Frustration with lack of JV games

just play the same JV teams over and over, and not worry about calling other schools. I try to get at least 10 games for the JV, put you never can help what the others have. We have 20 girls for JV, but that also is 7-10 graders.

Playing the same teams over and over is probably a good idea. It's fun (even for me as a coach) to find these new teams and play everybody, but if you're playing local JV teams 4 times a season, you can also build a little rivalry that will carry over to varsity when girls from both schools move up.

Today they had a varsity-JV doubleheader. Of course the varsity game ran long and didn't end until 6. The for some reason none of the coaches for either team or the umps cared that it was starting to get dark, so they putzed around and finally started the JV game at 6:30. The umps called it in the bottom of the second at about 7.

Tomorrow they have a JV game at 4 with no varsity game, and as best I can find out the other school does have a JV team, so they might actually get to play a full game.

CoachJD said:

I know it's not what you want to hear, but even having a JV team can be something of a luxury, and while there's no replacement for game experience, if you have that many girls who have never played before (I know how that goes), a Freshman year of mostly practice and a handful of games isn't so bad. It's better than not being able to play at all.

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Absolutely. Actually playing in a handful of JV games is still better than sitting on the bench for all the varsity games. It's just so frustrating that they aren't even getting to play some of the few games that are scheduled.

Comocoach said:

That leaves 12 to 14 games for JV. If they don't play at the same time as varsity (which I've only seen 4 times in 4 years) they usually only play 5 innings. Sometimes it's only 3.

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I would kill for that many games. As I said, we only had 8 scheduled, lost out completely on two, and now just had one that didn't even get through 2 innings. The other game they played went the full 7. They have three games left after tomorrow, one is DH with varsity but on a Saturday, and the other two are totally separate from varsity games so darkness shouldn't be an issue with any of them.

quincy said:

The team that is not ready, let's play a game and split the players up. I get half or yours you ger half of mine.

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I'm sure the team was ready but just wanted to leave early. The Broncos were playing that night and their ride home was right past the stadium and would've hit the pregame traffic.

JAD said:

While I think our JV program was run much better than the one you describe, the bottom line is the biggest benefit for our JV team was they got to practice and scrimmage with our varsity players. Most JV teams are bad...really bad, so unless a school is STACKED, the competition you face in JV game will seem like REC ball.

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We only have three coaches total between varsity and JV. They have a lot of joint practices and I agree that is huge for the players' development. We're one of the JV teams that is like rec ball with all these players who have never played, and that's fine. You need to start somewhere. Practice is great, but there's still no replacement for game experience. Plus games are just more fun.

CoachJD said:

But I don't really care how bad the JV team is as long as the girls are developing their skills and getting ready to move up to varsity when the time comes.

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Yup, that's totally the point of JV. There are no standings, it's all about player development.

They are losing 6 or 7 varsity players next year to graduation, so it the opportunities will be wide open for players to move up. I'm interested to see what the coaches do with working with the JV players. It's a very good program - the varsity is 12-1 right now and ranked 7th in the state (they beat the #8 team pretty handily today). They've dominated the Denver public league for years and have competed well with the rest of the state. Last year they only lost four games and two were to the state champion.

So I'm thrilled that DD is getting to be part of a good program and is getting good coaching, and most importantly, she's having a lot of fun. I just wish they could get a few more games for the JV

So what's the level of play like in the Denver public schools?

In Chicago, it's pretty bad overall. There are maybe a dozen schools with good teams (and even the top 2-3 of those get creamed when they leave the city for the state tournament). There were 81 schools in the various CPS conferences last year, and half of them have varsity teams that a good 10U travel team could beat (not exaggerating; our first-year varsity team won games 23-0, 22-5, 20-10 against some of these teams). I'm wondering if other big cities have similar issues with quality of play in school ball.

Sounds like in your situation, the coaches just might not have the time for too many JV games. I know one concern I have if I can't find another coach for JV is what to do on JV game days. I'd like to spend time practicing with the varsity, but we may not have enough coaches to go around (at least 2 to go with JV to their game, plus a couple to run practice). And of course I'm a control freak who wants to be everywhere at once. I'm not sure I could handle missing a JV game or missing a practice to be at the JV game.

I'll pose a different view. DD going into senior season. V all the way. Yr 1 enough pitching to have JV but like other posts games fewer in qty and quality. Yrs 2 and 3 only 2 pitchers (really only 1 and 1/2). Those 2 yrs and upcoming yr they would be better off skipping a JV team. My reasoning is on avg V is mostly comprised of jr and sr so your looking at 16 to 18 yr olds. Most of the time JV is fr and soph who could still play 12 or 14u. In our area until schools out TB tournaments almost never make 16 and 18u for lack of teams 10 thru 14u always make. If JV can't be competitive or get enough game reps play TB instead. One of our stud teams in our district never has jv. What they do is recruit enough pitching if needed and play TB. This guarantees them 20 or so innings of game play any sat. They also use the school field for practice thru the week. This allows V to get plenty of reps and future V gets theirs. Did i mention they are competitive every yr. If a conf haas enough jv teams then yes have jv and take it serious if not then go a different route. Don't have jv just for the sake of having jv.

CoachJD said:

So what's the level of play like in the Denver public schools?

In Chicago, it's pretty bad overall. There are maybe a dozen schools with good teams (and even the top 2-3 of those get creamed when they leave the city for the state tournament). There were 81 schools in the various CPS conferences last year, and half of them have varsity teams that a good 10U travel team could beat (not exaggerating; our first-year varsity team won games 23-0, 22-5, 20-10 against some of these teams). I'm wondering if other big cities have similar issues with quality of play in school ball.

Sounds like in your situation, the coaches just might not have the time for too many JV games. I know one concern I have if I can't find another coach for JV is what to do on JV game days. I'd like to spend time practicing with the varsity, but we may not have enough coaches to go around (at least 2 to go with JV to their game, plus a couple to run practice). And of course I'm a control freak who wants to be everywhere at once. I'm not sure I could handle missing a JV game or missing a practice to be at the JV game.

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It's pretty similar here to what you've described in Chicago. Our varsity wins most league games on the run rule. Most of the schools don't have JV teams, which is why we're having so much difficulty finding games. Our coach said up front the only reason they play the Denver schools is because they have to. As I said, our school holds its own outside the city. They went to state last year and lost to the eventual champion, and they gave them the closest game they had in the playoffs.

The way our coaches are doing it is HC is dedicated to varsity, another coach is dedicated to JV, and the third works with both. If there are games at the same time at different places, only the one JV coach goes to the JV game. I think it's just an issue of not enough schools having JV teams.

it all starts at 8U

Around here most JV games are played as the second game in a double header with V being first. Everyone has lights so no issues with darkness. The problem is most of the time the JV only plays a few innings (3 or 4) so you don't get a ton of time in. They have a few standalone games but not more that 2 or 3. Same coaches handle V and JV at most schools and they practice together or back to back. We do have issues with schools not having a JV team but most we play do have enough.

Our school just cancelled the JV season. They were undefeated. Last year they lost one game.

As long as they cancelled JV football too, otherwise I would be complaining.