House player use by U15 girls

[Mark Paige]

Hi all,

We ended up using 3 house players this season - I don't think we'll need
help in the last 2 games. They were all used in one game - the first
weekend of spring break. We were down to 8.5 players for that game
(someone couldn't stay for the 2nd half). We were playing a Durango
team. Imagine if you were coming down from Durango to play and the other
team showed up with 9 players. That would be upsetting. The house
players allowed us to field a full team for that game. I would have used
a house player for another game when we played with 12 (two girls got
sick on Friday night), but the player cards for the house players hadn't
been made. Two of these house players will join us for a post season
tournament when a middle school track meet is taking away a couple of
our players.

This new option was not only useful for helping us when we were short,
but also for recruitment reasons. One of the house players was a Taos
girl whom had not played with us previously. She is interested in our
program and may play next year. She got a chance to see what the DCSL
was about and we got a good look at her.

I would recommend some adjustments to the system to make it run smoother.

1) Add house players to the roster prior to the season beginning. Have
the player cards made. Then when you get the last minute dropouts, you
can call up house players if needed. For teams U15 and up, you are
allowed to roster 22 players for the DCSL and for most tournaments (can
only bring 18 to a game though). Doing the registration at the beginning
of the season eliminates having to repeatedly run to the registrar and
the hassle of having to do things in a hurry.

2) I would recommend adding ~4 players whom would have optimal
availability, preferably around spring break . Varsity track athletes
are difficult to use because they have many Sat meets, although not
during spring break weekends. I think the league should pay the
$25/player to register these players prior to the season and have cards
made. For a team of 15 high school players, we receive 15 x $225 =
$3375. We can afford the $100 for four players. If the player actually
plays, they can pay for the fee (although in my mind these players are
doing us a favor so I don't particularly favor collecting money from them).

Mark

[mpa...@cybermesa.com]

One more benefit of having house players available - the team can function
with a smaller roster. Often we add players who don't belong in the DCSL
so that we have enough players on the team. I have seen the frustration of
our legitimate comp players in practice and at games from having unskilled
players on the team. (I am referring to high school age players).

Mark