No Pass No Play

Here is the sad reality. Nobody cares about sub-varsity games except the parents and the players. So, regarding the scenario you described nobody cares. Literally nobody.

adbono, Thx for the response. I was afraid of that. Oh, well. We'll just keep plugging along.

It shouldn’t be that way. But it is.

Aside from having to pass all classes athletes at our high school (freshman, JV and varsity) had to turn in all their homework. If a player was reported on Friday starting Monday they couldn’t practice or play until the work was completed and turned in.

Maybe they got their work caught up, turned in, graded, or whatever, by Friday evening.  One ungraded assignment can result in a much lower grade that, when the teacher submits the grade, changes instantly.  Sounds like the jv coach wanted to make a point to the jv players (and also to the freshman players) - and the point was driven home, when the freshmen helped the jv team win.  I agree with adbono that no-one cares about subvarsity, but this kind of stuff with grades is also training for varsity, because you can bet that the varsity coach will care if his players aren't eligible due to grades.

@anotherparent My HS baseball parent experience was split with two types of head coaching. The first used sub-varsity as a detention hall, culture indoctrination and for adding muscle. If you weren't on varsity, you were less than worthless and he wouldn't speak to you. As a parent of a freshmen who wrongly thought his kid should be on jv, it was very frustrating. However when your kid made varsity, he was treated as special and the HC mentored, cherished promoted those boys in every way possible. In hindsight it was an amazing strategy, each player in varsity believed they had achieved something of value, they had gone from nothing to something special. The achievements of those teams was always greater than the sum of their individual talent. I guess that's the definition of a good team.

I will add that my son was the varsity starter at third as a sophomore because the senior that had the spot for the two prior years was academically ineligible - he never touched the field again.

The HC was fired after going 3 rounds deep in the playoffs due to refusing to follow school financial guidelines. In 2012 the total HS baseball budget was $4K, but being creative will get you fired.

If you fire a HC that defines how the player's feet are aligned during the national anthem and the players are not allowed to move until the count of 2 full seconds after the last note and replace him with a coach that wears his hat crooked and has his girlfriend in the dugout during games you get some interesting dynamics. The new coach treated the sub-varsity teams the same as varsity, and now that my kid was on varsity I hated that too...

RJM-Sounds like your school valued grades as much as academics. Since none of our football players were "benched" due to academics( that I know of), I'm not sure the same can be said for our school. I really like the strategy that your school uses!

Anotherparent: Final grades were listed the previous Monday, unless, somehow the Final grades could have been amended.  I did read somewhere that classes , that are not "Core" classes, don't fall under the no pass/no play rule-maybe that had something to do with some of the kids coming back.

adbono-thx again for your knowledge and "straight talk". Our Head Coach is a super nice guy and its his first year on the job and i'm sure he's trying to figure it all out. Unfortunately, for him and for us, we have two varsity teams in our district that are ranked in the top 10 in the state and our program has not made the play-offs in years. We all hope he can "turn it around" , but he's going to have to really develop the subvarsity players if he's ever going to have a chance.  That's my 2 Cents worth and I certainly don't know all the problems that he's having to work through. We'll just keep trying to get better( and keep our grades up-LOL).

Thx folks for your time and in-put!

@anotherparent posted:

this kind of stuff with grades is also training for varsity, because you can bet that the varsity coach will care if his players aren't eligible due to grades.

You can also bet that college coaches will care, to a degree. We met with JUCO coaches who said they walked the classroom halls during classes to check their players were there. It just makes sense to learn to master that early.

I never even kept a book or stats for jv teams.  In Missouri, they usually played weird rules so we usually had free subs.  It is jv which should be preparation for varsity as should be freshman.  I think it is important for the coaches to care but not to the point that parents do.  Some of my friends who have kids playing jv can tell you their record, stats, and such.  Not the reason for jv.

Here's who cares (or should care) -- those sophomores who watched the freshmen fill their spots, contribute, and win.

Last HS season, 2024 and the rest of the freshman dominated the JV. There were games where it was all freshmen starting. Four other freshman played varsity,  each earning some level of "all-conference" accolades. The parents of the JV sophomores were beside themselves. Parents of some of the upperclassmen on varsity were beside themselves. The varsity had its deepest run in the Missouri state playoffs since 1973.

A lot of upperclassmen didn't bother to come out for ball this season -- the sophomores are simply more skilled than most of them.

You said that the one game was on a Friday and the next was on a Saturday.  For many school systems, grades are uploaded each week for a specific grading period.  Then, a new week starts.  With traditional test days being on Friday, it might be that these player's grades were updated.  In the district I coach in, the time frame is from Friday to Friday.  If the player gets his grades up, for example, on a Wednesday, he still can't play until that time frame is covered.  I don't know about your district.  The one I coach in is strict about grades and playing at all levels. 

Thx Cubsfan and CoachB25 , Iowamom and Pitchingfan,

The freshmen got moved down and then  played a game on Saturday and won 20-6.  Still, I'm wondering if anything the freshman are doing is getting noticed. I'm not an "instigator" so we will just keep practicing and playing as hard as we can. I want my son to "enjoy the journey", but its hard for him , because he is so competitive, and doesn't understand why he's not getting moved up , when he is showing his abilities. I tell him to enjoy being the best player on a team, as he may never be the "best player" again, and everything will work out.

@Adams Baseball I really wouldn't worry too much about it. Every coach does things his/her way -- and it may not make sense to us as parents (or to anyone, for that matter). One of 2024's summer ball teammates is a very talented player, probably one of the best players his school's program, if  not the best, and he's playing JV and tearing it up. In a pre-season scrimmage game vs. the varsity, he hit 4 bombs. Still on JV, and the varsity isn't exactly a killer team.

2024 has played both JV and varsity this season. The varsity has 2 victories on the season, he pitched one of them on opening day against a very good team featuring several players from top national teams. He's been JV ever since. This past week the varsity had three of its toughest games on the schedule, and one of the the best pitchers, another sophomore, never got on the mound. This team isn't exactly stacked with pitchers. Gotta love HS ball!!!

CubsFaninSTL, all I can say is WTF? ( please excuse my language). That coach must have a mind-set of age/graduation year as the only metrics. Coaching is a tough job and its impossible to please everyone, therefore they should not try to please anyone and just concentrate on winning.  Sometimes , I think, some coaches have other priorities  (or pressures) against them.

God bless the good coaches, they are true heroes!