High School varsity as a freshman

Never good to start out high school career on a downer. If he is good, he will do well on freshman or JV. No sense going to Varsity (unless competition is horrible) if he's not ready. In a good program, JV is pretty tough even for a freshman (remember, in a large program, players that are juniors might even be on JV). In a really small school, a decent size athlete can (good strong build) with lots of talent can really do well on varsity. Barring those attributes, it's good to stay down and develop as a player and get more playing time. If the coach knows what he's doing, that's exactly what's going to happen.

It really should be based on the player’s ability, if he is the best for the position then he should play up, if there are concerns that he is not good enough to compete against other older players from the other teams, he should not get a bid over another player who can.

But on the other hand, he should not be held back because he is an underclassman as well...

When son first started out in high school there were three teams, freshman, JV and Varsity. He played JV as ss, pitcher, first then moved to Varsity same year and pitched a few innings and he was NOT happy. They moved him up for "experience".

Does it really matter where a freshman is playing just as long as he is playing? This really seems like a no brainer to me because you do always seem to have the answers.

FWIW IMO If he is talented enough to make the varsity... Grab that experience against the "better competition".

If he gets overwhelmed, they can move him down. If he struggles a little it can actually be a good thing. Next year is a new year!

I agree that you play at the highest level possible where you'll actually be able to play. If your Frosh is good enough to make Varsity and play, go for it ! If he's pretty good but probably won't start on Varsity, then play JV and start every game.

Won't he play where the coach wants him to play? We are facing a similar issue, could explain what feels like an ulcer in my stomach.

I just want son to continue to get better, and to enjoy the experience.

Playing time, whether it be on Fish, JV, or Varsity is the most important thing. Gotta get AB's, IP's, etc...

The sooner you get the chance to play against the best competition the better. We have never held a kid back that we felt could play varsity for us. If he can help our team then he is on our team. What I have seen is these players step up to the stage they are on. Yes they might have games they struggle in. But by the end of the year they are so much better. A player should want to be challenged and play against the best competition he can play against. If we feel a kid can help us on varsity its not up to him or his parents. He is going to play varsity. We dont bring kids up to sit the bench. If they struggle and are over their head we send them down to jv. We might bring them up and down several times during the year.

If you have a freshman on varsity team and he gets a few at bats here or maybe one or two innings in the field there - you are doing him and your team a disservice. Keep him at JV or Frosh ball where he can play.

If he can play a pretty good amount of varsity innings then move him up. Experience against good players will help him.

If the freshman struggles against varsity players it's really not that bad of a thing. Now you can see what kind of mental make up he has.

Does he thrive and get better OR does he crumble and fold?

I agree with the above posts regarding playing time and making sure you get ABs, inning pitched, etc.

However, keep in mind the practices at the high school level are generally MUCH better than what I think of as the typical jv or frosh practice. While I know that there probably some very good jv and frosh programs out there....this is something to consider. Your son might learn a while lot and develop more while practicing with the older, better players.

Discussion reminds me of the kid on here last February who could only talk about making varsity at age 14.

A few weeks later he reported back that he wasn't even selected for this HS freshman team!

fyi - son has already made the final cut, team selection has not been made. I just want things settled! :lol:

I'm OK either way, coaches know what they are doing. There are pros and cons for either situation. They keep saying that they plan on moving kids around - son has practiced with both teams. Things will never be settled will they?

If the Varsity is weak, then a good freshman could come in and help. I would see it as an opportunity.

2 years ago we had 3 freshmen STARTERS on Varsity. Because they were good enough to be there. Team went to State. It depends on the player.

I agree with Sluggo, if he is good enough to be a starter in the Varsity team, then go for it.

This is the ultimate double edged sword. We went through it two years ago. Bottom line, it's up the coach, so no matter what your opinion is, it probably doesn't matter. (At least that is the way I looked at it - I never discussed it with my kid's coach.)

Our situation was: he was doing very well on JV, hitting great and catching well. About a third of the way into the season, they decided that the varsity catcher (a senior with a strong arm) would be the closer, and to pull my kid up to catch when he closed.

I had mixed feelings, to be sure. Flattered that they considered him good enough to catch at the varsity level, but worried that he would get very few at bats, and that always takes its toll.

As the season progressed, the senior catcher was put in the pitching rotation, so my kid would catch every third game. Still, most of the time the DH'd for him, so few at bats during the school season.

Occasionally he would pop down to JV if they were confident that he wouldn't be needed for the varsity game that day.

