Years ago my son played for Potomac. There were 3 teams in the age group and it was common for his B team to bring guest players. These were almost always players from the A team who it was clear were meant to be ringers. Everyone played but these players were not there because the roster was too small because there were always enough subs. I can’t say this was club-wide but it happened all the time on his team. Later he played for other clubs that had 2 teams. I preferred how they used their guest players. B team players were invited to play with the A team and got decent playing time as a reward for showing hard work or improvement. They weren’t ringers. The A team players did “help” the B team but it was generally because there weren’t enough subs. This made sense to me. He played baseball at one time and it was like you described. We traveled overnight to tournaments and outside players would guest while he and his teammates had minimal playing time. It was ridiculous. It seems unethical that outside kids who aren’t paying get more time than those who do.

Anonymous wrote:Picking up "2 subs" for an 11v11 match when there are only 13 players on the team does not seem unreasonable, especially for a tournament where you should expect to play 3 maybe 4 games over two days.

I've seen clubs who will "guest play" ringers from higher level teams and have watched those player play more than the regular team members before...

But outside of injury reasons or just flat out fatigue, I don't see why a guest player should ever play MORE than a regular member of the team. You do want to make the trip worthwhile for them as well, but not at the sacrifice of your existing players.

6 minutes is ridiculous, if that playtime wasn't made up elsewhere, especially on a low level team, I'd be talking to the coach and exploring options elsewhere.

At first, I didn’t think it was unreasonable either. Their first tournament they only had 12 and didn’t pick up any subs. It was much much hotter and they were gassed by the final. A couple more subs made sense, even though the weather was cooler. It was more the way they were used that I questioned. I understand playing time won’t be equal and am fine with that, especially within the regular team.

The guest players were probably from a higher level team. They were better than almost all the regular team members and the team has done well in both tournaments.

We talked about the importance of self improvement and things to practice at home especially during this week’s Thanksgiving break and later during the long Christmas break. The player has been on this team before, just not with this coach.

The next closest team in the age group is about 75 miles away and not a drive I’m able to make multiple times a week, so this team is the only option.

I posed the question to help figure out if this was the norm and it sounds like at least the playing time aspect is not. If the child wants me to, I’ll have a discussion with the coach. Thanks for the advice.

My daughter is 10 but plays up on 11v11. I can't imagine her team playing a full tournament with 13 players. The subs make sense to me. Re play time, this is the age where not everyone gets the same amount of playing time. Be honest with yourself, is your child playing at that level? Could they be doing more to practice? Regardless, 6 minutes is ridiculous.

Picking up "2 subs" for an 11v11 match when there are only 13 players on the team does not seem unreasonable, especially for a tournament where you should expect to play 3 maybe 4 games over two days.

I've seen clubs who will "guest play" ringers from higher level teams and have watched those player play more than the regular team members before...

But outside of injury reasons or just flat out fatigue, I don't see why a guest player should ever play MORE than a regular member of the team. You do want to make the trip worthwhile for them as well, but not at the sacrifice of your existing players.

6 minutes is ridiculous, if that playtime wasn't made up elsewhere, especially on a low level team, I'd be talking to the coach and exploring options elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are guest players typically used? Low level, u13 parent who had the child’s team use two guest players for the first time at a recent tournament. The coach called it picking up “2 subs” for the tournament. Team has 13 rostered players, playing the lowest division of 11v11 and all team members were present.

Is it normal to have a team member play less than 6 minutes a half (35 minutes halves)? Another team member play less than 10 minutes a half? Guest players rotated out some, while some team members didn’t sub at all.

I understand you have to make it worth the guest player’s time, but should there also be an effort to make it worth the team member’s time? How do you develop your own team by leaving two kids on the bench?

For context: Team is the only one in their age group in town. Travels 2.5+ hours to participate in tournaments. Guest players live/play on teams in the tournament’s metro area and will never be on the actual team.

While I am never in favor of someone playing less than 6 minutes in a half at u13, this seems particularly egregious. Only 13 on roster. Lowest division. That’s preposterous. The kids on the team should be playing much more than that with 35 minute halves and at that age, level and roster size.

I have seen guests play more than a rostered player and it’s not that uncommon. But your scenario sounds crazy to me.

Thanks for confirming that it was out of line. While I don’t expect equal playing time, especially within the actual team members, I thought the amount of time these 2 spent on the bench was ridiculous. First game seemed evenly enough split between everyone, but it went downhill quickly from there.

