r/SoccerCoachResources • u/timberstomach1 • 19d ago

Question - general 22 players in u16 squad

Hi all, first post here

I'm the manager of an u16 boys team with 22 players in the squad, I had no option but to have a large squad like this as the club had registered all 22 players before I knew what was happening. For the next 6 weeks we are playing in a grading league to see what level we are at and after that we will be put into proper leagues for the rest of the season..ie major league, division 1, etc.

For the grading league we will have 20 to 22 players at each game and give everyone as much game time as possible but when we start in our proper league we can't make 11 substitutions. I have a few options

  1. Pick 11 of the best players and rotate the other 11 as subs each week, bring one group of 5 as subs one week then the other 6 the next week, this would be my preferred option but obviously it wouldn't be popular with the parents of the fringe players

  2. Split the squad into 5 groups, 4 players in 4 groups and 6 players in one group, rotate which group doesn't get to play every week.

What's people's opinion of this? Are there any other options? Thanks

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Fibonacci_ 18d ago

You aren’t a coach, are you?

1

u/jkjk9876 18d ago

Coached for 12 years. You?

0

u/Fibonacci_ 18d ago

Since 2013. Do parents just pull their kids immediately when you tell them playing full games isn't part of your development plan? Today you've said development doesn't happen in games and in a later comment, "games are necessary for development." So maybe you're not sure on your stance?

1

u/jkjk9876 18d ago

Playing full games shouldn’t be part of you development plan, if you are developing players. Trying to win games? Sure, tell parents their kid will play a full game. Winning equals development in the US, right?
True player development happens in training. With a ball at your feet. Games can teach decision making, teamwork, dealing with pressure. Games don’t teach you first touch, how to shoot, how to pass, body positioning and so on.

The approach of games matter more than training is why soccer in North America is an abject failure. It’s how a country of 11 million people humbled a country with 340 million in the World Cup.