Anonymous wrote:What age?

+1. This might be okay for high school, but it is still a money grab.

With 24, you will have some players not dressing for games, a few who don’t play at all, and a few who are only getting 5-10 minutes per game. Coaches normally have 7-8 with protected playing time. A few who play the whole game, a few who play most of the game (maybe a little more than half). The rest will share crumbs.

You might consider asking to double card on a lower level team if your player is not one of those 7-8 players.

My kid came in as a 24th player because he didn’t go out for the team until August.

He ended up starting and playing every game. Just because a kid gets rostered late does not mean they are not one of the better players.

In fact, the Coach told my kid he would only roster him if he showed that he had potential to be in the starting line up since he didn’t want to care that many. By October, they barely could get enough kids to canes between injuries and no-shows, etc.

This was U18/19- Jr/sr high school age.

Anonymous wrote:Most tournaments DC has played in only allow 22 on the main roster and then 18 dressed for the match/on the bench.
Having 2 players not play in a tournament at all or even not be able to be on the bench and 6 players sitting out each game would create a lot of bad feelings.

I don't know what rights families would have if any. If you "pay" for a certain number of tournaments but the child is not even rostered how does that work? You've been scammed?

We played a tournament last last fall against a 2012 (U11!!) team that had 16 girls dressed and another 4 on the bench not dressed. This is 9 v 9. Not a chance I'd pay for that, ECNL/PREENCL/GA/ whatever title you want to give it

Most tournaments DC has played in only allow 22 on the main roster and then 18 dressed for the match/on the bench.
Having 2 players not play in a tournament at all or even not be able to be on the bench and 6 players sitting out each game would create a lot of bad feelings.

I don't know what rights families would have if any. If you "pay" for a certain number of tournaments but the child is not even rostered how does that work? You've been scammed?

This makes me worried. It's a team that is not mixed Md/Va but just one so everyone plays HS in the same season. The idea of 12 players sharing 15-25% of minutes is absurd for development and absurd for the money you pay not to mention the anxiety every week not knowing if you need to leave the time free for a game. What happens at tournaments? Does everyone go and some kids only play in one game? Were you told in advance and could decide not to attend?

Anonymous wrote:Pure money grab. HS years go by quickly to not play when paying and training so much.

I would have to agree with this. We experienced this one year. Left our smaller club because they only had 11 players signed up for that age group. Went to the 2nd team (ECNL-RL) at a bigger club and had a roster of 23 players. About half of those players had been on a team at the club previously and the other half came from other clubs. The coach had a pre-season meeting and said that no player was guaranteed playing time and it would be earned based on attendance and performance at practice and games. The team had a couple of scrimmages to start the season and everyone played in those games. But as soon as the league games started, the starters (all returning players) seemed to be fixed unless they were injured. And they played about 80-85% of every game. So basically 12 players had to share the remaining time which left quite a few players and parents unhappy. Unfortunately, that's how the entire year went. Some people left during the year although to the best of my recollection, the club would not refund any money. Other people (like us) waited until the end of the year and then left. It was definitely a very frustrating experience and largely, a waste of money for about half of the team.

Pure money grab. HS years go by quickly to not play when paying and training so much.

Agree with what PP above said about how a large roster can work at older (high school) age groups depending on a few things. First, if it's a team that competes in a "high level" league, there will almost certainly be injuries throughout the year. It's just an unfortunate reality. If the team has a mix if VA/DC/MD players as well as public and private high schools, then HS soccer schedules will likely impact availability, too.

DS was on a team with a roster of 22 that was about 50/50 VA and MD. With soccer being a fall sport in MD and a spring sport in VA, for any given practice/game, at least 5-6 players were not there because of HS soccer conflicts. I think the most players the team ever dressed for a game was 18 but the average was probably 16 which is a good size, IMO.

Anonymous wrote:Bottom kids constantly have to prove themselves

Bottom kids should be on the lower team and be getting playing time; roster of 24 is ridiculous.

Bottom kids constantly have to prove themselves

Usually only 18 can dress for a game. It may work if you are at an upper age group (u19/u17), where players will be out with injuries, college visits, etc. and have a few players playing HS in the fall (assuming you are in VA) or playing HS in spring (assuming you are in MD). Otherwise, 3-4 kids will almost never get rostered and 5-6 will rotate between not being rostered and the end of the bench…which means 8-10 unhappy players/parents.

My kids roster had 24 at the beginning of last season. Coach made it clear playing time was based on handful of things including practice attendance and effort at practice. There were a couple games where a handful of kids were left off the roster - but not many. As players got banged up, the usual illnesses, family conflicts came up it all worked out ok and usually everyone who could play was on the roster

What age?

This is our first year with a new club that is maxing out it's rosters. Can you tell us about your experiences with a roster that large? What happens on game days? How do tournaments work? How "fair" do you think the process is?