Man, I'm glad my kid doesn't play for some of the coaches in this thread. "I will say, though, that freshman would be in for a bit of a jolt if he came in with even a hint of trying to tell me how things are going to be. I guarantee that would be "corrected" real quickly. He would know instantly that my expectation is that he respectfully ask." If the kid wants to take his travel coaches advice, and not throw, you would get that "corrected"? It's his arm, his career, who would you be to tell him what to do outside of the designated season?
Well, you may want to read my entire post. Your "take" from it would be entirely different. In it, I also praised the benefits of travel and outside instruction and I stressed the importance of communication so that things can be properly managed and so that everyone can work together. I acknowledged that there may be an arm care plan in place and that was totally fine. So, how you turned that into implying I would make the kid throw and do so against the travel coach advice, I have no idea and that could not be further from the truth.
Here are the facts... when we start winter conditioning, throwing is a significant element in the program. But, because we hold arm care and health in such high regard, we make it a point to keep very close tabs on where each player is in the process. If they haven't picked up a ball or have thrown very little since last season, they follow one plan (a very slow and steady progression). If they have been throwing regularly but not excessively/not a lot of IP, they follow another. If they are on shut down, yet another. We fully support shut down but do make sure there is proper communication so that the shut down is done in a fashion that has them ramped back up in time for season. Meanwhile, we do arm checks every single day with every single player. We adjust each individual's plan accordingly and NEVER have them throw when they shouldn't be throwing. With P's there is a very specific progression that must take place before they touch a mound and then another specific progression from that point. In the many years that I coached HS, we sent a disproportionately high number of players to the next level and even a higher number of P's. Almost to a man, the only arm issues came up with those who threw in excess with their travel teams and the parents wouldn't take advice when those red flags appeared.
Now, you were correct in one area... when myself and/or one of my coaches are supervising ANY practice, game, event, conditioning, etc., YES, the expectation and demand is that the adults in the room are in charge and supervising and the players are expected to respectfully adhere to the rules and guidelines in place. IMO, this is what responsible parents, teachers, coaches, pastors, mentors, etc., do. We feel this is a much more responsible way of running things than having the kids be in charge and dictate what will and won't happen (which, amazingly, I have actually seen at some places). They are encouraged to speak up if there is a problem or if they have suggestions (which they often do, and it is a healthy learning, growing environment for everyone). We pride ourselves on the successes of the program, the number of players who advanced both their skill level and their passion for the game enough that they chose to pursue playing at the next level, but MORE important to me was the pride in how they developed as very good young men. I like to think that our structured environment where we would take an opportunity like the OP described and turned it into a learning lesson on how to properly communicate and respect authority was helpful along the way. If you don't want your son to play for coaches like that, totally fine. We're all different.
BTW, 2019, I see by your profile that you are a home school family. I will add that I have coached many kids that have made the transition from home schooling to public school. I have found that there are typically tremendous qualities developed in kids who have gone that route. But, at the same time, i see them also benefit from experiencing some of the necessarily different structure of the larger group setting. It is often a significant adjustment at first. I hope your son is able to experience the same benefits.