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You might be wondering what the perfect roster size is for your softball travel team. There is a little more to it than having enough to play each position! With a lot to consider, with the roster construction take a listen and you'll find out that it's not a one size fits all kind of thing.

SMALLER ROSTER (9 OR 10 PLAYERS) ADVANTAGES: One of the main goals for players on a travel softball team is to be on the field. They want to showcase their abilities, help their team win, and perhaps be seen by college scouts. So if playing time is what every player wants, wouldn’t it make sense to carry a smaller roster of 9 or 10 players? There are certainly teams that take this approach as obviously the main benefit is that it leads to much more playing time than with a larger roster. It also leads to more improvement from your players. I think we can all agree that seeing the kids improve is incredibly valuable, and the easiest way to accomplish that is by providing them with more game experience.

SMALLER ROSTER DISADVANTAGES: Everything so far sounds great for a smaller roster – more playing time, and more opportunity which results in better players. However, there are some items that you should be aware of before keeping your roster to 9 or 10 players. Players MUST be committed this shouldn’t be a huge surprise, but when carrying a small roster, teams have to be prepared for absences such as sickness, vacation, and other activities. It would be nice if all players could commit to every game, but that is highly unlikely. If you carry a small roster of travel players, you should have some spares that can be called up when needed. As you can probably tell, careful planning is required when having smaller rosters along with the ability to adjust when the unexpected happens. The last thing you want is to have to forfeit a game due to a lack of players! Players MUST be versatile around the field for the most part, when carrying a small roster, players must be flexible and be able to play multiple positions around the field. The last thing you want is to put more strain and dependency on your players to always play at certain positions. If your team lacks depth, you are essentially rolling the dice game in and game out. Imagine losing your catcher and not having anyone to replace them with. This includes pitching as well! You certainly don’t want your pitcher throwing the ball game after game. This is especially true in tournaments where you may be expected to play multiple games in a single day. Therefore, when building a small team you have to ensure that you are selecting players who can play multiple positions and pitch when required.

So far we have concentrated on when smaller-size rosters can and can’t work well for travel teams. I wanted to also look at the opposite scenario where you carry a large team of 12 or more girls. This is actually quite common once a player reaches the high school level, but at a younger level, more benefit would be realized by younger players getting onto the field and having at-bats. As you can guess, many of the advantages of smaller roster sizes become disadvantages with larger rosters and vice versa. For example, here are some of the larger team size advantages:

• Players don’t require the same level of commitment as there are a sufficient amount of backups to be able to play
• Vacations, sickness, and other activities don’t cause as much strain on a team
• Less versatility is required – players can specialize more in a particular position
• Players who want to pitch more are able as they will receive more rest
• More friendships could develop with more players on the roster

As for disadvantages, many larger teams experience the following:

• Less playing time leads to less game experience especially if you are not one of the top players on the roster
• Fewer at-bats
• Frequent lineup changes in that in any inning you could have 3 or more switches to those playing on the field
• Increased potential for feuding among teammates

As you can see there is a lot to consider when determining the roster size for your travel team or when you are joining an existing team. As a player age and become more ingrained and committed to softball, they will be part of larger teams.