Should Freshman Play Varsity

If he's sitting on the bench he should not be there (if he has an option). If he's playing and contributing as a player his “age” is determined by his arm strength, batspeed, footspeed, power, and other pure baseball tools...BUT....once that player steps off the field the social pecking order, so customary in boys of high school age, is immediately restored. My son played as a freshman without any problems whatsoever. Maybe the key was the fact I controlled the social situation by being at every practice and every game and would take him home instead of letting him leave with the older players in their vehicles. He never changed his friends, just his teammates. During "hazings" incidents (another subject) he actually received less punishment than the other freshmen. I say go for it.
Fungo

Like anything else in life, the freshman will be judged by how they perform, and how they handle dugout and locker room situations.

I feel strongly that if the player earns the position at this level, they deserve to play.

If he is going to get PT let him play varsity.

Agree with the rest, if he will get PT go for it. Otherwise, stay down.

I agree, play varsity if the coach says PT is expected. Son played as a HS freshman and has no regrets. As a parent you just need to control the off the field stuff. IMO, a freshman does not need to party with seniors!

We had a kid play as a 14yo freshman last year and deservedly so. He was roughly 6', 170lbs and looked 16 or 17.

My almost 14yo freshman is a bit over 5'7", weighs about 120lbs and looks younger than his age. He won't have to worry about making that decision or even about playing JV. If there was any question he'd play on whatever team the coach wanted him to. The coaches are used to dealing with kids maturing from boys into young men and have a better feel for how the kids are going to do in HS ball than most of us do.

I agree with others that if the freshman is getting playing time, then it's a good thing. If he is just filling a uniform, it doesn't help him.

Playing varsity as a freshman is kind of a relative thing. A small enrollment school might need a freshman just becasue of numbers or talent. I think it's more of a dad ego thing anyways, the kids just want to play and usually play with their friends.

It has nothing to do with playing with friends. If a kid is good enough to play Varsity as a Freshman then he will. Any kid would rather play on Varsity then just play with a few friends. It has nothing to do with ego's Illinois 2008. Let's face it Dad's have nothing to do with who gets moved up and plays in the games in Highschool. Thank God for that.

Some parents have to stop making excuses for their kid. If somebody is better, and gets moved up to a higher level just deal with it. Instill good work ethics and encouragement to your son, and just be happy and satisfied with that.

HS Freshman can and should play varsity, yet must perform right away and then contribute.
And above all, have excellent communications skills with the Head Coach!

This is a probable combination.

It also benefits the club if the 14 y/o can flat out pitch right away either in a middle relief, set up, or close role.

Some HS freshman that start at the varsity level, will typically have played 16U travel ball the year before.

If all the criteron can not be met, express to the Head coach of the desire to be on the varsity, yet prefer to play and compete all the time at JV rather than sit at Varsity.

Also be sensitive toward the upperclassman parent(s) who son probably won't play after HS.

Good Luck

Regards
Bear

This thread comes up a few times every year here. If a kid is one of the best options for your team then he is one of the best options for your team. What grade he is in has nothing to do with the decision. I do not believe in bringing up Fresh or Sophs to varsity unless they are going to be able in our estimation to help the team win games. I dont want a young kid sitting on the bench because we (might) need him. They either start or play a significant role. As far as the social thing. Coaches understand the situation that a young kid is in when he is 14 or 15 and put in an environment with 17 18 19 year old kids. We protect them. We watch over them like a hawk and the older kids know this. They know that they are like the baby son and the older kids are the big brothers. They might pick on them a little bit but they know where the line is and they know they better not cross it. And Ill tell you what no one outside our team better not mess with the younger brothers because the older guys look after them as well. Players know talent and ability when they see it. They respect the younger guys that can flat out play and help them win games. And they are very protective of the younger guys. After all every baseball team should be like a family. We pride ourselves in our program on being a family.

Well said coach May. I couldn't agree more. That was exactly my point. The Dad's that are against this method are usually the ones that don't have this opportunity presented to their son. In affect, they think it's an ego thing or politics. That's completely the opposite, because that's what makes Highschool ball and top travel ball so great. No Fathers running the show, which almost always means no politics.

I ain't read the rest of this thread, but my son played all four years.

You don't realize until you look back just how must pressure they were under.

But, if they can win a spot and play, they should.

That is the way it is supposed to be.

This is an important question to my son hopes to be facing this spring. His goal is to make varsity, and he has a realistic shot at it.

We have spoken about it often. The decision is pretty simple. He'd rather play on JV than sit on varsity. But if he's good enough to get playing time on varsity, then ABSOLUTELY varsity is where he wants to be.

