Fine if the roster is small--my DD15 guest played with my DD16's smaller team at showcases this year after they lost a player due to injury. When the coach extended the invitation we discussed not wanting her to take away playing time from anyone and he mostly used her to give players a break and she got to try a different position so it worked out well.

My DD guest played for a few teams at tournaments the year she didn't love her team or her coach. it did wonders for her self-esteem and really helped in moving to a new, better team. It was fun for her and she even kept in touch with some of the girls she met guest playing. I highly recommend it and every team was so nice to her. All the teams she played for had injuries and a short bench so she got lots of playing time.

Guesting to play up on a higher level team is also a different thing than a guest coming from a higher level team to guest on a lower level team for reasons other than a short bench. And even there, better to give a c-team player an opportunity to guest if the b-team is short, rather than bring an a-team member down. I once saw a tournament where most of the bracket was c-teams and one had a star a-team striker join. She was clearly out of the league of the other players talent wise. She helped that team win, scored a lot of goals, sure, but how did that help any of those c-team players develop?

If the team is short kids, sure yes. If it's to win or to give time to kids the club wants to move up, no.

Anonymous wrote:Our coach recently brought a guest player to a tournament. The player was very good, and the kids seemed excited to play with him. However, some parents raised concerns about their kids’ playing time. Personally, I was happy with the decision, but I’m curious to hear what others here think.

It’s absurd, especially for outside the club guests and even more so at younger ages. What’s the point, to win? This is youth soccer. It completely instills the wrong values. The only situation where it can be ok is in very unique circumstances.

All about how the coach handles it. My DC typically comes off the bench for the first game and is starting with the parents support by the 2nd-3rd. My kid knows to move the ball so they are inherently making the other players job easier so that may make it easier to root for them.

We also don’t act like entitled mercenaries and we introduce ourselves to the parents. My kid loves guesting, meeting new kids and experiencing different coaching and playing styles. I imagine we will have a bad experience one day but it has not happened yet.

Anonymous wrote:We just had a goalie guest at a tournament. Our goalie doesn’t want to play the position anymore and it technically reduced playing time because our regular goalie was in the field and not playing goal but the coach was fair about it and playing time was equal until the final. It was fine but you get to decide how much you want to let it affect you.

That seems reasonable because it was intended for afford an opportunity to a current team member.

We just had a goalie guest at a tournament. Our goalie doesn’t want to play the position anymore and it technically reduced playing time because our regular goalie was in the field and not playing goal but the coach was fair about it and playing time was equal until the final. It was fine but you get to decide how much you want to let it affect you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing inherently wrong with guest players - happens all the time. The question you should ask is: why did he bring the guest player?

Was the roster short for the tournament? Was the team short in a particular position? Is the guest being recruited to the team? Maybe the coach has a relationship with the family and is trying to get the kid more minutes after an injury? Maybe the coach thought a guest was the best way to get a result (i.e., little faith in the team, or the team was placed in too high a bracket and needed help)?

If the players thought positively of it then really no issues. If the players were not happy about it, then that is something to explore.

ETA: In my teams' contracts I tell the parents of my NCSL teams the aim is to get all kids equal playing in league games all other things (attendance, attitude, work outside of practice) being equal. But for tournaments I explicitly state the aim is to be as competitive as possible, to win, and we will field the players we believe will give us the best opportunity to win and that means some players might not get as much time as they would like.

Why is winning a tournament more important than giving the team (which the coach ostensibly selected) experience (that their parents paid for)?

Did the guest player meet the age requirements?

Anonymous wrote:Our coach recently brought a guest player to a tournament. The player was very good, and the kids seemed excited to play with him. However, some parents raised concerns about their kids’ playing time. Personally, I was happy with the decision, but I’m curious to hear what others here think.

End of discussion
It's about the kids

Parents need to go have a coke and a smile

Anonymous wrote:Our coach recently brought a guest player to a tournament. The player was very good, and the kids seemed excited to play with him. However, some parents raised concerns about their kids’ playing time. Personally, I was happy with the decision, but I’m curious to hear what others here think.

Guest players will always cause a problem, generally at U15 and below. As the PP mentioned, it depends on the reason why the coach brought in a GP?
-Did the coach communicate why he brought in GP? -Were they short? -Was the bracket too strong?

But, if some families were not happy with the decision, then it tells me the team was not short handed. No body wants to pay a tournament entry fee to see their kid on the bench. And honestly, if this is a 2nd tier and below team, generally a guest player is not warranted because you want the weaker players to play and get developed by playing hard games as much as possible.

Kids all recognize talent and they always get excited by having a great player on the team. The parents have issues and can be toxic. The parents want to watch their own kids play.

-The coach should have let everyone know what he brought in a guest player to calm down the toxic parents.

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing inherently wrong with guest players - happens all the time. The question you should ask is: why did he bring the guest player?

Was the roster short for the tournament? Was the team short in a particular position? Is the guest being recruited to the team? Maybe the coach has a relationship with the family and is trying to get the kid more minutes after an injury? Maybe the coach thought a guest was the best way to get a result (i.e., little faith in the team, or the team was placed in too high a bracket and needed help)?

If the players thought positively of it then really no issues. If the players were not happy about it, then that is something to explore.

ETA: In my teams' contracts I tell the parents of my NCSL teams the aim is to get all kids equal playing in league games all other things (attendance, attitude, work outside of practice) being equal. But for tournaments I explicitly state the aim is to be as competitive as possible, to win, and we will field the players we believe will give us the best opportunity to win and that means some players might not get as much time as they would like.

There is nothing inherently wrong with guest players - happens all the time. The question you should ask is: why did he bring the guest player?

Was the roster short for the tournament? Was the team short in a particular position? Is the guest being recruited to the team? Maybe the coach has a relationship with the family and is trying to get the kid more minutes after an injury? Maybe the coach thought a guest was the best way to get a result (i.e., little faith in the team, or the team was placed in too high a bracket and needed help)?

If the players thought positively of it then really no issues. If the players were not happy about it, then that is something to explore.

Our coach recently brought a guest player to a tournament. The player was very good, and the kids seemed excited to play with him. However, some parents raised concerns about their kids’ playing time. Personally, I was happy with the decision, but I’m curious to hear what others here think.