Youth soccer playing time rotation template
A playing time rotation for youth soccer that is already fair: who plays each quarter, who keeps goal and how many minutes each player gets, worked out for the usual squad sizes. Write your players' names down the left and take it to the game.
Free, no account, nothing to install. 7v7, 10 players, four quarters of 12 minutes, US Letter. Edit opens the rotation maker for youth soccer, where you type your squad.
How to use this template
Pick your format and squad size
Download the sheet for the format your league plays and the number of players you usually have: 5v5 with eight, 7v7 with ten or 9v9 with thirteen.
Write a name on each row
Each row is one player's whole game: on or off each quarter, the quarter they keep goal, and their total minutes. Put the names down the left in any order.
Read it across at each break
At the end of each quarter, read down that quarter's column. The players marked On go out, the shaded ones rest, and GK is your keeper for the quarter.
Show the parents the totals
The minutes column shows everyone plays within one quarter of everyone else. That column ends most playing time conversations before they start.
Download the template
- 7v7, 10 players, four quarters of 12 minutesUS Letter · PDF · 11 KB
- 7v7, 10 players, four quarters of 12 minutesA4 · PDF · 11 KB
- 5v5, 8 players, four quarters of 10 minutesUS Letter · PDF · 11 KB
- 5v5, 8 players, four quarters of 10 minutesA4 · PDF · 11 KB
- 9v9, 13 players, four quarters of 15 minutesUS Letter · PDF · 11 KB
- 9v9, 13 players, four quarters of 15 minutesA4 · PDF · 11 KB
Would rather type than write? The fair playing time rotation maker makes the same sheet from what you type.
Fair playing time, worked out in advance
Every youth soccer coach knows the job. Ten children, seven places on the field, four quarters, and a promise that everyone plays about the same. Done in your head on the sideline, someone sits out twice in a row and the same child keeps goal for half the game. Done the night before on a spreadsheet, it takes half an hour.
This template has it done already. Each sheet is a rotation for a common youth format and squad size, where every player plays within one quarter of everyone else, nobody sits out two quarters in a row, and goalkeeping is shared so nobody keeps goal for more than one quarter. The minutes column adds it up, and the share column shows how far each player is from an exactly equal share, so you can see that it is fair rather than take it on trust.
Three formats
The three sheets follow the small-sided formats most youth leagues play:
- 5v5, usually under-7 and under-8, with a squad of eight and four quarters of ten minutes;
- 7v7, usually under-9 and under-10, with ten players and four quarters of twelve minutes;
- 9v9, usually under-11 and under-12, with thirteen players and four quarters of fifteen.
The names are blank, so write your players in down the left. If one player does not mind keeping goal and another hates it, put them on the rows with and without a GK.
When your squad is a different size
A rotation for ten players does not work for eleven. That is what the edit button is for: it opens the rotation maker for youth soccer, where you type your squad, pick the format and the number of periods, keep a fixed goalkeeper or share the job, and print the same sheet with your names on it. The names stay in your browser. It is free and needs no account. The same tool does basketball and other sports, and the fair playing time rotation maker explains how the rotation is worked out.
Before the game, the soccer practice plan template is a timed session for the week's training.
Common questions
How do you rotate players fairly in youth soccer?
Give every player the same number of periods on the field, give or take one, never bench the same player two periods in a row, and share goalkeeping around. With ten players in 7v7 over four quarters, that means eight players play three quarters and two play two, and next game you swap who gets the extra one.
How many minutes should each player get?
As close to equal as the numbers allow. In 7v7 with ten players and twelve-minute quarters, everyone plays twenty-four or thirty-six minutes. The minutes column on each sheet shows the total for every row.
Is the youth soccer rotation template free?
Yes. All three sheets are free to download and print, with no account and no email address. Each carries a small Playmaker mark.
What if a player does not turn up?
Use the sheet for a smaller squad, or open the rotation maker, type the players who are there and print a new sheet in a minute. The rotation is worked out again for the squad you have.
Can I use it for other sports?
The idea is the same in any sport with substitutions, but these sheets are laid out for soccer. The rotation maker builds the same kind of chart for basketball, field hockey, netball, baseball and more.
More free printable templates
Fill it in on screen instead
The fair playing time rotation maker opens on this template. Type instead of writing, print as many copies as you need, and change it next week without starting again.
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