Son will not be invited back to JV BaseBall

U have to give them opportunities to step up. Can't wait until 18' they need to learn while in HS. The more they learn to speak w adults, the better.

He would not be asking the coach to change his mind just give a clarification on skills and in his opinion where me needs work.

You should have told wife it would look bad and not to do it. 

AGREED , He will next week.   About wife , to late now.

Let's not forget we are still dealing with kids here.  While they certainly should be able to speak with an approachable adult, when a coach says "my word is final. Don't ask to get back on varsity or JV" he is really saying don't bother talking to me.  He is intimidating the kids, so he doesn't have to deal with them. 

So he can't make high school varsity. But he dreams of being a MLBer. If he had potential to be a pro prospect he could be anything but an ax murderer, you could be one and he would still make varsity. Your son should set his goals at making varsity. With the odds against as they will be he should have a plan, not a dream.

I knew a kid I coached that got cut from his school team in 6-9 grades. He was a good hitter and pitcher. He also played 1^st base. He was overweight and too out of shape. When he took a base on a passed ball we would say it was the longest 12 seconds in baseball. IMO the coaches never gave him a fair shot when they evaluated him, but I understood why.  Each year he got cut I told him to keep working and that he needed to get in better shape for next year. When he got cut his freshman year he finally got off the coach, and started working out. He dropped 30 pounds, put on muscle and got faster. Sophomore year he finally made the JV team, started 1^st and pitched. Junior year, V #2 pitcher and DH, played 1^st when #1 pitched. On his summer team this past summer, he was asked by two coaches to tour their campus. This is his senior year and he will be V #1 pitcher and play 1^st. This all happened because he stopped making excuses for being cut and started working to make himself such a good baseball player that he could not be cut.

Tell DMAN Jr. to keep working, to challenge himself to be a player that the coach could not cut. Only good can come from it!

Possibly,but what about the JV coach-didn't kid play for him last yr? He should feel comfortable asking him for his opinion of skills since he coached him. Varsity coach may be only seeing what happened at tryouts, and kid could have had a bad one.

Following this and the now deleted thread, I have had a thought (its unusual for me...).  While I disagree with the approach DMan and his family have taken on this issue I need to place some of the blame on the coach as well as the school for letting this happen.  We are starting tryouts this week here in IL.  I am hoping I am not facing the same issue as DMan but if I do the school has a defined policy on how they deal with parent contact as it relates to sports teams.  Either Dman's son school lacks a policy or they are not following it.  At my sons school they have a consistent policy across all sports.  A coach will not talk with a parent until after they have met with the student first.  This is strictly enforced.  In addition they must meet with the athlete if the athlete requests it.  If this is not followed the AD has instructed the parents to call him and he will setup the meeting between the student and the coach.  If after meeting with the student the student or his parents still are not satisfied with the outcome the coach will meet with the parents but the student must be in the meeting. Again this is strictly enforced.  No student in the meeting no meeting, no exceptions.  If the student / parent are still not satisfied after meeting with the coach they can request a meeting with the AD.  The parents, student and coach must be in this meeting.  Again no exceptions.  If a parent contacts the AD without first contacting the coach the AD will just refer them back to the coach.  

As I said this process is standardized across all sports and is spelled out at the team meetings as well as the parent meetings.  If DMan's school had a similar policy in effect I am guessing all DMan's, his sons, and his families questions would have been answered and they would not be in this situation.

BTW, don't get me wrong I am in no way in agreement with DMan's approach but if the school had a parent of student athletes policy in place a lot of problems could be avoided.

Dman,

Don't let these guys talk you down because your wife did what they feel that you should have done.  That's none of their business.  Making you feel less of a man for it is because its easy for them to hide behind a message board name. Although I do not believe in what you did in your previous posts referencing your player here, at least you were not afraid to let others know who you are.  Its easy to be like they are when no one knows who you are.

This is a fascinating conversation for me because after all is said and done, something just doesn't add up. I know that in CA the schools have far more students wanting to play than positions for, but I don't get why a two year JV player who is supposed to be so talented (not just by your account) didn't make the team. But then again, its been very difficult to follow your account of your sons timeline. I also do suggest that you do take a step back and realize that you are just continuing the dialog that you asked to have deleted.

