Response to Comment

hello Paul, having spoken to some of the other parents on Sunday I was informed you had asked whether anyone would prefer to rest their child for the odd game in favour of playing a full game. (performance being good enough)!I have spoken to Tom and he would much prefer this as he feels he does not get into the game as much playing 6 to 8minutes occasionally ,I would like to know if anyone agrees with this or disagrees. Stu,

Rep;

Near the start of the season when the squad was increased to 11 I asked if anyone would like a rest every so often or should I use the full squad, even when the full 11 are available.
I was only thinking of resting one player a week when we had the full 11.
This would not facilitate any boy playing a full game, bar perhaps one a week, without the 3 subs getting adequate playing time.

The apparently unanimous decision was to keep everyone involved every week.

I started using the boys 7 mins on, 7 off so each played 20/21 mins per game.

For the last 4 or five games I have gone to 10 mins on, 10 off, total at least 20 mins per player per game. Thus one player might play the whole game or 30 mins outfield if we have 3 subs. All 20 mins if 4.
No boy has ever played less than 20 mins total outfield.

I will not not play or substitute players of this age because of performance. Everyone will get at least twenty minutes. Goalkeeping time will not count so they get 20 mins out aswell.

As you can see I have given it some thought in the interests of fairness and development.

I would rather players come off and on rather than waiting a half on the sideline, and I won't take less than 3 subs .

So to cut a long story short, I don't agree, and the boys shouldn't need time to get into a game at this age, unless they are late and miss most of the warm up.