What's going on w/ HS tryouts?

what kind of total #'s?, enough for JV team?, cuts?

looking good? cold?

 

Robinson

Based on interest during winter workouts, looks like J.M. Robinson will easily be able to field a Varsity and JV this year. Winter workouts have gone very well so we can't wait to get all of the girls on the field together on Monday.

 

started Mon. 2/13

bump., let's hear from first days of tryouts, practices.

 

JV is new to me

JV is an interesting concept. I"m not sure what to think about JV. Neither of the high schools that i attended and played ball for had them.

Here's a comparison of the two Both were vastly different. (I moved after 9th grade.)

Sumter HS in SC was a big 4A school with well over 3,200 students. a winning tradition, a fantastic ballpark (Riley), solid coaching, a great booster club, supportive fans, and at least 3 all-star teams that fed the 9th grade class. Only 3 freshman made varsity. An outstanding legion program for the summer.

Reid Ross HS in Fayetteville NC didn't have a JV either. Small 4A school with 1200 students, lost of military brats (moving in an out), not many baseball players, a loosing tradition, with a coach whose primary sport was wrestling, Heck we didn't even have HS baseball field at the school and we were forced to practice at LL size field, no batting cage, and our game field was 10 miles away. And I lived 15 miles from campus. And you had to play legion somewhere else.

Both experiences were vastly different. I hope as these kids embark on their HS seasons, or even think about HS from middle school, that their experiences have more of the former situation than the later.

If you have a JV and need the time to develop, great. Yet, no matter what hand your dealt, make the most of it. And just because you go to a big 4A school, don't aim for making the JV team.

Take the Jacob and Phillip Watcher from Sumter. Twins. Both are listed as 5'4" and 125 and 135 lbs. Yes both started on varsity on a the 4A state championship team. One hit a home run in the final game of the 4A state championship. Both pitched in the Legion Regional in the mid-80's, touching 86mph. After one regional legion game, with Sumter facing elimination, the newspaper headline read "Watcher saves Sumter!". The little 5'4" pitcher had just K'd 5 or 6 batters in 3 innings to keep Sumter alive including striking out the 4 hole hitter...twice. Walking off to a standing ovation. His twin did something similar the following game.

So don't go using your size as an excuse. Or what grade your in. Or how big your school is, or your coach, or how good your HS team is. Or what someone thinks of you. Go make it happen. And have fun doing it. Maybe your local newspaper will feature your name in the headline, with a big color photo.

I'm sure those Watcher twins weren't sitting around middle school or 9th grade thinking about settling on JV.

 

this is the softball page....

 

Robinson First Day

J.M. Robinson had a good turnout for tryouts. We had about 30 girls attend with some good freshman talent coming in.
We lost 4 solid starters from last year and it looks like we will be about to fill those gaps and be fairly solid again this year.
With the freshman talent that we have this year, JV should be much better than it was last year.
Looking forward to some good practice time this week and trying to put all of the pieces together during our scrimmages this weekend.
We have some good tough teams coming in this weekend with Lake Norman, West Stanley and Olympic.

 

where'd he go.....where'd who go?

Yes it is.

While i sort of feel like i strayed into the wrong locker room. I'm sure the life lessons and message are still similar.

 

absolutely... all good... I've certainly turned right when I should of turned left before...
Best of luck with your seasons... any sport with a bat, ball and a glove has gotta be good... now we need a cricket fan!!

 

Finally have a JV team

Our school is only in its second year of existence, and we played a varsity schedule last year with basically a JV team. This year, we had 13-16 consistently coming to winter workouts, and had 28 show up for tryouts. It was unbelievable.

With four girls still tied up with basketball, we were able to field the first JV team in school history, and our varsity is much stronger than last year.

Starting a program from scratch has its ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I've got a great coaching staff, and an awesome bunch of ladies.

So glad the season has started!

John V. Wood
Cleveland High Fastpitch
Clayton, NC

 

I'm sure the life lessons and message are still similar.