I won't pretend that I know the individual circumstances of each volleyball team, but from an outsider's perspective (specifically, one who has run a sports team and has a lot of experience in factions), this just looks like an issue of coordination and accountability, which is really just an issue that plagues the entire server, not just your team.
The biggest part of the problem is that nobody holds their group members accountable for poor activity. I know I'll be hit with the "SRP is a silly block game, real life takes priority" argument, but this really doesn't hold up; regardless of the subject matter, whether it's in real life or online, when you join some sort of recreational group you are agreeing to dedicate some amount of time to it on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong, I do think that necessary real world obligations are something that you shouldn't skip out on, and that there are some things which you certainly should choose over minecraft; I just think it's somewhat unfair to the person in charge of organizing your group's activity, meeting, or practice, if you are to not make an appearance when they are expecting you to be there.
However, this isn't just an issue from group members, but their leaders, too. The coordination of groups requires a responsible leader, meaning that they will need to regularly check with their members to organize meetings, practices, etc. that enable as many people to attend as possible, otherwise their meetings will never consistently be full. If you simply schedule meetings every week for the same day and same time, the chance of players always being available takes a sharp nosedive.
There is also the issue of group leaders being averse to keeping their players in check. Nobody wants to feel like the bad guy, but being a leader means you'll need to be responsible enough to deal with troublesome individuals if it gets to that point. If someone regularly ditches meetings or doesn't engage themself in the group to the point where it becoems an issue, remove them and find a replacement.
I feel like I should mention, despite it being somewhat obvious, I am not singling out any specific person or group in this. This is a colletion of my thoughts that I've based on my years of time that I've spent in various factions, leading others, and talking with other leaders. Some of this may apply to some groups less than others, but I genuinely believe they apply to most, even if only somewhat.
In direct regards to your specific suggestion, I think this would be a great band-aid solution to the problem. Sure, if only 5/8 of your team shows up and you need at least 6 players to practice, I'm sure you'd be able to get good attendance more consistently if you were given more roster slots. But really, I think it's much more worthwhile that the server as a whole re-evaluates its position on inactivity, so that it can solve the main issue rather than treating one of its symptoms.
TLDR: It's not an issue of the amount of roster slots which leads to empty practices, but a lack of accountability and (possibly) poor team management.
Feel free to hit me with your finest :nerd: emojis
