Should She Make Varsity?

[FiveFrameSwing]

Then why does something you have no control over concern you enough to post looking for opinions? Don't worry about it. Your dd will try out and she will land where she lands....either cut, Freshman (if there is a Freshman team), JV, or V. I'm sure she will do just fine.

The HS coach in me suspected the original post was more a drama plea with a jealousy based motive. More than likely a parent plugging for their DD ... in this case a freshman pitcher ... someone Qsort wishes was taken so that the team would have more "depth".

Original post ....

A pitcher plays JV as an 8th grader (in our district, it's allowed). As a freshman, she doesn't make varsity and plays JV again. Gets about half the circle time through the first three games. Massive attitude problem, thinks she should have made varsity, very unhappy and lets everybody know it. The JV coach pulls her aside to discuss her poor attitude. She quits JV. Plays travel through the summer and fall. Now she's going to try out again as a sophomore.

The varsity team doesn't need her. They have two older and better pitchers. She wouldn't get much circle time. There are other freshman pitchers they could take for depth. That said, on talent alone, she would be in the mix to make varsity - but the team won't suffer without her.

If you are the varsity coach, do you make her play another season of JV regardless of the tryout?

Guess who happens to be a parent of a freshman pitcher on this team ...

Parent of the freshman pitcher. JV plays at a pretty high level here, so it's ok if she plays JV and gets more circle time... As opposed to warming the bench on varsity.

 

[qsort]

The HS coach in me suspected the original post was more a drama plea with a jealousy based motive. More than likely a parent plugging for their DD ... in this case a freshman pitcher ... someone Qsort wishes was taken so that the team would have more "depth".

Original post ....




Guess who happens to be a parent of a freshman pitcher on this team ...

Not sure where jealousy comes in since I made it pretty clear my daughter doesn't necessarily benefit from making varsity this year.

 

[CoogansBluff]

I was curious about how others might view this situation. 40 posts later, my curiosity is satisfied. I agree with you. My daughter will be fine regardless.

I think your feelings are pretty normal. You chose an anonymous message board to process them. You heard and considered feedback from various angles. If you in fact are a little jealous and frustrated, you have a right to you feelings and don't need to apologize. This makes for a good thread, IMO.

If you instead vented with other parents and undermined the coach and team, then that's a different matter.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

I was curious about how others might view this situation. 40 posts later, my curiosity is satisfied. I agree with you. My daughter will be fine regardless.

I think your feelings are pretty normal. You chose an anonymous message board to process them. You heard and considered feedback from various angles. If you in fact are a little jealous and frustrated, you have a right to you feelings and don't need to apologize. This makes for a good thread, IMO.

If you instead vented with other parents and undermined the coach and team, then that's a different matter.

Parent jealousy leads to a lot of drama.

It does make for an interesting thread. Perhaps a better title would be "Jealous Parent Anonymously Attacks a Young Kid".

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Not sure where jealousy comes in since I made it pretty clear my daughter doesn't necessarily benefit from making varsity this year.

So seeing this girl make the Varsity team, ahead of your daughter, shouldn't be an issue.

In fact, since you don't like this kid's attitude, you should be pulling for this kid to make the Varsity team so that she is not on the JV team with your daughter.

Oh the tangled web we weave when we play the drama card.

Just a suggestion ... sit back and enjoy the HS experience. I can tell you first hand that in many cases the parents end up hating the HS program. Despite the parent's influence on their kids, these same kids that had parents crying about their dislike for the HS program, come back from college and greet us with hugs & smiles. After the kids leave from their visit I'll scratch my head .... hmmm, are these the same kids who's parents said they hated the HS program?????

So relax ... despite the jealously that you personally feel, these are times that the kids will enjoy and remember. Try not to be one of those parents that finds a dark cloud and hunkers down underneath it. Don't spoil the experience for your child.

 

[shaker1]

I think your feelings are pretty normal. You chose an anonymous message board to process them. You heard and considered feedback from various angles. If you in fact are a little jealous and frustrated, you have a right to you feelings and don't need to apologize. This makes for a good thread, IMO.

If you instead vented with other parents and undermined the coach and team, then that's a different matter.

We had a terrible jv season last year due to a couple sets of parents. Law enforcement had to be a every game due to coach and parent confrontations. The girls didn't enjoy the season, even though they won the conference championship. Tension at every game. All over playing time. Doesn't look to be any better this year. Woo hoo!!

 

[4 girl's dad]

We had a terrible jv season last year due to a couple sets of parents. Law enforcement had to be a every game due to coach and parent confrontations. The girls didn't enjoy the season, even though they won the conference championship. Tension at every game. All over playing time. Doesn't look to be any better this year. Woo hoo!!

Rediculous but yet, not totally surprising...

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

We had a terrible jv season last year due to a couple sets of parents. Law enforcement had to be a every game due to coach and parent confrontations. The girls didn't enjoy the season, even though they won the conference championship. Tension at every game. All over playing time. Doesn't look to be any better this year. Woo hoo!!

Sounds a bit odd to me.

Where I am few folks pay attention to the results of the JV games. There is no conference championship. The JV teams get the least amount of field usage, the worst umpires, and honestly ... few outside of those directly involved in the JV program care about the results. It's purely a training ground.

As for parent/coach confrontations ... that shouldn't be happening. A simple trip to the AD will have the parents ousted permanently from the games. It's not a threat, it's reality.

 

[Lenski]

I was curious about how others might view this situation. 40 posts later, my curiosity is satisfied. I agree with you. My daughter will be fine regardless.

I remember when my dd was a freshman in HS. About 10 freshman tried out that year. Of those ten, five played TB at a fairly high level. It was the parents of the other five stirring up the drama. These kids were a mix of rec and USSSA TB players. USSSA softball in my area is very weak so they might as well be rec teams.

There was a softball parent and player meeting a week or so before tryouts. The coach explained that all kids trying out were on a level playing field to determine V and JV. The coach explained that he wanted to win and seniority meant nothing. After the meeting the parents of the rec/USSSA kids were talking out of their rear, saying things like "If my kid doesn't make varsity.....like she should.....then the coach is a liar and she won't play school ball", "There's no way my kid don't make varsity", "The coach should make last year's MS team the varsity team if he really wants to win"....stuff like that. I wanted to say something but I kept my mouth shut, but another father (the father of a pretty good freshman pitcher) couldn't resist. He basically told those parents off and it was awesome! He never put their kids down but did tell them that their kids had never played the quality of softball that existed in our division and conference.....and he was right.

All five of the kids that played TB at a high level made varsity, and one of the five rec/USSSA kids made varsity as a pinch runner and the other four played JV that year. Their sophomore year the pinch runner didn't go to tryouts and one girl moved from JV to varsity as an outfielder. The final three did not try out their junior or senior year.

HS ball went by very quickly for me and my dd. My advice is no matter what team she makes, go to her games and cheer her on, and stay out of the drama. It will be over before you know it.