Bringing Up an 8th or 9th Grader to Varsity

A question always asked is, when a freshman seems to be incredibly athletic, should you move her up to the varsity team?

Well, I learned many years ago that PRACTICE improves a kid's game by miles, while game playing improves a kid's game by yards.

Therefore, every time I have ever had a Little Miss Beast in my program, she was moved up as quickly as possible. I do not care about p.t. while we are in-season, because

• in the winter & spring she could play in our junior program;
• in the summer she could attend team camps, or;
• play doubles (we held one tournament a month).

However, even if you are not as fortunate as I was to have nothing else in your life than your vball team, ha-ha, you may still want to put IMPROVEMENT over p.t.

Here are a few warnings about moving a youngster up:

1. You MUST guarantee that she is protected, before you bring an 8th or 9th grader up to varsity.
   • She WILL not be picked on;
   • she WILL be accepted and she WILL be befriended by the other players;
   • she WILL NOT be abandoned/ignored by her coaches as the season wears on;
   • she WILL not take the abuse of the older girls when she messes up;
   • she WILL NOT hate being a part of the team;
   • she WILL have friends/buddies on the team
   • she WILL NOT sit on the bus by herself, shunned by the JV's and too young for the varsity girls to buddy up with.
2. Make the participants willing to make the move!
   You must confer with both her & her parents about why you're moving her up. Hey, some girls and parents will TELL you which team they prefer to be. It is rather funny when it happens. Sure, I will consider their opinion. However, I would rather they be satisfied with what I want. You can tell the parents something like, "I see big things for her. And practicing 10 hours a week with Katie & Emily & Claire without much p.t. will get her will improve her game much faster than practicing 6 hours a week with kids her own age (that's she's head & shoulders above) and playing 2 matches a week that last 30 minutes each."

   On the other hand, you can try this line of reasoning: "You're going to be awesome. I want you to be awesome. However, I need you on varsity so that you can improve, get used to what the older girls do. That’s what’s best for the school's vball program and I KNOW it's best for you!"

   That is the sell. Most girls & parents will come to your way of thinking. You want her to be a starter on varsity for 2 or 3 years, rather than "waste" a year being a "woman among girls" on a JV team.

   Of course, you (not the kids or their parents) will decide who will be on which team. Nevertheless, if you work hard to make them WILLING to accept your decision, they will be much more satisfied! In other words, if you FORCE a girl be on a certain team, even though she is kicking and screaming at every turn, the situation may fester for the entire season.

3. You must guarantee that the move up actually is beneficial to her. If your varsity coach does not run challenging, interesting, beneficial practices, then your arguments in b) about “improving faster” will appear deceitful or even a lie to the parents as the season goes on. So if your JV coach is actually better at teaching vball to the kids, you may want to leave on varsity.........not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but if she's not going to receive a great benefit from being on the upper team, might as well let her get p.t. on JV.

Finally, here are several examples from my own experience.

In 1991, I had a freshman on my varsity team. She did not get to play much at all, but she started each of the next 3 years and as in her junior season, she had over 200 kills, which at the time was the second highest total in Virginia volleyball history. The next season, she did not get to 200 but that was because she had a much better group of teammates who were terminating rallies themselves! 

That same year, I had an 8th grader on JV. The next year she was on varsity. She did not get to play much as a freshman, but she was our starting setter the next 3 years. She ended up being our first Division I signee.

In 1997, I had 9 seniors and 4 juniors on my varsity team. They had all been in the program since 8th or 9th grade and they all could play…none were dead weight. However, I had a sophomore and a freshman who were so skilled…stuck on JV. Sometimes I would see them watching our practices. They were bored on JV and wanted to be with the "big girls.” The sophomore was an outstanding athlete, varsity sball MVP as a FRESHMAN, and competed like a boy. She hated having to practice and play with the girls her age, and would come to me and say, "If you ever need me to fill in for someone, let me know!” Yes, they were beasts on the JV team; they started, set records, won end-of-season awards…but both would have traded all that for competing against the varsity girls everyday. Moreover, they would have been better players at the end of their careers.