Treatment of Underclassmen

Wasn't an issue for my son. They treated him more like big brothers (except probably nicer!) Played a few pranks on him but were very supportive. Some of the JV players, well let's just say had a few problems with his being moved up ahead of them but the Varsity players nixed that for him. All in all, it was a GREAT experience for him. Congrats and good luck to your son!

Collikar - My son was put with the older kids at a very young age. I do realize that not every experience was like his, but I'll share his story. NEVER was there a problem or mistreatment by the older players. Quite the contrary. They shielded him, playfully teased him, taught him, and befriended him. Several of those older players still call him to this day to see how he's doing. We actually ran into one of the older boys when we went to the mall during Christmas break who came up to my son to make sure he had the kid's cell number. He told my son (a college freshman) "I want you to call me if you need anything and I MEAN anything". Being around the boys that were a little older, wiser, and experienced only benefitted my son.

Even if it wasn't as great a group of guys, I still think your son will probably learn alot just by observing. JMHO I agree with OR Mom - it can be more of a challenge dealing with his peers when he's bumped up ahead of them.

My son's experience primarily good. The older boys were a little wary at first because at our hs, boys were typically brought up for political reasons....His cure for that was flat-out out-playing them, and then all was well. His own classmates were put-off, but the cure for that was out-playing them, also. Funny how hard work, skill-building, and heart cures a lot of potential issues...He was All-conference as a sophomore, so that quieted any remaining nay-sayers.

Ladies ~ Thank you so much. I really need the affirmations...you've all been there, and I appreciate your knowledge more then you could know.

The worst they did to my son was right after he got moved up for a preseason tournament. The tournament ran really late so it was probably 11:00 before they were finished. My son had gotten his first Varsity win. A bunch of the boys were going to IHOP for something to eat and they asked my son to go. (Yes,I had concerns about my 14 year old going with the 17-18 year old young men-I knew who was driving him and felt o.k. with that-but, just the whole idea...) Anyway, we let him go-there's a 12:00 curfew around here if you're under 17... The boys knew a police officer at IHOP, they set up with him to keep my son there until 12:00 and have the policeman come get my son and start questioning him in front of the whole restaurant "Son, how old are you? So you're out after curfew?", etc. He was mortified!! Until everyone started laughing. By the time he got home he was SO thrilled to think they had done all of that for him. After that, we had a talk with him to let him know that was a special deal and that he would not be hanging out with the guys socially like that. Just too big of an age difference-he understood and it wasn't a problem. That was a great group of boys!

When my son was 10 and playing up,it didn't bother me. The parents were always around, and the boys were, well boys. They all acted goofy and got along great!

This age differential is the scary thing to me. You've all got great stories, and I pray that my son's experiences are as fun and loving as the one's you've expressed here.

Thanks again and again and again.....

Collikar.....my son was treated well by the older guys in that they definitely looked out for him.....but I think that is a team....that is what they do....take care of one another....but.....he had his place too.....as the youngest.....away games....he got off the bus last, and when he did....he and the other freshman carried the extra equipment....always....home games....he carried the extra equipment off the field.....

It should be noted that last year, as a senior....he watched the varsity freshman carry the extra equipment.....

My son played varsity as a freshman. First game of that year,score tied, put 15 year old in against a good team. Pitched three scoreless innings and ended up winning. He never had a problem with the older kids but after that he was just one of the guys. They new he deserved to be on the team. He even made the AAA Legion team as a 15 year old. Now I was a little hesitant to let him hang out with the guys since he was 15 and probably five or six players were 19. That year was the turning point for my son. He is very mature in a good way and I can thank his coaches and teammates for that.

Like many parents here, mine also was called up to varsity as a freshman (small HS), and overall it was a good experience, but ... he was called up a few weeks into the season as a backup but became a utility starter, playing several infield or outfield positions where an upperclassman didn't do well the last game, so there were several older players who felt at times that he had stolen "their" spot. He was quiet and respectful and eventually was accepted as "one of the guys", but it took at least a few weeks. I did notice him carrying a lot of equipment and found out there was a rule, "freshmen carry stuff and clean up" (he was the only freshman). The scariest part for me was finding out that he was riding to away games in a senior's car with occasional smoke coming out of the shift-stick column! When I heard that I asked him to try to ride in a coach's car.

