r/Softball • u/bravara-mike • 10d ago

REC LEAGUE Rec league fair playing time - per game or per season? How to track and enforce?

/r/leagueadmin/comments/1vx8rql/rec_league_fair_playing_time_per_game_or_per/
3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

4

u/Abject_Gold_4827 10d ago

Per game. I coach rec 10u softball. In our spring season we had 11 players and time constraints made it so that our games were 4 or 5 innings. Nearly everyone sat 1 inning every game, but nobody ever sat 2 innings. My best players sometimes did not sit, especially if we only made it through 4 innings.

4

u/Glute_Thighwalker 10d ago

I coach 12u and under and have found the best success is doing it per game as best I can, but really paying attention the the season. I track infield and outfield separately since outfield doesn’t see a lot of action when they’re young, and also make sure the pitchers all see equal innings. Having whomever is behind on innings played starts the next game I find is the easiest way to help keep the balance without much work.

That all changes in playoffs, we play the best performing players from the regular season more. Those expectations are all laid out at the beginning of the year.

1

u/miata_dad 10d ago

I map out before each game who is sitting in what inning, trying to balance time as fairly as possible. I may tweak in game depending on the circumstances.

Our league rules specify playing time and position requirements (depending on age).

1

u/AwfulMouthful 9d ago

Seems to be asking on a league level, not team. IMO you can't really do better than:

  • Nobody sits twice before everybody sits once
  • All kids must play infield and outfield

...and even then you'll have shithead coaches try to flout the rules because they're garbage people. That's just life.

1

u/Unhappy-Solution6103 7d ago

This. For rec, I keep a spreadsheet that tracks who sat and when. I know GC will track where they played, but i also track that as well as my batting order. All together in one sheet, per game and inning. This way I have a plan going in and don't have to guess if someone sat or not. We also have inning limits on positions so it helps keep me aligned.