I'm assuming that you are responding to the Freshmen playing varsity thread, since you are ignorant enough to not reference what this is about, and are obviously ignorant to not realize how much of an impact this can be on a 14 or 15 year old boy. Now if your kid is a holdback, it isn't a big deal, because he could be playing varsity as a 10th grader. But for the on age boys, there are developmental, maturity, and confidence issues. Some kids are on the bubble because of their game play ability and physical maturity. If they play at the varsity level and sit the bench, what good does that do to their confidence unless they actually have a shot at playing a meaningful amount of time. If they get pushed back down to JV, that could also be detrimental to their development.
Unless playing JV would be a complete waste of time, I think that most 9th graders, except for the truly exceptional, should play JV. My kid is on the bubble, and his coach asked him yesterday to try out for the Varsity because he does have a shot at playing. If he doesn't like it, they will have him practice with the Varisty, but play JV games, which someone else mentioned. I think this is the best option, and they can always pull him up if they need him, or he earns a starting spot. It would be a huge challenge for my son do beat out the upperclassmen at his school, but he is determined to do it. I just explained to him that he will have to earn his playing time. He has been a backup on teams and worked really hard to become the starter, so it could be a good experience.