Well obviously, I'm the mom and don't know anything, but with that said, you all have opened my eyes to what I need to be looking for.

Thanks again and again and again.

Mn-Mom, I agree with you completely on the acceptance issue. The sit back, work hard, help with the raking after games works well. My son didn't have any trouble on the high school varsity as a freshman - the summer team was a little tougher. No hazing, it just took more time to fit in and the age difference was greater since it was Legion team and some of the players had come back to play after freshman years in college. By the middle of the summer he was just one of the guys. I also think that acceptance of filling in where the coach needs you when you're one of the younger guys is important. My son's a LHP/1B, but as a freshman he was sometimes put in the outfield on non-pitching days. He actually played on varsity in both basketball and baseball as a freshman and in both cases found a couple of really accepting older guys who I would call his mentors. I also remind him now of how much it meant to him at the time and that he better be doing the same for the young guys!

I also agree that he (and his mom and dad) felt the most flak from his own age group.

Have to agree with others here...Son was 14 playing with 17-18 yr olds...They treated him like a brother. They razzed a bit...Bound him like a mummy, including his mouth & hair with duck tape & left him on a bench while the coach was mowing. Everyone left & about an hour later, Coach spotted him.

As a freshman playing Varsity, I just wouldn't let him hang out after Friday night games with out some responsible adult supervision.

baseballmom,

Wow, I'd have a huge, huge problem with the duct tape incident - possibly deadly. I'm glad your son wasn't harmed, but I'm picturing a boy left totally immobilized on a bench with no one around, a bee landing and stinging, allergic reaction (my husband is allergic so that came to mind) or otherwise just plain difficulty breathing from being bound tightly. Again, I'm so glad your son wasn't harmed, but I hope those boys were talked to and learned never to do that again!

Like many other players on this thread, my son has always played up. He's quite excited about pitching his senior season in HS since this will be the first time EVER that he has faced anyone younger. He's held his own at the higher levels (pitched against college teams this past summer, has played legion ball against 16-19 year-olds beginning when he was 14), but plans to really have fun when the first FR steps up to bat this spring. My son is big and throws hard. It should surprise a few younger players!
All of the above posts reflect our experience, but we saw another side to this issue. I feel like my son, who is a bit shy with peers, was hindered in his own age group socially by always being around older players. While he was never treated badly, he never was included in the off-field activities of the older guys and kids his age assumed he was hanging out with the team he played with. The result was that he found his own niche with kids his own age who didn't play sports. While it made him more well-rounded by having sports and school friends, it prevented him from ever getting that really strong bond with one group. Maybe thats why he's so independent and comfortable with new situations. He never had the safety net of being a "jock" or a "brain". He just kind of floated in between the two.
I will say that older players never had a problem with my son... he was pitching and helping their team. But the parents of the older players DID have a problem with my son stepping in on their territory. Last year was a pretty miserable experience from that standpoint.

Interesting how the players seem to handle the situation fine, but it's some of the parents who really seemed "bothered" by underclassmen playing. My son made JV as an eighth grader and paid his dues by spending a lot of time on the bench. It was an adjustment for all of us, as we were used to him having lots of playing time. But, we took it in stride and keep our mouths shut, while other parents kept up with the amount of playing time the various players were receiving and the number of errors being made. Varsity Coach took him that summer with the Varsity to the Varsity's Team Camp at MS State. Boy, were parents bothered big time. Varsity boys didn't seem to mind at all; in fact, before the season had begun, several of the seniors, whom son knew through our church, had been inviting him to workout with them.

Son started as a freshmen on Varsity and still had some parents real bothered. Major differences seemed to erupt last year (during soph yr), again with parents, and not the boys themselves. Son was lead-off batter, LHP (although was still developing, and team had 3-4 good pitchers) and played outfield. Parent's of third basemen went off the deep ending, having a meeting with coach and principal about the amount of playing time our son was receiving. Their contention was that our son was receiving so much playing time because "daddy was cooking (for concession stand), working on the field and mommy was keeping the scoreboard. Of course, the ironic thing is that the amount of playing time my son was receiving had NOTHING to do with the amount of time their son was receiving ~ they didn't even play the same positions. Go figure.

