Here are a couple little tricks that can really help you out.
This first technique is something I’ve never done, but I’m still gonna name it. Let’s call it Repeater. I saw it first at College Nationals this year, where Syzygy was using it (they crushed us) and I later overheard teams using it at Solstice (Eugene) and HoDown (Calgary). Basically, your sub caller yells out the names just as usual and then everyone repeats them. “Beth.” “BETH!” “Kate.““KATE!” And so forth. It’s really a wonderful piece of technology. It focuses your team on the point ahead and helps avoid that dratted looking-for- someone-on-the-sideline-and-yelling-their-name business. This technique does require that your sub caller have a decision very quickly, but you can always make on the line changes after the seven are out there.
This second technique is one that I’ve used twice and each time it was incredibly effective. You almost always (particularly in women’s) have a player with a season ending injury. Have them call subs. I had a sophomore (Jinny Eun of Riot) do this for Syzygy the year we won. Did she know what she was doing at the beginning of the season? Absolutely not. Did she know what she was doing at the end of the season? Definitely. It takes a lot of work on the part of a coach or a captain to teach someone to call subs, but it is absolutely worth it. Obviously, this person doesn’t have to be a rookie. This past year for Oregon, one of our captains (Gordy) blew her knee out and immediately took over from me as main sub caller. As a coach or captain, you are freed from the tyranny of the clipboard. Free to actually coach or play. Then, subbing becomes one more area of oversight, like play-calling or defense or analyzing the other team’s best player.
Remember, the best sub caller is Victory and the worst sub caller is Defeat.
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