YOUNG KIDS PARENT'S WONT LET THEM PLAY VARSITY

Phantom, we didn't but he could of been a good player for us this year rather than on JV. Its also like a trust thing there, like that parents dont trust us. my coach said in all of his 30+ years coaching he has never had that happen.

Agree with Phantom. We had this issue too this year. It sucks, but don't force them to play varsity if their parents don't want them too, because then you may damage the program as the parents next move will be to not let them play AT ALL.

You can let them play down, or not play, but I wouldn't forget it. I would let it weigh in my thoughts, esp. if they were neck and neck in battle for a starting position in subsequent seasons. I don't think the inmates need to run the asylum....

Duece

Bet the JV coach is happy!

are we talking about a 6' 2" 250lb lineman or a 150 running back?

Either way, guess it doesn't matter. Parents are the boss. Can talk to them, but, I lets say he does get hurt...wouldn't want that on my conscience.

Usually, you talk to the parents before moving a fr up to varsity. Most often, if you're moving the kid up, its because he's a stud and the parents agree

And if he isn't a guaranteed starter on varsity then its a waste to bring him up in the first place

He plays Varsity or doesn't play at all. You can't let parents make program decisions. They are in control of their kid but you are in control of your program. If you let parents / players make program decisions it will never stop.

Think about this:

I don't want my son to play RB because you have bad offensive line.

I don't want my son to practice today because it is too hot outside.

Both possible safety issues.

Its an easy sell if the kid is starting (better competition, perfect milieu for growth, and (if he IS that much of a stud) more recruiting attention), so why make it harder than it needs to be? We've done this in the past (call parents) and the call itself is enough to sell the parents, let alone listing the benefits (sales) pitch.

I guess I don't understand the delusion of complete autonomy (that is rare in most programs, let alone coaches on this board). Sure its your program and you dictate what happens, but power thrusting "because you can" seems to be counter-productive to program needs. The constant setting up parents as enemies (they can do this well enough on their own, they don't need our help), by laying down gauntlets and ultimatums at every turn doesn't benefit anyone.

If you "need" the kid at varsity just because you didn't develop any other athletes, or you ran off the ones that could've helped you or because you want 'depth'....neither of those reasons would be compelling enough for the kid to miss out on a year of positive reinforcement in Freshman ball (players play for each other, not coaches. He likely will be put in an environment on a team with no friends)

My senior year in high school we had a kid who didn't want to play varsity. His father said he would quit instead of play varsity.

He rushed for 1,300 yards as a freshman in high school and then was a two way starter (in the modern era) for a top ten big ten school as a freshman in college. Yeah he was a monster.

One thing I've noticed as a coach is that it isn't that they don't want to "play varsity" but that they want to "play with their friends."

My captains this year practiced with varsity not the freshman and were really good and SHOULD have started but they were hesitant to play varsity cause they wanted to play with their friends they have played with since they were eight. Our solution was to let them practice with the varsity and play as needed in the varsity/jv games but let them play with the freshmen. So we lost two players for that day of practice. No biggy.

That's sorta my first thought. We had this issue with a freshman OLB once. His dad was told he was on varsity, and practice was at 3:00. He showed up. If he hadn't showed up, that would've meant he had quit. His call.
He was the best OLB in the program as a freshman (we weren't any good that year). Started three more years and was a pretty good player for us, making all-conference his senior year.