I agree politics, for lack of a better word does in fact exist. I tell my sons that if the believe in themselves, work hard and get better, not just for your current coach, your current team, but for yourself and any future teams.
As a parent you should know going in to this that your player is going to go through this, everyone does.
The problem I see is that coaches get emotionally attached to certain players, their familes etc... and that ends up having a bearing on the roster decisions. Or the coach thinks this is the best player for the position even though , the player makes error after error, but if the coach makes a roster change then it appears he was wrong in the first place and does not have enough class to admit he was wrong, so he leaves the kid out there hoping he will turn it around, and the kid that might have been the best fit sits.
Two players on a summer team I followed last year. player A very much better than player B, player A plays in front of player B all summer, ERA is better wins are better, fewer walks the whole nine...fast forward to HS ball player B plays all season in front of player A....why....player B is a sr.....and in a weak high school division can still pitch well enough to win......so the better player , player A waits until summer ball starts.
another reason I prefer summer ball over HS ball, I have never heard a summer ball coach says, 'well he's a senior.......