So what if the number of kids in a grade is 23, 8 "A" players, 8 "B"players, and 7 "C/ new" players? Where do you put the team? PAL Rule states all teams 3rd grade and above must have 15 players to be eligible so there can only be 1 team. Do you play at the B level and have kids playing up and down in divisions or do you have all kids play at the A level and hope B-/C kids make it through the season. 2 teams would be ideal but it does not work when games are scheduled around the same times. If they are in the same grade, does an "A" player playing in the "B" division make the team a bunch of sandbaggers?
Make an honest evaluation of your TEAM, not the individual players on it, and pick the division that you think fits best. Do what is best for the kids - challenge them to help them improve without putting them in a position where they can't compete. If it turns out you were wrong, make the appropriate adjustment up or down the following year. This is not life or death stuff - just use common sense.
Bringing kids up from a lower division to fill in for kids in a higher division is fine. And by the way, You would put a team having 10 "A" kids and 6 "B" kids in the A division to see how they do?? Clearly you've never played any of the teams in the A division. Unless your whole team is solid you will be crucified every game. And while I agree that it's not all about winning, it IS about keeping kids interested in the sport and keeping the numbers up so you don't have 25 kids on one team. Getting killed week in and week out sucks. From a player, coach and parent perspective.
So, again, if I'm short players, I'm grabbing them from the second team. No one will say jack. Even if a team grabs players from the first team, you can't coach your team to isolate one or two players? They can only score 4 goals each.
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