Son cut from JV, now what?

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Don't let them throw like girls.

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Nitric, could be that he's just not ready yet. He's a big kid, maybe all the coordination that he needs to make the team is just not there yet. Looks like there are those who think he's got skills. Your son has the right attitude - maybe he just needs to grow into his body. You might investigate a couple of college camps this summer. Yes, you will pay to go, but your son may get some good instruction, exposure and feedback.

powertoallfields, I agree. A roster of 12 does seem awfully small to me for a JV team.

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Originally posted by RJM:

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If a kid is giving his best effort and is COACHABLE he should not be cut!

Sometimes there are more coachable kids giving effort than there are uniforms.

Every year we have more kids turning out than we have roster spots. I would love to keep every kid that tries out, but it isn't allowed by league/state rules.

The unfortunate reality is that we have no choice but to cut kids. They are often worthy players who could probably make the roster at some other schools.

I'm sure most coaches would agree that this is a horrible part of the job. It is heartbreaking to have to cut kids, especially the ones who really try hard, and work hard. Unfortunately, we have to make some really tough decisions.

Do we like it? No!
Are we being vindictive or mean-spirited? Probably not in most cases.
Do our opinions differ from moms' and dads'? You bet.
Are we upsetting parents and/or players? Unfortunately, yes.
Do we enjoy upsetting parents and/or players? Absolutely not!
Do we give the players the opportunity to improve and make the team next year? YES! I would be crazy not to.

Every school and every situation is different. If we have every freshman team player return to try out in his sophomore year, we are more than likely going to have to cut some of those returners. It's a harsh reality that most of us would rather not have to deal with.

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Originally posted by switchitter:
true and also keep in mind that if a JV coach has 12 players, they usually have the option of pulling some kids up from freshman from time to time so that roster count could fluxuate during the year. Also it is more rare but if an upperclassmen pitcher is struggling up on Varsity, they can move him down to JV to pitch to get his confidence back or give him some playing time. JV is the "middle-man".

Excellent point. When we post our initial rosters, we may have 20 on the freshman team, 12 on the JV, and 18 on Varsity. After we practice for a week or so, we adjust the rosters so that we may have 18 frosh, 17 JV, and 15 varsity. The initial rosters don't mean anything. Things are not always as they seem.

Nitric...all I can say is if your son still loves to play, then he should keep working and try to find a good summer team to play on.

It may be hard to do at this time since most have their rosters already set, but try anyways.

My sons school just had their tryouts and a lot of decent ball players were cut. They had 60 kids try out for 30 spots (15 JV 15 Varsity)...60 kids! Some good ball players were let go.

I know its tough to see now but he should keep at it if he really wants to play.

I'll also add that you should become educated on some basics (at the minimum) of throw and hitting.

If you're getting him instruction on throwing, how do you know he is improving if you don't know what to look for? A lot of people spend a lot of money on instruction, and don't get anythingn out of it.

If you are...great, but I still think that knowledge is power.

Good luck to your son.

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Originally posted by KnightTime:

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Originally posted by switchitter:
true and also keep in mind that if a JV coach has 12 players, they usually have the option of pulling some kids up from freshman from time to time so that roster count could fluxuate during the year. Also it is more rare but if an upperclassmen pitcher is struggling up on Varsity, they can move him down to JV to pitch to get his confidence back or give him some playing time. JV is the "middle-man".

Excellent point. When we post our initial rosters, we may have 20 on the freshman team, 12 on the JV, and 18 on Varsity. After we practice for a week or so, we adjust the rosters so that we may have 18 frosh, 17 JV, and 15 varsity. The initial rosters don't mean anything. Things are not always as they seem.

Thanks for explaining that. What does the state limit your rosters to?

NA, How many team fund-raising meetings did you attend? Are you a top donor? I believe in the close situation, it makes a huge difference.

No matter what happens next year, I want to be the top donor of my son's freshman team. Just in case some close situation persents. I would like to have an edge to make sure my son will be among the starting 9. Piece of mind will help him along the way. JMHO

If you feel you have to donate for your son to make the freshman team, what do you think the odds are of him ever making varsity?

