Should Junior High Players be Moved to Varsity?

[NDFan09]

I would add that it makes a difference who you are talking about. If I pull down a Junior starter to play in a JV tournament then that would seem a bit unfair to the other JV teams involved. If I use a Freshman or JH player in a JV tournament then what is your problem. Just because this younger player is getting Varsity time, they are still the age that they are. They will have to fit in with these other younger players in the years to come.

[vballfan06]

I think you nailed it bigpoppa.
There are lots of junior high girls that are talented enough.
The question that should be considered is your #1: alienation and are they emotionally mature enough to handle that situation.

[4thegame]

who is emotionally mature enough to get alienated? IMO the bigger problem is the parents that allow thier daughters to get away with the alienation of one of these girls...ha ha or should i even add in the parents who alienate these kids....take your emotional problem with someone being better than you at something and deal with it in a mature way...if you don't like it work on you or your childs own game.

[bigpoppakdog]

true...but you must not have ever coached girls before?

[The Schwab]

I feel the only way a J.H. player should be moved up to varsity (besides the fact of simply needing numbers) is if the other players on the J.H. team would not get better. What I mean by this is if the player in question would be a 1 person team. I do not agree with playing your varsity starters in a strictly JV tournament, that totally defeats the purpose of the JV which is to improve those players not seeing varsity time, to one day be able to contribute to a varsity squad. Just my two cents.

I disagree. If you have a player who is ready to contribute they should be allowed to play varsity. Take for example Kelly Roysland and Taylor Hill both were players in MN. Roysland was all-conference 6 times and Hill lead the state in scoring as an 8th grader. Imagine now if you were their coach and you couldn't have them on your team because your school had a rule that JH kids couldn't play varsity. The HS where I work has rule that for a JH player to be on varsity they must receive significant playing time.

Where in my post did I say that a player shouldn't be moved up if they are ready? I said if the other players on junior high wouldn't improve because of the "stud" player getting all the shots, then she should be moved up. I think the case of Roysland leading the state in scoring as an 8th grader tells us that she was obviously way ahead of her grade level.

[Flip]

Where in my post did I say that a player shouldn't be moved up if they are ready?

I feel the only way a J.H. player should be moved up to varsity (besides the fact of simply needing numbers) is if the other players on the J.H. team would not get better.