How to rotate 9 girls fairly

kayla uildriksCoach, Australia

Its really hard to do i have had 9 in my team before and can be really challenging best way i did it was to make sure you keep like a record of what player has been where so no player gets stuck playing the same position every week.

Netball CoachCoach

i have 9 in my team. I have a roster. Every week one player has a bye. So i have 8 on game day. The bye player always has a full game when they return. I rotate 4 girls each game having a qtr off. It takes a bit of juggling at the start of season but once it done it works. I call on bye player if a player gets injured or cant play.  

Angela EvansCoach, Australia

We have only just started our season and have 9 players generally.  I have made a plan of my captains for each week.  I also have a vice captain in case the captain can't be there.  My captain plays a full game and everyone else has one quarter off (two players per quarter).  I also keep a record of who has played what position and who has been off for each quarter.  This helps in many ways with keeping records of player combinations that work and don't work, as well as ensuring everyone gets fair game time.  Everyone knows my plan, they just don't know who the next weeks captain is until training, just in case I need to rearrange captains.  Parents have also been advised how this will work so we don't have parents trying to say their child hasn't had fair court time.  Our records are our defence plan if we are challenged, but communication should keep everyone happy!

Narelle BrownCoach, Australia

I also use the "captain gets a full game /2 different players OFF each quarter" system. It is easy to manage and everyone gets a good deal of court time each week- young players are very keen to come every week, not be rostered away. I agree with Angela it is very important to tell players/parents how the team is going to run right from the start and keeping a record of positional rotations is a must - stats /records are the best way to answer some parents enquiries.

Netball CoachCoach

I coach year 5's and there's always a late person there, so i make the 'late person' sit off or the last person sit off in the first quarter and depending on who we're versing (tough team or not) to who goes in what position and i reassure the team that i am the coach and that all decision i make should be final and that i will decide what is best.

Lesa BlackhamCoach, Australia

I like the idea of the captain having a whole game each week, I will use that next year. Typically my rotation is every player has a quarter off. But there is always 1 who doesn't, this might solve my dilema. I like to rotate my players through similar positions in a game, GA swaps with GS and the new player coming on goes into one of these. Centre court all swap and the same for Defense, that way the kids changing postions are not playing GS in one 1/4 and GD in the next. They play in similar postitions, helping them to learn where they can and cannot go on the court and what their role is on court.

Karen LongworthCoach, Australia

I love having 9 players, you rarely get a full team through winter!  It sounds like you have a young team if they are rotating through all positions. I like to work up the court GS to GA, GA to WA etc throught to GK then sit off, I find there is less confusion this way playing a similar position to the one before.  With littlies I prefer half a game, depending on their age, it can take a quarter to get used to their position. older girls can cope with quarter changes a bit better.  It is so important to keep a coaches book with sitting off, captains & positions, not just for you but for inquisitive parents too.  I do like to have a team 'welcome' at the begining of the season, just 10mins to meet the kids & parents & lay down my coaching style/plan for the season, that way they know what to expect.

Lee-annes NetballCoach, Australia

there are a lot of things that would change my answer to this question...age of kids, division they are playing in, depth of team (ie how many people can play multiple positions), type of coach you are.

if they are young, in a low division, and have a lot of depth then you can make it a fairly even off on rotation.  obviously one person each week stays on for the whole game, but that will change each week.

if they are older they should be getting pretty grounded in their positions, and will have more strength in one area, so you dont need to be moving them around for the experience of it, but as long as you have some depth you can still rotate as above.

if they are in a high division, then its best players play the most, and you only rotate for rest breaks, or when a combo isnt working.

i like to recognise those who turn up to training and train hard.  so if you miss training for any reason, then you will miss 1/4-1/2 the game (your choice) no matter who they are.

if you dont have depth in your team then you might be limited in who you can take off.  i had a season where the GA and GS rarely came off as there were no other shooters, so the rest of the team rotated.  if they were winning or losing by a large amount then i would take one of them off at a time as it wouldnt be affecting the score.

hope that helps.