Final HS JV Game

Personally I would have sat back and watched the game.

 

I agree with Joes87.  Last game.  No big deal.  Once the seniors graduate everything changes for next year. 

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As a parent I would have just watched the game.  

As a coach I wouldn't have done that.   What did some of the other boys on the team think about it?

When my son was moved up to Varsity football the last two weeks of his freshman year to be backup QB he wasn't allowed to play on the JV team. 

Let them play with their friends. My son's freshman year, he was a starting pitcher for varsity and played JV position. They did have a freshman team and only one other freshman even played JV. He has said several times he would liked to have played at least one freshman game to play with all his friends. When it comes down to it, that's what HS ball is all about - playing with your friends. Let them enjoy it.

Agree, just watch the game.

 

As for the Varsity coaches reasoning to send down a couple guys for the last season of the game.....I've seen several reasons over the years.   First is to give them reps because they will be called back up to varsity for playoffs.  Second, it could be an important rival game that the coaches want to win.  I understand it is JV, but it does take on an importance when being played against a local rival. 

 

As for understanding a coaches motivation, I've learned it makes a lot more sense to watch what they do than it is to listen to what they say.

 

Best of luck to your son in Varsity.

Welcome to the site.  We move players up and down for lots of reasons.  Sometimes we'll have kids brought up that end up not getting much playing time at V because fewer situational opportunities come up than we anticipate.  It's nice to get them some game innings with JV toward the end of the season if that is the case.  This may have factored in along with the stated thought.

 

If you are the parent of a player who has been starting at JV and doesn't start this game due to the new players coming down, it is certainly understandable to have some initial disappointment.  But in any case, it is not something you have control over and it can only create negativity among others to question the decision, so as others have stated, watch and enjoy the game regardless of who is playing and whether it happens to be your son or not.  Be a fan of the team and remember that each player has loving concerned parent/s like you.  JV is supposed to be developmental for V and there should be lots of moving parts.  There should be new faces on the field several times throughout a game.

 

Lastly, if your boy/s hope to continue playing to the next level (V) and beyond (maybe college), it can only help them if they get used to the idea that there will always be someone competing for their playing time and that includes unexpected new faces.

 

Enjoy the journey!

As a parent of a Sophomore who played Varsity I can see prospective from coaches and players who "played up". Coaches had my son play with JV several times throughout year on open dates. I can assure you younger kids who played Varsity worked very hard also & got less playing time on Varsity than if they would have stayed with their peers. Very likely playing up resulted in less overall playing time for kids than if they played year on JV. These kids likely spent a lot of time traveling and sitting with varsity throughout the year. I think it is very fair to let them drop down to JV for playing time.

Playing JV at the end (or somewhere in the middle) for younger varsity players is a way to get these same boys in a game. Like a few posters mentioned, their varsity playing time may have been severely limited...so getting on the field is a great thing no matter where. 

I would never do this.

 

It violates basic fairness and serves as an unnecessary season-ending reminder that the JV players are inferior to Varsity (which they are, of course,  but there's no need to rub it in during the final JV game of the year.)

 

BTW, I'm not just speaking as a coach, I'm speaking as a dad.  One of my sons sat the varsity bench his entire junior year because the senior starters at his positions were better than him.  I would NOT have been happy if they'd dropped him down to JV for the final JV game, where he would displaced a kid who had been playing all season. Unfair.  Wrong.

 

Sports are blue collar.  Physical. Dirty. Gruntwork.  Like construction work. And police work.  Loyalty is important in blue collar jobs.  If you put out for me, I'll take care of you, I will cover your tail.

 

Yup, it burns me up to think that three varsity guys dropped down to make a season-ending cameo appearance on a JV team that had "worked hard together all year."  Worked hard.  Together.  Don't violate that.

 

 

 

       
       


Freddy,
I have to disagree with you. Not talking about Jr's & Sr's dropping to JV but underclassmen. In my sons case they have Freshman, JV, & Varsity. With her few exceptions kids are playing with class with Jr's & Sr's playing varsity. In my sons case as well as two other Sophomores they played varsity. It was not a choice, coach makes the call & that's the way it is. Teams do not travel together so Varsity kids can't drop to JV and play on same trip. My son got Varsity playing time but not nearly as much if he played JV. Had he & the other 2 played JV some of the kids would have less playing time throughout year. My son endured trips and late night without seeing the field and never complained. His appearances on JV were not cameo but needed playing time.

I haven't seen it done at my son's high school, but I don't have a problem with it.  What if those players had stayed down on JV all year?  Then, the players whose spots they took would have played a whole lot less.  Not that big a deal IMHO.  In fact, I think it is good for the guys to be rewarded for sitting all season on varsity.

I appreciate all the feedback, I will say this...These guys were NOT players that sat the bench on Varsity. 2 of them were regular starters.

cabbagedad,

You make good points.

However, in the original post, the reason given for dropping down the V players was "the boys wanted to play with their peers."

That rubs me the wrong way.  Not, IMO, an adequate reason to bench 3 JV players who had been working hard together all season.

 

On the other hand, I also strongly believe in the standard advice that the original poster should ignore it, forget about, don't talk about it with other parents, and ideally watch all HS games in isolation,  behind the OF fence, away from all the other parents.

Our coaches tend to pull up when needed, but not send down. My son swings to Varsity from Freshman. He gets a lot of playing time at Frosh, but when they need him at Var, they pull him up. It's a strange arrangement, but it works.

 

I can see how this would rankle a few parents and players. On this site, people often say to just sit back and enjoy the game, not worry about things you can't control, etc. This has really helped me keep things in perspective this year, but it does take practice and you have to make the decision that you aren't going to let all this petty stuff bring you down. I will say, the vast majority of parents I've dealt with this year do not look at things this way. They are wound tight and complain about a lot of very minor stuff. And once they get going, it's like a snowball that just doesn't stop.

