Thank you for the added texture.
IMO, this is the best option for those 2-3, and one I would pursue. For the novices, it’s not ideal, but there are other sports to join. And let’s be real- it is rare that a novice will ever be an impact player outside if sports that are mostly novices like crew. Again, not ideal, but neither is life. Sometimes life does not go your way.
Another option is for the 2-3 players to be on the bench for home games but not travel to other schools. They can play with the JV team a lot too.
It’s not unusual for the JV teams to not play the same schedule as the V team or have as many games as some schools don’t have a JV.
Great idea (home but not away games). I’m a totally HS sports newbie mom so this wasn’t on my radar. Thanks.
Ski — yep agree on all that. I think the neophytes are totally fine with the setup — I doubt any of them imagined making varsity. Probably happy to be toe-dippers, at least for freshman year. They may do a different activity every fall for all we know — totally legit approach to high school exploration.
Thanks all.
CM
So sorry you are dealing with this. Our small school has this issue for field hockey. They are having the JV girls play 7x7 games, they are either novices or only a couple years in the sport. Some of these girls (the more experienced ones) will also play a little on varsity. Maybe you can suggest that?
Just adding a few more to the V team doesn’t help. Usually about half on the V team don’t get playing time anyway, so adding a few more takes away from their already limited time. It’s tough to balance for the coaches, and those coaches are getting complaints from the kids and the parents about playing time. I had a kid who started all four years of high school and college (every game) and it was hard for me to watch and listen to the other parents complaining ALL the time about their kids not getting enough playing time. I felt for the kids who really did put in the practice time but didn’t get to play. If we got far ahead, the parents complained that the coach should take the starters out, but the starters needed the stats to qualify for All American or other awards. Coaches have to balance it all.
In re-reading this thread, it seems the school does have a JV team but it doesn’t play a full schedule and doesn’t have kids with strong skills. Perhaps what needs to happen is to build up the JV team. Talk to the school or the coach and see what can happen to make it a better experience. Scrimmages with the V and JV teams split? Have JV and V joint practices for the last 30 minutes? short field games? skill drills? Combine it with another JV team (lax and field hockey? soccer and lax?) to learn other skills? Have sprint drills with the xcountry team? Have an all day Saturday sports event where everyone plays everything? I don’t think the OP’s daughter will get better by sitting on the bench on V for the season.
My daughters got better in middle school by going to camps and clinics (one hockey, one lax), especially in the off season or over Christmas break. They played with their friends or shot against walls. A lot! It was boring but they did it. OP’s daughter should ask one of the V players to help her, work out with her, run with her. If she’s a field player, ask the goalie to go one on one; if a goalie, find someone to shoot against her.
One of the beautiful things about my BS, and I doubt it’s unique, is that the coaches will not talk to parents about playing time. Or cuts. Nor will the AD, nor the dean, nor the HoS. That is between the player and coach
They all SAY they won’t talk to the parents about playing time, but somehow some always manage it. One girl’s father called the coach all the time. She should be a captain, she should get to play more (she played a lot), she should get this or that. This was for a college kid!
I was kind of surprised to learn how many parents contacted the coach for all kinds of things. They wanted to know if it was okay to send treats for the bus (‘just checking if that’s okay’) or if they could stay at the same hotel for a travel game, or if they could help with the room reservations (one parent was a travel agent and was helpful). It appears I was the only one NOT in constant contact with the coach. The team parents (and they all seemed to be team parents) arranged for post game meals. This kid had an issue with a class schedule, or a conflict with something. Our coach ate up this stuff and loved the attention.
My kid handled this herself and didn’t want me talking to the coach at all, except about money.
So true.
BTW, any parent who calls a coach about their kid’s playing time needs to get a life.
I was going to write something a bit stronger, but that’s the gist of it. 
@skieurope - I am going to use that good point on the “Reasons to send your student to Boarding School” thread!
@Calliemomofgirls , something similar happened to DS for a winter sport because a building project limited facilities for a season. It wasn’t his main sport, so nobody was too bummed.
You’re always a clear thinker, so I would think about what you want here. If she’s not going to have interscholastic play on her devel team, then asking to practice with varsity - even if she doesn’t dress for games – makes her practice time more valuable to her development as a player. That’s probably a reasonable ask and aligns with her goals of improving… The most important thing for kids this age is playing time, and playing in practice certainly counts on that front. And if, by chance, her skills really take off, she’ll know the team and the system and be able to step in if an opportunity comes up. Injuries often create mid-season opportunities.
Of course, a real JV team with lots of real games would be better but that’s not an option. (Fwiw, DS found a new position in the year he didn’t make varsity – very disappointing-- and ended up as a starter and all league in that position when he ultimately did make varsity and was even recruited by colleges in that position. The time he logged at JV was probably pivotal to his success in the sport although he wasn’t seeing it that way when it happened! But he got lots more time playing, which also helped.)
@gardenstategal Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom. I always appreciate your voice! Yes, the goal is really: a season of improvement. This could absolutely be accomplished by allowing the intermediate kids to practice with the varsity team, but not play. (I mean yes that would be a bummer, but life has bummers. I’m fine with that.). And, you are right that if her skills took off, she would be primed and ready to step in as able, either this year or next year. Anyway, thank you for always being so thoughtful.
I’ll circle back with the resolution.
The good news is that DD so loves her school that this will be a hiccup I’m sure overall.
I have a feeling that because school is in the middle of nowhere, there are no other JV teams to play if the same 4 or 5 teams that the V plays are having trouble fielding JV teams. I also feel like the level of athletics in some sports at said school is actually of fairly high caliber - like play in college kind of people, so normal kids who love the sport have a harder time. I know at SAS, they have JV teams, but they offer A LOT fewer kinds of sports, so that is why they are able to make it happen I think and everyone HAS to do a sport. There are no clubs like hiking or theater tech to siphon off potential teammates. One downside is that they only offer 3-4 sport teams for kids to sign up for. I’m sure your advisor or coach will be able to come up with a solution; I have found the school to responsive and they usually try to accomodate if possible.