DISQUS

Raising Athletes: Playing up in high school sports

  • srem · 10 months ago
    "Playing up" does raise interesting questions. Playing both JV and Freshmen means some other freshman cannot play because the roster slot is gone. Playing JV before mentally or physically ready for the bigger game. Don't know about basketball, but it is certainly true in other sports. And anyone who picks up high school kids can tell a freshman boy... they are tiny! Playing a JV ready Freshman on both JV and the Freshman team might be seen as stacking the Freshman team in lieu of player development... which truely is the point of a Freshman team. And then, inevitably, the freshmen who are ready to play up tend, often, but not always, to be coaches' kids.
  • Bob Hammerstrom · 10 months ago
    Good points here. My son, Brandon doesn't look like most freshman. He would easily pass for a college student, with his facial hair and size.

    Although he says he feels more challenge playing with the JV (a few minutes in a game), Brandon doesn't like riding the bench. He's the kind of player that wants to be out there making things happen.

    So, for him, playing up is just a chance to get work with the older players. The JV coach asked him to play on both teams, so he did. He doesn't really get enough playing time in practice or games to improve his skills. Thus, he needs the playing time on the freshman team to improve those.

    -Bob Hammerstrom
  • kris · 8 months ago
    Where did this picture come from??? Secondly, just because a Freshman is upped to JV or Varsity does not mean that the kid is better than other freshman on the team - it just means the specific team may have a void in that position. Basketball is a team sport and the author is right. The players on the court have to anticipate each others movement. Sometimes its much better if the player is kept with his peers.....
  • Bob Hammerstrom · 8 months ago
    Thanks for commenting Kris. I took the photo, as I have for many of the topics of this blog. Memorial freshmen are all done for this season. They were beat in their first playoff game by Keene. There are three freshman, including my son, Brandon who have been brought up to play JV games lately. They practice with them as well.
    I agree with your comment about individual freshmen talent. But, in this team's case, they could play very well without the freshmen. The younger Crusaders players are brought up to work against the older players to develop and challenge them at a higher level. The three that have been "playing up" have also been contributing to the score and rebounds as well.
    -Bob