SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer Should Subsitutions Be Limited ?

Committed what? Suicide? Bull St? Grand theft? You swansea boys kill me.

Many of you keep ignoring what this may do to score lines and injuries. Someone, anyone, who is interested in limiting subs please address the following points....

1. As the score line approaches 6, 7, or 8 to 0, a coach will normally empty his bench. Limiting subs to 2 per half will keep the starters in through the second half. It is easy to limit subs at the college or international level b/c score line rarely approach 3-0, much less 8-0.

2. As those starters stay in the game and the game that may end at 7-0 with mostly JV players in the game for the one team, begins to approach 15-0, and the losing team gets even more frustrated. As they get more frustrated and begin to foul harder and harder, it is impossible, with limited subs, to get players out of the game. Yes, i can instruct my players to pass and move quicker, but that still does not stop an opposing player from two-footing my player from behind when he does not have the ball. We could also begin to "fake" injuries but that makes your limited subs rules even more ridiculous-- when we would normally just sub a player, we now have to fake an injury to get that player out. The opposing coach can even instruct his players not to take it personally, but in the end, we are talking about kids who may be losing by 10+ goals. Even if the other team does not score any more goals, they are still keeping possession and "toying with" the other team. This will create even more animosity.

3. As younger, talented players realize that they are not going to get playing time at the varsity level, they will begin to gravitate back to club soccer. With only 2 subs per half, how am i supposed to get talented, but young, players meaningful playing time??

like i said unlimited subs at half. i dont think a game will explode to 8-0 after half time. all the coach would have to do is sub in his desired less talented players for the starters all at the same time. the coach would still have one substitution left.

Voice of Reason:
I'll answer those points for you. The High School League should address the first 2 in that they need a mercy rule. If there is a 5 goal differential by half-time, game over. If it reaches 5 in the second half, game over. They should do that now regardless of changing the laws re: subs. Don't forget, you can still use 3 subs.
As for "younger talented players" they will always get a chance, and if they are that talented, they can get a starting job for themselves. It should motivate them to improve both in practice and when they do get on the field, instead of sulking on the sidelines like a lot of them seem to do.
Someone also mentioned refs keeping track, limiting subs to 3 per team all game is easy. All score cards that the refs use have 3 lines at the bottom for subs. Just record them as they happen, that's easy.

While i do disagree with the above points, at least someone stepped up and addressed the issues. The mercy rule will never happen, and if it begins to gain momentum, i hope it is enacted long after my coaching career is finished.

As i think about more, substitutions at the college level are unlimited. If you are considering limiting subs, then consider the college rule-- there are unlimited subs in the first half but once a player comes out, they cannot re-enter. There are unlimited subs at half time. In the second half, a player is allowed to come out and re-enter once.

Personally, i do not think that sub limits of any kind have any place in high school soccer. I think the substitution strategy is part of what makes high school soccer so much fun. Also, this topic was originally brought up b/c one person was concerned that less skilled players were only playing 5-10 minutes per game. If you limit subs to any degree, then those players will begin to receive no playing time at all. Then, that same person will be arguing that players are put on the team to simply "fill the roster".

Voice of Reason, in my opinion, playing time is determined from you how you perform at practice. At practice you can tell which players are serious about improving and the ones that think they have a starting spot and just slack off. In my opinion, no matter how excellent a player is, if he doesn't act like he wants to play at practice, i as a coach (if i was one) would sit him on the bench for a couple of games to make him realize that he has to fight for a spot. Unlimited subs just doesn't encourage players that know they don't have a starting spot to play harder, and i mean the 2 subs per half, unlimited at the half is just a generalized suggestion its not something i want to appoint, its an idea from which we can look at and come up with something that will be beneficial to all players. The mercy rule should only be applicable to the second half, teams can make a come back from 3-5 goals, i know its not hs soccer but just look at AC Milan and Liverpool, reason i say that is because of the caliber of AC Milan and their failure to secure an already won game. I think if the goal differencial is 5 goals with 10-15 minutes left in the game, the refs should be able to decide whether the opposing team has a chance of a comeback, and if they don't just call the game earlier, it saves humiliation of the other teams and it prevents the losing team from creating injuries to players of the winning team for no apparent reason. I think refs are slack for the majority of the time in controlling games and issuing cards yellow or red. They just give warnings and it's pointless. I've seen some teams, i won't mention who, that play american football on the field when they're losing just because they feel they don't have pride to play for, it's really kinda sad lol. But i mean i hope you understand why i started this topic, limiting subs i guarantee you will show changes in scorelines to at least 40% of teams in South Carolina High School Soccer, i know we can't go watch all the games but if we could look at stats of a game like subs made and all that i'm sure we could tell the difference.

Star,

From all of your posts, it sounds like you have an issue with your individual coach. Most of what you point out can be handled by the coach. Take it up with him, or her as the case may be.

the point you mentioned about with 10 minutes left in the game is a good idea. i know that the ref at our game stopped it 10 minutes early cause of the score. it was against columbia

Individual coach, no, i don't have problems with my coach, i'm just talking about a substitution rule and how changing it will and definitely affect outcomes of games. if i had a problem with my coach i would talk to him, but he can't change the rule, he will listen to me but then what ?... that's right lol
i just wanted to get opinions of other people about how they would feel if this were to happen.
so what do u think about it Bear, limit subs?

Well, I have just read this whole topic and am going to take a gander at it.

Firstoff, limiting subs would make the High School game so much more enjoyable to me. High School varsity soccer is not a game where the goal is to get everyone playing time. We have rec league for that. The 2 subs per half and unlimited at halftime is perfect (I would suggest 3 per half however). Limiting subs would increase the competitiveness greatly. Like star said, players would be constantly challenging eachother for starting spots. Personally, as a high school player, I enjoy a challenge in keeping my spot. Moreover, I hate to be subbed, even when I am injured or extremely tired.

Also, I think that the games would actually be lower scoring with this type of subbing. If teams only get 3 subs, then the starters are naturally going to pace themselves better and not be so aggressive. The way we have it now allows the starting 11 to quickly score many goals on weaker teams and then be subbed out to rest, only to later release more onslaught.

Limiting Subs would slow the game down and create more strategy in how key players should be subbed. This would create a playing environment closer to the European style, which is what we aspire soccer to be like in this country. Am I right?