(Advanced) Jr High Teams

[cobb_of_fury]

Here's my strife.

My daughter plays JR High ball for a large school that has a VERY competitive Varsity team.
But at the Jr High level they believe in accepting as many kids as they can for soft ball, so they have two teams of about 15 girls.
Between the two teams they have maybe 7 or 8 (let's call them) advanced players
But instead of making one advanced team and one less advanced (essential a varsity and JV for Jr High)
They intermix the kids.
So we now have two teams that are (let's say) less than advanced
"Wait..." you say "That seems perfectly egalitarian we're all equal"

But what happens in reality is the (Advanced) girls hate going to practice since the coach has to cover rudimentary drills every day and the (Less Advanced) girls are afraid to try to catch thrown balls and tend to be overshadowed by the better players.

The biggest drawback I see with the Varsity / JV plan is the other teams in our league tend to only have one team of 15 to 18 girls and are compelled to get all the girls in to the game.
So a good team would mostlikely be better than all of the other competition and would soon run rule everyone in the league.

So my question is; Is it better to have two teams of Like talented kids, One Advanced one not, so that practices could be geared to skill level but games would tend to be lopsided.
Or keep mixed teams and don't worry about frustrating the (advanced) kids Just get the (less advanced) kids better?

Thoughts and opinions please.

 

[coachjwb]

While there are pros and cons of each, I have to go with the 2 teams of like-talented kids to maximize the learning ...

 

[Softballfarm]

Be grateful to have this situation. Our school doesnt even have a JV program. Tuesday our Varsity girls' game was cancelled because the school didnt have a bus driver available to take the team to their away game.

 

[cobb_of_fury]

I agree, not really complaining just wondering what people thought was a better system.
We have a number of schools on our area that have dropped JV and cut back on Jr High

But I know of several schools that have just started Jr High programs so I think it may be more of a shifting but we will see.

 

[mike_dyer]

I'm not even sure if schools in Ohio offer JH softball.

There are some teams around but they are clubs. They wear their school colors and all that but there's no affiliation with the school aside from most, if not all, of the kids on the team go to school there. I say "most" because you can be certain someone is stacking a club JH team up somewhere.

 

[Pacerdad57]

We have a 7th grade "club" team comprised of only players in that school, and an 8th grade school team, so they are out there and our girls have a full schedule against 7th and 8th grade teams in the area.
Almost all of the schools in central ohio area have both teams.

 

[cobb_of_fury]

We have a 7th grade "club" team comprised of only players in that school, and an 8th grade school team, so they are out there and our girls have a full schedule against 7th and 8th grade teams in the area.
Almost all of the schools in central ohio area have both teams.

Jr High teams are fairly common here in WPA - there are a few programs that don't have them and surprisingly they are some of the better varsity programs.
More schools in our area have Jr High teams then have JV.

What I'm surprised there isn't more of is Feeder Travel teams - I've seen a few in OHIO. (Poland Pride, Lady Spartans - I'm sure there are others)
That's seems like a fairly efficient way to stock the program. Volunteer coaches, Parents pay for equipment and transportation and other expenses.

 

[coachtomv]

I approached our AD last year about a 7-8th grade school team in Garrettsville Ohio. He was enthusiastic and looked into it, but could not find many surrounding schools doing the same. Cost and scheduling of busing, made it tough to schedule the extra distance required to find teams.

Our OGSO Rec organization does a decent job, in numbers, of girls participating but very few travel level kids to form a club team really.

 

[crystlemc]

Jr High teams are fairly common here in WPA - there are a few programs that don't have them and surprisingly they are some of the better varsity programs.
More schools in our area have Jr High teams then have JV.

What I'm surprised there isn't more of is Feeder Travel teams - I've seen a few in OHIO. (Poland Pride, Lady Spartans - I'm sure there are others)
That's seems like a fairly efficient way to stock the program. Volunteer coaches, Parents pay for equipment and transportation and other expenses.