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Originally posted by RJM:
If you feel you have to donate for your son to make the freshman team, what do you think the odds are of him ever making varsity?

RIM: Please read it again. Close situation for "STARTING 9" only. I guess if you are the big donor this year while your son is a freshman, with his talent he might starting for JV next year, hey, trust me, you never know what $$$$ can do. I am buying the insurance, just in case something would happen.

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Originally posted by coachbwww:
NA, How many team fund-raising meetings did you attend? Are you a top donor? I believe in the close situation, it makes a huge difference.

No matter what happens next year, I want to be the top donor of my son's freshman team. Just in case some close situation persents. I would like to have an edge to make sure my son will be among the starting 9. Piece of mind will help him along the way. JMHO

This is the most retarded thing I've ever heard...

Nice way to bring in the politics....

Sooner or later...you won't be able to buy your way onto a baseball team. The whole "weeding out" process takes hold.

RobV:

This is called street smart!

Call it what you want hot shot.

Sooner or later...your kid better be able to play.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

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Originally posted by coachbwww:
NA, How many team fund-raising meetings did you attend? Are you a top donor? I believe in the close situation, it makes a huge difference.

No matter what happens next year, I want to be the top donor of my son's freshman team. Just in case some close situation persents. I would like to have an edge to make sure my son will be among the starting 9. Piece of mind will help him along the way. JMHO

I go to the booster club meeting. I make a donation. I'm sure I'm not the top booster. I offer to help out, but other people are in charge of fund raising and who knows what else. I don't schmooze the coach. I don't care if that gets their kid on the team. My son is going to make it because he can play.

Coachwww, in another thread you state this:

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As a parent, I always tell my kids, "Don't be afraid of the competition, enjoy it!" If you are among the top 9 kids in the team, you still don't have a lot of playing time, then work harder to be the #1 player in the team. **Forget such nonsenses as "Politics", there are no "politics" at HS level if you are the best of the breeds. Only losers will whine for playing time, work hard and be the best, simple and easy.

No politics?

But now this is okay?

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No matter what happens next year, I want to be the top donor of my son's freshman team. Just in case some close situation persents.** I would like to have an edge to make sure my son will be among the starting 9. Piece of mind will help him along the way. JMHO

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Originally posted by playersmom:
No politics?

But now this is okay?

]

After reading all those posts here, I felt the need to buy insurance from the HS team next year. Just in case, piece of mind, that's it.

BTW, Do you buy all kind of insurances for you and your family? Health, House, Auto, Life.... We live in the world needs insurance everyday. Why not baseball? In the worst case, I met a coach who doesn't know what talent is( Like PGstaff's story about a supper hitter), I would buy my ticket to give my son a chance to "show off".

These are all assumptions. My son may not need it after all.

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Originally posted by coachbwww:

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Originally posted by RJM:
If you feel you have to donate for your son to make the freshman team, what do you think the odds are of him ever making varsity?

RIM: Please read it again. Close situation for "STARTING 9" only. I guess if you are the big donor this year while your son is a freshman, with his talent he might starting for JV next year, hey, trust me, you never know what $$$$ can do. I am buying the insurance, just in case something would happen.

OK, I'll rephrase .... If you feel you have to donate for your son to start on freshman team, what do you think the odds are of him ever making varsity? It means he's a marginal player.

My son starts on the JV team as a freshman. He was told he may get called up to varsity later in the season. I donated an ordinary amount because it's good for the program to get things they need. After he makes varsity I'll donate more when it doesn't look like I'm trying to buy his way onto the varsity. I've never provided any advantage for my kids except practice help, advice and encouragement. I've already been through this once with an older kid.

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Originally posted by RJM:
It means he's a marginal player.

Well, who knows? At least I bought my insurance. This is called team involvement. I will campaign for the team parent next year. Be a leader of the booster's club. This is going to be fun.

I wish your son make the varsity team next year. Maybe he is not so marginal.

If your son is in the starting nine because you were super booster then you really don't want your son on that team. They probably won't be very good. So you are paying your son's way into the starting lineup for a terrible team.

A good coach with a good team will never make a decision based on stuff like that. That is why they are called "good coaches". The ones who let parents buy their sons a starting job are not good. That is why they are called "bad coaches".

