Best of Hoop Mom: Subbing for Injuries

In her second column for HoopGurlz.com, Teresa Wippel tackles the kind of basketball issues that require a mother's touch.

This past weekend our point guard fractured her collarbone in a tournament and will be out for at least two weeks. Without her, we have seven players. Should we go out and find a sub to play in her place during the last couple games of league play, or should we play with seven girls and show them that they can play without her?

Injured

Dear Injured::
Losing a player temporarily – whether to injury, illness or a commitment, such as an unavoidable trip out of town – usually never comes at the "right time" for most teams. It's a particular challenge for those of us with smaller rosters. All of a sudden, what seemed like a such a good idea – maintaining a smaller team size to allow for greater player development and more individual playing time -- doesn't seem so good when your team experiences a flu epidemic just prior to a tournament!

Bringing in a substitute is a tempting short-term solution, but realize that it also could bring its own set of problems. For example, will you expect your new player to learn and be able to run your plays with only two weeks left in the season? What happens if she doesn't "gel" with her teammates and causes friction on the team?

I believe that there is something to be said for challenging your remaining players to fill the void when a player or two is missing. It teaches them to dig deep and rely on themselves to step up – no matter what the situation. It’s inevitable that at some point you will have games where players foul out or get injured, leaving you with a smaller roster temporarily. So you might as well accustom your players to filling as many roles as possible – just in case.

This advice may not apply, of course, if you are preparing for a major national or regional tournament and have committed a great deal of time and money to fielding the best team possible. In that case, it may be wise to find a substitute player if tournament rules allow.

Hoop Mom

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Teresa Wippel is team manager of the Warriors Basketball Club, a 5th Grade girls' team from the Seattle area, and mom to Warriors post player Amanda Waldron. In her other life, she is a freelance writer and editor. To ask Teresa a question, email her at

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Hoop Mom on Looking for a Select Team
Hoop Mom on Commitment to Team
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Hoop Mom on Subbing for Injuries
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