#1 Assistant Coach posted:
There seems to be an invisible line that separates the focus on "team first" and "me first" here.......X Is this where the transition occurs that we see so much in pro sports and at times college sports; in the summer between senior year of HS and freshman year of college? Posters on this site excoriate parents and kids who dare to jockey/transfer from one HS to another due to lack of PT. The message here is ALWAYS, "don't be a quitter, buy in to the coach's system, No "I" in team, you'll be sending the wrong message to your kid if you let them jump to another HS, let them grow and learn the lesson, challenge them, life isn't fair, etc. etc. etc."
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Yet suddenly one year later in college it's a no brainer to bolt because "John" (no longer "Johnny") is not getting the PT he thinks he deserves. These are the same issues we discuss in HS, it's just 4-years later, isn't it?
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Is baseball chivalry dead in college? Is sitting the bench in college as a freshman and then partially sophomore year, buying in to coach's philosophy, and the role he has given you, "waiting your turn," NOT an option? I thought that was what "team" was all about? Let's be honest most of these guys were kids who never missed a starting AB or inning in the field from 8yo thru 18yo. That was something other kids had to deal with. Now for the first time in their lives, they are not a starter, maybe even RS'd for freshman year, and it's so unacceptable that they transfer?
I think you raise an interesting point, but perhaps you answered your own question. D1 athletes are the ones who never missed an inning or AB from 8yo to 18yo, so they were not the ones jockeying/transferring high schools to get playing time. But once in college, things changed for the D1 stud and if they are sitting, their reaction is exactly the same as the HS kids 4 years earlier (transfer). Perhaps the notion of a team first player works well for the kids who are playing, but not so much for the kids on the bench, no matter what the age.