I Posted on the OT as well but: Inside the Mind of the High School Sports Parent in 2025

In reading the letter, I see that two different coaches looked at the same group of players and selected the same, younger kids to play.

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Except for the borderline guys who played just a little on the varsity, why would any varsity starter also play JV?

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For reps, duh if they’re not a senior

I went to a huge high school and we had varsity, junior varsity, sophomore, and 2 freshmen soccer teams. When I was on the sophomore team, we had 4 freshman “play up” and the roster was overcrowded and my playing time suffered considerably from freshman year. I understand playing the best players on varsity, but that still pisses me off to this day. Freshman should either play varsity or freshman, not squeeze out the middle.

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I went to a huge high school and we had varsity, junior varsity, sophomore, and 2 freshmen soccer teams. When I was on the sophomore team, we had 4 freshman “play up” and the roster was overcrowded and my playing time suffered considerably from freshman year. I understand playing the best players on varsity, but that still pisses me off to this day. Freshman should either play varsity or freshman, not squeeze out the middle.

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I'm an advocate for roster size limits, playing time requirements for non-varsity teams, and a no cut policy.

It actually helps the long term health and success of the program if instituted, but does create more work for the head coach of the varsity team and AD. But it's monumental for the development for many kids that would have never gotten the opportunity to learn to learn, get better at something, and compete. Which is what scholastic sports used to actually be about.

As a parent whose kid played baseball from age 8 till his sophomore year, all I can say is tough crap. Playing sports in high school is a privilege, not a right. The coach has the duty to play the best kids and not worry about everyone's feelings. Now, playing rec ball for the city league is a whole different story, the parents pay money for their kid to play and every kid should see the field as much as possible, I have no problem with parents getting mad at the coaches if they are paying to play and their kids aren't playing.

It's hard to take the rose-colored glasses off and really subjectively see your kid for who they really are athletically. I get it. My kid was the best on the team when he was little. He was the starting short stop and the lead off batter up until high school. Most of the other kids have hit puberty and grew and got stronger and faster. It didn't hit my kid till after his sophomore year and by that time he was already fed up with it. Although he was still the best infielder on the high school team, the coaches went with the kids who could hit line drive doubles and home runs and could pitch in the mid 80's. I get it, I'd probably do the same thing but it still hurt knowing how hard he worked all those years, but I didn't go cry to the coach and write an article to the local paper or blog, good grief. I told him that you had to work harder than everyone else and hustle on and off the field and be a good teammate, no one was going to give him anything, he had to work for it and prove to the coach that he could play at that level. It was tough, he was about 5'2 and 95lbs, was super fast and could make all the plays in the field but he couldn't hit the long bombs and line drive doubles that the coach was looking for. He made the varsity team as a sophomore but didn't see any playing time, he started on the JV team and was playing well but there were kids his age and grade that were already starting on the varsity and he could see the writing on the wall, also, one of the parents was a big donor to the program. The school decided to change coaches again, this would have been the 4th coach in 4 years and he decided to quit baseball and play golf.

The good thing about individual sports is that there is no subjectivity in it and the parents can't give enough money to make their kid be the best., either they can run fast enough, beat all the guys on the wrestling team in their weight class, or shoot the lowest scores on the team or they can't, simple as that. The coach really doesn't have the ability to tell the kid who shoots 72 3 practice sessions in a row that were going to go ahead and put the kid who shot 82, 85 and 87 on the starting varsity team over you, he'd have a lot of explaining to do to the principal.

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and a no cut policy.

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I like this too. If a kid wants to play, work hard, attend all the practices, be a good teammate I'm all for it. It helps teach kids learn to be part of a team and overall good work ethic. What I am not in favor for at the high school level is that you are guaranteed playing time. The Freshman and JV teams are there to get kids ready to potentially play at the varsity level and if there are kids who can play but maybe aren't physically mature enough or who just need more reps, then that's who gets to play, that's just the way it is. There will be kids on the varsity team who don't see the playing field but who are very talented, it's just that they are more than likely playing behind an upperclassman and they need reps so they will play JV ball as well. You just can't play everyone unless you have enough players and coaches to make up several freshman and JV teams and most schools don't. I know it seems unfair but as far as I know, the FAIR only comes around once a year for about 2 weeks, in there it's fair for everyone.

He’s complaining about a program that has done really well the past few years.,. They’ve made playoffs and gotten first round byes

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How do you have a roster limit but a no cut policy?

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Create multiple freshmen, JV or varsity teams

Years ago a very wise high school football coach I covered summed it up like this: “People don’t understand that this is not an avocation for us, it’s a vocation. It’s how we support our families.”

You don’t support your family in your vocation by not playing your best players.

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You don’t support your family in your vocation by not playing your best players.

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At some schools you play whom you’re told to play whether they’re the best or not…