What are the benefits of NOT letting a 9th or 10th grader play JV or Varsity?

Axl_sued_me

Axl_sued_me

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I once heard an argument on why you should just let your freshman play freshman ball, even if he's good enough to play at a higher level. I can't remember where I heard this debate. But the benefits were more than just "playing time". It was more about overall development and enjoyment of the game. Does anyone know of this?

 
My junior year of high school, we had a freshman (went on to play at Florida State) who scored 5 touchdowns in the first varsity game of the season. The team we played was pretty decent, too. What would the point have been to just let that guy beat up on normally talented/sized 9th graders?

 
I think it depends on how the younger kids are used in the program. When I was in high school (20 years ago, mind you), there were a few freshmen and sophomores that would suit up with the varsity on Friday nights, just in case. These kids would get their reps on the JV team. Of course, these kids were the kids who matured early, and were big and strong enough to handle playing at the JV/Varsity level.

When I was a sophomore, there was a kid who came in as a freshman at nearly 6'5" and 250-275 lbs. He was on the frosh team about 1 or 2 days before he was moved up to JV/Varsity. He went on to start at OT for NU in the late 90s.

I think the argument for letting the kids play "at their level" is to keep with the social aspect of being with kids their own age and being able to play with their friends.

 
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Many parents think...it will be better for my kid against better competition

- true IF your kid is playing

 
Let them play up if they are going to play. I know when I was in high school you would practice with the older kids and still suit up for the varsity, you were just there as a desperation plan. However they would still let you play in the JV games or lower to make sure you are actually getting playing time.

 
I think some parents are scared of pushing their kids to a higher level because they want to see their kids succeed. They are afraid that if their kid does poorly at a higher level, it will hurt their self-esteem. But, most kids will understand that moving up a level, provides them with a challenge and will help them in the long run.

That said, I will echo what has been said in the thread. If he is not playing at all (on any team), it doesn't make any sense to move him up. If he is suiting up at a higher level for emergency purposes and still playing at a lower level, that is normal.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
I think it depends on how the younger kids are used in the program.  When I was in high school (20 years ago, mind you), there were a few freshmen and sophomores that would suit up with the varsity on Friday nights, just in case.  These kids would get their reps on the JV team.  Of course, these kids were the kids who matured early, and were big and strong enough to handle playing at the JV/Varsity level.

When I was a sophomore, there was a kid who came in as a freshman at nearly 6'5" and 250-275 lbs.  He was on the frosh team about 1 or 2 days before he was moved up to JV/Varsity.  He went on to start at OT for NU in the late 90s.

I think the argument for letting the kids play "at their level" is to keep with the social aspect of being with kids their own age and being able to play with their friends.
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I think this is what I heard. The social aspect. It allows the kid to enjoy playing more and less likely to burnout.
 
I suited up as a sophomore. We played JV on Thursdays, Varsity on Fridays. Our coaches could only play us on Varsity in the 2nd half, because SC has a 6 quarter per week rule. It was basically to get us some experience there since we went through the varsity camp during the summer. We had a pretty good team (lost 4 games in 3 years), so we got in a good bit during mop up when the other teams would have their 2nd teams in, most of which were upperclassmen.

 
Being 14-15 and trying to pal around with 17-18 year olds is tough. They are talking about *&^%$%^ girls and the 14 and 15 year olds are still just dying to see a boob

 
I can't think of any benefit of not letting a 9th or 10th grader play up to their ability. There are plenty of benefits of getting playing time at a lower level, having lots of success, and being with kids your own age but there are also benefits to being challenged more and elevating your game to a higher level. The only benefit of not being allowed to play up would possibly be if you were undersized or just plain couldn't hang with the older/bigger kids. In many cases and most sports, the kids that do the best are the ones who have been playing with older kids, siblings, etc. and getting that extra challenge on a regular basis.

 
I say if they're good enough to play a lot at the varsity level, that's where they belong. If they only play here and there, let them get as much experience as possible at lower levels.

Probably applies more to basketball, where you have a set number of quarters per night (in Nebraska) but if the kid isn't going to lower level games to stay and practice with the varsity, he better be playing a lot. Just my $0.02.

 
One of the great urban legends is that Michael Jordan got cut from his HS team as a 9th grader.

He got cut from the varsity team and played on the JV team as a frosh.

Used a lot by 5 foot juniors who never made any HS team, saying their career goal is to play in the NBA, and their back-up plan to to play at KU

Seriously - happens every year

 
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