Varsity vs JV in High School?

[fastpitch53]

If a player is good enough to be called up to varsity but not play, wouldn't it be better for the player to stay at JV and play/pitch/bat on a regular basis? Pros or Cons?

[Nsablue]

i would rather see a player play jv, to get better to prepare to move up to varsity than get pulled up to varsity and sit the bench.

[Coach11]

Have to consider that on a case by case basis. How old is the player? Has he/she played a JV season? If so, how did he/she fare? Will he/she see absolutely NO playing time on the varsity squad?

Pitchers aside....

It's great for a kids confidence to be the big fish in the little pond. So, say an 8th grader, who hasn't yet played JV and won't likely see much, if any, playing time w/ their varsity team would probably benefit from staying down. Even if they are a stud. Let em kick some ass and make a name for themselves amongst their schoolmates and peers. If they're truly that good, they'll have 4 years on the varsity squad after suffering through an unchallenging JV season.

But if they've already done that, I'd say the challenge of fighting for an at bat here and there....or an inning in the field on the varsity team would prove more beneficial.

I've seen it work both ways. Kids who just aren't ready for varsity, INSISTING that they be moved up, simply because theyve already played a season or two on JV. If the coach has no plans for them, then they are just wasting everyones time. Most imoportantly, their own.

Pitchers are a different animal though. If they're not going to see regular time in the circle with the varsity squad, STAY DOWN! Develop a new pitch. Add an extra MPH to your fastball.

For a pitcher, I don't think there's anything worse than being pulled up to varsity to ride the bench "just in case" the opportunity arises.

JMO

[aformrduner]

Have to consider that on a case by case basis. How old is the player? Has he/she played a JV season? If so, how did he/she fare? Will he/she see absolutely NO playing time on the varsity squad?

Pitchers aside....

It's great for a kids confidence to be the big fish in the little pond. So, say an 8th grader, who hasn't yet played JV and won't likely see much, if any, playing time w/ their varsity team would probably benefit from staying down. Even if they are a stud. Let em kick some ass and make a name for themselves amongst their schoolmates and peers. If they're truly that good, they'll have 4 years on the varsity squad after suffering through an unchallenging JV season.

But if they've already done that, I'd say the challenge of fighting for an at bat here and there....or an inning in the field on the varsity team would prove more beneficial.

I've seen it work both ways. Kids who just aren't ready for varsity, INSISTING that they be moved up, simply because theyve already played a season or two on JV. If the coach has no plans for them, then they are just wasting everyones time. Most imoportantly, their own.

Pitchers are a different animal though. If they're not going to see regular time in the circle with the varsity squad, STAY DOWN! Develop a new pitch. Add an extra MPH to your fastball.

For a pitcher, I don't think there's anything worse than being pulled up to varsity to ride the bench "just in case" the opportunity arises.

JMO

From my experience and observations in our area, most of the JV squads play at a "Rec ball" level, with at best, a couple of legit players that happen to play a position where the Varsity team is stacked. I would say playing against that level of competition is more likely to regress their skills than advance them, (of course bashing at the JV usually does great for the parents egos).
What better way to prepare for playing on the Varsity level than to be ON the team. The coach gets to watch you work hard daily and the girl gets to learn about how the coach works as well. With the right mindset, a lot can be learned sitting for a few games. For the most part, her skills and her future plans will be decided on the playing time she gets on the travel ball field.
Let them enjoy the High School experience and the prestige of earning that Varsity letter, and all that goes with it. You never know what will happen over the course of the short season.

I would advise my kid that by being on the Varsity team will have more long term advantages than the JV.
But the final choice would be, "What do YOU want to do"?

[Coach11]

My only disagreement with the above is that I don't believe a player regresses when playing down a level. I've certainly never seen it myself. Perhaps they don't progress as they would playing at an upper level. But that requires them to actually be playing.

[fastpitch53]

DD is a pitcher and has pitched every game and probably will rest of the HS season. The only other non-senior pitcher, also a FR is playing OF with no plate or circle time. DD wants to move on to next level in the future but thinks she has to be on varsity to accomplish goal. She will play exposure again after HS season and have told her the mound time will benifit you more then varsity without the playing time.

[slapperdad]

I would tend to agree with it's a case by case basis. I currently have 3 freshmen that I dress for varsity, and they know their role is pinch run/courtesy run. Now the caveat to that is we typically don't play at the same time, so they still get their JV reps in which they need. I have managed to get them in one game. We played at the same time as the JV last week and I sent all of them with the JV. These are all kids who could develop into players that could help us in the future.

Taking off my coach's hat and putting on my parent's hat, I'll pass on some advice that I gave to my DD her freshman year in Basketball. My DD had started, and been a key player her entire Basketball career to that point. We knew she was going to play JV her freshman year. I told her, at this point, your role on this team is to work harder than you've ever worked in practice.....to make the varsity better. Once you get to high school it's all about the varsity, and no one cares about the JV.

The other thing to keep in mind high school wise is high school is a completely different animal than travel ball. In high school we don't get to pick our team, sometimes there is a delicate balance chemistry wise, dealing with individuals, etc. I'm not saying you play favorites or anything of the sort. Let me throw out an example, last year I had a freshman 2nd baseman and a senior 2nd baseman. The freshman was clearly a better 2nd baseman. The senior was a better hitter. The senior couldn't play anywhere other than 2nd, she didn't have the size, range, arm strength, etc. to play anywhere else. So for the entire year I had to deal with balls getting by my 2nd basemen that I thought should have been fielded, while I had a better 2nd baseman playing in RF. The rub of this was, I had to have the senior's bat in the lineup. and I knew if I moved her off 2nd, mentally should would be done and I wouldn't get anything out of her at the plate. I also knew I only had to deal with it for a year.

Now I'm sure the armchair QB's in the stands were quick to second guess what I was doing defensively, and that's fine. But they're not at practice everyday, they don't live with these kids for 5 months of the year, they don't even know them. But that's just a small glimpse of what goes thru a coach's mind when determining a lineup.

Much different animal than travel ball where you can determine what players you get.

[DLauck]

Well stated slapperdad - good luck with the rest of your season!

DL

[led1247]

In most cases doesn't the high school coach determine which team (varsity or jv) a player is on. My advice to my daughter would be do what the coach asks you to do. If the coach says I want you to play JV, then I would tell her to tear it up. If the coach wants her on the bench in the varsity dugout, then be a good teammate and be ready if your number is called.