Summary, generally the boys seem to work it out themselves and are fine. They can tell who has the ability and is helping the team. You just have to ignore comments and behavior of some of the parents. That's usually why I keep the scoreboard and husband sits down the sideline or out in right field.

You're so right! The problems are in the stands. I think this will be the first year without the daggers in the back (son's a junior)! I remember my son's freshman year-got the district's newcomer of the year-only parents who said anything were the sophomore's parents who had started as a freshman the year before. They really had it bad-parents going to district AD, etc. I think for pitchers it's a little easier to prove you belong-it's really obvious if you're doing okay or not. Things got better with non-pitcher parents after son got a few wins. Never did with the pitcher parents. Position players have it tougher. We never let on to our son that there were issues with some of the parents-he didn't know because he didn't feel it from his teammates luckily!
Of course, there was one senior mom I have to thank for finding this website! Her son was an outstanding player and had no place to play college ball. She talked to me during the summer after her son graduated and found a juco to play at-told me it was up to us to figure out what to do if son wanted to play college. She said they'd had no idea and son paid for it-gave me some pointers where to start and that led us here!

Julie,
He was fine...Nose was open. And he knew not to wiggle too much, or he'd fall off the bench. It was kind of painfull & looked funny with hair missing from his arms & legs! Good for a laugh!!

My real concern was riding with some of the guys. We have had 2 tragic accidents at 2 high schools in the last 30 days. One school is in my town.
7 were hospitalized (one fatality) when the 17 yr old driver decided to be cute & jerk the steering wheel back & forth on a side street 1 block from the workout facility. The Truck rolled, throwing the 6 in the bed to the pavement. It's ILLEGAL to ride in the bed of a truck, under 18!! Driver is facing several charges, including involuntary manslaughter. He is a Senior.
Second incident:
5 kids decided to "joy ride" at 3:00 AM!! Rumor has it they had been "using or drinking". Driver lost control on neighborhood street, hit a tree & the small truck burst into flames. Driver was trapped behind the wheel & couldn't be saved. Others had severe to critical injuries, but managed to get out of the truck!
Where is the PARENTING?

Moms, keep warning your kids!! Automobiles are like leathal weapons! Ask your kid if he's really mature enough to take on the responsibility for another human life, AND if he's willing to GIVE over control of his life to another teen driver!

Thought provoking!

quote:

5 kids decided to "joy ride" at 3:00 AM!! Rumor has it they had been "using or drinking". Driver lost control on neighborhood street, hit a tree & the small truck burst into flames. Driver was trapped behind the wheel & couldn't be saved. Others had severe to critical injuries, but managed to get out of the truck!
Where is the PARENTING?

quote:

My son's freshman year, 5 boys (none of which had a license) decided to also go out and joy ride shortly after the baseball season was over. 4 of them were freshman baseball players with my own son. Didn't see an 18 wheeler coming... two were immediately killed... two were in critical condition.

While I don't know the specifics of your situation, I know the details of mine. There ABSOLUTELY was good parenting involved. Had been since all 5 boys had been born. All 5 were great kids from great families. "Rumor" had it that the driver had been drinking and/or doing drugs. Tests proved otherwise.

The point here is that even with good parenting... bad things can happen. The boys snuck out of their houses after their parents thought they had gone to bed. One even disabled the alarm system to get out. The parents didn't even know the boys were gone until the police showed up the next morning. I am painfully aware that even with all the good parenting I try to give that kids will still make bad choices.

momandcpa,
I'm not blanketing all parents. These kids snuck out too...
I still believe that parents could take the keys or something!
Yes, ultimately the kids are responsible for the choices they make.
I've raised mine with the line, "You win or lose by the way you choose".
Hopefully it will stick.

Hi Ladies....my son was brought up to Varsity his Freshman year, and it was a great experience for him, he was accepted and welcomed by the other Varsity players. He was mistreated by the Freshman and Soph. players tho...But that passed. Our problem was the PARENTS. Our son had always played 3rd. When he was brought up to varsity, they put him at 2nd...moving a Jr. to the outfield. The remarks made by this kids parents were cruel!
Needless to say, we spent our sons 4 year high school experience in the outfield! (by the middle of the 1st season, more than half the parents on the team joined us.)

quote:

I still believe that parents could take the keys or something!

