I probably will get hated on for this but I don't like the double rostered swing type situations. If a kid is not in the top 12-13 then they are a JV player. JV is the place to learn and grow to tryout for Varsity the following year. Over the last 5 years there is a trend of kids who play "swing". What that usually means is that the coach is unable or unwilling to have a difficult conversation with the player to tell them that they didn't make Varsity. Last year on our playoff run between conference, sectionals and states we played a lot of games which in some cases were set last minute and in June where most kids were done classes. We had a few who said "I wish this run would end so I can go to the beach". The leaders on the team took care of that quickly but these were the JV players who were pulled up to make a team that was originally 13 players now 22 kids. I can't blame some of these kids who knew they would never play. JV players, for the most part, (Here comes the pain) may not have the same commitment to the sport as a Varsity player. And it would be understandable that they have other more important things to them, going on.
JV or Varsity?
- Thread starter flash277
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
Cannonball
Ex "Expert"
- Feb 25, 2009
- 4,882
- 113
We roster most of the JV with the Varsity. In that way, we can send players up and down. We practice together for most of each practice so that there is continuity in the program. There are times when the JV is in our cages while the varsity works on certain things on the field. For a part of infield practice, the JV can go to the JV field. We play at the same time but for most of our locations and at home, it is easy to get players back and forth.
Do you think most coaches just put the 12-13 best players on their varsity team? Do you think they should, without any other considerations?
For my DD’s school, seniors are required to be on Varsity. That said, being a senior doesn’t guarantee playing time. The 3 seniors on Varsity last year didn’t get much, which was a reflection for their skill level within the team.
Na gotta consider all factors.
That said some coaches put kids on swing because they dread or fear the "you're not good enough to be on varsity" conversation
- May 27, 2013
- 2,387
- 113
I like the double-roster idea for when good teams play poor teams. There is no reason to have varsity starters beating up on a team that barely has enough girls to even field a varsity team. Let the JV swing players start in those games, or at the least, start your starters an inning or two and then put the swing players in.
If they are really poor teams then it's really not a varsity game. So I guess that makes sense. We have maybe one game each year like that. I'm guessing you probably have the same.
- May 27, 2013
- 2,387
- 113
The District we live in has about 3-4 teams like that in their conference in any given season. I remember reading about those games where the score was run up like crazy.
The conference my dd plays in does have 1-2 teams like that, and usually the swing players will start (granted we only have maybe 3). The coach will also typically start some of the swing players in non-conference games since we belong to an independent league and are not required to win an “x” amount of games in order to make playoffs. Our team also didn’t get to play in our state tournament (even though we were the 2 seed) because several of our varsity starters elected to go away on academic trips during that time, and we didn’t have enough JV girls to pull up, as some of them went away, as well.