At the end of the day, I guess it worked out OK. He got some very good game experience catching varsity games as a freshman, on a good team that made it to the state quarterfinals. That was the plus side.

The negative side was he got sporadic at bats, and it was early summer before he really got his timing back. It's tough to adjust the next level of pitching without regular at bats, and he went through a period where I would say was the only slump of his life, where his confidence dipped and he was unsure at the plate.

By mid summer, playing against essentially the same competition, he was back to his regular batting self, worked through it. Working through a slump and coming out the other end actually has its benefits too.

So, as I said at the start: this is a double edged sword. There are good things and bad things about it. I'm not sure how they balanced out in my kid's case, but it wasn't my choice anyhow.

If a kid has the talent, why not? About the only concern I would have is if he were not yet ready emotionally to play with the "big boys". Rob's example is a case-in-point.. all ballplayers must deal with off days.. how do they deal with it? If your kid is ultimately confident, and can deal with adversity, and the opportunity arises it is a good thing.

I'm just going to chime in here to bring one more issue to consider when playing up, this could apply to either gender and any sport.
We had this situation a few years back, and quite frankly the boys that my son was going to play with were a very forward bunch, if you know what I mean.
He was a freshman, it was a heavy to senior team, and they were into partying a lot. I just felt that he wasn't going to gain that much in baseball to subject him to things he wasn't ready for. He at the time was mentally and physically mature enough if it had have been a different group, I might have made a different decision.

Just something to think about.

If it is a good group of guys that will mentor him, it could be a really good experience.

Oh yes, you mean the bird of paradise? You are correct I am sure that is the name of what they were smoking.

i agree with ibb ,speaking from my own experience. freshman and seniors are a world apart socially. make sure your son understands the peer pressure involved. they think it's fun to watch the freshman party. just make sure he/you understands.

My son did not make varsity to start the year last season, but was moved up half way through the year. He sat on the bench for a couple of games,and then became the starting catcher. He did very well behind the plate, but his hitting was not up to par.I think it was a great experience for him. He got to play against the big boys, and learned some of the things he needs to work on for the coming season. Like many posters have stated, you only improve by playing against tougher competition. The social side worked out well too, most of the guys were helpful and encouraging to him. My son thought it was a great experience and would do itall over if he had the choice(which he really didnt). He will start this season with a lot more confidence and is ready to be a leader, as a catcher should be. He was much quiter behind the plate on varsity compared to jv.

depends on a lot of things, ability and mental make up.


drill

#2 son moved very quickly from soph to varsity as a freshman (we had frosh-soph-varsity levels). He was the first freshman our coach ever brought up to varsity (until #3 son came along!) #1 concern was that he would play - to me, no matter how good the competition is, if you're watching it from the bench it's not making you any better. He did play and he was able to contribute and it was the right decision. As many have said, it was the coach's decision, but one that we felt comfortable with. #2 concern was how he would be treated by the other players - in his case, he was respected for his ability as a player and he never had a problem. (Lots of problems with the sophs that he leapfrogged over, but that's another story!) Last question at the end of every practice - "who's giving the 'little guy' a ride home?" since he was the only one without a license. They all watched out for him and made sure he was taken care of.

It is an individual choice and one that you will only be able to evaluate fully once it's been made and the season is over. For now you do your best with the information you have. Good luck!

My son attended a small private HS and I saw two different examples, good and bad, of freshmen playing varsity.

Although it was a small school, it was the policy for freshmen not to be considered for varsity. My son began freshman year pitching for JV, but a few weeks into the season was brought up to also play varsity. Most JV and varsity games were played on different days, so he continued to pitch for JV and became a position player (utility starter) for varsity. He got comfortable with the competition at the varsity level, and the varsity players treated him well (except that they made up a rule that freshmen carry the equipment...of course there was only one freshman).

But the bad example:

Two years later, a freshman who was an excellent athlete in several sports was picked at the beginning of the year to play varsity only. He became a pinch runner for the varsity pitchers, probably getting 10 game at-bats the whole season, and about the same # of innings on defense (late innings). He was an asset to the team because of his speed on the base paths, but I don't think that's what he was told about his role when he made varsity only. It appeared to be an almost wasted year for him, although he was a really nice kid who did not complain. (He ended up getting a college scholarship for football.)

In both cases, it was the coach's choice, not the parents'. But if I did have any choice as a parent, I'd want my son to be on the highest team where he would get significant playing time.

I have to agree. Playing time is key.

