By Clay Kallam
So the varsity coach put me back on JV — I was on JV last year as a freshman — and told me I’m “not ready.” What does that mean? I can beat half the guys on varsity one-on-one, if not all of them except the best two or three, and I shoot better than guys he has starting. My friends don’t understand it. My dad doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he doesn’t know why I’m not on varsity either. What does “not ready” mean anyway? Shouldn’t the best players be on varsity?
— R.J., Santa Rosa
OK, let’s take scenario one: The coach doesn’t like you, or plays favorites, and he’s kept you on JV even though you would help the varsity win games. This implies the coach is not particularly competitive, and he doesn’t have to care or worry about how many games his team wins.
This is possible, certainly, but most high school varsity coaches, especially in boys basketball, face internal and external pressure to win. Making decisions that lead to more losses will generally shorten his or her time as a head coach.
In general, though, coaches know who the best players are. They want to win, and they put together the varsity roster that will be the most competitive one they can field.
Which brings us to scenario two: Note the phrase “the varsity roster that will be the most competitive.” Consider that “most competitive” is not necessarily the same as “best 12 players.” Think about the phrase “accepting your role.” Contemplate the word “maturity.”
Let’s assume that you are one of the best 12 basketball players in the school. Let’s further assume that you’re one of the best eight, and would be in the rotation. And let’s also assume the attitude reflected in your question is the attitude you carry when you play the game.
Further, instead of asking me or your buddies what “not ready” meant, did you ask the coach? Did you ask the coach what you need to improve on to become “ready”? Or were you so upset that your emotions took over and you couldn’t go to the coach and ask that obvious question?
And by the way, basketball is not played one-on-one, and the fact that you can beat some varsity players head-to-head is of marginal importance. Now if you can beat the best players on your team one-on-one, and if you can score without help from your teammates against the top players in the league, then OK, that matters. But backing some smaller kid down or shooting over a slower one really doesn’t prove anything, because unless the other team is stupid, they’re not going to give you those matchups.
A far better way to measure your value would be to look at pickup games in open gym, and think about how often your team won those games, and what contribution you made when you didn’t go one-on-one? Did you defend? Did you rebound? And most important of all, did you make the players around you better?
Maybe the answer is “yes” to all those questions, and maybe your coach has a room-temperature basketball IQ, but my guess is that he’s right, and you’re not ready. If you were, you wouldn’t be asking your friends to tell you how good you are, and you wouldn’t think that one-on-one skills are team basketball skills.
And most important, you would be mature enough to talk to the coach, listen to his reasons, and then put in the time to improve on what you need to improve on.
Then, and only then, will you really be ready to be a quality addition to a varsity roster.
Clay Kallam has been an assistant athletic director and coached numerous sports at a handful of high schools throughout the Bay Area. His Behind The Clipboard advice column run monthly at SportStarsMag.com. To submit a question for Behind the Clipboard, email him at claykallam@gmail.com.
photo credit: Norbert von der Groeben
18 comments
You missed it completely coach:
“I, me, my, I;m.” You’re not ready to be a team player RJ, sorry.
The world doesn’t revolve around you.
You’re supposed to be a member of a TEAM. It;s oot RJ’s team,
Now can you see why the other TEAM players think differently?
Let’s see if you’re ready next year.
Sounds like the old, “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘TEAM.'”
Wow talking about picking up a ball and running with it.
This Kallam guy took a short paragraph and assumed a whole lot of what this girl did and didn’t do regarding communicating with the coach.
Did HE call the coach – did HE call the girl to discuss the issue further?
If not, his entire argument about the need to communicate before offering a written piece is a extremely ironic.
As for the girl – she might well be Varsity material but there can be a lot of backlash from players, parents, etc, when someone is put on a Varsity team due to skills rather than playing for some prescribed period of time to “earn it”.
You earn it by being good not by hanging around for years while remaining in mediocrity.
gitty. correct there is no “i” in team. but… there is a “m & e”… 😁
@S Yep, and there’s also a “tame,” “meat,” and “mate.” Quite a versatile word when you think about it. String them together and you get an Aussie asking a friend to barbecue steaks after a soccer match, “So, how about some tame meat for the team, mate?”
good stuff…. maybe claycord will let us start an add a word drop a word ….. Politically Correct of Course….. HAHAHAHAhaaaaaaa
@S Sounds like a game for the Whatever thread, maybe?
Sometimes it’s about the state of the overall system and not the skill of one player. For example, if I have JV and Varsity teams with say three Varsity Senior players at the same position (with similar skills) as the incoming Sophomore, I can’t kick the Seniors down to JV so naturally the Sophomore stays with that squad. The macro view of the situation can tell a much different story.
One could also argue that the coach is looking out for the young player by putting them into a situation where they can get the most playing time, and opportunity to grow. Is it better to play almost all the minutes in a JV game or to ride the pine in Varsity?
It’s tough when self worth is tied up in a situation like this that feels out of ones control. It really does help to step back to see the big picture and do your best not to take it personal.
That is silly.
Clay is dead on. Well done.
I would wonder about off season workouts. What did the athlete do to
prepare for Varsity? Sometimes kids take for granted their position because they “know” they will on the Varsity.
The most difficult theme is: entitlement. It is important that the player have a chat with the coach. It is not the “great debate” but the understanding that helps him know the coach’s vision for his program. Remember, no one made the young man to out for the team. He chose to participate. Teachability is a key trait.
In putting a Varsity team together, attitude and hard work go a long way.
I do hope this talented young man will grow in this challenge.
@Noj – there is an “I” in “win” and also a “me” in “team.” However, I would not read too much into the way RJ’s question and statement is phrased. He is a high school kid and is still transitioning from a normally self-centered childhood to a (hopefully) more team oriented adulthood.
As their bodies and minds are changing so much at the time, high school is more about discovering and developing of individual skills plus an introduction to teamwork. When a high school level coach only has middle to lesser talent available then teamwork will be emphasized, both for player development as a team player and to better match up with other teams built to feed the play through their most skilled player(s). It’s not a panacea as less time will be spent improving the players as individuals.
We don’t know why the coach did not put this sophomore on the varsity team. I agree with much of what Clay Kallam wrote. It’s a good message for all people of all ages, including those not involved in competitive sports. I am hoping though that Clay edited RJ’s statement either to anonymize it by changing many details or used one from many years ago. An adult doing a slam dunk into a child’s face is usually not a good spectator sport.
It may be a theoretical case of the player being kept on the JV team, something that happens often enough to raise questions.
It’s not Ego if you really are that good.
And if you’re not that good, it’s the coach’s call. One on one success and good shooting has nothing to do with team success when there are four teammates and five opponents on the floor with you
Life lesson, your serving an apprenticeship being on JV. You may think your ready, but the reality is the coach says no, it not about you its the team, when you start working you may be passed over for promotion, yeah you know your job but lack people skills, or some other trait that does not fit for the job, like being a whiner , no one person is bigger then the team
I HAVE played on a varsity team as a freshman and never received that treatment.
“Varsity will proceed to harass, call names and do whatever they can to bring that freshman down.”
And such a team will never be successful regardless of the roster.
I thought it said handling a Democrat.
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