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Player Rotation & Winning

Are you aware of any studies comparing player rotation (equal playing time) with winning? My 8 year old son is in a machine pitch league and the manager does not rotate well - he rotates just enough to say he rotated. We are near the bottom of the standings in our league. Yet, it seems to me that the winning teams ARE rotating AND winning. Just curious.

I am not aware of any formal studies concerning the relationship of playing time to winning. I do, however, have my own thoughts on the matter, based on my experiences in youth sports for more than 50 years and  I'm happy to share these thoughts with you.

Too many youth coaches today focus their attention only on the team's better players and don't provide adequate attention and instruction for the others. A common expression for this type of coaching is to "play (or coach) the best and bench the rest."

Failing to rotate players fairly or adequately is a form of "playing the best and benching the rest". Youth coaches do this thinking they improve their chances of winning. I don't believe that is necessarily true nor is it  the right thing to do in kids' sports.

I believe that success in youth sports should be measured in several ways:
 1) Did ALL  the kids have an enjoyable and positive sports experience?
 2) Did EACH of them learn or improve in any way?
Finally and most significantly:
 3) Do they ALL want to play again next season?

As you can see, in my view, winning is not a criteria for success. Player participation, improvement, skill development  and enjoyment are all much more significant measures of a coach's success.

By focusing on these criteria (i.e. by teaching and playing ALL the players, not just the most talented),  the coach will ensure that each player has an opportunity to make a contribution. In this way the players not only learn an important life-lesson about playing together as members of a team but also the end result will likely be reflected in the team's improved Win/Loss record.

Unfortunately, winning is THE measure of success in most youth sports programs today. Winners are glorified, losers are vilified. Win/loss records have become the coach's measure of success, league championships and MVP's recognize winners. It's all about winning, not about KIDS having fun and developing skills. This is just one of the reasons that more than 70% of the kids who play organized sports drop out by age 12.

I would suggest that you try to look at your son's situation, his team and his coach, in terms of the three criteria above. If appropriate, discuss the matter with the coach and with league officials. Changes in kids sports programs are desperately needed today, but only concerned parents and caring coaches can effect change.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you and your son.