Hindsight and all of that... I for one try to cover all of my bases; however, I would be extremely naive to believe that my boys will always listen to what I say and do as I have taught them. I hope they do and it appears they have, but only time will tell. The parents I mentioned have to live with the guilt every single day that they could have/should have done something different. If we only had that proverbial crystal ball...

As far as the subject at hand... we had heard that the parents would be rude about our son moving up early and putting seniors on the bench, etc. So... we always sat kinda off by ourselves so I wouldn't get my feelings hurt. Heard of one parent, though, that actually sought out the other parents to say something mean...

Like the others, my son started on varsity as a freshman (another small HS). To this day, he is still friends with alot of those kids, even the ones who were srs. The only incident that bothered him in the beginning was going in after practice one day and finding his bike taped up high on a wall in the locker room. Kids had a good laugh at his expense and I just told him that they were sort of welcoming him to the team. I even had a good chuckle when he told me. Last yr. one of the kids who had been a sr. told him that they all knew he was a good player and deserved to be starting at the time, even if it meant he played over a sr.

And we also went thru the remarks from the other parents of kids his age. Just grinned and beared it and sat along the 3rd base line for most of the games. Made 1st team All-Area sophmore year so that shut some of them up! IMO, the kids do mature alittle faster but that can be a good thing at times.

3rd base line with our chairs... EXACTLY where we sat!

baseballmom,

Very sad stories, and actually I did take the opportunity to share them with my youngest (17-yr-old HS senior). I think a lot of teenage boys do silly things when with their friends without understanding how very serious the consequences COULD be. Usually the worst doesn't happen, but in those two cases it sure did!

Yes, it is usually the parents...
Son was moved to Varsity as a freshman early on.
I overheard a mom talking to the coach after the game telling him that he should move my son to JV..."JV would be so much better with P*** in there with C*****" (her son).
Coach quickly informed her that Varsity teams win District Titles, & head to State playoffs.

Hey Baseballmom

Would you be refering to our old friends the L****, by chance???

LOL!!!!!

ummmm...

Depends on the situation, time being moved up, who's position you may be taking...I was brought up in 8th grade to catch for the Varsity sectional games. While some of the freshman on the team supported me, the seniors and juniors didn't enjoy my company. The other 8th grade players weren't that thrilled, considering we had 5 games left on the schedule. Playing as a freshman last year, the kids were able to see that I could contribute, therefore allowing me to just play ball.

PP10

As I was reading these posts, I found myself laughing with a few of the posters and commiserating with others. My son was brought up this last fall as a freshmen to the Varsity football team, one of two freshmen who played there.

Teammates were great, at first they of course called them names that were for the most part affectionate, made them carry more than their fair share of equipment, run more lines, etc. Pulled a few pranks of tabling them (a player kneels behind one, and someone else playfully (???) shoves or pushes the guy standing and he loses his balance and falls over the "table". But they were also the first to clap them on the back for a play well done, a touchdown, sack, tackle, etc. My son wouldn't have traded the experience for the world. One of them even adopted my son, bringing him his older fan gear from the high school to wear, calling him Marty instead of his given name Artie, even got a girl to decorate my son's locker at Valentine's Day and had balloons and confetti on saying goofy things like "Marty will you be my sweetheart" and then in smaller letters " and carry my stuff to my car for me?'

We have had our share of other kids who didn't make Varsity show their green eyed monsterness by shoving him against the wall, throwing his shirt into the shower, etc. But each time, one of the Varsity players would show up and just give the other goobers the "look." Thank God for those kinds of guys who really respect the younger guys enough to take em under their wings, but still abuse them enough to let them know that they aren't the big men on campus, yet.

We are going through it again with baseball just starting. Most kids understand at this age that if you want to be a member of a team sport, just show up. But if you want to contribute as a member of the team, then you have to work your butt off and earn everything you get... and that earns their respect. Happened again last week when Artie won the starting catching job away from last year's junior... some of the kids stood around to see if there would be trouble. There was none, cause the kid had class and said, "Psshh, give the kid his props man, he's a stud." All the other guys broke into smiles, clapped Artie on the back and kept on going about their business.

Obviously parents are doing their jobs raising these fine young men!

Great Post, Catching!!!!