To be fair, those "feeder" teams aren't all that great. The better players in Poland and Boardman go play travel with truly competitive teams. That's how Poland stays competitive. Erin Gabriel and Jenna Modic both played for Valley Extreme, certainly not Poland Pride. So I wouldn't really say they are stocking their program since they play just above average competition.

 

[cobb_of_fury]

True - But it does take care of the "other girls" - Not to offend Poland or Boardman but what I called the Less advanced girls. It gives them a place to play -
And to be fair the girls on Poland Pride and Lady Spartans are worlds better than a lot of girls I was talking about on JR high teams.

 

[Rocket8]

I was involved in the very scenario you mentioned two equal teams or one A and one B team in Jr. High ball. We went the two equal teams route and it worked out well. Given the other JH teams we won some and lost some - but it was more about developing everyone no matter what their level was. My opinion at this level - it is about developing all the girls that want to play for their school no matter who they play for in the summer. The "more experienced" players it is a good opportunity to appreciate where they are in their game and to help out the less seasoned/experienced players, provide support, encouragement and patience. School ball is not always about wins and losses, especially at the Junior High level. There isn't enough strong competition if you build a "super" team to play on a regular basis. I have coached both travel and Jr High and I preached to my TB girls go be an good example, make your parents, org and community proud and give back to the game anywhere you can. I had TB and Rec girls on this team and it was refreshing to work with the other girls more on their fundamentals (TB girls can be stubborn/LOL). It all comes down to the girl/s and what they want to take away from the experience. I for one truly enjoyed it - seeing players faces light up when they get it - maybe I will jump back into it again.

 

[crystlemc]

I, myself, think they should have like-ability players together. Ever hear of the rotten apple spoiling the bunch? The lesser players will oftentimes influence the better players negatively, than the better players bringing the level of the lesser players up. Most often when there are more of the lesser players. High level players, I believe, will get tired of busting hiney to make plays that go nowhere because of the inability of the other players.

 

[Skeeter]

GWOC has a bunch of Jr high teams

 

[DanMaz]

I, myself, think they should have like-ability players together. Ever hear of the rotten apple spoiling the bunch? The lesser players will oftentimes influence the better players negatively, than the better players bringing the level of the lesser players up. Most often when there are more of the lesser players. High level players, I believe, will get tired of busting hiney to make plays that go nowhere because of the inability of the other players.

hmmm.. wondering just wondering.... isnt this the reason some travel girls dont want to play HS ball? just saying.

 

[softball24_7]

From my experience (3rd yr coaching Jr high)... We have one of the largest school districts in Ohio, not student pop but sq.miles. Were not school sanctioned, but all girls are from our school district as well as the other 10-15 area teams are. Our HS program will not allow us to cut players, its a shame, it really is. My first yr, we had 23 girls sign up, I split the girls up so that one team was comprised of talent and ones that actually wanted to pursue softball (a team) and the other was made up of girls that just wanted to hang out (b team). Let me just say, unless you have the space and time for separate practices, there is really only 1 benefit in stacking a team other then W and L record, is the more talented athletes are less likely to get discouraged on game day. If a HS program wants to build a "feeder system" it needs to tighten the leash on the players starting at the Jr high lvl. Coaches need to realize that quality outranks quantity. How can you successfully run a practice pushing the more talented athletes when you have to start out with showing players where first base is? I'm all for getting the girls involved with and learning the game, but at the lvl some of these girls are at, I just think 7,8th grade is too late to start. That's why we have Little league and all the other leagues in place, its so the girls get introduced to softball and hopefully learn the basics and fundamentals. So to answer your question.... If a school has the facility to accommodate separate practices, then yes, I believe it would be better to "stack" a team.

 

[mike_dyer]

hmmm.. wondering just wondering.... isnt this the reason some travel girls dont want to play HS ball? just saying.

Why,,, that's completely different.

Don't ask me how, it just is.

Not playing for high school = red flag. And any kid who does it is destined to die homeless in the streets.

If you think you know someone might not be interested in playing for their high school team you let me know, I'll be watching for their ESPN debut!!!!