JV or Varsity

A soph needs to play--- if the JV route is where he gets playing time then you go that route

NEED the playing time to develop--go for it !

Thanks TRhit. I agree.

Some additional background. Soph was first team all league JV's last year. He plays an additional 60+ games a year beyond HS. Practice time on field is hard to come by for JV's. School only has 1 field.

Soph personally does not think that playing JV's again is worth losing the prestige of being on the varsity. Oh I hate even saying that.

Dooer

There is no prestige in sitting on the bench--he needs playing time

As TR said, if he sits, he really accomplishs Zilch. If he has already spoken to the coach, and that's where he wants him, you only have 2 choices...do it or leave...watch the second choice as you may find some very difficult consequences.
By the way, stats etc really don't mean a thing until he is Junior or a varsity starter. From what you have said that's not in the picture this year. He could have 2 great years as a FR and SO and nobody really cares until he is at the varsity level...starting. Have fun and be a stud for another year, Varsity has challenges he may or may not be ready for this year.

Good Luck!

Additional info: He is 6-12 on the varsity with 5 doubles. He also has pitched around 9 innings with moderate success. The Sr. that moved into his spot is a team leader, but not necessarally any better a ball player.

I agree with you guys and I have thrown all the arguments at him, but with no success. Unfortunately his mom is on his side. They feel that he will get plenty of playing time during the summer and fall (he will) on a pretty good travelling team. He has been with the varsity since Jan. and feels part of the team. I am forbidden from discussing the topic with his coach.

By the way, there are 2 other sophs on the team with the same predicament (according to their fathers). They will see even less field time then my soph.

We had this discussion prior to the season and at that time, my son said that he would rather play then sit. For some reason that answer has changed.

The wife says to let it go and respect my son's wishes. Any takers on that?

Dooer...I understood he was on the JV from your 1st question...If he is already on Varsity, the options are closed. He now earns his playing time as the coach sees him(usually thru practice) and how he reacts to his role. 6-12 w/5 doubles is a great start...seems like something is missing here??

I gotta agree that you should respect your son's wishes and beyond that, in any event, with this type of issue it's up to him to discuss it with the coach.

I appreciate how hard it is to sit back and quietly watch, but you going to the coach will not be doing your son any favors.

If you want to look for a "silver lining" in this there is a value in practicing everyday with the varsity and gaining the experience that comes on being on the varsity team and hopefully gaining the coach's respect, that will all serve him well next year and down the road. Asking to be demoted

Starzz, he has been on varsity all year. There is a time frame in which he could still go down to JV that has not passed yet. I know a # of respectable local coaches that tell me that he should be playing somewhere. I have no problem with him not playing on the varsity. I was surprised when he was initially named a starter.

Nothing is missing with the stats. He can hit. Not that he would keep that up for a season. He hit right at .400 last year on JV.

Like I said, the Sr. was tried at 2nd base and he couldn't cut it defensively and was moved to the outfield. He is a good kid and a team leader.

I will not go against my son's wishes and talk to the coach. My son is a little shy and I know that he won't talk to the coach about this either.

I guess I was just fishing for another argument to convince my son that playing was better then sitting, even if it seems like he is taking a step backward.

Having gone through this very scenario last year, I have some strong opinions. My son tried out for varsity as a soph, after being told by the coach during the previous summer that he would get a shot at the starting catchers job. First day of tryouts, he was pretty crushed when the coach told him he'd be wasting his time, that he wasn't going to get a chance afterall. He stayed anyway, and was determined to show that he belonged. He played well and the day he got cut, the coach told him he'd proved his point but it didn't matter as he had a senior and two juniors who could catch, and he was going to JV.

He went down, very angry, and played that way through the spring. His goal was to show everyone that he belonged, especially the coach. There were a few other sophs who did make varsity, a couple position players and a couple pitchers. My son started every game at JV, hit over .400 and led the entire program in RBI's along with a few home runs. He got nearly 100 at-bats. The only time he wasn't squatting behind the plate was when he was pitching, or injured. Some of the other sophs who stayed on varsity only saw sporadic playing time and in the end, wished they'd been on JV where they would have gotten regular playing time. I think a couple of the players got less than 10 at-bats the whole season on varsity.

Now, they're all juniors and a few that saw plenty of PT last year on varsity have played every inning of our season. My son has pretty much only gotten to DH so far, but he's one of the only juniors who's even sniffed the lineup besides the ones who got regular varsity playing time last year. The other juniors who were on the varsity team but didn't play much as sophs have hardly seen the field, and right now things don't look to change anytime soon. They lost a year last spring, and I sincerely believe they would have been far better off getting AB's and innings pitching at JV. Our coach believes in playing his seniors for better or worse, even though some of the juniors are better than some of the seniors. In this situation, not getting playing time during your soph year, and then not getting much during your junior year, pretty much means you're done playing baseball when your HS time ends, unless you're on a quality summer team that gets you lots of experience. My opinion is that players need At-bats and innings and they need to play where they are going to get them. You don't improve sitting on the bench, unless you aspire to be a splinter picker.

Thanks for relating your experience 06catcherdad.

My wish is that the varsity coach would send these kids down to play JV's if they are not going to play on the varsity. Is that not what JV's is for?

I think I know why he is keeping them, as they are probably the primary backups.

I've been told by my son to just stay out of it.

