I made the team but don't play in games what gives?

I have been approached by a couple of different parents who would like me to speak to the athletes who make the team but do not get played in games.  This is a complex situation as I have to consider a couple of different people.  The first one is what was explained to the athlete when they make the team.  Making the cuts and being selected to represent a school or club means you have displayed a set of skills or potential to make it worth a coaches time to help you develop your game.  It does not mean you have displayed the skill necessary to be on the court during games.  A coach should explain what skills an athlete needs to develop or perfect to allow them to contribute to a successful team.  Successful teams are made up of various skills; no one athletes have all the necessary skills, but some have more than others.  One of the most valuable athletes that I have ever coached was an athlete who, in four years of playing on my team never started a game or played even large portions of important games.  However, she helped us win more games in critical situations because of her ability to block and serve.  I would put her in when games were tight, and I needed to break a streak of great hits, which she would end with an ideal block and then would go back and have a killer serve, which would change the momentum in many a game, a fantastic tool for any coach to have on the team.  She worked hard on her blocking and serves to the point where no other player on the team was better at those skills.  A single season is short and is not the measure of a successful career. It took me three years to make the starting lineup on the university team, it took a lot of work and training to achieve that and was one of those things that I earned, which gave it value.  If I had been given the opportunity without the effort and work, it would not have been something that would have made me proud.

To summarize, a player who makes the team has been allowed to practice and become better he or she has shown the potential that at some time they could offer something which will make the team successful.  The athlete has to decide what to do with this gift and opportunity.  The lack of playing time is because a coach does not feel the athlete has anything that fits into a successful team's puzzle.  A good coach will explain that, but part of it might just be how an athlete reacts to not playing, and if he/she is still working hard and helping make the team better, the athlete is displaying the right stuff.  Any athlete who takes the practice opportunity and strives to make themselves better by putting in the effort, sweat and tears and figures out what the team needs and how they can contribute will almost always get themselves onto a starting lineup or onto the court during the game maybe not fast enough for the athlete's parents or the athlete themselves but practice does make perfect.  If you are not practicing harder and more often than others, what right do you have to demand or expect to play? 

The biggest problem with many athletes today is that they feel that making the team automatically means they will get a chance to play.  The biggest lesson to be learned is earning it, quit thinking you are entitled to game time simply because you made the team and showed up to practice.  Practices are where you earn the right to play in games, not tryouts.  Figure out what skill you can do so a coach can use you to win games.  Serving is the easiest but works at it in piles of time outside practice.  Then when the opportunity presents itself, and you enter into a game you have earned, and you will be ready.