One of the most challenging issues facing a Responsible Coach is the allocation of playing time. You, as a Responsible Coach, want not only to win, but also to use sports to teach youth athlete's life lessons. And warming the bench will not provide all of the life lessons that sports can teach.

 

Playing time issues are a matter of keeping the sport fun so that players work and play hard in practice and return season after season to reap the physical, mental, emotional and social benefits of sports. These issues also concern the value of "meaningful minutes" (i.e., time in the game while a win or loss remains at stake) so that all players are immersed in the joy of competition.

 

No matter how much your players learn about the game and about life in your practices, there is nothing like meaningful minutes to show players what they're made of, what they can achieve, and how hard they must work to succeed.

 

Here are a few ideas that will help keep players and their parents engaged and supportive of your playing time allocation—even if they are not the stars of your team: