no playing time

He already has a D1 commitment, don't do anything.   Just let it play out at the high school and let him have fun on his summer team

Manman,

You take this & 10x more if necessary!  Most importantly, you stay out of it! This is your sons game, performance, team, coach...LIFE! He's handling it! And will learn & grow, I promise. 

Listen, he's going into Jr year. So, some of those Seniors are graduating...his time is coming. 

It's your responsibility to support him...if that means peeling out the wallet for Travel Team, a showcase tourney,  camp at his verballed school, lessons...that's how you "man-man"-UP! Provide the opportunity, let your son walk thru it. You provide all the "'at a boys", you work the concession stand, you keep your mouth shut. Carry a roll of Duct tape to apply as needed! Do not criticize his teammates or coach! Just don't go there & don't allow your son to, either!!

Your son can only control what is in HIS power to control...mainly, that's himself...his mental development/toughness & humble patience, his performance, his attitude and more patience, his grades, his maturity & even more patience, his character, etc. He will become the asset his college coach needs to be a starter!

He is committed to a D1. He beat the odds, he wins, you just need to reinforce the idea to him that he already won.  Tell him to enjoy his victory and his answer for everything his HS coach says is "yes coach".  You should just take a long walk down the line and mumble to yourself .

Tough situation.  It doesn't sound like your son and the high school coach see eye to eye on much.  As a result, your son is not getting playing time and the coach is not getting the benefit of your son's productivity.   Probably nothing you can do at this point to change your son's mind or the coaches mind.   Two immovable objects.

The silver lining is your son is experiencing something now that generally happens in college.  College coaches make their minds up pretty quickly about a player after the Fall season freshmen year.  It is difficult to change their minds after that point.  So let's pretend this is college.  What would your son do if this was his college coach, he's paying money to go to the school, and the NCAA Eligibiliy clock was ticking?  Transfer?  Talk to the Coach?  Do Nothing?  Whatever, he would do in college that is what I would advise him to do in high school with this particular issue.  As a parent, I would stay out of it.

JMO.

This story doesn't really add up. An early commit to a "top" D1 university and a 9 on PG and the coach won't play him? Not many coaches are brave enough or dumb enough to hide that kid on JV. He should be hitting .860 and every opposing school coach would be asking what the hell was going on.

Either this school is crazy loaded with D1 talent, or people should be clamoring for him to be fired because he is obviously not capable of recognizing talent or playing to win games. 

I'd hurry up and sign the NLI, assuming it's forthcoming.

Nothing, and I really mean nothing, will be gained by you talking with the coach.  You will be seen as the whiner parent and this will push your son even further down the depth list.  This is one of those life lessons that will be good for your son in the long run.  He is learning to deal with things that in his eyes appear to be unfair.  Its going to happen to him over and over again throughout his life.  Be glad he is learning this now rather then later on in life when it could affect his lively-hood or his family.

It sounds like your son is doing well and is a good player.  He has a D1 commitment at this point which is what most folks strive for.  All that said, I am going to play a little of the devils advocate here.  The HS coach obviously saw something in your son early on.  He asked him to play a specific role on the team.  That of a pitcher.  Looking down the road the coach may have very well known that he would have a need for pitchers come your son's Jr and Sr. year.  Your son choose to ignore the coaches suggestion and instead decided that his path meant catching, not pitching.  That's your sons prerogative.  He made his decision knowing it is opposed to what his HS coach suggested.  Now the HS coach is put in a position he had hoped to not be in.  He has an additional catcher and is short a pitcher.  What do you expect him to do in this situation?  Say oh well, I guess I can push my plans aside and let my now-non-pitcher catch?  Or push forward with what he has.  He has chosen to push forward with his plans and adapt to your son's decisions.

It's pretty obvious that your son burned a bridge when he chose to put his eggs in the catcher basket and not work to be a better pitcher as the HS coach wanted.  In the eyes of the coach, it was selfish and not putting the team first.  The coach has his mind made up about your son and made that clear when he told your son he's not a team player.  This has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with a coach fixated on his way and opinion being the only one that matters, and to that point, since he chooses the teams and sets the lineups, he's right.

The best advice to give your son is to begin giving even more effort in practice and games (when he gets a chance) than anyone else on the team.  Flat outwork everyone there and be the absolute best teammate he can be to everyone else.  Don't cop an attitude or use this as an excuse to do anything other than work hard and be a good teammate.

Don't give the coach anything at all that he could possibly say that's negative about your son. 

I would tell my son to prove that he is a good teammate.  Take every opportunity to show that he cares about the team & is bought into the team.  He should support the guy in front of him.  It may not be too late to show the coach that he is in fact a team player.

Coach is nuts.  Nothing in the world will convince this guy of anything.  Unless you like bashing your head against the wall, do nothing.   Assuming the kids "enjoys" being part of the team, just have him do what he can do to keep himself fresh for the summer.  "Yes sir, No sir" is probably the best strategy.  Since his future in baseball is basically set, no reason to make any waves. 

As for being some type of "life lesson," it's not really.  The only thing you learn from this is some people are ____ and the best thing to do is to remove them from your life ASAP.  

My son never said he would not pitch, Just did not want to just pitch and spend money and time taking pitching lessons instead of catching lessons where he saw his future,

This is tricky stuff.  A kid from these parts was verbally committed early on -- I think going into his sophomore season --  to a major Pac 12 powerhouse.  Played for the most dominant HS team in our area. Also played for the elite summer teams in the area.  Now his HS  coach clearly did not think nearly  as much of the kid as the Pac 12 powerhouse coaches  did.   Consequently, the  kid got way less playing time than one might have expected, given his quite gaudy credentials,  certainly way less than he himself expected, and also way less playing time than the dad (who is a very solid baseball guy) expected.  Very bad relationship between the coach and the kid and between the coach and the dad developed.    The kid is no longer committed to the Pac 12 powerhouse.  Not sure he's committed anywhere as of this moment.   He's also spending his senior year out of state playing for a certain elite academy on the other side of the country.  And I gather there is no love loss for either the kid or the  dad by many of his former teammates. 

I don't know all the details, but it wouldn't surprise me if not playing much in HS and the toxic relationship between the family and the coach may have had some effect on his verbal commitment -- which seems to have been withdrawn.    

There's no particular moral of the story I'm trying to promote.  Just saying this can be tough stuff.  So think carefully and tread lightly.   Don't assume that verbal commitments made early are binding in stone.  Don't assume that coaches will always come around to the right point of view.  Don't take anything for granted. But don't burn bridges up either. 

I'll add this food for thought...

A team needs a lot more pitchers than catchers. In HS, Coach typically rides a couple "horses", and a couple catchers...

But College teams will roster 10-12 pitchers, and maybe 3 catchers. 

 What's going to keep him in the lineup, on the travel team, is his bat. 

And pay attention to Sluggerdad's wisdom...no guarantees and word spreads like wildfire.  Finally, don't be part of the "I Heard Club".

Sluggerdad, that kid is not alone.  Verballing to a Pac12 and never being given an NLI to sign seems to be a common occurrence.

manman posted:

How important is playing time in high school? My son plays for a fairly successful high school program. He made the JV team as an 8th grader.  He played catcher and pitcher mostly.  Sometimes 1st and outfield. During his freshman season the varsity coached wanted him to go and take pitching lessons.  He enjoys catching more and decided to take catching lessons. Did not want to be a fulltime pitcher. Joined a good showcase team as a catcher the summer after his freshman year and was very successful.  Received offers from the two top D1 universities in state by end of summer. High school coach took calls from college coaches and texts their name and number to my son. Never talked to me or my wife during entire process. He is not a big fan of showcase ball. After visiting both campus and  meeting with coaches my son eventually verbally committed to his school of choice.  Has a nine rating on prefect game wedsite.  We are very proud. the coach told him just because he had committed it meant nothing to him, he wasn't a team player. The following high school season the coach told him he was not putting him on varsity so he would not be sitting  behind a senior. Put my son's jv backup on varsity instead. The kid only played one inning the year. Now this year my son is on varsity and sitting behind the same kid because the coach says he was there first and they are winning. Has only DH in a few games. I know parents should not appoach coaches,  don't know how much more I can take. I feel this is personal because of things the coach has said to my son. What to do?

Well, obviously we are limited to the information provided but I'm seeing this differently than others...

The player is primarily catcher / pitcher.  The V coach saw early promise (when player was a freshman or earlier) and wanted to match player's skill set with the needs of the program so directed him to continue to advance his pitching skills.  Sounds like the player was more interested in catching so took it upon himself to focus on that part of his game instead.  I am envisioning that the player perhaps didn't discuss his decision at any length with the V coach.  So, naturally, the V coach saw that as a bit of a selfish, non-team player act (ingoring his directive which was meant to help the program).  Not the end of the world but probably likely to bring about that comment/observation/position from V coach.

V coach still supported the player enough that he chose not to have him spend his freshman year on the bench behind a very good varsity C at a successful HS program and have him get PT at JV level instead.  V coach instead put the third string C at V because it made more sense to have that player not get game reps than the very promising second string C - this is a common strategy.  The following year, he brings the player up to V to make sure he now is getting reps with V squad and competing for starting C position with another very good player.  Coach keeps upper-classman C in place who is getting the job done.  (Although,  I'm not sure if OP meant player is playing behind the same starter from the year before or the other kid).  The soph player in question is now still getting reps with the better V players and instruction from the V staff.  Very plausible in a successful HS program.  If, at some point, soph player shows he is clearly better than starting C  AND is doing everything he can to be a good team player, the coach will likely start inserting him more.  If it doesn't happen this year, there are still two full years of varsity baseball in front of him.  

What seems to be fact is that the player is very good.  What we don't know is how good the other C is but we know the program is very successful and winning so he is likely pretty darn good also.  If the player feels he is clearly the better option, he should ask HC for some time to discuss.  He needs to make sure he does so in a respectful manner and with "team first" top of mind.  The other thing we don't know is to what extent the player may be otherwise showing he is not a team player.  If he works hard to cover that aspect, things will work out fine.  

This is definitely not a "parent get involved" issue other than providing guidance to son on how to deal with it.  Congratulations on his commit!

manman posted:

My son never said he would not pitch, Just did not want to just pitch and spend money and time taking pitching lessons instead of catching lessons where he saw his future,

But the message he sent to the coach was, I do not want to develop as a pitcher, only as a catcher.  As my old boss (someone I immensely respect, and still seek out mentoring from), " Its not always the work that you do or the actions that you take, but rather the impression you leave on others".  In this case the impression that was left was, I want to catch, not pitch.

ironhorse posted:

This story doesn't really add up. An early commit to a "top" D1 university and a 9 on PG and the coach won't play him? Not many coaches are brave enough or dumb enough to hide that kid on JV. He should be hitting .860 and every opposing school coach would be asking what the hell was going on.

Either this school is crazy loaded with D1 talent, or people should be clamoring for him to be fired because he is obviously not capable of recognizing talent or playing to win games. 

I'd hurry up and sign the NLI, assuming it's forthcoming.

.860 are you crazy? You should know what you're talking about before posting this stuff. Coaches have a lot of pride and knowing that he screwed up by not playing him he probably doesn't want to admit he was wrong. Sometimes a player and coach don't see eye to eye and that coach will sit him because of that.

It happened to me during basketball, We hired a new coach last year and it happened to be my dad's rival coach he used to coach against. He didn't like my dad and he didn't like me even though I did everything he asked of me. We are human beings, PERIOD.

Just anecdotally, committed sophomores riding the bench on good varsity teams is a not an uncommon situation.

2018 class

Underdog27 posted:

ironhorse posted:

This story doesn't really add up. An early commit to a "top" D1 university and a 9 on PG and the coach won't play him? Not many coaches are brave enough or dumb enough to hide that kid on JV. He should be hitting .860 and every opposing school coach would be asking what the hell was going on.

Either this school is crazy loaded with D1 talent, or people should be clamoring for him to be fired because he is obviously not capable of recognizing talent or playing to win games. 

I'd hurry up and sign the NLI, assuming it's forthcoming.

.860 are you crazy? You should know what you're talking about before posting this stuff. Coaches have a lot of pride and knowing that he screwed up by not playing him he probably doesn't want to admit he was wrong. Sometimes a player and coach don't see eye to eye and that coach will sit him because of that.

It happened to me during basketball, We hired a new coach last year and it happened to be my dad's rival coach he used to coach against. He didn't like my dad and he didn't like me even though I did everything he asked of me. We are human beings, PERIOD.

Ok. Not really sure what you're talking about. But I agree we're all human beings here. So we're good on that point.

Examples like this are why the recruiting game has changed so much over the past decade.  It is now mostly about travel teams, their coaches, and the tournaments they play like PG and showcases than it is about a HS baseball team and the HS coach.  There are many great HS coaches around the country who have adopted with the times and do all they can to support their players chances to play college baseball.  But there are far too many who have inflated views of themselves and what they think of a player's college prospects based on what they may have experienced 15-25 years ago.  We see it all the time in SoCal where the outside the area college recruiters come in and completely ignore the HS coach and HS teams and focus on the elite travel teams to find recruits (regardless of what the HS team situation is).  These talent evaluators make their living out of projecting what HS kids can do at the next level--HS coaches do not.  Many of them are focused on the here and now for their teams, not what is best for their players after they leave HS. 

So like others have said, as far as the HS goes, your son should be a good teammate and support his team and don't give the coach any excuse for sitting him.  But by all means, your son needs to keep playing against high level competition all the way into college, so be sure he stays committed to a travel program and keeps working to get better.  Then when he is excelling at the D1 level, everyone will look at the HS coach and say what a mistake he made.

P.S. My 2017 was in the same situation as both a catcher and a pitcher, only his HS team needed him to catch, not pitch.  Some great advice he got at a Stanford camp--do both until the COLLEGE coach he is going to play for tells him which position to choose.  Never let a HS coach decide.

ironhorse posted:

..... But I agree we're all human beings here. So we're good on that point.

or maybe artificially intelligent robots parading as human beings ....Mark my words,   the day is coming!

SluggerDad posted:

This is tricky stuff.  A kid from these parts was verbally committed early on -- I think going into his sophomore season --  to a major Pac 12 powerhouse.  Played for the most dominant HS team in our area. Also played for the elite summer teams in the area.  Now his HS  coach clearly did not think nearly  as much of the kid as the Pac 12 powerhouse coaches  did.   Consequently, the  kid got way less playing time than one might have expected, given his quite gaudy credentials,  certainly way less than he himself expected, and also way less playing time than the dad (who is a very solid baseball guy) expected.  Very bad relationship between the coach and the kid and between the coach and the dad developed.    The kid is no longer committed to the Pac 12 powerhouse.  Not sure he's committed anywhere as of this moment.   He's also spending his senior year out of state playing for a certain elite academy on the other side of the country.  And I gather there is no love loss for either the kid or the  dad by many of his former teammates. 

I don't know all the details, but it wouldn't surprise me if not playing much in HS and the toxic relationship between the family and the coach may have had some effect on his verbal commitment -- which seems to have been withdrawn.    

There's no particular moral of the story I'm trying to promote.  Just saying this can be tough stuff.  So think carefully and tread lightly.   Don't assume that verbal commitments made early are binding in stone.  Don't assume that coaches will always come around to the right point of view.  Don't take anything for granted. But don't burn bridges up either. 

This kid is going to have problems with recruiting. Some recruiters are going to hear the side of the story the kid and the parents don't like. 

ironhorse posted:

Underdog27 posted:

ironhorse posted:

This story doesn't really add up. An early commit to a "top" D1 university and a 9 on PG and the coach won't play him? Not many coaches are brave enough or dumb enough to hide that kid on JV. He should be hitting .860 and every opposing school coach would be asking what the hell was going on.

Either this school is crazy loaded with D1 talent, or people should be clamoring for him to be fired because he is obviously not capable of recognizing talent or playing to win games. 

I'd hurry up and sign the NLI, assuming it's forthcoming.

.860 are you crazy? You should know what you're talking about before posting this stuff. Coaches have a lot of pride and knowing that he screwed up by not playing him he probably doesn't want to admit he was wrong. Sometimes a player and coach don't see eye to eye and that coach will sit him because of that.

It happened to me during basketball, We hired a new coach last year and it happened to be my dad's rival coach he used to coach against. He didn't like my dad and he didn't like me even though I did everything he asked of me. We are human beings, PERIOD.

Ok. Not really sure what you're talking about. But I agree we're all human beings here. So we're good on that point.

What I'm getting at is that Humans are Humans, we make mistakes, we have our own opinions, we dislike certain people, and we hold grudges. So with all that it could be a reason for the kid not playing enough. The coach may not like him, just like my basketball coach didn't like me.

If your son enjoys hanging with his teammates and playing baseball he should enjoy that. My son (2017) did not play soph, jr year (long story), then committed to play college prior to senior year. When HS tryouts came this year the coach said you can be on the team but may not play. I asked him what was your goal at tryouts? He said to make the team, then work for playing time, and have fun with his friends, goal accomplished. The kid playing his position is hitting 180 but coach refuses to change (player has been on school team all 4 years). Son is always 1st out of dugout and does bullpen catching duties, players all understand he should be playing but he does not complain and goes about his business. Just because you do not get along with someone don't give them the satisfaction of seeing you quit. Like I told my son, when you look back it will make you feel good about what you did despite the actions of others.

Could be. Or the dad could be biased on what's really occurring. Since it's a random guy posting on the internet, no one can really say for sure.

But I'll say this, even if your coach didn't "like" you, if you were averaging a quadruple double on  JV, the hardest working kid at practice and a selfless teammate, it were be the very extreme case that you would stay on JV because of the coach's bias. 

ironhorse posted:

Could be. Or the dad could be biased on what's really occurring. Since it's a random guy posting on the internet, no one can really say for sure.

But I'll say this, even if your coach didn't "like" you, if you were averaging a quadruple double on  JV, the hardest working kid at practice and a selfless teammate, it were be the very extreme case that you would stay on JV because of the coach's bias. 

Absolutely without question, untrue.  Some coaches just "out think" themselves.  They would justify their decision based on "it's only JV competition." 

The idea that all this "work hard, great teammate, perform when you get a chance, etc." will make a difference is nonsense.  Some coaches could care less.  They pick their dogs and run with them.   Nothing a player can do will make a difference.  There is nothing worse than working hard, being a good teammate, and performing, thinking there is a chance you'll crack the line up when the fact is you won't under any circumstances.  The key is to figure out early on what kind of coach you have.  Then you can work from there.

I'm sure that's true in some cases. Like I said, I think that would be an extreme case. I watched a lot of JV and varsity baseball games over the past decade and a half, and rarely have I seen a kid flat tearing it up in subvarsity that didn't wind up on Varsity by the next year at the latest. 

I know it happens and I'm not on here pretending all coaches are great, but I contend the excuse of coach not liking a player is used substantially more often than a jacka** coach actually screwing a talented kid over for no reason.

This is one of those debates that pops up on the site that will never be resolved, because the situations are so individualized that it's hard to say for sure in any particular case. I will say this: there is a lot of evidence that coaches play the wrong guy quite frequently. A lot -- going back to Lou Gehrig not getting to play because, shucks, the Yankees had Wally Pipp at first base. Even Hall of Fame coaches like Bill Belichick keep players like Tom Brady -- the greatest QB of all time -- on the bench until there is an injury because . . . well, because the coach didn't realize what he had. And if a Hall of Fame coach like Belichick can make mistakes in player evaluation, surely it can happen to other coaches, too.

Golfman25 posted:

ironhorse posted:

Could be. Or the dad could be biased on what's really occurring. Since it's a random guy posting on the internet, no one can really say for sure.

But I'll say this, even if your coach didn't "like" you, if you were averaging a quadruple double on  JV, the hardest working kid at practice and a selfless teammate, it were be the very extreme case that you would stay on JV because of the coach's bias. 

Absolutely without question, untrue.  Some coaches just "out think" themselves.  They would justify their decision based on "it's only JV competition." 

The idea that all this "work hard, great teammate, perform when you get a chance, etc." will make a difference is nonsense.  Some coaches could care less.  They pick their dogs and run with them.   Nothing a player can do will make a difference.  There is nothing worse than working hard, being a good teammate, and performing, thinking there is a chance you'll crack the line up when the fact is you won't under any circumstances.  The key is to figure out early on what kind of coach you have.  Then you can work from there.

 

I pretty much agree with this. 

Some high school coaches are highly resistant to letting anything change their minds.   Player on my son's team had a great sophomore year.  1st team all league.  NEVER came close to replicating  his sophomore year numbers junior or senior year.  Indeed,  he had some really really horrible stretches both junior and senior year.  

 Yet, he started every single game those last two years.  The coach kept running him out there, apparently believing he would rediscover that sophomore year magic.  Never happened.

Meanwhile various guys playing behind this kid, worked their butts off, would take turns getting  a start here and and a start there   when the kid would pitch (he was an outfielder and a pitcher).  Intense competition for these spot starts.   If a player showed well,  they might get another start.  If they didn't show well, they'd be yanked for somebody else.  

I never really understood why the coach had such a slow trigger finger with some kids and such a quick finger with other kids.  He trusted his instincts clearly.  But at some point evidence wins out over instinct.  Though in fairness, the high school season is SO short that it's a little hard to let evidence triumph over instinct.  There isn't really enough evidence, unfortunately.  

But I still think this guy was an extreme case.  Even his assistant didn't understand it.   The assistant was one of my son's travel coaches  and a very good friend.    During the summer season, the assistant would subtly contrast his approach with his in season boss's  approach.   Made a big point of stressing that  he wouldn't yank players for one or two bad games, but also that nobody was entitled and that starts had to be earned.   

The marked difference in  the quickness of the trigger drove some  players crazy inside.  Though this was not the kind of coach you complained to.  You just sucked it up and took it for what it was. 

First, I understand your frustration. Your son is clearly a talented player. So, watching this kind of stuff is hard. But keep watching DO NOT talk to the coach. Fenway said it best earlier in his response : What would your son do if this was his college coach?

That is terrific advise and in my opinion the way to go about it. There are 2 times I'll speak w/ a coach

1) health issue

2) Fundraising

what happens on the field is none of my business.

Lastly, your son is a 2018 and already committed. There is nothing really to worry about here. Make sure he is set up for the summer. If he feels he needs to keep the College updated about his game because of the situation at HS he can text the RC that recruited him updates on his summer. Schedules, events , etc.

SluggerDad posted:

I never really understood why the coach had such a slow trigger finger with some kids and such a quick finger with other kids.  He trusted his instincts clearly.  But at some point evidence wins out over instinct.  Though in fairness, the high school season is SO short that it's a little hard to let evidence triumph over instinct.  There isn't really enough evidence, unfortunately.  

 

I think this factors in a lot.

Once you get to a certain point in the season it gets even harder to make changes. Meaning, if the kid playing now is only hitting .250, at least I know he's hitting .250. If I bring a new kid who hasn't had many ABs up at some point, it may take him 2 or 3 games to adjust. If he goes 0-fer that 1st game, it makes it hard to not go back to the .250 kid since every game counts at a point in the HS season. Not saying it works just like that, but that is part of the struggle.

I know I stayed with a kid too long this year for sure. But it's just so easy for me to see that in hindsight. If we had a kid on JV tearing it up like we've talked about here, I would've made a move more quickly. It makes a coach's life much easier if you can just plug in the new guy and have him go 3-3 with 3 doubles! 

Thanks for all responces. It has been good to let out some steam. I will continue to encouage my son.  I know the coach has all the power and he knows it. He coached three yrs without an assistance coach. Only wants one voice heard. At least he has assistant this year  and he is very encouraging .