I don't want what I am about to put start another good coach vs bad coach or coach vs parent debate but I have read several times in this thread about a parent's choice in the matter of whether or not a freshman should play varsity or not. I am pretty sure that nobody has even said a parent should be able to make the decision. But it's only a matter of time before someone will.

Letting a parent making this decision is a slippery slope nobody (parent and coach) want to go down. If a coach allows this decision to be made by a parent and it gets out - imagine how many parents will be wanting to make the next decision regarding their son? I truly believe it would get ugly.

Now to go further a good coach will still find ways for this freshman to still get playing time at a level he can succeed. If the freshman is struggling at varsity then a good coach will get him playing time on JV.

I won't say a coach bad if he doesn't get the freshman playing time because there might be some kind of circumstances that keeps him from doing it. Chances are it's probably a bad coach but I would look into all the things going on before labeling him bad.

I am going to go back to my categories of parents I used in another thread - 1) good parents a coach could probably let them make the decision and it be ok; 2) parents who don't really show an interest would probably be ok because they haven't shown that much interest; and 3) the idiot parents will turn coaching into a nightmare more than they already have. You give them this smidgen of power they will run with it. If you let a good parent make the decision the idiots will be all over it.

It's a coaches call good or bad and never a parents call.

Maybe I am just in denial again.

I dont think the player or the parent has a say in most situations. I asked the same question as RJM a year ago, to get an idea of what was best. But when you try out for the baseball program, I think you have to leave the decisions to the coach. In my sons situation, he was not asked if he wanted to move up to varsity, he was told to, and I dont have a problem with that.

Let me say I agree 100% - this is definitely NOT a decision that a parent should make. Several games after our son was brought up the coach did talk to us and say "well, I didn't discuss it with you ahead of time because quite honestly it wouldn't really have mattered what you said. We knew it was the right decision so we made it." We were also perfectly OK with that. His team, his decision.

Coaches have the advantage of seeing all sides of the situation - he knows exactly what role he has in mind for every player on his team. Good coaches will take into account what's in the best interest of the individual player as well as the whole team. As a parent, you just have to trust the coach. That's not to say that they don't make mistakes and that's not to say there are coaches out there who don't really have their players' best interest at heart because those things happen. But for the most part, coaches want to see their team succeed and that means making sure individual players succeed.

In all reality, none of these decisions are really life shattering - your son's season may be affected for the better or the worse by the decision, but his life won't be ruined either way.

More than anything when I started this thread I thought it could be an interesting discussion. I'm not concerned with where my son plays because I have no control over it. It's the coach's decision. The only control my son has is the preparation and effort he's putting into making varsity. Aside from his ability, he's been at the 5:45am "optional" sessions twice a week and the evening hitting session, even though the coach told him he didn't have to since he's a basketball player. There are kids not playing winter sports who aren't making these sessions.

I've already been through this with my daughter. The circumstances are the same too. A weak program with a lot of mediocre seniors. Our high school has a policy freshman have to play on the freshman team unless he/she is a regular contributor to the JV or varsity. Sophs can't play varsity unless getting playing time.

My daughter was sent to JV, succeeded and called up midseason to pinch run and be a defensive replacement on varsity. By the end of the season she was starting over a senior not hitting her weight. She was only fourteen as far as the age decrepancy and life experiences go. But girls are more mature at an earlier age. She laughed off the stuff she heard.

I believe my son's chances of making varsity are slim. There are seventeen roster spots (only three open unless an existing varsity player is cut) with twelve seniors. I figured if he had a chance it was as a position player. He's the heir apparent (assuming he continues to develop ... varsity coach calls him Oz) as the shortstop next year.

But his rapid growth has increased his velocity to 80mph. He told me he's throwing harder than all but two of the returning varsity pitchers. I believe my son has the proper perspective on this. He said it's going to come down to who delivers when they get outdoors for tryouts. He's not looking at JV as the end of the world. He sees it as a possible one year stop on the way to varsity. He's also mentioned his sister got called up mid season when others weren't delivering.

I asked my son how he gets along with the upper classmen. He smiled and said, "Great. They abuse me (in a fun way).

5:45am!? Good luck to your son, I know he will do a great job where ever he is. We love watching girl's softball - usually catch the college World Series. Man are they good!

We have a varsity scrimmage and son is going to pitch one inning. I think coach just wants to see what he can do and that is cool. He's been told he is starting 3rd base/pitcher for JV. He will be playing back up 1st. I think he will get a lot of play time as a JV. If he moves up, great experience. It's all good.