Oh well, there is always summerball.

Dooer;
I understand completely. My '07 made the varsity in one of the toughest conferences and with one of the toughest schedules in the state. He has been the DH every game but one, which he started, and is currently batting .400 with a HR and 2B and 4RBIs and is second on the team in BA, and first in OBA and Slugging % but he gets very little field time, just bats in the 7 hole behind the starting JRs and SRs. He is actually a pretty good defensive player but when we play the really good teams, the coach tells him he wants him to DH and be ready to go in but he plays his Juniors and Seniors and when we play the weaker teams, the coach tells him he needs to get some of the other players that haven't batted some playing time.

To me, and to him somewhat, it is frustrating as he has worked hard in the off season on his fielding but now he doesn't get a chance to put it to use and I am concerned about it deteriorating and carrying over into summer ball. I have discussed the possiblity of him talking to the coach about dropping back to the JV to get field time but he doesn't want any part of it.

It is difficult, as I know the parents of the JRs and SRs and the players that don't even get to bat and feel for them and their sons and feel fortunate my son is batting as much as he does and doesn't start but I would like to see my son get a little time in the field, even if it is against the weaker teams. We'll just have to deal with it.

The problem in all this is that they used to have the varsity and JV teams play on different days, at least up here-- that made it easy for a kid to get his "reps" on the JV as a soph or frosh and still wear the varsity "uni" at games a sa sub-- best of both worlds

Dooer

It sounds to me like your son is quite content with things the way they are. Nothing wrong with that. (though sometimes as a parent it is hard to accept it).

Some choices are complex because they affect more than one personal goal. What may be he best route to go in order to reach his goal at the next level (if he has one) may not be the best route to go in order for him to have something else he wants - which seems to be the prestige of being on the varsity.

He is telling you wich goal is more important to him (at least at this time).

Shoot, with our team, unless it's an "Area" game some of our JV/Varsity players bring both uniforms and change in between games. On Saturday on a mini-road trip we had a Freshman play two varsity games and a JV game all the same day.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but.....
doesn't somebody have to be on the bench on the varsity team? And on the JV team, for that matter? If it's not your kid, who do you nominate for the honor?

P-dog, yeah, you are missing something.

That is not the point, there are plenty of guys riding the pine. They have enough players (jr. & Sr.) without the sophmores to fill the bench. If you have followed the thread, I am not complaining about my kid not playing varsity. I have talked to a # of people, including high school coaches, and almost 100% said that a sophmore should play JV if he is not playing semi-regulaly at the varsity level.

Dooer, very interesting.
I am a huge believer that playing and being with your peers is what is important. Here however you have a son who also has a point of view and his is that JV is a "waste of time" and being on varsity is huge. While I would disagree with him, there are times where letting him make a decision he has to live with is important and this may be one of them. If the varsity practices 3-4 days per week when they don't have games and he is getting reps there, that may be adequate when you say JV has only 1 game per week and limited field access for practice. The one thing about baseball is that darn ball will usually find you when you are not prepared. Speaking from experience, my son played JV as a soph, played everyday and then got the starting call in the first CCS playoff game when the 3rd basemen broke his hand. IMO, playing JV all season had him prepared to step in successfully. I doubt sitting on varsity would have.

infielddad, we are on the same page. One of the coaches said exactly the same thing. If he is needed on the varsity, he will be better prepared if he has the game experience.

We play 2 games per week. Practices are definately better with the varsity and he does get his reps, but I think that he should be able to use that if possible.

My son was called up to the varsity last year as a frosh for the CCS playoffs. He got to warm up the pitchers.

What school in CCS does your son play for?

Dooer, mine graduated from Menlo in 2000. I graduated from LGHS way too many decades ago. Best wishes to your son. Sounds like LG can be really good this year.

Update on the soph. On the last possible date for him to move down, he agreed. I think that he expects it to only be a short stay.

He pitched a 2 hit, CG, shutout vs. their league rivals. Also went 2-2, double, 3 RBI's, 3 runs scored.

The kicker is that he thought that it was only for one game. It was his choice as to whether to go down or not. That should be the coaches call, but we were told it was my son's. Now, he has been told to stay down and he is P'O'd.

Dooer

Is he playing regularly at the JV level ?--he is just a sophomore isnt he ?

If he is getting his reps instead of being on the varsity bench then he is going to gain the benefits of it

Yes, he is just a sophomore. His 2nd game with the JV is today. He spent 12 games up with the varsity and had 15 at bats, but ony 2 in 6 league games.

Happened to my boy last year-sophmore- 3abs once season started after 4 games went don to j.v for half of april and may- this year he is doing great on varsity- but if he wants that letterman jacket you have to get a certain amount of bats on varsity or wait till next year, good luck

Another reason the coach may be leaving him down on the JV is that he needs him for the JV tournaments, more than he needs him for depth for the varsity.

Our sophomores and Juniors jump up and down between JV and Varsity pretty much throughout the season as needs dictate. However, only Freshman and Sophomores that have NOT earned their varsity letter can participate in the end of season JV city tournament. Some of our sophomores who play up, but don't get much varsity playing time get upset, but then it comes time for that JV tournament and they see why.

As of Wed., players in our league cannot move back down from varsity (after first round of league play). Of course they can move up at any time.

No JV tournaments, but 3 games next week.