Son might not make a team.

Best thing ever happened to my daughter was when she didn't make the high school dance team as a freshman. She thought she was a shoo in and didn't practice the routine very much. She learned a hard lesson when a couple of her friends made it on account of their hard work even though they didn't have the natural ability. She busted her tail her sophomore year and accomplished her goal

Baseball? Know a guy who's son just quit a 5A team where he was batting cleanup as an underclassman. The coach had them practicing three hours a day 4-5 days a week. He said frick all that. These coaches are insane.

He will be fine
On to the next thing

Making a sports team is huge. Sports teach discipline, comradery, team skills...... it is huge in a young ones development in my opinion.

The lesson he learns about not making the team (if that happens) also will be huge.

Edit: To OP sounds like you're a good dad and like you got it handled. He will be fine, just gotta stress the importance of practice.

Man this can be a tough one as a parent and especially as a dad. I think that a lot depends on how much love your kid has for the sport and how much of his identity is wrapped up in it. If he is a casual participant than I would try to reflect on how important the sport is to his future…if he wants to stick with it then he needs to commit himself and work twice as hard as everyone else to get better, but if he doesn’t care that much then he should find another interest and perhaps close that chapter. If it is currently a big part of his life and identity now then I would see what happens but use it as a learning experience and motivate him to work harder for next year. As previously pointed out by others, some great athletes have been cut and then later excelled. I think that some reasonable criticism of the coaches may be ok but I would keep the focus on your son and his effort/talent and what needs to be done to improve. It may not make a difference in his life overall whether he is or isn’t on a particular team but how he reacts to the disappointment and setback very well could impact how he handles similar situations in life going forward.

My son lived and breathed basketball and I held my breath every year during tryouts.

It’s a Tough pill to swallow but you have to balance the disappointment with the responsibility to teach your son the harsh realities of life. It’s a reality you probably feel shouldn’t happen at a young age especially when you may not agree with him being cut but the reality is…. There’s usually a bevy of somewhat equal kids trying out. The best are usually easier to spot but the meat of a team is extremely subjective.. that somewhat interchangeable group of players are chosen for many reasons that are legitimate, confounding and infuriating depending on who you ask

It sounds like you already have a good handle on it. You’re rightly worried for your kid. And you’re right. It’s a balance you have to walk between blaming it on the coach, blaming it on politics, blaming it on life, and asking your kid to examine whether there was anything more he could have done. Sometimes there just isn’t anything more you could do.

Most people have their athletic careers end before the age of 13. Personally I think that’s sad, especially for kids who prefer team sports and want to continue. Individual sports aren’t as rough in that respect. You can play golf and tennis your whole life. But what happens when you’re the 17th best baseball player at your school of 3,000 kids, and you still want to play baseball? You don’t. That’s what happened to me. Done at the ripe old age of 16.

I should have spent all that time playing golf or fishing instead.

If it were me advising your son, I would just encourage him to get ready for the next phase of life. Start getting better at school, learn to drive, start activities you can do your whole life. Do some outdoors stuff with him. Make it a big hunting/fishing/camping year. Travel somewhere cool. It will break the pattern of whatever sport that was dominating his time.

Good luck! I feel for you, man.

I think the biggest thing I impress upon mine when he isn't starting or isn't getting PT and bitches is this - you gave the coaches an option when you were chasing girls instead of lifting, when you were drinking soft drinks instead of water/electrolytes, when you were sitting on your arse all weekend instead of working on footwork, hand movement (he is a O lineman) in the yard.

Choices were made that put you in a less than optimal state to best help the team. And that's fine - life is full of choices. Those choices have consequences. And its not the end of the world not to start and/or get "enough" PT. I know all of this because I was basically him in high school just in a different sport (bball for a short year + part of a season).

Sounds like you are doing it right for your kid. All kids are different and handle things like this differently.