2019Dad posted:At my son's HS the coaches are very upfront on these points at the annual parents meeting:
- If two players are viewed as comparable in the coaches' eyes, the younger player will get the playing time. The older player has to be better than the younger player (in the coaches' view) in order to win the job.
- But there is no reason to bring a younger player up to sit him on the bench. So the coaches will say "sometimes the backup is not on varsity"
- "Program -- Team -- Player, in that order"
P.S. -- it goes without saying that the better player will play. The tougher decision is when two plays are close -- roughly comparable. In that case, Younger >>> Older.
I highlighted part of your post and have a simple question...why? In my opinion having the younger "backup" player sitting on the bench 1) Sends a message to the older player that his backup is sitting right on the bench ready to go and 2) Allows the younger player to learn the varsity coach's coaching style and expectations to better prepare him to play at the varsity level.