I have been told by other travel dads that my son would have started Varsity as a freshman on their son's HS team, and have asked us to move him. Our HS has good records but fails to finish the season strong when the level of competition increases and this is due to the players on the field and the coaching strategy during the game. My son has proven to be a solid player, whether you see it or the HS coach sees it. I am not saying he is Bryce Harper, I am saying he is better than the average HS player starting at Varsity. He has already been graded by scouts last year as above average and capable of playing at the next level and his consistent stats that the scouts were not even aware of also back them up. He has worked hard to do the little things correct. His swing is successful because it stays in the zone longer than most peoples at this level. He hits line drives to all fields. A scout told him to his face that he had an exceptional swing and that was the same swing he tries to teach his players at the college level. The scout watched him hit 10 pitches and came to that conclusion. My son was in 8th grade that year and the coach was from a top 10 college program. He warms up in a way that impresses others, each throw matters. Dads and other coaches have walked over to me and commented on that. One dad was thankful that his son was my sons throwing partner because he and his son like how serious he is. My son sprints to his position and he is fast so it is obvious that he got there before the others that jog. He may not be as good as I think, but he is good and when people look and know about baseball they appreciate what he brings to the teams he is on. I taught him to warm up like it matters, I taught him to hustle on the field, I worked on his swing, I worked on his throws from the field, I hit all the fly balls to him so he can dive and slide to catch them, my son has a great work ethic and we work great together. He practices like this on purpose and I don't see any of our HS coaches coaching like this or taking notice of his players who practice like this. That's why I can't bear to watch practice. I stay away, I don't say anything, I just take it all in and think how will this make my son a better player and me a better coach to my kids and others I coach. I am on here to vent. Maybe that's wrong, maybe I'm that dad. If I could pick something for anyone to learn from this, it might be sometimes coaches just suck,(pick a reason) do the small things right, out work everyone, and the coach might still suck, but if you love the game you know your not doing it for the coach you are doing it for the game. Best of luck to the boys in the playoffs and the ones headed to summer ball.