Every decision has consequences. I have made some good, some bad and some ugly. At some point in time, you as coach, will more than likely be involved in deciding if a player should be moved up a level or down a level.
I'm not talking about cutting primarily because I never was in a large enough program that it was necessary. My experiences were more related to moving a 7th grader to the 8th grade level or moving a C team player to the JV level, etc. We also have moved players down which can be difficult.
Some of the basics we tried to consider when making these types of decisions:
1. All coaches involved in the move should be involved.
2. If it's a move up or a move down, the player is involved. Not all players
want to move. We always considered the wishes of the player(s) involved.
3. If it's a move up or down, the parents are communicated with.
4. In order to move a player up, I want the player involved to have
demonstrated success at the level they are at before they are moved up
OR they understand there is a NEED at the next level.
5. Is the player not only capable skill wise to move up, but is he mature
enough to move up?
6. Communicate clearly with player and parents if this is a temporary move
or a permanent move. This could be a move because of injury or
ineligibility, etc. which necessitates the move.
7. If we considered moving a player down, it was to give them more playing
time. I NEVER made a player move down. In some situations, the player in
question may feel the move down is demeaning. We always tried to take
the feelings of the player into consideration. We met with the player and
proposed the move with him and told him to consider it and talk to his
parent(s) about it. If the player/parent was against the move, the player
stayed where they were at BUT they needed to realize their playing time
may still be very limited.
8. We evaluated players after the season. I tried to be very honest. If, for
example, we had a junior who played a limited role on either the JV or
Varsity and I did not see him being part of the varsity rotation next season.
I told him where I saw him filling in. I tried to give him options. Stay on the
team and accept his limited role, quit if he felt he couldn't handle that role,
or become a manager, stats person, or video support person.
Personally, I think the worst thing you can do is move a player before they
have been given a chance to demonstrate they would benefit from being
moved. The move not only affects the player(s) involved but it also affects
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