Best way to talk to my coach abt going from jv to varsity

It’s my senior year, and I made JV again, but I really wanted to make Varsity. I’ve basically been stuck on JV since my sophomore year because of a series of major injuries.

Freshman year, I was actually the first freshman in 10 years to make the Varsity football cheer team. However, before the season started, I was hit by a vehicle and ended up in a coma. I missed all summer practices and woke up not knowing any of the cheer material. Because of that, my coach temporarily moved me down to JV for the first few games while I relearned everything, then moved me back up once I caught up.

Sophomore year, I was in another accident and broke most of my left side. I couldn’t even attend tryouts, so my coach placed me on JV since it wouldn’t have been fair to rank me without trying out. I understood the reasoning, but I was still disappointed.

Junior year, I suffered another major injury involving my spine and back. I was unable to cheer for most of the year and couldn’t properly try out. Again, I was placed on JV. Most of my role that year was helping with signs and crowd engagement because I physically couldn’t do much else.

This year (senior year) is the first season in a long time where I’m not dealing with a new major medical issue. I’m still in physical therapy, but I was finally healthy enough to fully try out. After tryouts, I was told I scored well, received a high score, and was even nominated by one of the judges, who said I was Varsity material. Because of that, I genuinely thought I had a chance. When results came out, though, I was placed on JV again.

I know I should be grateful that I’m on the team at all, especially considering everything that’s happened. At the same time, I can’t help feeling disappointed because it’s my senior year, and my injuries aren’t really what’s holding me back anymore. I know I can’t tumble or jump as high as I could before my injuries, but I’ve worked incredibly hard to improve and come back from all of this.

The problem is that I’m considering talking to my coach about what I can do to earn a Varsity spot or whether moving up during the season is even possible. However, my coach and I don’t really have much of a relationship. She rarely talks to me, and I honestly get the feeling she doesn’t like me very much. On top of that, our program has never moved someone up during a season from a team they didn’t originally make.

Part of me wants to keep working hard and let my performance speak for itself, but another part of me worries that if I never have a conversation with her, I’ll stay on JV all season without knowing what I need to improve. I also don’t want to just wait for basketball season because I’m scheduled for surgery after football season, and there’s no guarantee I’ll recover in time. I’m just worried that if I talk to her abt this she may this I’m making excuses or will even kick me off the team for not being grateful for my position.

So I rly wanted help with approaching this conversation with the coach? What should like I say without sounding entitled, ungrateful, or like I’m demanding the Varsity spot?