I think a serious player wants to play against the best competition he is able to handle.

If a player is good enough, and is a competitor then playing up if asked is always a good decision. If some schools hold their top guns back from playing on elite travel programs in the summer, then they are very selfish as well.

This may be a bit off topic, but my boy has been asked to play with the Varsity next summer as an 8th grader. I am leaving it up to him, but I think that I would rather he stayed with his travel team one more year. He has been told that he will get plenty of playing time because of his bat, but I think it would be better to stay back one more year and get more acclimated to the 60/90 fields and the -3 bats. I guess I will just have to wait and see what he decides.

You also have to consider the level of the competition. There's a world of difference between playing varsity in a top conference in CA, FL, TX, etc. and playing varsity for a small school in a small school conference outside the traditional baseball areas.

BTW, we had a player who didn't play varsity until his senior year. He'd already signed with a D1 before his varsity season. In light of that I find it hard to believe that playing varsity as a freshman means much one way or the other.

CADad, that's a good point. Depending on the level of play at that Highschools team and conference means alot.

My 08 played varsity last year as a freshman and it was a great experience for him. He bonded well with the older players, they accepted him as a friend and a teammate. We did some of the same things that others have mentioned (controlled his environment alot!), but all in all it was a great expeience for him. It was especially good when we had moved into a new school before his freshman year. Playing varsity ball really helped him fit into the new school and "find his place".
We also had the same discussion with the coach before the season started about playing time. It was the coaches opinion (and ours) that if he was not going to start or play significant minutes, then he was better off playing all the time on the JV. We were all fine with that. Coach said he would use opening season tournaments to finalize his decision. After those were up, the only innings he sat were the end of a couple of non-district games and the opening few innings of Senior Night.
All in all, playing on the Varsity was a huge boost for my son. The main thing, as others have said, is the issue of significant playing time.
The other cool thing (at least to my 08) is getting that first letter jacket!

My son played varsity in early season tournaments last year. Pitched and hit pretty well. When the regular season started the coaches decided to leave him down on the freshman team. I think the varsity program was much better for him and I wish he could have stayed up. This year he's working very hard to make the varsity team, not to mention he's grown allot. If given the choice on which team to play on, make sure that you consider the coaching staff which is usually much better at the varsity level.

My son started as a freshman. We had a rather small school so he already knew alot of the kids from his older brother or from playing summer ball with some of them. In the beginning of the school yr, the coach called him in and told him he had heard about him already and wanted him to know he had a good shot at making the team and possibly starting if he worked at it. He did, wound up starting and never looked back. Socially, he did razzed some in the beginning since some srs. weren't starting but for the most part he wound up making some good friends that he still does things with even now that he's in college. Initiation - they taped his bike high up on a wall in the locker room. I guess he gave them the reaction they hoped for. For the most part, considering the age difference, he was a part of the team on and off the field. I say, go for it if that's what he wants. Some kids aren't ready for the social aspect of being around older kids but since he had an older brother in the same school, it worked for him. He even wound up having the 2nd highest BA for the yr on the team.

Our son's high school coach came to us prior to his freshman year and told us that he'd likely be his starting, varsity shortstop as a freshman; but, that he wouldn't get nearly as many innings on the mound as a varsity player as he would if he played junior varsity. He chose to play varsity; and, just as the coach had predicted, played regularly at shortstop but sparingly as a pitcher that year.

In retrospect, it was the right thing to do. He benefitted from the experience of playing at the varsity level early and ended up getting plenty of innings in as a pitcher, subsequently, for his summer and fall teams later in the year.

I have the same situation right now. Myself and two other my friends are easily the three best freshman in the district. Each class has 500-600 kids, so a freshman playing varsity is almost unheard of. But this year the varsity coach says they will not have much returning players, and will have barley any pitching left. Besides that most of the JVer's moving up arn't that great. So this year I may have a chance at playing varsity ball. But just the factor of not playing as much as I would on JV comes in. But things like if some scout comes and looks at me in my senior year and hears I've been playing varsity since I was a freshman.

I think each situation presents itself differently, as seen in the above posts.

The key for me is playing time--in some schools the frosh just fills a uniform in others he is a contributor--some schools are powerhouses where a kid may not become a starter until his senior year

REPS are key folks---not the status of being a varsity player--a frosh and a soph for that matter need reps--if they are going to get them then play up if not play JV--I see the frosh and soph years in HS baseball as key development years and I dont like to see them wasted by a "butt" sitting on the bench