Can some one explain the high school baseball system please. Explain the difference between summer ball , fall ball , and the normal season? What determines if you are on freshman team, junior varsity or varsity? Which is better for an incoming freshman?
how do you find out when the try outs are? Thank you.
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For incoming freshman, summer ball is more of a camp with games/scrimages thrown in. It's also the first time the coaches will get a chance to start evaluating the incoming talent. Fall ball is a continuation of summer ball. Tryouts will be posted at school and maybe the school website. It s your sons job to figure this stuff out. Your son will know after tryouts whether he has made the team or not as we'll as which level. The official HS baseball season is in the spring. These are when the league/ conference games played and the recorded. Hope this helps.
Beginner baseball, welcome!
I think you may find that terms will mean different things in different parts of the country.
Our high school team does not have a freshman team, only JV and V. Our county doesn't have middle school baseball, so 8th graders in middle school can try out for JV at the high school. Your player wants to be on the team where he can play, and not sit the bench. After reading the site for a bit, I have come to realize that JV can mean 9th and 10th graders only, or, in some locals all ages can play JV. Many coaches will "pull up" good JV players to Varsity as the season progresses.
Tryouts for the high school team is about 2 weeks before the season starts, around here late February. Announcements are made at the high school. Many travel teams will be having try-outs in August for the coming year (for this fall and/or next summer). Some teams announce on this site when try-outs are, so check your state forum.
Around here, high schools do not have summer teams, so summer ball is comprised of teams that have players from different schools/counties/states. They may travel to 5-8 events over the summer, mostly weekends and some week-long events. Summer ball could also include Legion (and other) teams that play locally several times during the week. However, apprarently in different parts of the country, some high schools have their own summer team. There are many threads/posts on this site on the costs of summer travel ball.
At about 16 (or younger), if your player wants to play at the next level, he may want consider teams that play at events that college coaches attend, (such as the Perfect Game events during the summer at East Cobb, around the Marietta, Ga area). Check out the PerfectGame.org website. If you read through back posts, and use the search feature, you will find other individual (non-team) events such as Selectfest, Headfirst, and Stanford Camp, that are recommended for those wanting to play in college. There are many others as well as local events.
The terms "showcase" and "tournament" can be blurred at the high school level. Although Keewartson played last week at the 17u WWBA "Tournament", it is a heavily scouted event by colleges and pro scouts.
I understand where you're coming from. Some parents have been through this when they were in school so know how it works. I can only describe how the schools nearby me do it.
1. Some coaches keep up on local leagues and may be familiar with a few kids already, some kids start attending summer HS sports camps or baseball camps at the school they plan to attend at young ages. This can also give caches an idea of who should be on their radar.
2. Incoming Freshman summer camp/league/scrimmages is where it really begins. Our school had no fall play for freshman. I can say in hindsight it's probably not mandatory you attend summer ball. Many kids who made the Spring team did not do summer ball.
3. Tryouts styles vary. Our school announced with little fanfare freshman interested in playing baseball meet at the bleachers after school one day (around mid January here in CA). From there it was show up at 4:00 ready to practice. About 30 kids did. Practice was 5 days a week, some scrimmages were mixed in, some very tough conditioning days now and then. Live BP, cages, the works. It was not at all like little league try-outs. After about 4 weeks they advised the kids to check a website for a list of names. They cut about 5 kids and continued daily practice. A few weeks later they again cut 5 more with personal interviews. Baseball season runs about early March to mid May in CA. About 15 games plus a few out of league games. If you need to understand what league your school is in, who they play, start at MaxPreps. As far as I can tell only Spring Varsity games "count" in the sense of city and state rankings, stats, etc. Think of JV and freshman as development for "the Show" (Varsity).
4. Our school placed 3 freshman kids on JV (The school runs Varsity, JV and Freshman), 2 of the 3 were brought down a few weeks into the season (I assume they didn't perform as well as expected). About mid season 1 kid went up (he was hitting really well), and at the end of the season a couple more got in a few JV games (again they were hitting well). Varsity is generally 11-12th grades, JV 10th, Freshman 9th.
5. What determines the level you play is up to the coaches. Some kids just can't compete higher up because of size, maturity, attitude and skill. If kids keep working and progressing they will play for 4 years. I see no reason to try to "play-up" if they're not ready. My son fit in very well as a freshman, built confidence and made a lot of new friends.
6. At the end of the freshman season there was a few weeks off then the unofficial summer league began again, the freshman now being called JV. All were invited back.
7. And I'll add many parents I talk to are kind of let down by HS baseball. Some schools have few practices, indifferent coaching, weak competition (might just be the lower levels). Many kids continue to play travel, scout teams, etc all through HS in the off season thinking it's necessary to make it at higher levels.
