Coaches Wrap: Positioning for Mites

I help coach a mite house team. I'm curious about positioning our kids for games. Some coaches play their kids in the same position every game; some move kids to different positions every game. What’s the school of thought on this?
Craig F., Mite Coach

There are a few different schools of thought on this, and a number of ways that it can be handled. It is very important that every player has the opportunity to learn and experience all positions. At some point they will gravitate to the position that they feel most comfortable with. To give your players the best opportunity to really experience and learn how to play a certain position (i.e., defense/forward), it is best to have them play that position for several games in a row. For example, you might want to keep four or five players on defense for a period of time like a month, then rotate others through the position the next month. That way, they can focus their attention on learning the "tricks of the trade" of that particular position by playing it in practice and then being coached on it before, during and after games. Keep in mind that a coach's role is to put a player in a position where they have the best chance to succeed. So be aware of the teams that you are playing against and try to make sure that if you have kids who are less experienced and might struggle at defense, that they are not playing that position against a really strong team that will make it that much more difficult for them. From a "team success" perspective, it is also probably a good idea not to change up the whole defensive unit at the same time. For example, if you have five kids playing defense for a month, the next month change up three of them, so you have a couple with experience still back there. Then the following month, change up the rest.