LaxTV Forums | A Forum About The MCLA

Is it me or does there roster seem small (29) for such a dominate program?

It's you. It's quality, not quantity that matters.

the lax wrote:Is it me or does there roster seem small (29) for such a dominate program?

I believe Oakland made it to the big dance a few years back with about 17 players on their roster.

Simon Fraser also has gone to the tourney with a small roster. A small roster can be a drawback in a 4 day tournament as fatigue does become a factor.

29 quality players is more than enough, even for the tourney. It can be much more detrimental to a team to allow almost anyone to play on the team and have a roster of 40-45 than it is to have 25-30 of the best, most committed players who really want to be there.

The USA West teams also seem to do pretty well, they only have 25 or so players, play games about everyday, or multiple games/day, and still kick butt. We played 17 games in 20 days in Japan/China in 04' and went 16-1 with 25 guys.

TrojanLaxman5 wrote:29 quality players is more than enough, even for the tourney. It can be much more detrimental to a team to allow almost anyone to play on the team and have a roster of 40-45 than it is to have 25-30 of the best, most committed players who really want to be there.

I would agree with that. UCSB had a roster of 40+ for the last couple of years and one of the problems they encountered was getting enough quality practice time for the players. With a roster that size, you are running drills 4, 5 & 6 lines deep. Large rosters also create more of an administrative headache sometimes.

Simon Fraser had considerably less players than 29 at the tourney a few years back. I want to say it was in the neighborhood of 16-19 players, but I'm not sure.

In 2001 I believe SFU went to STL with a roster of 14 in 2003 it was 16 or 17 in 2004 it was about 20.

Simon Fraser doesn't have to earn their way to the tournament like Sonoma does in going through the WCLL.

the lax wrote:Simon Fraser doesn't have to earn their way to the tournament like Sonoma does in going through the WCLL.

they do now...

When was the last time that Sonoma missed the tourney? I don't know the answer, but it was a long time ago, if ever. There is no comparing Sonoma to Simon Fraser. Sorry.

I disagree. There is a reason that most major programs carry 40+ players. Depth in practice and the ability to develop talent are huge assets to a team. In order to get through an entire season with injuries, illness, class conflicts, etc. you need enough guys to maintain a good level of competition at practice. It can be done with less, but it's definitely a plus to have a large roster.

Oakland is another tournament team with a small roster.