This is perhaps the most contentious issue that every club and every coach faces. Collingwood All Stars has these guidelines:
Junior Domestic games:
Every player should get roughly equal game time on court.
The club believes that providing all players with a positive takeout of contribution, participation and inclusion in the team is just as important as winning or losing. This is easy to manage when there are only 5 or 6 players, but harder if there are more. And close games or important games often tempt coaches into keeping on their strongest players. Try to avoid that temptation!
Download an “Equal Court Time Assistant” here to make it much easier!
Junior Rep games:
Every player should average at least 10 minutes game time on court.
Players and their parents should clearly understand when they accept a place in a rep team that equal court time is neither guaranteed or appropriate. However rep coaches must strive to ensure that every player has a right to feel an integral part of the team through getting enough court time. If a player gets less court time in a game than you planned or what they expected, try to to ensure that they get more time in the next game. And acknowledge to the player and parent that you are aware of it.
Tournaments:
The club enters tournaments for many reasons, but primarily to grow and develop teams. Winning the tournament grand final is not the major aim. Thus coaches must give fair and reasonable court time for all players travelling to tournaments (although not necessarily equal court time). This will of course depend on fouls, injuries, attitude and behaviour of the player during the tournament and at each game.
If a team at a tournament uses ‘fill-in’ or ‘guest’ players in order to make up sufficient numbers, it is expected that those players be given sufficient court time to make their attendance worthwhile and enjoyable, but not to be given additional court time in preference over regular members of the team.