JV or varsity if you have an option as a freshman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is loving the sport, like really into it, definitely Varsity. A lot of people are impressed with freshmen who make Varsity. But if your kid is still exploring or not sure how into it they are, I'd say JV. It's a bit less intense usually and sometimes less time too. Being a Freshman on Varsity is more of a commitment.

What does people being impressed have to do with anything? Unless OP’s kid is literally so phenomenal that she simply *can’t* play with the JV kids anymore (which she’s not, because if she was she’d be a starter on Varsity) there is absolutely no reason to skip JV playing time and camaraderie with her similarly aged peers in favor of bench riding for far older girls - other than bragging rights, that is.

If she’s good enough to make varsity practice squad as a freshman, she’ll still be good enough to make varsity when it’s time to actually play varsity.

Kids don't get the choice. You get the team you get. If a coach puts you on Varsity, it is a bad look to ask to be on Jv.

Weird. At my kid’s large high school there are separate tryouts for varsity and JV. The teams have different coaches. One coach doesn’t just assign everyone from some mass tryout to different teams.

That's not how it worked at our high school.

There was one try out and you got placed by the coaches.

But if what you say is true and i tried out for varsity and the coach offered JV, I would take the hint. And vice versa.

Seriously? What possible incentive would I have to lie about such a thing?

Sometimes people are mistaken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask carefully about practices. On our varsity team, many of the practices were very very light to allow the game roster to recover. Which does nothing for a freshman who has not many if any game minutes. I would say my child lost skill and fitness in the fall season from this.

Not OP but that's an interesting point. At our DD's school, the coach plays everyone at least once during games, and practices are definitely everyone getting play time. And our coach doesn't really lighten up unless they had like 3 games in 3 days or something. And the team did very well this season.

I wish. That is the right way. Wish coaches got this concept!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is loving the sport, like really into it, definitely Varsity. A lot of people are impressed with freshmen who make Varsity. But if your kid is still exploring or not sure how into it they are, I'd say JV. It's a bit less intense usually and sometimes less time too. Being a Freshman on Varsity is more of a commitment.

What does people being impressed have to do with anything? Unless OP’s kid is literally so phenomenal that she simply *can’t* play with the JV kids anymore (which she’s not, because if she was she’d be a starter on Varsity) there is absolutely no reason to skip JV playing time and camaraderie with her similarly aged peers in favor of bench riding for far older girls - other than bragging rights, that is.

If she’s good enough to make varsity practice squad as a freshman, she’ll still be good enough to make varsity when it’s time to actually play varsity.

Kids don't get the choice. You get the team you get. If a coach puts you on Varsity, it is a bad look to ask to be on Jv.

Weird. At my kid’s large high school there are separate tryouts for varsity and JV. The teams have different coaches. One coach doesn’t just assign everyone from some mass tryout to different teams.

That's not how it worked at our high school.

There was one try out and you got placed by the coaches.

But if what you say is true and i tried out for varsity and the coach offered JV, I would take the hint. And vice versa.

Seriously? What possible incentive would I have to lie about such a thing?

Sometimes people are mistaken.

[Anonymous]

In my experience, if your player is confident in her skills and wants to get better at the sport, then definitely Varsity. She will get so much more out of practicing with Varsity even if riding the bench at games. And if she is progressing through the season she may find she starts earning some playing time.

If player confidence is an issue then time to be the top player on JV could be helpful.

I have had a freshman on a Varsity team and the social aspect was not an issue, but I am sure this varies by school, team, individual player, etc.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this perspective!