My son, just as yours and countless others had dreams and aspirations of playing professional ball. They make it look so easy and so glamorous on TV don't they?

At one point in an amateurs baseball career, for many players, a light bulb goes off, he realizes that talent and good looks and hitting home runs and pitching wins doesn't mean he is going on to get paid to play or even make a college roster.  My point, its not as easy as it appears.

My son had a lot of those attributes that scouts look for when drafting players.  As good as he was, there were many things he needed to work on before it could ever happen.  We understood his dream, instead of trying to talk him into being realistic, we steered him in another direction.  We took him to many college games, as well as milb games that included spring training in the back fields for those not on the 40 man roster (no they do not play in front of thousands in march).  So the goal now became to be the best HS pitcher that he could for a D1 scholarship at a big D1 school.  It doesn't have to be that particular case, but college should be most everyone's first goal when entering HS.

Parents see their players in a totally different light that others do. Not because they are not good parents and refuse to remove their rose colored glasses.  The reason they can't is because they and their player CANNOT and DO NOT understand what it takes to make the HS team, then a college roster and then maybe get drafted.

For a parent whose son has played the college game, then the pro game, and for those here whose sons do, some of the comments made by you are well, kind of...silly. Not your fault, you just don't understand.

You can listen to all the advice you want,  but here is what you need to steer your son towards,  to obtain a college scholarship, this should be the first and foremost at this moment in time.  Since he is not playing on a HS  team, this can afford him the time to improve upon what he needs to.  Hire a trainer, give him lessons, he should be hanging out at the nearest cages like a cage rat. You and him (together with your wife), need to try to secure a place for him to play this summer and fall, and to attend showcases/camps AFTER he has become stronger and better, which would be this fall.  If you put the cart before the horse its not gonna work.  There are literally hundreds of players all trying to reach the same goal, and no one is going to give your son a shot because you think he deserves it! 

If you have any questions, feel free to send a message.

Blame?  Place blame on the coach and school? For what? Cutting a junior and not putting him on JV?  Despite what others have said this makes perfect sense to me.  Unless the coach sees some projected talent for next year putting a junior on JV is not the way to build the future of the program.  Clearly this isn't the case since he is not going this path. It seems that the kid can still approach the coach if he wants to ask clarifying questions if he wants to.

You sound like a good man.  HS coaches are not what they used to be so a good one is priceless.

While extremely rare(more so than making it to the HOF) kids who are cut make it in baseball.  They become obsessed about working to get better. 

Let's keep it about making a HS varsity team before we get into HOFers who got cut.

And laying blame on the coach is ridiculous. It was already stated that the player knew that if they got cut they could not try out for JV. 

Ok, so here is a question, what did the player do to make the varsity team? Did he work his butt off in the off season to improve either in gaining strength or his skills, or did he just show up thinking that because he did well in JV and in a rec league he would get an opportunity to play V?  In most cases, this is usually what happens.

This is what I was referring to that it is not as easy as it appears to be. As in applying for any job or opportunity, there is lots and lots of preparation that has to occur to get the opportunity.

The purpose of the comparison was all does not have to be lost if you work hard enough (as usual you only read what you want and struggle with understanding)Also, I didn't say anything about laying it on the coach?

I understood what you were getting at, I get it, but do others.

Why not just worry about what has to be done now, the whole process is step by step, once a player figures that out, there can be success.

Many times there are comebacks stated here  with so and so didn't make his HS team but look at him now!  Rarely applies to many. 

If the player doesn't understand the concept in the first place, it isn't going to work.

The part about blaming the coach was not directed at you.

I am not blaming the coach for cutting the kid.  What I am saying is the school could avoid all this drama if they would have a policy in place that would address contact between coaches and parents.  If the school clearly spelled out who they handle things like this DMan's wife would have never had a meeting with the coach.  

i agree with you, but he was not cut on talent, he should be on varsity, but if you get bet out from making the team why not JV. There are 15 on Varsity and 14 on JV players..  To many excuses but NO real answer. When a decision is made, make it with the uniform on. Something personal should be left off for the kids that have talent, heart ect...

I told him to not give them any reason , for next year.

