As fall sports wrap up and winter sports begin pre-season, many basketball and soccer players are thinking about the same thing: “What will my playing time look like this season?” Some athletes spend countless hours a week giving 110% during practice and individual training yet receive minimal playing time during games. Meanwhile, athletes with more natural abilities put in less effort—yet still get a significant amount of playing time. Coaches are faced with the challenge of balancing commitment with skill when determining playing time, which is no easy task, and players may also find these policies frustrating and unfair.
The two 2024 winter sports at Castilleja are basketball and soccer, both of which have one varsity team each. Jacklyn Brode coaches the basketball team, and Andy Lichtblau coaches the soccer team.
Although Castilleja sports are D5, Brode and Lichtblau noted that their central policies revolve around playing the players that will help them win, with a preference for highly committed ones. “There are no issues with commitment because you’re either in or you’re out,” Brode said. At the end of the day, Castilleja sports are high school varsity sports, not participation or intramural sports. Coaches want to put out the best team, even if it means being inconsistent with playing time and not rewarding commitment the way players would like.
Coaches are often faced with a dilemma when determining “fair” playing time. If players are more skilled than others but show less commitment, it can complicate things for the coach. “If you reward that lack of commitment, I worry about what that message sends to other players,” Lichtblau said. In sports, it is always preferred to make things fair and equal in terms of opportunity, but it doesn’t always work out that way—especially in teams with large rosters. Brode—who has a roster of 16 but can only play five players at once—addressed this by saying, “I want to get them all in a game… and it’s not that we don’t want to put these people in. It’s just—a lot goes into it.” Furthermore, both coaches said their lineups heavily depend on their upcoming opponent and who will give them the best chance to win.
Mistakes happen constantly in sports; they are part of the game. Without mistakes, it’s impossible to grow to become better players. Some coaches value the learning that comes from mistakes—therefore keeping them in after the mistake—rather than immediately taking them out and decreasing their playing time, because this will ultimately negatively affect their confidence. On the other hand, some coaches worry that leaving the player in for longer can lead to more mistakes, potentially costing them the game. Lichtblau acknowledged how some players “avoid putting themselves in situations where they might make a mistake to the detriment of the team, or they get so worried about making a mistake that they play worse,” recognizing the impact that mistakes have on a player’s mentality and confidence. After the player is subbed out, Lichtblau has a conversation with them, addressing the mistake and later giving them another opportunity to incorporate the feedback, emphasizing their growth over the mistake.
Brode takes a different approach, caring more about the player’s reaction after the mistake. She tells the players to “make up for it,” acknowledging that mistakes are extremely common in basketball. She encourages players not to look back and to simply keep going: “Next play, next play, next play.”
When it comes to athletes’ perspectives on playing time, it gets more complicated. On some teams, inconsistency is prevalent, leading to increased playing time for some players, even if they aren’t as committed as others and don’t follow the coach’s playing time policies—coaches are willing to bend their policies for the more skilled players. As Taryn Johnston ’27 discussed, her coach typically shows more leniency to the “good players,” but ultimately, those players would play either way because of their abilities. Seniority can occasionally contribute to inconsistent playing time since many teams value their leadership and organization. Yet, not all players agree that players should automatically receive playing time simply due to their grade, especially if other players put in more work.
“I think we should care about skill, putting our best foot forward. But… the most important thing is showing up to practice and trying your hardest,” Zoe Friedman ’26 said. When asked about her thoughts on coaches bending the rules for certain players, Friedman said, “It implies that some people are above the rules, and then it’s hard to enforce rules because… the coach is kind of losing credibility.”
Being a communicative and transparent coach is vital to a successful team and ensuring the players feel supported. On the basketball team, many players note that Brode is transparent and clear about her playing expectations. Brode values commitment and showing up to practice; if a player doesn’t, they won’t start. Johnston states that even if a player is a normal starter, without full commitment and 100% effort, they will stop starting.
Players also note that Lichtblau is transparent regarding his expectations and policies, but doesn’t follow through with them as consistently as Brode does. His policy entails that missing the practice before a game results in the player not starting. When coaches make exceptions for players, it becomes challenging to “level the playing field for everyone,” Friedman said.
On both sports teams, it is common for the starters and the non-starters to be grouped together, leading to a disruption of team culture. Casti players acknowledge this divide but also emphasize how the team is still close regardless. However, on the field, playing time divisions can affect the team chemistry, thus affecting their team performance. Antonia Vlahos ’25 highlighted the importance of understanding individual roles on a team. Even if players aren’t in every game, they still have an important role in their practices, which are just as important as the actual game. “Each person kind of knows… what their role is for [the] team,” Vlahos said.
Most of the time, the reason for separating starters and non-starters is to put players together based on their skill level or, in basketball, to better prepare starters for a game. This can be extremely helpful in basketball, as the non-starters can imitate the opposing team in a game scenario. Brode believes this strategy is also important because it helps build team chemistry among the starting players. “The goal is to see how the starters play together,” Agnich said, but inevitably, this dynamic leads to increased competitiveness within the team. Everyone wants to be on the team of starters, so to some players, “it gives them motivation… but at the same time, it’s not the greatest for [team] morale,” Agnich said. In basketball, all drills are done as a team. However, in soccer, players do completely different drills depending on their skill level, which correlates to whether or not they are starters. Some see this as problematic since it is harder to improve when playing with people at the same skill level. This “hurts the team, and then it also makes a weird dynamic within the players, which is not good,” Kaylin Yip ’26 said. However, Licthblau said, “When I design any drill, I’m trying to develop something in the players.” His approach is based on making the training more personalized to players based on their skills versus the skills they lack.
It can be frustrating to put effort into earning playing time but still not see the results. Some advice that older players would give players seeking more playing time is to cultivate open communication with the coaches and to continue to put in the work to demonstrate commitment and the desire to improve. “Talking to [the coach] about that, showing up to practice, trying your hardest and… playing hard no matter what” is Agnich’s biggest piece of advice.
Brode said she “welcome[s] those conversations” because it is then easier to communicate specific areas players could work on as individuals. She recognizes it can be difficult to initiate those conversations but wants all of her players to know she is always “an open door.”
Friedman also emphasized that having conversations with the coach about how you feel, and hearing what they say, is helpful. “Ask [your] coaches… what [you] can do to improve and things to work on, and… doing the work but also planting this thing in their mind: ‘Hey I really take this seriously, and I care about this team and I want to work harder,’” Friedman said.
It is universally agreed upon that keeping a positive outlook is key. As Sophie Profit ’25 said, “If you’re not on the field, there’s so much you can still do to contribute to the team, and it’s the people that bring the energy, that bring…the fun, the vibes to the game, that are just as important as the people on the field. Every single player has an important role in the team.”
