[BD] Squad Sizes

[Jon Palmer]

Totally agree with Dave that the top clubs squads are too large and suck
players away from smaller clubs only to have them spend much of the season
on the sideline. I suspect that 14 is to few but 20 might be reasonable.


>
> While I don't disagree that some club sides take the piss with squad
> numbers
> (someone told me the winning Mixed team at the Boston invite had a squad of
> 35!), I think your argument is flawed.
>
> During the early season tournaments in the US the squad sizes can be
massive (the GB women saw played some similarly massive squads at Cal Sates)
However those squads are bloated with a number of players trying out. Most
Boston teams treat the Boston Invite as a tryout tournament after which they
typically cut down to a squad of 20-25 for the rest of the UPA season.


A concept that is very common amongst the elite teams in the US is "practice
players". Teams will keep a roster of 20-25 players and up to around 5
practice players. The practice players come to practice, might play some
early season tournaments but have no expectation of playing the fall UPA
series unless they really sine or there are season ending injuries in the
squad. The elite teams get the advantage of a few more players to make
numbers for practice and a stock of players that know their system to pull
from in future seasons. The "practice" players get the benefit of training
with one of the top teams in the country and improving their game but is
usually free to play tournaments with other teams. The get great coaching
and training AND the opportunity to put it into practice with real PT for
other teams. Something the top UK teams should consider.

JP