22 man rosters for U15 and above? Who's on your roster?

Almost like a hidden truth, many U15 club rosters are growing in size towards the limit of 22.  And some will be roster limited!

If it's still mostly about playing time, why do parents put their kid on a team with a 22 man roster where they have to fight each week just to be one of the 18 that dress for the game?  Is this so the parents can say, my kid plays on ABC club in Classic/PreAcademy? Parents need to hold the coaches feet to the fire and ask the tough questions.

You know something else, Chappie? Classic League is holding onto their outdated substitution policy for the older ages as well. Whereas a player can't return once subbed out.

Classic League is a training league and they need to adjust their policies to match the current market conditions. Coaches need to sub unlimited times all the way through U19.

This is a big issue with the larger clubs. If you look at their current U15 rosters you'll see 22 players. Why pay all that money to be the 22nd player and never see game time?

We made Classic D3 and will not overload the roster so if you're U15 and want to play Classic come check us out. The training is excellent as we work with some of the top coaches in North Texas.

Arsenal Elite - Classic D3
Open Sessions Wed & Thursday of next week.
Location: The Fields at Carrollton Parkway
Time: 7:30 - 9:00
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/F049q

Call or text Wesley with questions: 972-877-7838
eMail: Wesleyw@outlook.com

Chappie81 wrote:Almost like a hidden truth, many U15 club rosters are growing in size towards the limit of 22.  And some will be roster limited!

If it's still mostly about playing time, why do parents put their kid on a team with a 22 man roster where they have to fight each week just to be one of the 18 that dress for the game?  Is this so the parents can say, my kid plays on ABC club in Classic/PreAcademy?  Parents need to hold the coaches feet to the fire and ask the tough questions.

if you are joining a 22 man roster, NO NEED TO ASK MANY QUESTIONS. it shouldn't be about playing time and if it is don't join that team. I've witnessed some really good players fight for playing time and a few excel at it.

finish1 wrote:Classic League is holding onto their outdated substitution policy for the older ages as well. Whereas a player can't return once subbed out.

Classic League is a training league and they need to adjust their policies to match the current market conditions. Coaches need to sub unlimited times all the way through U19.

This seems crazy for any type U19 and under. I still don't understand when parents are OK with the "training" when their kid doesn't see the field. They gotta play real games to get better.

Chappie81 wrote:

finish1 wrote:Classic League is holding onto their outdated substitution policy for the older ages as well. Whereas a player can't return once subbed out.

Classic League is a training league and they need to adjust their policies to match the current market conditions. Coaches need to sub unlimited times all the way through U19.

This seems crazy for any type U19 and under.  I still don't understand when parents are OK with the "training" when their kid doesn't see the field.  They gotta play real games to get better.

That's like saying the only way a math student gets better is taking the test!

soccerdadrandy wrote:

Chappie81 wrote:

finish1 wrote:Classic League is holding onto their outdated substitution policy for the older ages as well. Whereas a player can't return once subbed out.

Classic League is a training league and they need to adjust their policies to match the current market conditions. Coaches need to sub unlimited times all the way through U19.

This seems crazy for any type U19 and under.  I still don't understand when parents are OK with the "training" when their kid doesn't see the field.  They gotta play real games to get better.

That's like saying the only way a math student gets better is taking the test!

finish1 wrote:You know something else, Chappie? Classic League is holding onto their outdated substitution policy for the older ages as well. Whereas a player can't return once subbed out.

Classic League is a training league and they need to adjust their policies to match the current market conditions. Coaches need to sub unlimited times all the way through U19.

The policy is not that old, only applies to D1, and the coaches approved it.

I used to think the same thing about a 22-man roster, but when high school season comes along and the teams are struggles to have 11 uninjured players, it starts making sense.

Soccerinsanity wrote:I used to think the same thing about a 22-man roster, but when high school season comes along and the teams are struggles to have 11 uninjured players, it starts making sense.

I can see that point, but we're talking a year long commitment. For potentially/probably the large majority of the year, there will be issues being on the game day roster of 18 especially for the fall season, until injuries and/or HS season starts. I have no doubt this makes practice competition interesting.

Fall season for U15 and up is very intense as teams will play 12 CL games. Four D1 teams will also be in Premier League. For those teams having a larger roster would be great. I noticed that after high school season ended, a lot of teams had very short benches.

16 to 22 on the roster will not get meaningful, if any, playing time. stay away - BB doesn't need to be a contingency for injuries... he needs to play or why bother?

nearpost95 wrote:16 to 22 on the roster will not get meaningful, if any, playing time.  stay away - BB doesn't need to be a contingency for injuries... he needs to play or why bother?

Graduating bottom of your class from an elite college could be more meaningful than top of your class at an average school.i prefer for my son to play but there are situations where a BB may be better served fighting for playing time

soccerdadrandy wrote:

nearpost95 wrote:16 to 22 on the roster will not get meaningful, if any, playing time.  stay away - BB doesn't need to be a contingency for injuries... he needs to play or why bother?

Graduating bottom of your class from an elite college could be more meaningful than top of your class at an average school.i prefer for my son to play but there are situations where a BB may be better served fighting for playing time

if the team is very competitive, each player would have to fight in practice to deserve its spot on the field. I don't see it as a negative thing.

Laroja_2012 wrote:

soccerdadrandy wrote:

nearpost95 wrote:16 to 22 on the roster will not get meaningful, if any, playing time.  stay away - BB doesn't need to be a contingency for injuries... he needs to play or why bother?

Graduating bottom of your class from an elite college could be more meaningful than top of your class at an average school.i prefer for my son to play but there are situations where a BB may be better served fighting for playing time

if the team is very competitive, each player would have to fight in practice to deserve its spot on the field. I don't see it as a negative thing.

I agree! Work harder on a good team even if playing time may be less.

nearpost95 wrote:16 to 22 on the roster will not get meaningful, if any, playing time.  stay away - BB doesn't need to be a contingency for injuries... he needs to play or why bother?

Agree. A player MUST have playing time in real games, imo, at a minimum to see what they need to work on. There are good coaches and competitive practice opportunities, but if you don't get playing time, your player will not reach their potential. The only possibility I could see is if the actual game is a small percentage of the time with the ball for the week.

But the original post was regarding parents paying to be on a roster (potentially players 19-22) and not even getting to suit for the game. That's just crazy talk no matter how competitive the practices are, not to mention disappointing for the kid.