Our girls varsity has freshmen players. These are girls they want to train up/make part of the program. From my experience it's hard to go from Freshman to Varsity--possible for a very small percentage. It is what it is.

I've seen coaches do varsity with reclassed freshman and sophomores who are very old for their grade in an attempt to keep them happy and so they don't transfer to a school where the coach promises them varsity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 that 2 years on JV is not promising.

I don’t get it. Isn’t JV typically grades 9 and 10?

Basketball (alongside Football and Volleyball) is a sport that offers a Freshmen team in addition to JV and Varsity (at least in FCPS). Because of this, you only generally see Freshmen on JV teams if they're sufficiently advanced that the program believes that they may be able to contribute to success at the Varsity level as a sophomore

In other sports that do not offer a Freshmen team, 2 years (or even 3) on the JV level is not considered to be as underwhelming.

But why would they need to contribute to varsity as a sophomore rather than as a junior? What is the point of putting sophomores on varsity unless you don’t have a sufficient number of good juniors and seniors?

Our boys JV basketball, soccer and football teams had multiple 11th graders at our giant FCPS public. Not weird at all.

Especially for basketball, with such small rosters, sometimes there is nowhere for a kid to move up to unless someone transfers, graduates, or drops out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 that 2 years on JV is not promising.

I don’t get it. Isn’t JV typically grades 9 and 10?

Basketball (alongside Football and Volleyball) is a sport that offers a Freshmen team in addition to JV and Varsity (at least in FCPS). Because of this, you only generally see Freshmen on JV teams if they're sufficiently advanced that the program believes that they may be able to contribute to success at the Varsity level as a sophomore

In other sports that do not offer a Freshmen team, 2 years (or even 3) on the JV level is not considered to be as underwhelming.

Anonymous wrote:+1 that 2 years on JV is not promising.

I don’t get it. Isn’t JV typically grades 9 and 10?

Anonymous wrote:My son says there is only one senior on varisty this year. Where are the JV kids supposed
to move up to next yr? How is 2 years in jv bad in that case?

That's a rare situation, but it does happen. If there are a large number of juniors, you may see some of them either quit or get cut if there isn't a good shot at them getting meaningful minutes their senior year. Because of the existence of summer and fall leagues and team camps, you can often see the writing on the wall when it's not going to go well.

That is the one situation where two years on the JV might not be awful, though. Depends on the rest of the circumstances around the program.

My son says there is only one senior on varisty this year. Where are the JV kids supposed
to move up to next yr? How is 2 years in jv bad in that case?

+1 that 2 years on JV is not promising.

Hi there! I coached on the boys side in FCPS for many years and can lend insight into this question.

The simple answer is "it depends COMPLETELY on what high school you're talking about".

On the boys side, every single high school has kids who begin at the Freshmen level and eventually make the Varsity.

Some programs (especially those at bigger schools) philosophically prefer to start almost everyone at the Freshmen level unless you have a genuine serious talent who can help the Varsity immediately. A lot of programs in the Concorde and Liberty District are like this, believing in cohesion amongst the kids who will be playing together at the same age level.

Other programs promote kids based on the needs of the individual player with regard to competitiveness, size/strength, and skill proficiency/deficiency. I will say that it's almost never the goal to have a kid play two years on the JV, so if that's happening, it's usually not a great sign.

If I were a parent, I'd be paying a lot of attention to how many kids are transferring in and entering the program during their high school career. If this is happening on a regular basis, being on the Freshmen team is not a great thing.

No matter the situation, my best advice to you would be to make sure your kid is available and enthusiastic for all of the offseason events and programs possible following their freshman year, while trying to gain additional experience through skill development and perhaps AAU team participation if your family can handle it.

Being a kid (and a family) who is seen as reliable, motivated, and most importantly low-maintenance will take you a long way in almost any high school program in the area.

If you're going to be a parent who is going to cause problems for the coach or the administration, your kid had better be super talented.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are freshman teams a nail in the coffin for a basketball HS player? Kid is hoping to play all 4 years.

Not for local public school programs. Probably half to 2/3 of those players make it all the way to varsity by senior year.

For the WCAC high school programs and other private schools that recruit, the freshmen players rarely make it to varsity.

In my observation that is an overstatement and our HS has a mediocre varsity boys basketball program (3 winning seasons over the past decade). If a freshman team is strong maybe half will progress to varsity. If it’s weak it’s more like 15-25%. Keep in mind the size of the freshman rosters also tend to be big.