Wait a minute, now. coachbwww has really hit on something. Maybe HSBBW and Julie could offer "Baseball Insurance" we could all buy to schmooze our way onto the team!

..and all this time I thought talent and hard work were the answer. Nuts!

Okay, let's all pitch in and buy coachbwww's kid a policy. That way, when he makes it at West Podoka State we'll all be proud!

This guy cant be serious....I smell a troll.

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Originally posted by Bum:
Wait a minute, now. coachbwww has really hit on something. Maybe HSBBW and Julie could offer "Baseball Insurance" we could all buy to schmooze our way onto the team!

..and all this time I thought talent and hard work were the answer. Nuts!

Okay, let's all pitch in and buy coachbwww's kid a policy. That way, when he makes it at West Podoka State we'll all be proud!

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Originally posted by RobV:
This guy cant be serious....I smell a troll.

I was gonna say that same thing!!

Hey everyone, I appreciate all the posts, both positive and negative. I was able to speak with one of the assistants over email (we've talked in the past, so this was not a big deal) and got some better feedback.

Throwing was a concern, but not as big as I thought. Needs to develop an infielder's throw to play infield. What really hurt him was that he had a bad hitting session against the pitching machine. Some of the assistant coaches/instructors saw him in "unofficial" practice before tryouts and said his hitting looked great. I am guessing based on past experience, but I suspect he got tense and it messed up his swing (it's happened before). If you're going to make your "thing" hitting, you need to mash the ball at tryouts and he didn't do that. Based on that, the JV coach thought he couldn't hit and combined with some minor throwing issues got him cut.

I don't like it, but I understand that if a coach only sees a kid hit once, the kid better be good when he's around. At least it's warming up around here so we can get outside and practice.

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Originally posted by Nitric_Acid:
Hey everyone, I appreciate all the posts, both positive and negative. I was able to speak with one of the assistants over email (we've talked in the past, so this was not a big deal) and got some better feedback.

Throwing was a concern, but not as big as I thought. Needs to develop an infielder's throw to play infield. What really hurt him was that he had a bad hitting session against the pitching machine. Some of the assistant coaches/instructors saw him in "unofficial" practice before tryouts and said his hitting looked great. I am guessing based on past experience, but I suspect he got tense and it messed up his swing (it's happened before). If you're going to make your "thing" hitting, you need to mash the ball at tryouts and he didn't do that. Based on that, the JV coach thought he couldn't hit and combined with some minor throwing issues got him cut.

I don't like it, but I understand that if a coach only sees a kid hit once, the kid better be good when he's around. At least it's warming up around here so we can get outside and practice.

You took the right approach, and got some valid answers as to why your son was cut. Of course you don't like it, but sounds like you got some honest answers. I think most coaches look for position players to be able to hit first, field and throw second. If a player can hit, there is always room in the lineup.

Now, you know what to work on, and it sounds like your son will try his hardest to do what it takes to make the team next year. Be sure to play summer ball, and have your son work on his strength and conditioning in addition to his baseball skills. Best of luck to you and your son.

Parents donate to booster clubs and high school baseball programs all the time. Just because a few parents can afford to donate a large amount, doesn't mean you are trying to buy your kid a spot on the team. What if the baseball program is poor and really needs the money. Is someone going to say, "well, I won't donate what I can because it will look bad"??? That's not the right reason to "NOT" donate to the program. It's up to the Head Coach to filter that and not play favorites. If a kid can "hack it", his teammates will know, the coaching staff will know, the parents will know, the college scouts will know. A coach would look ridiculously bad if he tried to give preferential treatment to a lousy player just because the parents of the kid gave the coach a new SUV.

Having said all that: I know of MANY parents who have bought their son's way onto the field. It happens all the time. I know of a friend up in the U.P. that saw a coach take a vacation cruise on the tab of one of the parents and that kid was bad and he started third base on Varsity as a sophomore and averaged 2.3 errors a game for the season. You can't play third base and be bad, it's the "hot corner" and will make players look really foolish if they even try to act like they can play that position. It's one of the hardest to play in high school.