1st day of the 2013 HS season for us.

[JJA]

One of my big pet peeves is that the coach should clearly communicate to the players how they will be evaluated so the players understand why certain decisions are made. If the decision was to send the seniors to the varsity over the sophomores, not a problem, coaches decision. But tell kids that so they can understand what they need to do to be successful. No different than the workplace. Tell folks what they need to do, and then correspondingly reward them or not based on how well they do what they're told. I've just seen so many arbitrary decisions in high school baseball, so haganjp's quote that "boys in question are really confused as to what methodology was used for selecting the Varsity team" totally resonated with me. They shouldn't have been confused, they should have known because the selection criterion was clearly spelled out early.

[scorekeeper]

One of my big pet peeves is that the coach should clearly communicate to the players how they will be evaluated so the players understand why certain decisions are made. …

They shouldn't have been confused, they should have known because the selection criterion was clearly spelled out early.

And therein lies the majority of problems at this time of the season. What you said above makes logical sense, but why does it happen so often, even if it happens a small minority of the time?

[daque]

"...communicate to the players how they will be evaluated...." Yeah but, how do you communicate why you are starting players who are there because their parents have clout in the system?

[scorekeeper]

Well,

After cogitatin’ a bit, here’s my 1st effort at spittin’ out what took place during a pen. I can see where I’d make some improvements and I can also see some other things I’d like to show.

Trouble is, I’m trying to kluge together two things that don’t have the same purpose, and therefore aren’t set up in an optimum way to get this bullpen stuff tracked or presented.

Oh well, nothin’ like a work in progress!

chart4.pdf

[tg643]

In our situation, the top 3 players from last year's JV team were all Freshman. Batting averages of those 3 were 0.483, 0.404, and 0.346. Slugging percentages were 0.690, 0.723, and 0.519, respectively. Their strikeout totals amounted to 5, 6, and 2, respectively. All had over 60 plate appearance. All 3 were held back on JV. On the other hand, players that were moved from JV to V had JV batting averages ranging from a high of 0.333 to a low of 0.179 (with comparable number of plate appearances). Needless to say, the 3 boys in question are really confused as to what methodology was used for selecting the Varsity team. I should point out that all our comparable, defensively, to anyone on the Varsity.

Stats can be very misleading. Sometimes a kid has good numbers because he went 4-4 off a stiff. Then a better pitcher stood him on his head. The coach isn't looking at the .500 average. he's looking at how the kid swung the bat against better pitching since varsity will be even more challenging. Also, if a coach doesn't think a kid will start on varsity he'll have him start on JV until he needs him. I'll add it's not unusual for a parent to see things differently than the coach. The coach sees more than just the game.

[tg643]

So now I'm confused. You're saying a guy who batted 0.483 on JV should stay on JV while another player who batted 0.179 on JV should be moved up to Varsity?

One year the varsity coach selected a kid for varsity who was a part time JV player the previous year. The kid couldn't hit. But he could run the bases like a deer. He was always used as the courtesy running for the pitcher or catcher and as a pinch runner, as needed late in the game. The kid stole about fifteen bases without getting a hit. He added value to the varsity a hitter on the bench would not have added.

[tg643]

Hagan, I suspect you left the grade level of the "players that were moved from JV to V" off for a reason.....they are probably seniors this season, and you believe they should be cut (seniors don't play JV ball), to make room for the 3 sophomores.

Now if they were juniors this season, than I agree with "Stand" that more information is needed, but I'm gonna go out on a limb.....and stick with "they're seniors".

In my son's high school program the coach wouldn't cut seniors even if they were bench players. The deal was given their commitment to the program, as long as they understood they wouldn't get on the field much and didn't complain about it they got a uniform. When my son was a soph one of these seniors was one of the best leaders on the team even though he hardly played. When my son started slowly at the plate soph year, this senior didn't complain. He went up to my son and told him, "If you're going to beat me out, hit like you deserve it. Now get going."

[tg643]

One of my big pet peeves is that the coach should clearly communicate to the players how they will be evaluated so the players understand why certain decisions are made. If the decision was to send the seniors to the varsity over the sophomores, not a problem, coaches decision. But tell kids that so they can understand what they need to do to be successful. No different than the workplace. Tell folks what they need to do, and then correspondingly reward them or not based on how well they do what they're told. I've just seen so many arbitrary decisions in high school baseball, so haganjp's quote that "boys in question are really confused as to what methodology was used for selecting the Varsity team" totally resonated with me. They shouldn't have been confused, they should have known because the selection criterion was clearly spelled out early.

At the end of tryouts my son's coaching staff (varsity, JV, freshman) sat down with each player that didn't make varsity. They explained why they didn't make it, what they needed to improve and the likelihood of being called up mid season if they showed improvement. This allowed the player and whatever coach he was playing for to be on the same page as the varsity coach's expectations. If players were cut they received the same advice and told to find a place to play over the summer. The reality is none of them ever came back.

[mudvnine]

At the end of tryouts my son's coaching staff (varsity, JV, freshman) sat down with each player that didn't make varsity. They explained why they didn't make it, what they needed to improve and the likelihood of being called up mid season if they showed improvement. This allowed the player and whatever coach he was playing for to be on the same page as the varsity coach's expectations. If players were cut they received the same advice and told to find a place to play over the summer. The reality is none of them ever came back.

This echos the process at our HS as well......

[tg643]

The coaches also sat down with all the players at the end of the season. They wanted summer schedules. They told each player what they needed to improve from that point to next season. There would be another meeting in the late fall to discuss physical training over the winter. After soph year the coach only told my son to return next year prepared to be the team stud. My son told me when he laughed the coach looked at him and said, "Do you think I'm kidding?"

[chain220]

This whole thread makes me nothing but jealous. I live in the Northeast and we still have 4 more weeks to wait out before our season starts.. then after that we have to wait out the snow before we can even get outside for practices.

[tg643]

This whole thread makes me nothing but jealous. I live in the Northeast and we still have 4 more weeks to wait out before our season starts.. then after that we have to wait out the snow before we can even get outside for practices.

Next weekend I'll be down in Florida watching my son play.

[scorekeeper]

This whole thread makes me nothing but jealous. I live in the Northeast and we still have 4 more weeks to wait out before our season starts.. then after that we have to wait out the snow before we can even get outside for practices.

Don’t be too jealous. In about 3-4 months when it 100+ out here, we’ll be jealous of those who don’t need to run their A/C 24/7 just to stay alive.