Change of Scenery

Sometimes it feels like we are teaching our children that the most important thing in life is playing a sport. People seem to go to extraordinary lengths to make sure their kid gets to play. I wonder by going to these efforts if the children don't wind up with a sense of entitlement. 

Maybe it is easy for me to say this since my son is a senior in high school, and we don't have these concerns anymore. However, when we moved the summer before his 8th grade year, I did not scope out the baseball scene when picking a high school. I did look at the average SAT scores, teacher retention statistics, and the percentage of students who go on to college. I didn't check to see how many games the team had won, or who would be playing ahead of him in his position. Didn't ask about the coach. I figured my son would work it out. If he was good enough to play, he would play. 

And in the end, his opportunity to play in college came from his summer team, not his high school team. So I would say it worked out for him. 

The way I presented it is my opinion only. I can't say for sure, but it seems obvious why the move was made. Schools are very close to each other so it is unlikely they moved more than 10 miles. 

I do know the kid believed he should have been playing a greater role, and that his mother wasn't happy. Beyond that is conjecture but it seems easy to put 2 and 2 together here.

As for the coaching situation... kid was not on the radar at previous school. At his new school, he is a prize possession. 

So you are saying that you never spoke in person to the parents as to why they moved, or that they were upset he didn't play as much as they would have liked, or that they spent so much time and money into baseball and in their viewpoint, their son wasn't getting a fair deal. 

So everything that happened with this player is your opinion, yet when others give theirs, it's wrong or negative? 

This is not directed to you in particular, but as an old timer I am accused of criticizing, but what I posted was just my opinion, just like the reasons for the move were yours?

Just sayin....

O.K., as I've said, just my opinion, but I haven't criticized what anyone else has posted here. 

I know wasn't directed towards you.  Thank you for telling us that most of htis was your opinion and that you never directly spoke to the folks.

I read the entire thread and there are good arguments on both sides of this one.  I guess am on the side of staying where you are and grinding it out.  It won't change college recruting one iota imho but it will affect how often your name is in the paper and perhaps that is what is motivating people.  The high school season is a small part of the year when compared how many games are in the summer.

For some context on my own opinion, my son attended the largest public high school in the state of Ohio.  He graduated with 1100 in his class.  His high school was bigger than many small D3 colleges out there.  We were thrilled when he made the freshmen team with over 100 kids trying out and even more thrilled he managed to play.  Doubly thrilled he made the JV team as a sophmore and ecstatic he made varisty as a junior,  By the middle of his junior year of varisity, he became the starter because in his limited role off the bench, he produced.  He had to fight and claw and scratch for everything he got in high school and came an eyelash shy of winning two big school state champinships.  I know sitting is no fun, but I know it helped my son learn how to compete and beat someone else out.  When you get to college, it no longer is a local neighborhood competition.  It is a national competition of dog eat dog.

I'll leave the thread with a question hoping to perhaps answer a question.  Which scenario better prepares a high school athlete to play/succeed in college - staying your ground and overcoming adversity or moving to another school to alleviate the competitive issues?   

Originally Posted by twotex:

Sometimes it feels like we are teaching our children that the most important thing in life is playing a sport. People seem to go to extraordinary lengths to make sure their kid gets to play. I wonder by going to these efforts if the children don't wind up with a sense of entitlement. …

I don’t know if it instills a feeling of entitlement, but I do know there’s something that’s changed a great deal in the fabric of this country.

Two, I hear what you are saying but here is another aspect to consider.  I hear an overwhelming majority of you saying that it is more important to focus on education aspect of the school, which is not un-neccessarily true, but have any of you thought about the fact the not every kid is a scholar kid?  Have you thought about the fact the some kids need sports to stay motivated just to attend school?

A little story:

A kid goes to a high school, no freshman team, no JV team only varsity.  Kid makes team freshman year, team is stacked with talent and has produced MLB draft pick for the last   year and every yr of his high school career, plus two after.  Kid only sees 3 pre-season innings rides the pine the rest of the season, no big deal.  Slated to take the starting 3B role his sophomore year, jerks around, big prankster not disciplined(immature)...sees no innings that year, no big deal...loves the game happy to be on the team.  See pitching and 3b action JR yr...coming around, has a good year.  SR yr, #1 Starter, breaks catchers nose throwing a knuckle ball in pre-season...kid ends up being primary catcher......low and behold gets drafted for catching that year. (kid also played basketball and football his freshman year but settled in to baseball)

Kid was a smart student, but never applied himself.  Only maintained GPA to stay eligible.

For this kid it was not education first then sports...it was quite the opposite...kid probably would not have graduated if it were not for sports motivating him to stay in school.

So, at that age, maybe, JUST MAYBE, as they are growing into their own, sports may be the most important thing in life to that person.   Take that away from him/her and they may just shut down.  It sounds like it is working out for the kid, which like I said before, may not have the talent or desire to play at the next level, but he does now and he should be allowed to do whatever ever it takes to foster the dream.

I'm kinda torn about the subject.

The OP's son wants to play baseball.  He may not be talented enough to play on a high level 4a team but may be talented enough to contribute to a 2a team.  I personally would never move specifically for that reason but all things being equal I don't personally see a problem with it.  If it isn't a major problem for the parents and the kid gets the joy of actually playing and contributing for a team instead of sitting on the bench for four years then ok, as long as his education doesn't suffer.  My son plays outside of his assigned school, but not for baseball.  In fact, you can't transfer out of your assigned school for athletics under any circumstance. 

At the same time I hope these parents don't hold any illusions as to their son's future as a ballplayer.  It is true that some late bloomers can explode in their junior and senior years but I hope the family is realistic about how far the kid will go after HS. 

Just for clarification, the kid is not the OP's son. 

has the kid or  his psrents heard about going out and winning  a roster  spot?  it is called life

perhaps  the kid does not have varsity talent

OP said he's a starting vasity pitcher on his new team. so that wouldn't be it.

While I personally would never make the decision to move so my son could play varsity baseball, I can completely I understand it. 

My son's high school is in the largest classification in the state. While the baseball isn't as competitive as what he sees during the summer season, it is still pretty high level. That said, even within that classification there is tremendous disparity between the school sizes and the level of talent overall.

My son made JV on his school's team. Just within the conference there are 2 teams where he would have probably made varsity and 1 team where he may not have even made JV. I know of two programs within ten minutes of us just one classification down where he would get lots of varsity playing time and might even start.

One of the kids on my son's summer team didn't make his school's team this year. If he went to my son's school, he absolutely would have. He lIves less than 2 miles from our house. But, when they added a new high school to our district, his neighborhood was zoned for the older school and ours was zoned for the newer one.

The point is, the school the kid goes to is almost as important as his talent level. If the family has the wherewithal to move so their kid has a chance to play, then good for them. It may not be about getting a scholarship or playing at the next level. Rather their kid might just want to play now, in high school

You cannot change the adversity that comes with the move the same way you cannot control the uncontrollables.  Encourage him to let the adversity fuel him on his journey, as what does not kill you will make you stronger in the end. I've worked with many players in all kinds of circumstances.  Ultimately it is a question of choice from the player personally, and the ones who embraced whatever it was in front of them, adjusted, and succeeded in the end with no regrets.