No time wasted here. Tomorrow is tryouts for the extended spring league in the east bay.. There will be 4 Varsity teams. with Juniors and Seniors.  I have info on the Goodwill Series and a spring travel-ball / Fall /  Winter league sports Organization in Mill valley. He will work with a Pro Hitting instructor next month when he gets back from spring training..  We as a family go to many A's and college games in the area.

Now you sound like your denial is rearing its ugly head again.  If he wasn't cut on the basis of his talents, and not because of you being a PITA parent, than what was he cut for?  You need to start listening to what everyone is saying and either get yourself some help for hurting your son, or get him some solid coaching.  You can't keep making excuses and living in denial.

I have not read this thread, but everyone stops playing baseball at some point in time, sometimes LL, sometimes Jr's, sometimes HS, sometimes college, sometimes minor leagues, sometimes after getting a "cup of coffee" in the bigs.

One thing is constant - it hurts when it happens. You reflect and move on after a period of pain. 

What amazes me is that after all this time, DMan has STILL not said clearly why the kid was cut. Not one specific.  Dman, you've alluded to things like politics, travel issues, personal issues....you're not going to get much sympathy here or better advice if you don't explain this issue fully.  To me at least, you're still hiding something.  You've obviously wanted to vent or hear opinions, otherwise you wouldn't have made that other thread and then started this one too.  If you're going to do that, then be honest and explain clearly what is really going on.  

Here is an example,  JV coach said, Second base is already taken, Wife said what about outfield.  Coach said,  need to be fast,  Son   best time in 60Y.D.   6.9   worst   7.6   At showcase  7.2   how fast do you need to be on a JV team in the outfield.  You have seen his past stats which do not tell the hole story and video, but it has to have some worth on projecting his future at a min. at the high school level.  D III level for outfield speed needs to be at 7.0 sec.

It appears that the kid wasn't good enough or the parent(s) did something to hack off the coach(es).     Sounds like the kid has some talent so it must be the latter.  What other reason could there be for a kid, who is a junior, not being invited to play JV after not making Varsity? 

My school once had a Freshman, Sophomore, JV and Varsity.  However, with budget cuts throughout our area, the Sophomore team was eliminated.  Then, most teams in our area decided that only Freshmen and Sophomores could be on JV.  Sure we play teams out of our area that have a Junior on the team.  That isn't often but does happen.  Typically, the coach announces it to our JV coach and we always agree to let them play.  Some schools want to avoid this altogether.  That might explain why Dman's son isn't playing JV.  I don't know.  I had a young man that I cut two times.  One from JV and one from Varsity.  Still, he came out his Senior year.  I admired him and kept him.  He did his part as well and really did get better.  He went on to play at a D-III and had a lot of fun.  Very successful in business now.  It can happen. 

I know you are completely right thanks, just a setback and reevaluate his goals.

It would take to long if you would like you can call me.

Can the moderator close this thread.

Thankyou

This seems to be a common sentiment in this thread--a player is only cut if he isn't good enough or he has "hacked off" the coaches.

So I'll post a scenario  (BTW, I have no reason to think the OP's is similar.) that happened recently to a player who I'm familiar with. He played for a while on the same travel team as one of my sons.  He is from my viewpoint a model citizen.  Clearly he had the talent and skills to make the team (he is currently starting for a very strong California community college, and hasn't had any jump in size or desire, etc).

Yet he didn't make varsity as a junior in high school.  I was really surprised and mentioned it to my son.  It turns out he wasn't surprised.  He told me that no teammates would want him on their team, because he usually reacted to any situation with the wrong comment or with wrong timing, and it was really aggravating.  My son gave the example of a teammate striking out on a really bad pitch. The player I'm discussing would immediately provide very encouraging comments.  But most batters want to be mad at themselves for a while before trying to recover emotionally.  My son said this kind of tin-ear behavior, even though it is well-intended, eventually wears on everyone.  It isn't apparent to us parents in the stands, but it is to players and coaches.

So this is an example of a kid with good character, good attitude, and real baseball ability-- but he didn't make the team.

Wait....so a kid didn't make the varsity because he provided TOO MUCH encouragement to his teammates???   Lol.....thought this whole thread couldn't get any crazier....then you add that to the story.