Each year we wrestle with the issue of how many boys to take on the feeder teams.
Most feeder programs take 11-13 players.  St. Viator has always taken 18+ players, but has
always had the policy of not bringing more than 12 players to any game.

Prospect was one of the first programs to take expanded rosters. 
Over the last eight years we have experimented with various concepts.  We have taken up
to 22 players and broken the roster down into two teams, sometimes equal and sometimes
A/B.  We have taken 15 players, and designated players ranked 13-15 as being
practice/developmental participants.  They had limited game activity but were involved
in all practices and, thus, were given the opportunity to improve their games.

Most recently, we have taken 16-18 players on our rosters but operated as one team.
The group practiced together and all players had the opportunity to play in a lot of games,
at various levels of competition.  We were able to schedule a number of games and
tournaments designated as "B" level.  We limited the number of players going to games
to ten maximum, and were able to get all of the players involved in around the same
number of games.

There are plusses and minuses to each of these plans.  Taking more kids is great but does
cause scheduling problems.  We have decided to take 16-18 players on each team and
run the teams similar to how Prospect runs their "Varsity/JV" program.  The teams
will practice together all the time.  The top 5-7 players will play primarily in "A-varsity"
level games.  We will rotate the other players on the team into the last 3-4 slots on a
game to game basis.  All of the players on the team will have the opportunity to play
in some of the "A-varsity" games.  

There may be players on the team that play almost exclusively in "B-JV" games.
Game playing time will not be equal.  However, we will continue to try to find as many
games and tournaments as we can in order to maximize the progress of all of the
participants by getting them into live competition.  Practices will be structured for the
development of all of the kids on the team.  We are committed to developing as many
kids as possible within our program.
 
If there are any questions please contact Bill Reed (bill@hcrcpas.com).