I’ll share our son’s experience, which was a good one, of a freshman on varsity. He was asked by the coach to pitch in a fall varsity-level game and based on that performance was invited to tryout for varsity as a freshman. He was also 15 and made the team. His experience was great and we have no regrets. The better competition just helped to make him a better pitcher. I don’t feel it ruined his confidence, but challenged him to work hard and earn his spot on the rotation. All kids are different. If your son gets discouraged easily with competition, then its something he’ll need to work on within himself, the sooner the better! It sounds like if the coach is bringing him up to varsity, it’s to have him pitch not sit. The key issue would be how the other varsity players will react. He’ll need to be ready to take some ribbing. I don’t think they ever used our son’s name that whole year, just referred to him as “freshman”….. and, we parents were also the new kids on the block, joining a group of families that had known each other for 3 years. But, it was a great year. So, based on our experience, I say let him take on the challenge and just be there to be his best fan.
