on the court at some point. The "star" players on developmental teams should try out for competitive teams if they find this frustrating.

[Anonymous]

We quit club volleyball for this reason, and also because the coach was abusive and tried to blame my dd for something she didn’t do. It wasn’t one of the good clubs, but decidedly fourth-tier. It was during covid and I was desperate for my dd to get some fun and exercise. We quit mid season and I do not regret it. Club volleyball is a racket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One club my DD was on clearly articulated that playing time is not guaranteed and is at the discretion of the coach. Some players on that team almost never stepped in the court weekend after weekend.

That's the rule on competitive teams. If you are on a developmental team, you should expect all the players to get on the court at some point. The "star" players on developmental teams should try out for competitive teams if they find this frustrating.

As someone new to this how do we know if a team is developmental or competitive?