upcoming H.S ball.....question

[pitchmom]

My DD is a freshman this year and I am wondering about something. She is a pitcher and I was already told by the varsity coach that she would have no problems making varsity. She played summer ball with them last summer. Only her and 1 other 8th grader was invited. We were honored and had a great time.

I told the varsity coach that we wanted to keep her down on jv for this year so she will get plenty of pitching time in. He told me that if I want her on a winning team, I would let her move up. The varsity already has 3 dominant pitchers, one is the coaches daughter. Don't get me wrong...I don't expect them to give a freshman a pitching spot over the older girls.....but I do feel that she should stay down to get mound time. Me and her dad...or her....don't have a problem with her staying down.

Here is my problem.....I have heard rumors of parents keeping their kids down after they make varsity and the kid is black balled from varsity in the future. I haven't heard of that happening around here.....but this IS our first year of school ball.....so I don't really know what to expect.


Any advice, stories or words of wisdom on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have never heard of a girl being penalized for playing down. You are right to want what is best for your DD. Should something happen to one of the varsity pitchers, your DD would be available within minutes, anyway.

 

[sluggers]

I disagree with Amy on this one:

You aren't used to HS ball, so here is the deal: The team will practice a lot...as in 2 to 3 hours a day, 5 to 6 days a week. With a good coach, your DD can become much, much better. If the HS coach is good, your DD will learn a lot more than if she were with the JV coach.

Also, you and your DD have to look at this like playing softball is a job and the coach is your boss. Suppose the head of your company came to you and said, "I've got a big event for the next three months. I want you to go along and carry my bag." I don't think you would say, "Forget it! I'm going to get more done in the mail room!"

Second, your DD is being asked to make a sacrifice. Let me guess--you are OK with sacrificing for the team, but you didn't know that "sacrifice for the team" meant "sacrifice something your DD likes for the team."

Third, if your DD is going to play TB (travel ball), then pitching time isn't that big of a deal. She will get plenty during the summer.

Fourth, as you probably have heard, HS softball is not as competitive as TB. The JV teams are even weaker. So, your DD isn't really going to improve striking out 19 batters a game. She will, however, have a lot of fun striking everyone out and then you will get some validation.

You are right to want what is best for your DD.

Of course...but, what is right for a freshman in HS is to learn to deal with the HS coach without Mommy and Daddy holding her hand.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

I gotta go with Sluggers on this one. Plus I have one in HS so I can relate.

Though we didn't have the coach's kid to contend with, we had 2 senior "so called dominate" pitchers. Well, it took about 2 games and we passed them right up. ( so never count out your ability....... to the hype of others )

HS ball is the same as TB in the fact of........you want to play the best competition to make yourself better. ( varsity vs JV ) Who cares if you get knocked around some as a freshman, it should make you push yourself even more. Cruising through the JV will not help much when TB rolls around. A good pitcher needs to be "put in their place" from time to time, as a building block.

Tell you this much, 3 of the best HS teams around here had dominate freshman pitchers before the season was over in their respected schools. ( when DD was a freshman so I saw it first hand ) So don't settle, let the game take it's natural coarse.

 

[dadonachair]

The varsity coach wants your DD then she should play for him. She played for him lasts summer and had a great time. Why would that change? To play for a good varsity team as a freshman is an honor and a year of varsity ball you can't get back. Your dd will have this year with the coach to get acquainted with what he expects out of his varsity players. Even if it is not circle time she can still learn a lot. On A varsity team with older girls that have played with this coach for a few years they will be working on game situations that most JV teams are not skilled enough to work on. The VC must think your DD has the skills to play with the big girls than she should take her skills there.

 

[JAD]

I will agree with previous posters that your DD would gain more practicing with the varisty vs. the JV. Some schools will let you play both, although I think there may be a limit on the number of innings you are allowed to play in a week. If she could practice with the varsity and occasionally get some mound time with the JV you would have the best of both worlds. Kind of surprised the coach is pushing it if he already has 3 good upper class pitchers. This is one of the problems with JV ball. Most of the really good freshman and sophmores get pulled up to varsity which 'waters down' the JV ball even further.

 

[CoogansBluff]

I told the varsity coach that we wanted to keep her down on jv for this year so she will get plenty of pitching time in.

If I were the varsity coach and you worded it this way, I would not like it. If you said ''we'd like her to play on JV and think that would help the varsity in the long run,'' that's one thing. I'd be fine hearing and considering that. But ''we want to keep her down'' suggests it's the parents' call, and that the parents are looking at what high school ball can do for their daughter, not what their daughter can do for the high school program. And I don't know about black-balling, but if I wanted a player on the varsity and she insisted on playing JV so she could pitch more, that would not necessarily be my favorite player in the future. Not sure that I'd trust that she's a team player.

 

[pitchmom]

I will agree with previous posters that your DD would gain more practicing with the varisty vs. the JV. Some schools will let you play both, although I think there may be a limit on the number of innings you are allowed to play in a week. If she could practice with the varsity and occasionally get some mound time with the JV you would have the best of both worlds. Kind of surprised the coach is pushing it if he already has 3 good upper class pitchers. This is one of the problems with JV ball. Most of the really good freshman and sophmores get pulled up to varsity which 'waters down' the JV ball even further.

That is exactly what they do here. If you can pitch.....and have decent skills in other areas....they wanna pull you up.

Thanks everyone for the input. That gives me a lot to think about. It's so hard to make the right decision for our kids. And, I think it's just as hard for the kids to do what's best. They look to mom and dad to give them the direction....and if mom and dad aren't sure.....that has to be scary

 

[Ken Krause]

It really depends on how good your varsity coach is. If he/she is very good you can learn a lot. If he/she is not very good all you're going to do is lose a year's worth of playing time. Seems to me that pitchers get better pitching in games. If she's not going to have the opportunity to do that she may be better off playing for the JV, whether they win a lot or not. (Again, I have no idea how good any of the levels at the school are so it's hard to make an informed judgment.)

Can a kid get penalized for the rest of their career? You bet. I saw it happen. One of the girls who played for me in the summer got pulled up to varsity as a sophomore for the express purpose of being a baserunner. She was actually new to the game, only having played her freshman year and one year of travel ball with us. Hard worker and a nice kid, and she picked it up fast. But there was no way she was going to do anything but run. So she asked to be put on JV so she could develop her skills and contribute more later on as an all-around player.

That was pretty much the death knell for her career. She got in the doghouse and never really got out. It was completely petty -- she was a good hitter and better fielder than a lot of the kids, but she didn't see the field much when she finally did get to varsity. It was sad to see an adult be that petty.

The one saving grace for your daughter may be that she's a pitcher. My youngest was too. Her sophomore year the coach wanted to pull her up to varsity, but it was obvious she wasn't going to knock the #1 out of her spot or see the field much so she also requested to play JV. She did for a half a year until some circumstances with the program caused the varsity coach to pull her up anyway. She didn't pitch other than one inning for the last half of that year, but did get her opportunity the following year. It helps to have something the coach wants.

 

[PA SB Dad]

It's so hard to make the right decision for our kids. And, I think it's just as hard for the kids to do what's best. They look to mom and dad to give them the direction....and if mom and dad aren't sure.....that has to be scary

Here is part of the issue. She's the one who is playing, she needs to make the decision. Does she want to play Varsity? Will she get a better softball experience on that team? I know if DD were given the opportunity and choice, she would choose Varsity for the experience, and I think most players who have played TB would feel similarly.

Does she play any other positions than P? Here is a good opportunity to earn playing time as a fielder and hitter. I agree with the others that she may not be challenged on JV.