Frustration with lack of JV games

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Aug 12, 2014
644
43
DD is a freshman and is on the JV team. They only had 8 games scheduled to begin with, they played the first one three weeks ago. The second on was scheduled for last Monday in a varsity-JV DH, and the other team's coach said their JV team "wasn't ready" to play, so they didn't get to play. (My theory is they just wanted to get home to watch the Broncos game.) Game 3 was scheduled for today and they rode the bus 45 minutes to the other school and found out the other school doesn't actually have a JV team and their varsity team was off at a road game. The next two games are tomorrow and later this week. I did check on maxpreps and the other schools both actually have JV teams, so hopefully they'll get to play.

The girls are in their sixth week week of practice and it would be nice if they could get rewarded with some games. Our school didn't even have a JV team for 3 or 4 years, so we're happy they even have one this year, but it's very frustrating they have so few games. Only 3 of the JV girls had any significant experience before this year (5 or 6 literally never played at all),and there's no replacement for real game experience.

I know there are a lot of good things for DD - she's getting to practice at a higher level, she's getting the experience of being one of the best players and being a team leader for the first time, and she's the only JV pitcher so she's getting all the circle time. And she's having fun :)

Please don't say she should have just worked harder to make varsity. That's her goal for next year, but was never a possibility this year with the talent they have on varsity. I'm just venting about them not getting to play many games because that's the reward for all the hard work in practice.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
I completely understand where you're coming from on this, and it's something I'm struggling with as a coach who wants to start a JV team in the spring.

So a couple things. First, depending on where you are, a lot of schools don't have JV teams, so finding opponents is not always easy. And then you have budgets, which vary from place to place, but if a school has the money for one more game, they're going to take a varsity game over a JV game (and I think that's reasonable).

I coach at a small high school, but in a very short amount of time we've built the softball program to the point where there is enough interest to maybe start a JV team in the spring. Our facilities are small and resources light. We may not even have someone to coach the JV team (if needed, I'll do it and we'll just have combined team practices). Finding games and working them into an already busy schedule is going to be difficult, and 8-10 games is probably what the JV team is going to end up playing.

The alternative: There's no JV team and I have to cut a bunch of girls instead of giving everybody who tries out a chance.

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.
 
Jul 3, 2013
438
43
Yeah, being a JV parent is hard. My DD only played JV her freshman year, but I've seen the frustration on the faces of the parents the next 3 years. Varsity plays about 26 regular season games. 12 of those are tourney games, so no JV. Another 2 or 3 opponents don't even have a JV team. Sometimes a team won't bring their JV if they have a 2+ hour drive home. Our team hosts a JV tourney, our JV couldn't play in it this year due to low numbers. Apparently in Missouri, a player can only play in the number of tourneys the varsity plays in. Both of the JV pitchers play varsity as well.

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.

I understand the frustration. Working so hard in practice everyday, missing class for a long bus ride, and not getting rewarded is a tough pill too swallow


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
If I was coach I would be making calls, other Teams have to be in the same situation. I would think you should be able to get at least 1 game a week.

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.

DD has never played JV but there are no standings right?
 
Feb 4, 2015
641
28
Massachusetts
For those HS coaches on this post, if you have a JV team or are thinking of starting one, please make sure you treat them as equals to the varsity girls.

Our JV team was given so little attention by both the V coach and JV coach (who just wanted to assist the V team), that most of the girls are not coming back. So instead of two teams, we'll just have one varsity squad of 15-16 girls, most of which will never see the field. So then next year, the remainder of them will also quit. Girls need to feel valued regardless of which team they are on and understand that JV is the development path to V.

We have one of the strongest youth town travel programs from 10U to 14U, but when they get to HS the numbers dwindle because the word is out that the Freshman team (which now no longer exists) and the JV teams get little attention from the coaching staff. Girls would rather go sit the bench on lacrosse than come out for softball.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
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.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
For those HS coaches on this post, if you have a JV team or are thinking of starting one, please make sure you treat them as equals to the varsity girls.

This is something I've discussed at length with my DW (who is my AC). I agree with you, but also, they're not exactly equal. It is a lesser team, and those who make varsity should feel like they've accomplished something. So the struggle is in both making varsity seem important and not making JV feel like they don't matter. I have a couple ways of doing this worked out. Last year (only a varsity team), we did the title belt thing after each game. It worked great. We're going to do that this year, but that's only for varsity. I'm considering allowing walk-up music (vetted, approved, etc.) for varsity games.

I think those little perks make varsity special, but nobody on JV is going to feel left out. They'll get it. And hopefully those things serve as extra motivators for the JV girls (and our school is small enough that everybody will eventually be on varsity anyway).

Our JV team was given so little attention by both the V coach and JV coach (who just wanted to assist the V team), that most of the girls are not coming back. So instead of two teams, we'll just have one varsity squad of 15-16 girls, most of which will never see the field. So then next year, the remainder of them will also quit. Girls need to feel valued regardless of which team they are on and understand that JV is the development path to V.

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.

I think these two thoughts are related. My plan is to practice together. Some of that is because I think it will really help foster a sense of teamwork among the entire group, but we're also limited in time/facilities, so it's necessity, too. I think there can be a lot of benefit from the JV players practicing with Varsity. One thing I think will matter: It's possible groups of friends might get split among JV/Varsity. I think if they practice together, that will help keep everybody on board and buying in. If they spent 80% of softball time together, I don't think most of them will mind too much if they end up playing in different games.

As for JV teams being bad: Yep. Ours probably will be, too. And depending on how many girls we get, every JV game may have a varsity player or two to get them extra game reps. (I have a girl who almost certainly will be on varsity because she's my fastest player and I need a pinch/courtesy runner, but she can't do much else yet. I anticipate getting her into a few JV games to help her develop other skills). 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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