I coached both of my daughters in rec. basketball from 2nd grade through 6th. When I coached 2-3 grades, all kids on the team got equal playing time and I had no set starters. I rotated every game. These kids are just learning the game so it is important to develop skills and to have fun. At the next grade level 3-4, I would start the kids that made every practice to reward them for their commitment to the team but everyone got equal time on the court. During 5-6 grade, I started the best 5 and finished the game with the best 5 unless we had a big lead or were getting blown out. In that case the kids that needed the most work were on the court to get better. But whatever grade, I tried to keep playing time even among all players. In my area, there are plenty of "Travel" teams that parents can pay big $ for their kids to play on if the parents think their kid is better than average.
