OP here- kid is a freshman and would love to get dual rostered since it isn't appearing he will start or be utilized extensively on V but also goal is V.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes everything is a long tryout but as you said, don’t get hopes up. He could be rostered for both and get playing time on JV and used as a backup on varsity if their other players are injured. The worst case is he gets a spot on varsity and is a bench warmer all season.

I agree the worst case is a benchwarmer spot on varsity. That is what happened to my kid and he finally quit junior year. If he had stayed on JV he would have had fun and developed - as it was he felt intense pressure and didn’t learn as much because he didn’t get playing time.

But isn't the idea to train with Varsity and eventually be a starter/non bench warmer? Why step back to JV?

In any event-how does one control the decision? Can one request to be on JV?

That is the idea, yes, and of course it often works out! But if the kid isn’t ready then it can backfire, like it did with my kid, and bench warming and the feeling of failure takes the joy out of the game. A slower, more typical move between JV and Varsity would have resulted in a happier kid who played longer.

I am probably making assumptions that OP’s kid is a Freshman or Sophomore, not a Junior who you’d expect would be moving up to Varsity anyway.

Anonymous wrote:Can one get rostered on both JV and Varsity?

Usually yes. There are always a handful of these at my kids’ high school. Often the dual rostered kids are role players on varsity (not a lot of regular playing time) but also come to the JV games to get their quality playing time in. Sometimes it varies game to game (told to come to varsity game, or JV game, or both). Not sure if that is common or not. Usually-especially with a freshman- they are only “varsity only” if they will be a starter. Which is fairly rare for a freshman at our high school. Typically underclassmen will stay on JV and/or be dual rostered to get reps (as opposed to sitting on the varsity bench).

But if a kid is practicing regularly with varsity and/or playing with the varsity in the off-season, yes obviously they are being heavily considered to play varsity in the Spring.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes everything is a long tryout but as you said, don’t get hopes up. He could be rostered for both and get playing time on JV and used as a backup on varsity if their other players are injured. The worst case is he gets a spot on varsity and is a bench warmer all season.

I agree the worst case is a benchwarmer spot on varsity. That is what happened to my kid and he finally quit junior year. If he had stayed on JV he would have had fun and developed - as it was he felt intense pressure and didn’t learn as much because he didn’t get playing time.

But isn't the idea to train with Varsity and eventually be a starter/non bench warmer? Why step back to JV?

In any event-how does one control the decision? Can one request to be on JV?

Anonymous wrote:Yes everything is a long tryout but as you said, don’t get hopes up. He could be rostered for both and get playing time on JV and used as a backup on varsity if their other players are injured. The worst case is he gets a spot on varsity and is a bench warmer all season.

I agree the worst case is a benchwarmer spot on varsity. That is what happened to my kid and he finally quit junior year. If he had stayed on JV he would have had fun and developed - as it was he felt intense pressure and didn’t learn as much because he didn’t get playing time.

Anonymous wrote:How would we know????

It's called calling on your experience (if you have any) to make a prediction. It's not gospel.

Can one get rostered on both JV and Varsity?

As far as I understand all other things being equal, getting the long tryout is better than not getting it, even if it's not a guarantee.

How would we know????

Yes everything is a long tryout but as you said, don’t get hopes up. He could be rostered for both and get playing time on JV and used as a backup on varsity if their other players are injured. The worst case is he gets a spot on varsity and is a bench warmer all season.

DC is a 9th grader in a large public HS. He played an out of season sport this fall with the JV team but was then asked to play with the Varsity team for most of the games and practices. We don't want him to get his hopes up for Varsity but would being asked to practice and play with Varsity be an indicator he's being considered for that level or is this a nothing burger? His performance on JV was standout. His performance on Varsity was mid. Is this just a long tryout?