There’s no where to go or my child (who was one of the two) would be looking elsewhere as we can take the hint the child is not really wanted on the team. It’s also not really a club, more of a loose association of like 3 age groups of teams, so no one to talk to there.

Child noticed and was confused and upset by it. It was a long car ride home talking thru the upset, going over strategies to improve, whether or not to talk to the coach etc.

I'd have a conversation with the coach. Make them justify it to you why your player played so little and if this is what should be expected in the spring. Until coaches get called out they will pull crap like this from time to time. Definitely are other places to go, though. It just costs money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are guest players typically used? Low level, u13 parent who had the child’s team use two guest players for the first time at a recent tournament. The coach called it picking up “2 subs” for the tournament. Team has 13 rostered players, playing the lowest division of 11v11 and all team members were present.

Is it normal to have a team member play less than 6 minutes a half (35 minutes halves)? Another team member play less than 10 minutes a half? Guest players rotated out some, while some team members didn’t sub at all.

I understand you have to make it worth the guest player’s time, but should there also be an effort to make it worth the team member’s time? How do you develop your own team by leaving two kids on the bench?

For context: Team is the only one in their age group in town. Travels 2.5+ hours to participate in tournaments. Guest players live/play on teams in the tournament’s metro area and will never be on the actual team.

While I am never in favor of someone playing less than 6 minutes in a half at u13, this seems particularly egregious. Only 13 on roster. Lowest division. That’s preposterous. The kids on the team should be playing much more than that with 35 minute halves and at that age, level and roster size.

I have seen guests play more than a rostered player and it’s not that uncommon. But your scenario sounds crazy to me.

Thanks for confirming that it was out of line. While I don’t expect equal playing time, especially within the actual team members, I thought the amount of time these 2 spent on the bench was ridiculous. First game seemed evenly enough split between everyone, but it went downhill quickly from there.

There’s no where to go or my child (who was one of the two) would be looking elsewhere as we can take the hint the child is not really wanted on the team. It’s also not really a club, more of a loose association of like 3 age groups of teams, so no one to talk to there.

Child noticed and was confused and upset by it. It was a long car ride home talking thru the upset, going over strategies to improve, whether or not to talk to the coach etc.

Anonymous wrote:How are guest players typically used? Low level, u13 parent who had the child’s team use two guest players for the first time at a recent tournament. The coach called it picking up “2 subs” for the tournament. Team has 13 rostered players, playing the lowest division of 11v11 and all team members were present.

Is it normal to have a team member play less than 6 minutes a half (35 minutes halves)? Another team member play less than 10 minutes a half? Guest players rotated out some, while some team members didn’t sub at all.

I understand you have to make it worth the guest player’s time, but should there also be an effort to make it worth the team member’s time? How do you develop your own team by leaving two kids on the bench?

For context: Team is the only one in their age group in town. Travels 2.5+ hours to participate in tournaments. Guest players live/play on teams in the tournament’s metro area and will never be on the actual team.

While I am never in favor of someone playing less than 6 minutes in a half at u13, this seems particularly egregious. Only 13 on roster. Lowest division. That’s preposterous. The kids on the team should be playing much more than that with 35 minute halves and at that age, level and roster size.

I have seen guests play more than a rostered player and it’s not that uncommon. But your scenario sounds crazy to me.

Your coach is making it known those kids aren't wanted on that team. I would personally complain to the club about that little playtime and actively stay looking for a new ones for next year, especially if you're on a bottom team. Coaches can be such jerks. No kids should be benched like that let alone when you bring guest players

Each club is different. Some clubs won't allow guest players if the guest player's team has a conflict. Other clubs don't care and lower teams and will move any kid up to the top team even if it's to sub a few minutes.

It's a wide range.

At our club, if you have 2 subs, you aren't allowed to bring guests. And, guests cannot play more than any team player

That's ridiculous to play 6 minutes/half guest player or not, after driving 2.5 hrs as well.

How are guest players typically used? Low level, u13 parent who had the child’s team use two guest players for the first time at a recent tournament. The coach called it picking up “2 subs” for the tournament. Team has 13 rostered players, playing the lowest division of 11v11 and all team members were present.

Is it normal to have a team member play less than 6 minutes a half (35 minutes halves)? Another team member play less than 10 minutes a half? Guest players rotated out some, while some team members didn’t sub at all.

I understand you have to make it worth the guest player’s time, but should there also be an effort to make it worth the team member’s time? How do you develop your own team by leaving two kids on the bench?

For context: Team is the only one in their age group in town. Travels 2.5+ hours to participate in tournaments. Guest players live/play on teams in the tournament’s metro area and will never be on the actual team.