I'm excited that the season is starting!

It was interesting to see how people interpreted and responded to the original post. The real concern (in general as a topic, not my son) is what happens when a player is put in a situation (varsity too soon) that may be over is head?

While you never know, I believe if my son failed and got sent down, he would come back next year with the attitude he's been there, understands the challenge and can only improve on previous results.

I dont have freshman , sophs , jrs or srs on my team. I have the best players in our program on my team. The best players will play varsity. I dont bring up Freshman or Sophs unless they are going to play and have a significant role. But if they can help us win then they are put in the posistion to help us win. Its as simple as that.

quote:

It was interesting to see how people interpreted and responded to the original post. The real concern (in general as a topic, not my son) is what happens when a player is put in a situation (varsity too soon) that may be over is head?

While you never know, I believe if my son failed and got sent down, he would come back next year with the attitude he's been there, understands the challenge and can only improve on previous results.

RJM, I'll address your question based on our experience. 2B and I had this discussion over the weekend. He was brought up to varsity as a young (13), average-sized 8th grader last year. It wouldn't have happened at a bigger school with a stronger program, but the head coach and two seniors thought they could use his bat, so he got the opportunity. At first, it was a completely no-pressure situation. If he did well, great. If he didn't, he's just a little kid. For the first 13 games at DH, he hit .323. Once he saw that he could really do well, he started pressing and went into an immediate slump. He had never been in a true hitting slump before. It was really, really tough on him for a few weeks, but the head coach never wavered in his belief that he belonged at that level. He bounced back and went 2 for 3 in the last regular season game, and had a fantastic summer. This season as a freshman, and with a new head coach, he is the starting 2B and went 4 for 7 in our home opener - a weekend double header against a #3 state-ranked team. Amazingly, our team, with three freshman starters and only three senior starters, split with this team, made up entirely of big, strong, scary, hairy juniors and seniors. There may have been one sophomore.

Anyway, 2B's struggles last year, plus working hard over the summer and coming back bigger, better and stronger, have helped build a confidence and maturity on the field that I've never seen before. It's early in the season, but things are looking pretty good right now. Last year was really hard, but he says it was worth it. Next time he hits a rough spot, he'll know without a doubt that he can work his way out of it.

If your son gets the same opportunity, I hope he gets as much out of it.

And a side note...we had two senior non-starters quit the team this weekend. I don't know why, but my guess is playing time. They are fine young men. We'll miss them.

The key is playing regularly AND having a coach that will let you play thru the bumps in the road at bat

You are absolutely right, TRhit. We have been extremely lucky in that regard.

My son is a senior this year, Had two of his teammates start freshman year, neither is worth a **** now although they will be 4 year starters. coincidence, maybe. My opinion is they lost the hunger to improve

Smalltown I have had 6 freshman play varsity for us in the last 12 years. Two were drafted. Two went on to play D-2 baseball. Two are ACC signees this year. We have won the conference championship 9-12 years and were second the other 3 years.

All 6 were All Conference performers in their first year and all 6 were all state as Sophs. Could it depend on the program , the coaching and most of all the players desire to be the best he can be? If a player is talented enough to play up in a hs program why would you want to hold him down in competition? If he can help your team win why would you not want him on the team?

Hey everyone has their own opinion thats fine with me. The kids we play up can play. Or they wouldnt be on varsity.

A good ball player wants to play at the highest level possible. If you have a chance to play varsity as a freshman you have no choice but to go for it.
As I said my son's favourite HS years were the 1st 2. They were the only challenging years. The problem with HS is that thyere are very few schools that I have seen that can field 9 good ball players.

The delimma in our area is that that the incoming Freshman are very strong as a group with least 3 very strong pitchers. Many of these kids have been on the same successful travel team for 6 years. The upper classes are not very deep in talent (had over 10 seniors move on from last year). Would you keep the freshman together while suffering through a lean year or 2 or move some up to V or JV?

Philsfan,
I will probably take some grief, but I have found that a lot depends on how long the coach has been at the school. New coaches tend to go with the younger kids for the future rewards if the talent level is close between the fresh and seniors. Long term coaches tend to stick with their guys who have been in the program for 4 years.

Some exceptions are, of course, talent.
But one thing you always have to take into account. Does the coach have a son in HS and how old is he? Sad to see but a lot of coaches play the kids in their own sons class in the hope of having a very strong senior class. Playing up does help.

I know this isn't always the case. But I have seen it happen many times in a lot of different HS sports. Not just baseball.