Background (trying to keep this short but it's difficult): Before high school, my son was not athletically inclined. Walking short distances and running caused him pain because of flat feet. In spite of that, he played baseball every fall and spring on a rec team his dad coached. He was never the best kid on the team but usually one of the 2 or 3 best (other than the running part). He played first base and occasionally pitched (good accuracy but medium velocity). He never worked out, never trained, and didn't play outside of the rec team schedule. He had surgery (actually three surgeries) his 8th-grade year that fixed the flat feet pain issue. After that, he gradually got more active and started to enjoy physical play more but still rarely worked out.
As a sophomore, he made the H.S. baseball team with a friend from his rec team. Basically, not many kids tried out and the brand new coach (there was some upheaval in the program) ended up keeping everyone who showed up to all the practices. Son wasn't even sure he wanted to be on the team because of the time commitment, but we talked him into giving it a try for a month. The coach separated the kids into groups and put Son and his friend into the lowest group--said this group didn't have the skills necessary for HS ball and might not see any playing time. Fair enough--we knew he needed development and many of the other kids had played travel ball. Even so, by the end of the month trial, Son was fully committed and loved going to practice and being on the team. He wanted to get better and earn some playing time.
During the regular season, he and the rest of his "needs more development" group sat on the bench, pretty much ignored by the coach. We wondered how he could get better when he never played, but we had hopes that summer ball would help because it was supposedly all about player development. By the end of the regular season, the others in his group had quit and only my son and his friend were left to play summer ball. Unfortunately, Son sat on the bench during the summer as well. It has become clear that the coach doesn't see/want Son on the team next year. I don't know whether it's personal (Son is the shy, quiet, nice, doesn't-ask-for-a-lot-of-attention type of kid--maybe just a personality mismatch) or whether he's considered that bad.
Meanwhile, we've gotten a pitching and hitting coach, Son practices a lot, and we see huge improvements. We think he's pretty good now. We could be wrong, but it's hard to know when he never plays. Son very, very much wants to make the team next year and show that he has earned a spot. He likes his teammates. A few kids have been jerks to him, but he doesn't let it bother him much (although his parents are a different story!). He seems to have a burning desire to prove himself.
Fall ball is coming up and it's coached by college coaches, although his high school coach will be there/watching. Any strategies you'd suggest during fall ball to get the high school coach to give him another look? He hasn't actually played for over a year now. Thanks, and sorry so long!