Wow, no assistant coach?  I assume practices don't get much accomplished.  How do you coach a HS varsity team with no assistant?   My son's HS only paid a HC and a JV head coach.  Fortunately we had a very good volunteer varsity assistant (been there for years).  JV coach handled practice/games by himself if they had games the same day as the varsity...not a good situation, but at least our varsity had 2 guys.   I assume this means your team has to use a kid to coach first?? 

If the coach saw him as a P and needed him to pursue that, so in the here and now , if it were my kid I would be having him throw bullpens RIGHT NOW on his own time and continue work as a catcher so that by the time tryouts roll around if he would like to see him as a P still,  he could be ready to go. Choice b/n bench and playing a less desired position would probably be an easy one. He could then say "coach I made a mistake and didn't see how not taking on the P training would be seen as being a poor team player....I've been to see Mr.X pitching coach and put in X hours morning and night to be ready when the team needs someone on the bump".  

Everyone has their own decisions to make.  I can tell you right now if the HS told my kid to ...lets say....move to Rt field and not be a catcher?  My son would politely decline and if it means leaving the team he would.    It is different if he was a catcher/pitcher and the coach saw him as one or the other, which seems to be the case here.  Coach saw him as a pitcher and the player saw himself as a catcher.  Maybe the other catchers were comparable and he needed a pitcher.  Compliments to the player for making the hard choice.  

What i'm taking away from all this are there are some really horrible coaches in the world. Very grateful to have my son working with travel and HS coaches he likes and respects. Even more grateful that we raised him so every coach he works with BELIEVES that my son likes and respects him, even the few that he didn't like or respect.

manman posted:

How important is playing time in high school? My son plays for a fairly successful high school program. He made the JV team as an 8th grader.  He played catcher and pitcher mostly.  Sometimes 1st and outfield. During his freshman season the varsity coached wanted him to go and take pitching lessons.  He enjoys catching more and decided to take catching lessons. Did not want to be a fulltime pitcher. Joined a good showcase team as a catcher the summer after his freshman year and was very successful.  Received offers from the two top D1 universities in state by end of summer. High school coach took calls from college coaches and texts their name and number to my son. Never talked to me or my wife during entire process. He is not a big fan of showcase ball. After visiting both campus and  meeting with coaches my son eventually verbally committed to his school of choice.  Has a nine rating on prefect game wedsite.  We are very proud. the coach told him just because he had committed it meant nothing to him, he wasn't a team player. The following high school season the coach told him he was not putting him on varsity so he would not be sitting  behind a senior. Put my son's jv backup on varsity instead. The kid only played one inning the year. Now this year my son is on varsity and sitting behind the same kid because the coach says he was there first and they are winning. Has only DH in a few games. I know parents should not appoach coaches,  don't know how much more I can take. I feel this is personal because of things the coach has said to my son. What to do?

It may very well be personal.  Your son likely has a very decent arm, most JV teams don't have great arms so the coach wanted him to pitch, your son basically spit in his face.  You forgot to play the political game, never go directly against the coaches request...you weave, you dodge, you misdirect if you strongly disagree, but you can't just bold face go against his wishes, it tends to tick them off.  Maybe long term your son will be a catcher....but lots of catchers turn into pitchers in the long run, perhaps your HS coach saw something in your son that he wanted explored, but we will never know how it would have worked out.

My son is in 9th grade, almost 10th, and he LOVES to catch. JV coach had him practice at catcher every practice but he did not wear the gear DURING a game even once, however, he did pitch 20 innings as a Freshman on JV.  Why, because that is where the coach needed him.

Appreciate the OP. Curious, had the RC or college reached out for HS updates, stats, checking in? How is your son going to share the reason behind lack of AB's, success on field, etc.? Not sure what level he is going to but that is one I would want to role play at home. 

Ja'Crispy posted:

He is committed to a D1. He beat the odds, he wins, you just need to reinforce the idea to him that he already won.  Tell him to enjoy his victory and his answer for everything his HS coach says is "yes coach".  You should just take a long walk down the line and mumble to yourself .

Awesome advice here. Let it play out on it's own. Coach's thoughts and actions your son can't control.  Tell your son to only worry about things he can control. Such as his performance when he does play.

Best of luck.