45 boys!

[saabrian]

I coach in a modified (middle school) program. We have 45 kids which will be split between an A team and a B team, each with their own coach and both of which will play against other schools. School policy is that we don't make cuts at the modified level (which is just as well as far as I'm concerned).

However, with 45 kids, that means I'm probably going to get 23 or maybe 24 kids on my team.

Given that modified matches in New York state play 4 quarters, I'm thinking of dividing the kids into a B1 and B2 teams where one of the 11 would play the 1st and 3rd quarters and the other 11 would play the 2nd and 4th.

It goes against my natural inclination. I'd rather just start 11 and have free flowing substitutions to respond to the natural course of the match. I think that's every coach's natural inclination. But I don't know I could realistically do that with 23-24 kids and keep track of everything. Although obviously with that many kids, playing time per player is going to be reduced, I still want to ensure that everyone gets enough playing time where they can still learn and develop. Since at this level, the primary objective is still development more so than winning.

Do you guys have any suggestions on how to manage such a large number of kids? I'm more than open to ideas!

I'm happy that we have so many kids interested in soccer, especially since football is the glamour sport in my school; we actually had 49 kids show up the first day. But it does make it more difficult to manage

[IASocFan]

For development purposes, the A1, A2, B1, and B2 would work. Is a C team an option? Or A, B1 and B2 teams? 15 players is a good number for a single game. If other schools have the same kind of numbers you might include a shortened scrimmage with C teams. Ideally you want your players playing full games, playing 2 halves doesn't give much playing time.

[fernb8]

this might be a little controversial but why not try to create a "practice squad" as well. They wont get much playing time, if any, but they will all be given a chance to improve and perhaps can move up to the A or B team the following year. Its a tough thing to do because every player should be given an opportunity to play games but its just a suggestion. I am glad to see so many young players taking a interest in the game. Good luck.

[firstshirt]

My first year as a JV coach, I had 25 players. The AD told us we were not allowed to cut players. The Varsity had 22. By the middle of the season the AD was asking myself and the varsity coach why some kids were not getting playing time. It was pretty obvious to us the AD had no clue. Having 25 kids and trying to be competitive is hard to manage. Of those 25 kids, probably 6 of them had no business being of the field, too small, to fragile, not skilled enough. At the end of the season we talked to the AD and told him by not cutting will actually hurt the program. Kids will develope a bad attitude by not getting pt or as much as the others and the attitudes will spread. The next year we anounced 3 months before training camp opened that there will be cuts. Not only did we have a bigger turn out but the practices were more serious and competitive. the kids knew they were fighting for a spot. I coached up until this year and in those 4 years after we started cuts, we had no less than 55 kids going out for the team. While this does not help you out, it might give your AD something to think of. 25 kids is not a very managable number and playing time is limited. Sometimes you just have to say, there are too many and say, sorry but this is not rec soccer anymore and nobody gets a free ride.

[saabrian]

Originally posted by firstshirt
My first year as a JV coach, I had 25 players. The AD told us we were not allowed to cut players. The Varsity had ...

Thanks for the suggestion, but there is a big difference between JV and modified in terms of objective, as far as I'm concerned. And apparently as far as our AD is concerned too because cutting is allowed at the JV and varsity levels.

A C team (which someone else mentioned) is not an option, simply because they would have no one to play. As it is, only 3 of the other 9 teams in our league have enough kids in the program to field even a B team. It is also a state rule for modified level that everyone who suits up has to play.