 

I have really learned to just enjoy watching my son play and not sweat all the small stuff. It made what could have been a horrible year (our teams are not very good at all) pretty good. Practice makes perfect and I am still practicing my new zen-like outlook. By his senior year, I think I'll be a pro.

Nice post.

And you're not the only one that wins with this outlook. Your son wins as well. He'll absorb it and it can only make him a better player.

Gotta disagree with Billy19 on this one - I'm in Freddy's court. The varsity players got to be on varsity, they get their letter jackets and they get bragging rights. If they are worried that they don't get to play as much because the seniors are better then they should have asked to play JV from the beginning. My son was pulled up to Varsity to play early season tourneys as a backup with the understanding that he would be playing JV once district started. Even though 90% of the tourneys were rained out he had to deal with resentment from other players who didn't get the same consideration (being asked to play with varsity) - and he's a very quiet/humble kid. It's not that he took another kids playing time - he didn't as everyone knew he would be there when district started. It probably part jealousy and part loyalty to teammates but I think it's bad form for a coach to do that.

Regardless of how you feel about this situation it isn't worth giving a second thought. i went through the high school scene with two kids playing multiple sports. I saw parents get easily offended on behalf of their kids. Meanwhile, the kids overlooked the situation and moved on. An important thing I learned as a high school sports parent is never spend time dwelling on something your kid is willing to blow off. The kid who is playing shouldn't  have to tell the parent to get over it.

 

When my son was a senior I got bent out of shape. The coach threw my son under the bus in the paper. My son had busted his rear to return from surgery by opening day. His surgeon had told him he was going to miss the season. My son pulled me aside after a game and told me to get over it In a sharp tone. He said regardless of what the coach said he bats third, he's the best player on the team and he'll be all conference when it's over. Then he threw this bomb in my face ... You've been telling me for years tune out what I can't control. I can't control what the coach says to the paper. What the coach did was wrong. My son's attitude was so what! Play ball.

 

When your kids are older you will realize some of the moments you felt they got screwed were valuable learning experiences that helped them become adults.

Freddy, I personally agree that that reason is not a good one.  To be honest, I sort of chalked that up to "lost in translation", assuming OP may not know first hand what the real or whole reason/s were behind the decision, which is so often the case.  That's largely why I offered up other possible explanation.

 

And your point certainly has merit as well.   Although, if we agree that the primary function of JV is to be a conduit to V, to help prepare players for V and have players ready for the call when needed, then there are many instances when sending players down can make as much sense as sending players up.  As usual, it's rarely black and white and there are always many things to consider.

 

Most importantly, we totally agree on advice that should be given to the parents.   I do wish that those parents trying to handle things well like KandK don't have to sometimes feel like they have to isolate themselves from the other parents though.  Team spirit and camaraderie among parents should be the rule rather than the exception.

My 2017 catcher is a soph. and was pulled up to V with 2 other Sophs. He started splitting time and then was benched for 7-8 games for the junior, who is also a very good catcher. Our V home game was rained-out but the away JV game was still on so the HC sent my son and one other soph. to start for the JV team so they'd get some playing time. While I understood the reasons, I did feel that the parents of the JV team starters who got benched would be rightfully chapped and I personally felt like it was a slight to the JV kids who worked for PT. My son is now the starter.

       
       


Not sure how it works at other schools but here its not a choice to play JV or Varsity. Coach decides and thats the way it is. Son was told going into the season he would play some on JV on idle varsity nights; again its the coaches call. I don't think he took any kids playing time on JV. On the contrary I think the kid got a lot more playing time than if my son had my son been on JV entire season.

Was your son replaced by one of the younger Varsity players who came down?

All parents need to realize that if these two younger players played JV all yr instead of V they would have started and the others who were not as good would Have been on bench.

they will all be together someday on V and the best player will get the spot. That's sports

I would have just sat and enjoyed watching my son play HS ball. Remember folks that's part of the journey. Would I question it? Sure. As many of us would. Don't try to figure out their decision making, especially at JV and Frosh levels. The more you try the greater the chance you missed something theyve done right. 

Is it possible the coach wanted the rest of the JV team to see what a varsity player looks like and show them what it will take to make varsity next year?  How they play, how they act in the dugout, level of effort/hustle, attitude, speed of the game, etc.  This would seem to be a good idea. (I know the "reason offered" was that the boys wanted to play with their peers, but not sure I'm buying this).

       
       

Very well stated.  I assure you that most of the jv players felt the same.

This is the first year we have not had any V come down to JV, mostly due to roster size and the V players, if brought down, would be very hard pressed to out play our top 10 JV talent. But, what about the opposite and how would V feel when, at the end of the season, a Freshman is brought up for the playoffs, and takes your position.  I know of one in our JV program that will move up and can make an impact.  He has the power and the arm.  Long (good) story, but pitching tonight for the first time this year.  Freshman throwing low 80's, fast, and hits HR's (one anyway).  One of our very talented 34 (20 Freshman) and this kid is good. 

My son was the #3 starter on varsity as a freshman. #'s 1 and 2 were stud seniors. The vast majority of our games were 10-run rule, 5 inning victories. As a result, the starters usually went CG and there were large stretches where a #3 wasn't needed. My son was often sent down when varsity wasn't playing to get a jv start to keep sharp. I'm sure there were innings on the mound being taken away from jv pitchers and I heard grumblings from more than one parent of a Soph or Junior jv player. Bottom line is that the junior varsity team serves primarily as a tool for varsity development. It may be that in the OP's situation, he was basically putting next year's varsity team on the field in that game and wanted to see how they gel.