How is JV high school ball supposed to work?

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Aug 30, 2015
286
28
This is our first year with HS ball and DD swings back and forth between Varsity and JV.

What is the purpose of JV? Is it supposed to be there only for the Varsity to pick and choose whom they want to play? Is it supposed to develop the players for Varsity? Is JV supposed to cater to Varsity girls and coaches whatever they want?

We've had a very sour experience thus far.

This is not a thread about bashing HS ball

Just realizing after this really dumb season that I really don't know what the purpose of a JV team is and how it's "supposed"to work. . .
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
This really varies from school to school.

At some schools they have defined teams (Varsity, JV, Freshman) and there is little to no movement.

I know one year my daughter played randomly on all three of her school teams (Varsity and two different JV teams). She was a pitcher and they just pitched her randomly. Funniest part was her trying to figure out which of her six jerseys she was supposed to wear each game day.

My point would be that Varsity and JV mean different things at different schools.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Gunner has it right....it just depends.

The ultimate goal of most JV teams it to make sure the Varsity is successful. That could mean building talent to feed the varsity next year or it could mean providing talent now if someone on varsity gets hurt or is struggling or a JV player is progressing past a Varsity player.
 
Aug 31, 2011
271
0
Jawja
I feel your pain.

My DD was JV her freshmen year and their job was basically to clean the bus after the trips. uugg. Of course after her freshmen year she moved up to Varsity and they stopped that policy, everyone had to clean the bus. It felt like JV was just there to help pay for the Varsity stuff. I'm really glad HS ball is over for her.
 
Feb 4, 2015
641
28
Massachusetts
Not everyone is ready to play at the Varsity level and the coach would either need to sit these extra girls or cut them.

Freshman and JV allows students to still be student-athletes and experience playing a sport for their school. It also helps develop and strengthen the whole program because if there was only varsity and girls were either getting cut or sitting, they would soon leave the program. So that freshman who could've developed into a stud by her junior year would no longer even be playing the sport.

If your DD is getting pulled up, that says a lot about how the coaches feel about her ability. Maybe she was on the bubble for making Varsity and the coach wants to provide her with some opportunity and experience. She should show up with the best possible attitude and be willing to do whatever it takes to show the coach she belongs there. (this is also a good life lesson). Perception of a sour experience could lead to a sour attitude and another year at JV next year.

While I don't agree with Freshman or JV not being treated as peers, (after all, that's exactly what they are), sometimes you have to deal with situations in order to make it to the level where you can effect that change.
 
Feb 17, 2014
551
28
I think that depends on where you are. Around here they can't. I'm seeing a lot of 11th graders on JV and 10th graders on freshman. Seeing so many 10th graders on freshman teams that schools are calling them their C team instead of freshman. One local school says they have 2 JV teams and players are shared between them.

After seeing how things have played out with certain players that go to DD's HS, she's going into her freshman year next year without any expectations. Just work hard and you'll end up where you end up. What else can you do to make it a positive situation?
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
Around here if the call it a Freshman team, it's frosh only. If they call it JV2, they can put sophomores on the team, so DD 3's school has JV2.
Seniors are not allowed on JV.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
I do not think seniors are allowed on JV here either but not positive what the official rule is which is why I asked.

That rule is one of the reasons lower classman get pushed around a little bit. Plus well, she is an underclassmen :)
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
As for the purpose of JV, that depends a lot on the school and the coach and the available players.

A few years ago, My kids' school had a VERY competitive JV team, which won more than twice as many games as V and JV2 combined. Part of the reason was they had a great sophomore catcher, a solid sophomore pitcher, and a bunch of girls who were clearly a cut above the JV2 team.

Last year the JV team was horrible. Lots of girls who couldn't play at all. They won two games all season, both against the same opponent. There is one local school where JV is essentially a rec league team.

This year is somewhere in between. JV has a great freshman catcher, a solid freshman pitcher (DD 3) and a mix of girls, some are solid players, some couldn't buy a hit. They lose most of their games, but between DD 3's pitching and her catcher's home runs, they are competitive in the games they lose, and they blow out the few teams that treat JV like a rec league.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,831
Messages
679,484
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top