No chance to play varsity

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #21

This was my dd hs policy when she started 3 years ago. What was worse was that the existing hs pitcher, a junior, was walking and/or hitting 10-12 batters per varsity game while my dd was striking out 10-12 per game on the jv team. It took two weeks and the AD getting involved to get this somewhat staightened out. Just understand that if you go over the coach's head there could be ramifications on your daughter. Sometimes, you have nothing to lose.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #22

Our school gives preference to upperclassmen. However, if someone is an absolute difference maker they will be given an opportunity. MOST freshmen and sophmores play JV without any Varsity Time.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #23

If your DD is given the chance of riding the bench on Varsity or playing JV, go for riding the bench. If she plays travel ball, I am sure she gets plenty of practice with that particular travel team. The compettiton at the jv level is horrible. The best pitchers will be taken by varsity, and who ever is left, will pitch on jv. This will screw up her hitting ( facing a 40 mph fastball, then a 12 foot high arc change up). I believe most of our dd's practice with our travel teams with the cage set for around 60mph or faster. JV also gets the umps with the least amount of experience. The middle school or jr high (girls in 6-7-8) or Varsity get the better Umps. (more parents and grandparents). JV also will get the worst fields and uniforms.(you want to keep the younger girls happy and keep them playing). and paying!!!)

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #24

That mind set was at Beavercreek until 1997 until sickness and injury forced the coach to call up a freshman by the name of Erin Chapman. He batted her ninth. We all new of her talent before she was called up. Top of 7th playing Fairmont she came to bat and hit a 2 out hr over the fence that hit a fan watching the JV game she should have been in. We went on to win the game and afterwards I asked the coach if she passed the audition. The mindset went away Chapman played 4yrs. on Varisty and 4 years at Athens for OU. Sometimes it takes a sledgehammer to get that point across to people who have no business coaching softball. There is no written rule at Beavercreek, The best nine are on the field.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #25

norhian:

I think you are right, although reasonable people can disagree. I'm guessing that for 80% of the JV games played, a seasoned travel ball player isn't going to get much out of the game and will in fact be regressing for precisely the reason that you identify: pitching at that level lets the hitter get away with all kinds of bad habits.

We never had to face the issue since our DD was a pitcher and the varsity needed her all four years, but I saw several of her travel ball teammates get stuck not on a JV team but on a FRESHMAN team where the games really amounted to modified slow pitch. And the travel ball players had to teach the coach the game. It was such a shame.

Stattie, you are right that sometimes there's just nothing you can do about being stuck on JV, but if there is any choice involved, opt for the varsity.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #26

There is no way that I would let my dd play freshman ball. If she was forced to play on a freshman team, she just wouldn't play. She's missing 3 or 4 tournaments as it is this year to probably play jv. She will work her *** off to play varsity, but we'd rather play jv than sit varsity.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #27

Always a hot topic at this time of year........if you look at previous years teams that go deep in the year end tournament the best 9 are on the field regardless of grade or who their parents know.......they consistently go deep in tourney play......ie...Lebanon, Greenville......best 9 play and they are a force year in and year out........those programs who bow to the upperclassman or allow players to make Varsity because of who their parents know or having relatives involved in the selection process....well they are inevitably eliminated early in the tournament......not a thing you can do about it either.....to try to reason with coaches only gets you labelled as a problem parent...not just softball either....hard to explain to your kid that just because she may be a better player doesn't always mean she is going to make varsity.......have to deal with it as one of life's lessons.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #28

It is a tough call either way. If you tell the coach you do not want to play JV,,could be trouble the next season. On the other hand, your dd's timing could be affected and this may hurt her the first tournament or two. She might then be tagged " unable to hit" by her travel coach, and become less valuable to the team.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #29

school politics is for the birds...

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #30

Well, that's a lot to think about. It reminds me of what a relative told me about the top ****** players at his daughter's high school-- that most of them don't even go out for the school team. They're all playing for their club teams in weekend tournaments which provide all the exposure they need. I suppose the same can be said for top softball players. Maybe it would be better for them to go out for another sport in the spring-- like track and field--- just to get into shape and have some fun. Who needs the hassle and the politics if the softball team isn't playing to win?

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #31

You stole my line Lester. Everything always becomes political.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #32

TheRinger said:

You are not alone dolara, I know a kid who is a freshman and is the ONLY current player who plays travel ball in the high school program. She was told that she will pitch JV this year because they don't have a spot for her on varsity. Now the real kicker is this was told to her BEFORE they even saw her pitch or hit or field. This girl has pitched travel ball since she was 10U and has a number of effective pitches and knows how to pitch mentally. I watched our HS team play last year and they never called a pitch and everything was over the middle of the plate. Needless to say, they are not very good. I think this is a case of just collecting a coaching paycheck.

Click to expand...

the flip side to this is the summer travel team that gives playing time and positions and makes out a batting lineup according to what high school they will attend.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #33

It's also not that much different than a travel ball coach who gives preferential treatment to someone who came up through their organization.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #34

Good point PC softball, I have scene that trend before with some local High Schools. They are usually daddy ball teams.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #35

I should clearify that last post. Some local high schools keep there girls or a majority of them on certain travel teams to get an edge for school ball. Does that make sense?

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #36

playing high school ball gets you no exposure until states.it only gives the college coach you play for someting to put in your bio.

 

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• Feb 20, 2009

• #37

If an AD doesn't have a policy that every varsity team in every sport is always expected to make every effort to win with the top athletes available then you don't have a good mission statement for your school's sports program and that's where the bad coaches get the leeway to play the favorites game. We had a new varsity coach several seasons ago who quit before his first open gym because two mothers constantly harassed him about how their DD's being upperclassmen had already earned their positions and he was required to honor our schools sport tradition by declaring upperclassmen untouchable. He was doomed at the first parent/coach meeting when he announced if 13 freshmen gave him what he wanted, then they would be his starting varsity. The whispering and buzzing from the back of the room where the senior's mothers sat sounded like a stick had been thrust into a hornet nest. But again, that's where the AD is supposed to shield a coach from unwarranted criticism so they can do their job.

 

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• Feb 21, 2009

• #38

norhian said:

You stole my line Lester. Everything always becomes political.

Click to expand...

Yes! he will do that to you sometimes!;:lmao:
As for the topic of No chance to play varsity. Don't get me started!
It a joke on how some H.S. Coaches put their teams together, to the point of being pathetic.


FASTPITCH! Anything else, And you're playing to SLOW!

 

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• Feb 21, 2009

• #39

How about the football team? Do only Juniors and Seniors play varsity? I bet not...

 

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• Feb 21, 2009

• #40

At our school it doesn't matter what grade your DD is in, its all about who the parents are and what they can do for the coach. We've had girls who without a doubt should have been on jv but were put on varisty. Then the coach actually told one of the girls who should have been on varsity, she plays travel ball and is pretty good, that she doesn't know the basic fundamentals of softball and will never see varsity. This player at the time was being looked at by 3 different colleges. Thank goodness for us this coach resigned recently, sorry springboro you now have him. Hopefully the new varsity coach will actually put the best nine on the field and not operate the same as the previous coach.