One thing to keep in mind is that well-established teams, and by that I mean teams that have had the same players or a majority of the same playing year after year, is that playing time will be determined by relationships, parent pecking order, and other types of quasi-nepotism. DO NOT ASSUME THAT THE MOST SKILLED AND OTHERWISE BEST PLAYERS WILL PLAY THE MOST. I'm really talking about U13 and up. If the head coach is a parent, his daughter isn't coming out of the game. Then you can safely assume that the children of the two volunteer-parent assistant coaches will also receive full PT as will the team mom's kid. Then the friends of the head coach's daughter will be on the field a ton, too. IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT THESE ATHLETES MAY PERFORM POORLY AND CAUSE THE TEAM TO LOSE. And you don't want to know what kind of blazing dumpster fire breaks out when it's time for a club like Stars to push kids to D1 programs. The kids with connections are offered directly to programs. They may be the most talented D1 prospects, but they might not. In some cases the best talents won't get a look and their parents will be told "don't get in the way of our recruiting at School X."

I'm sorry, but sports aren't about winning. They're about parents banding together to wield power.

At younger ages (U12 and below), there should be pretty much equal playing time, or you should look elsewhere.

DS plays U13 club and the players still get generally equal playing time, but defenders and goalies get more. It is not uncommon for our center backs to play the whole game.

We have had kids who have played both at travel levels on different clubs.

At younger ages (below U12)

- In general, in soccer we have seen a decent club/coach gives young players relatively equal time n terms of rotation of playing time in leagues - with exception of tournaments. In most clubs, kids should rotate through a few positions to learn more than one position. There are national soccer guidelines on roster size by age which caps it.

Lax as a sport is a bit newer and is building up its organization /structure/guidelines. It really varies by club, by coach, by age, - and some of it can be the wild west. For example, there are no common guidelines on roster size that has to be followed (or number carded for a tournament). . We have seen rosters vary year to year by +/- 8. There have been a lot of local club mergers / changes locally that add to the dynamics.

The other issue is that many lax clubs seem to specialize the position really early on and a kid can get stuck in a position whether or not it's a good fit or not. That can impact playing time too.

Lax Playing time in general- You will find some coaches/clubs that are better, really strive for equal play (within positions) - but in our experience of seeing many clubs, there is a greater variance. Note: As a rule of thumb middies get subbed in and out more bc of nature of game

Also the "season" length outside of league play varies on how many summer tournaments, etc. - so something else to consider.

Parent of DS here. The club teams we played on gave equal time when kids were younger. They always guaranteed a certain number of quarters but by middle school and up the stronger players got more time. In top clubs it is the best who get the most playing time by high school.

My dd is on a very strong club lax team, in the sense the club is well known and the team wins a lot of games. The roster is 24 girls (2 goalies) and everyone is good. There are two full rotations and they play exactly even time. If one unit is lagging (ie defense let in 2 goals in a row) the coach will switch that unit sooner. This is middle school age girls. So op, no one an really answer your question definitively.

All bets are off in club. I find soccer to be the least forgiving. The coach for my kid's club does not even make a show of equal playing time.

Lax, my kid only comes out when we are up by about 10 (defender) so I take it that there are likely parents who sit frustrated as they watch their kid warm the bench. The second and third string only go in when the coach is confident the team is well ahead.

I think playing time is going to be relatively equal between the two sports if you are new enough to both to ask the question. How old is your DS?

Club Lax (summer?) is very different than Rec lax (spring) in VA. I don't think rec lax is making money off having more kids on a team. Revenue is good, but I'm not sure anyone isn't a volunteer at my local rec club.

club lax is more akin to elite club soccer, and rec lax is more like Northern VA local to regional soccer. Some players play both.

13:12 - similar answers here for our girls' team (U10.) 11-girl roster, 7x7 format. Generally 10 girls show up for each game; if we're running very short, we occasionally bring in a guest player or two from another team in the club. We try to give roughly equal playing time, but nobody's really keeping track of minutes. Some girls have more stamina than others, and different positions require more or less running around. If someone looks tired, we pull her out for a bit. If the score is very tight and we're nearing the end of the game, we will likely keep our best players in (on striker/forward and goal).

Anonymous wrote:Typically lacrosse teams roster from 18-22 kids. Anyone who has more on a team is just looking to make money. If your kid plays middie, playing time can be hard tio track as middies go in and out constantly to keep them "fresh" and fast. If your kid plays attack or D they tend to either stay in the entire game or play by quarters (more likely to play whole game if one of better players). A few club teams do try and give equal playing time but the older and more experienced clubs play their best players - which makes sense since club reputations are based on winning.

Agree. DS 11 is on a club lacrosse team with 21 players. They rotate the kids pretty fast, but middies more than defense.

Anonymous wrote:The answer depends on age, club and even the specific team.

DS plays u10. There are 11 players on the roster. They play 7v7. Generally 10-11 show up. Playing time is not equal. Depending on position, available subs and opponent, some players will play the entire game, while most will play 3/4. There are then a few who play half or slightly more. I can’t always figure out the rhyme or reason for who sits more. But I’m not the coach.

^I should have specified this is soccer.

The answer depends on age, club and even the specific team.

DS plays u10. There are 11 players on the roster. They play 7v7. Generally 10-11 show up. Playing time is not equal. Depending on position, available subs and opponent, some players will play the entire game, while most will play 3/4. There are then a few who play half or slightly more. I can’t always figure out the rhyme or reason for who sits more. But I’m not the coach.

Typically lacrosse teams roster from 18-22 kids. Anyone who has more on a team is just looking to make money. If your kid plays middie, playing time can be hard tio track as middies go in and out constantly to keep them "fresh" and fast. If your kid plays attack or D they tend to either stay in the entire game or play by quarters (more likely to play whole game if one of better players). A few club teams do try and give equal playing time but the older and more experienced clubs play their best players - which makes sense since club reputations are based on winning.

Soccer -
Roster size depends in part on the age because that determines the number of players on the field (7v7, 9v9, 11v11). Generally clubs like the rosters to be as full as possible ($$). Ideally, from the player's perspective, you want 2-3 subs in club soccer if you are 7v7 or 9v9 (assuming everyone on the roster is showing up for all the games).

Playing time varies widely by age group, club and coach. It also can be impacted if there is wide variation in the level of the players on the team. Some clubs and some coaches try to keep it relatively even. Other clubs and coaches give the more skilled players materially more time. Clubs may have playing time policies, but it is still largely determined by the coach. And I've seen a coach give largely equal playing time for one team, and somewhat uneven for another team. The difference in those two situations seemed to be determined by the level of the players. In other words, it is difficult to predict.

Our soccer club changes by age group. the younger teams have smaller rosters because most kids show up and also number of players on the filed at a time. You get more playing time/more touches and everyone seems to get same playing time which I tend to agree with

Older teams, starters play most of the game, you might have a few roster fillers who rarely play or only every few matches, rosters are bigger, more players on the field but also some players have other commitments like ODP, high school games, practices or multiple sports etc.

What are typical roster sizes and is there a wide disparity in playing time among players generally? Thinking about dipping a toe in for DS and would like to know generally.