Junior Varsity vs. Varsity

[bhscoach]

I coach at Bartlett and i'm the JV coach and assistant on the Varsity. We have got two players that play both ways. But they are not two players that get a bunch of time on the varsity team. One is a sophmore that we thought was going to be in our rotation but just hasn't come around yet. The other is a Jr. and we are waiting for him to come around and play like he did this summer. If we didn't bring these two guys down to play JV we would have 5 people that we could play. The two dressing out Varsity makes 7 and then we bring up 2 or 3 freshman to give breathers.We are building for the future when we do this. I look at it this way. At the end of this year we will graduate 7 seniors. that means we have a bunch of uniforms to fill next year and what better way to build chemistry than to have these guys playing with the guys they will be playing with next year. Now if you are talking about taking a guy that gets just as much time playing varsity as the starters do then i think it's wrong that he is playing jv. JV teams can be used for many things. Last year we had a Jr. that started for us in the varsity games. After a while he was a different player and we couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Instead of sitting him on the bench we played him 2 quarters jv. This was just used to give him some kind of confidence for the varsity games. He got into the game and scored 25 and actually found his shot during the jv game. That night in the varsity game he scored 15 and hit two 3's. So i agree using varsity players for jv if you are helping a kid or if you need players to fill a roster. But i disagree if you are playing a kid that plays a lot of minutes on varsity and then he is also playing jv.11

[fcd163]

As a coach I'll tell you my situation. I'm a new coach to my team with new offensive/defensive sets and a new philosoply. I have 23 players (varsity & JV). I have 5 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 7 Sophomores, and 9 Freshmen. I have twelve players listed on varsity that include 5 Srs, 2 Jrs and 5 Sophs with one Freshman that dresses every game and gives quality minutes at times. My typical starters (although it can change from night to night) include 2 Srs, 2 Jrs and 1 Soph. Including HOF games, we have played a total of 7 games this year. All of the games have been relatively close with an average margin of 10 points. It is difficult to get everyone into the game. To that end, all of my sophomores (except my one starter) have played some jv. In many instances, that is the only way that I can get them quality PT so that they can work on and improve their skills as well as learn my systems.

 

The jv games aren't about winning and losing, they are about getting better as a player and a team. Many times we don't even keep a book. If it were up to me I would just run the clock and not keep score, but it is nice to have the scoreboard there to work on situations such as leading or trailing by a few points with time running out. We make every effort to get everyone into the jv game but yes, the sophomores who sit the varsity bench will get PT on jv because they will be the heart of my team next year and they need the experience.

 

I may be approaching it the wrong way but I feel like I'm not only working on this years team but I'm building for next year and the year after that and so on. If you are a player, at any level, and you aren't satisfied with the amount of PT that you are getting you need to look at those that are playing ahead of you and ask "how can I get better so I can get some of their playing time?" I'm afraid that it is just easier for players, and parents, to criticize the coaches for decisions that are made.

Edited December 1, 2006 by fcd163

[inappropriate81]

no way, most people on jv are trying to get better and mature, they need pt, and with a kid from varsity comin down to play with them they cant get that

[Snowman16]

JV play is designed not for the kids who cant play and their parents want to watch them play. JV is designed for players who want to develop one or more skills for varsity competition

[blkngld79]

Once the season starts, practice takes on more of a "fine tuning" nature as we prepare our varsity for their next opponent. As a result, jv'rs and varsity players that seldom see significant varsity playing time, sometimes lose some of their dedicated instruction and attention. Jv games offer these young and often inexperienced athletes the opportunity to practice in a live contest. We like to see our kids win all games.........varsity and jv, but our primary focus is our varsity squad, so we'd never jeapordize their opportunity for a win by playing "key" varsity players fresh-sr in a jv contest. Soph/fresh athletes that dress varsity but seldom if ever play, will play a significant amt of jv as we try to blend true jv'rs in with them to allow them to start gaining experience playing at a new level of competition. Our desire is, that as their jv season progresses, things we stress with our varsity, start to click a little for them as we prepare them for coming seasons. For us, jv is limited to freshmen and sophs only. With that said, we place reasonable, but high expectations on our jv program. It's not a ymca or upward league where everybody is guaranteed playing time for mom and dad. Your performance in practice throughout the week positions you for pt come jv game time....

[Guest dare_2_dream]

I think it all depends a few things. If a kid is a star on varsity, he shouldn't play on JV, too big of a risk. If the JV needs some help, if nothing else to gain some confidence, I could understand bringing down a good varsity player to help them win a few games, so they could get some momentum going in their favor. Some people are ready to see some varsity minutes, but also still need to develop their games a little bit more (which they would be able to do with some junior varsity as well). I guess it all depends on where your program is and where you want it to be.

[bearmen]

This is the most unreasonable thing I have ever heard of. Tell me why in the world that a kid who only plays 3 or 5 min. for his varsity team not be aloud to play J.V. . Most schools of any size has a freshmen team so the j.v. should be a place for those guys caught in the middle. If I was a head coach I would not want to play many Juniors on my j.v. team, but to say it should against the rules is crazy. I'll bet you most boys basketball teams dress out 11 to 15 players and at least 4 or 5 of them want play a total of 30 min. all year on the varsity. It all depends on the level of the program you are talking about. Some schools may only play freshmen and soph. because thats all they can afford to play because everyone else is to important to the varsity. On the other hand your better programs may be able to bring down a junior or two because of the talent in front of them. I have seen several juniors who did not play much on their varsity teams and played j.v. because their coach knew that next year this kid would have to start on the varsity and just might avg. double figures. This a classic of someones kid is a freh. or soph. and a older kid is playing in front of him. Lets give most coaches a little credit and assume they are smart enough to not try to win j.v. games at the cost of the varsity!!! Winning is important to every program but the head coaches control who plays j.v. and who doesn't and I can promise you they would trade a j.v. lose for a varsity win any day.

[watcher16]

speaking directly at one person on this board.. noone was runnig there mouths for one ... the JV games are for the freshman and sophmores but if you want to have be able to play the game we had to bring a junior down for 1 game because we had 5 players out for disicipline. all the crying doesnt do any good, if anything it did your players better againest the competition. and also. I can tell there isnt much knowledge of the game on your part. your calling it a 4 a school. it only goes up to 3. know the material