I have been in/on all sides of this problem. I had a daughter that only had 14 show for tryouts, which would have made a good team but then 1 decided not to play, and 2 left for other teams. We played with eleven players all year, no one complained about playing time.
Maybe the only time too much playing time was a complaint.
I also been on the board trying to assign coaches and create teams and you have no idea who is committing. Parents want to know who the U-13 coach is but you have no idea if you will be able to form a team or not. And as a board memebr you feel really bad when you have to disband a team because 4-5 players who committ leave. Its not as bad as it was but it still happens.
And last but not least my daughter went out for a team and then it didn't form and she was almost left out in the cold because she didn't tryout for any other club. She was lucky and was able to find a team.
BTW, Isn't Little League Recreation?