Creating Teams, Selecting Players
If you allow coaches to create their own teams, you will have problems with inequality. It's only natural that a coach will try to get the best players on his/her team. We actually use a "draft" system. All the coaches will meet and "choose-up sides", select their players. Each coach has a number in a hat and the numbers are pulled out to determine the selection order... #1 gets the first pick, #2 next, etc. Let's say we have eight teams. Now, #8 gets the 8th and 9th picks and then we go back up, so that #7 gets the 10th pick, etc. Thus #1 will get the 1st, 16th and 17th picks.We try to make the teams even. Coaches usually remember the players and their abilities from last season, or someone usually knows something about each player. Coaches help each other by sharing information on the players. If at the end, one team looks awfully strong or one looks awfully weak, we will make some "trades" to try to balance things out. Very importantly, we never let the kids or their parents know about the selection process, comments, trades, etc. There may be better ways of doing this, but this worked pretty well for us.
Periods
We have always played four 6-minute quarters with a 2-minute overtime if necessary. We do not use a "running clock", and the clock stops with all stoppage of play as usual. Some leagues might prefer using a running clock... perhaps 12-15 minute halves with clock stoppage the last minute of each half.Participation
Every player gets to play. You can set your own requirements here. It's a little tough at times because if a player isn't coming to practices, I sometimes think he/she should get less playing time, and that we should reward the kids that work hard and come to practice. Illness and injury have to be factored in also. We require each player to play at least 9 minutes per game (a quarter and a half). It helps to have an assistant on the bench to keep track of each player's playing time. Although we have never used this, some leagues have a rule where no one player can play the entire game... a maximum number of minutes per game. If the game goes into overtime, then your best players can play once again.Defense
We believe youth players must learn to play man-to-man defense, and that offensive players must learn to be able to beat the defender 1-on-1. So we require man-to-man defense with no double-teaming, except in the paint. With older age groups, we allow trapping and double-teaming in the half-court.Press Defense
The defense must get back on change of possession and we do not allow defense to start until the ball crosses the half-court line. Older teams can use a half-court press. We allow full-court defense and full-court pressing only the last two minutes of each half. A team may not press if they are ahead by 10 or more points.This is basically the extent of our rules. It has worked well for us, but you may find your own better way of doing things.