Our girls varsity program has been stronger (multiple district titles) but the overall talent pool is thin. In many cases no girls on the freshmen team ever make varsity, even if the freshman team is .500 or higher. It’s also much easier for talented freshmen girls to make JV or varsity.

That's to the point above that making freshman team can be a nail in coffin. It means they don't see you as someone who will develop into their Varsity program. The talented freshman are on JV and maybe even Varsity.

I think this is more true for girls teams than boys teams. There is typically a deeper talent pool on the boys side. Freshmen boys games can be fairly competitive and entertaining. Most freshmen girls teams in FCPS are painful to watch, with a few exceptions like Madison some years.

Boys on the freshman team who have massive growth spurts may eventually make varsity, but it's a numbers game. At least at our school, the good freshman make JV and play there for one or two years before moving to varsity. The great ones go straight to varsity. Most of the freshman team is gut as sophomores and those that aren't usually don't get past JV. Those that never make varsity end up quitting or managers as seniors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are freshman teams a nail in the coffin for a basketball HS player? Kid is hoping to play all 4 years.

Not for local public school programs. Probably half to 2/3 of those players make it all the way to varsity by senior year.

For the WCAC high school programs and other private schools that recruit, the freshmen players rarely make it to varsity.

In my observation that is an overstatement and our HS has a mediocre varsity boys basketball program (3 winning seasons over the past decade). If a freshman team is strong maybe half will progress to varsity. If it’s weak it’s more like 15-25%. Keep in mind the size of the freshman rosters also tend to be big.

Our girls varsity program has been stronger (multiple district titles) but the overall talent pool is thin. In many cases no girls on the freshmen team ever make varsity, even if the freshman team is .500 or higher. It’s also much easier for talented freshmen girls to make JV or varsity.

That's to the point above that making freshman team can be a nail in coffin. It means they don't see you as someone who will develop into their Varsity program. The talented freshman are on JV and maybe even Varsity.

I think this is more true for girls teams than boys teams. There is typically a deeper talent pool on the boys side. Freshmen boys games can be fairly competitive and entertaining. Most freshmen girls teams in FCPS are painful to watch, with a few exceptions like Madison some years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are freshman teams a nail in the coffin for a basketball HS player? Kid is hoping to play all 4 years.

Not for local public school programs. Probably half to 2/3 of those players make it all the way to varsity by senior year.

For the WCAC high school programs and other private schools that recruit, the freshmen players rarely make it to varsity.

In my observation that is an overstatement and our HS has a mediocre varsity boys basketball program (3 winning seasons over the past decade). If a freshman team is strong maybe half will progress to varsity. If it’s weak it’s more like 15-25%. Keep in mind the size of the freshman rosters also tend to be big.

Our girls varsity program has been stronger (multiple district titles) but the overall talent pool is thin. In many cases no girls on the freshmen team ever make varsity, even if the freshman team is .500 or higher. It’s also much easier for talented freshmen girls to make JV or varsity.

That's to the point above that making freshman team can be a nail in coffin. It means they don't see you as someone who will develop into their Varsity program. The talented freshman are on JV and maybe even Varsity.

the talented freshman aren’t always on JV or varsity. Now days kids are reclassing so they are more mature. Usually it’s the older kids on JV

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean by a "true surprise"?

The coaches generally know their talent pool, through last year, green days, etc.

Some (despicable) coaches recruit transfers so it might be a "surprise" to returning players that they are getting bumped for a new kid.

Yeah they do all types of open gyms and open workouts where they are looking at the prospects.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are freshman teams a nail in the coffin for a basketball HS player? Kid is hoping to play all 4 years.

Not for local public school programs. Probably half to 2/3 of those players make it all the way to varsity by senior year.

For the WCAC high school programs and other private schools that recruit, the freshmen players rarely make it to varsity.

In my observation that is an overstatement and our HS has a mediocre varsity boys basketball program (3 winning seasons over the past decade). If a freshman team is strong maybe half will progress to varsity. If it’s weak it’s more like 15-25%. Keep in mind the size of the freshman rosters also tend to be big.

Our girls varsity program has been stronger (multiple district titles) but the overall talent pool is thin. In many cases no girls on the freshmen team ever make varsity, even if the freshman team is .500 or higher. It’s also much easier for talented freshmen girls to make JV or varsity.

That's to the point above that making freshman team can be a nail in coffin. It means they don't see you as someone who will develop into their Varsity program. The talented freshman are on JV and maybe even Varsity.