Any coach that tells a kid not to play another sport should be fired. It is never okay for coaches of one sport to discourage a kid from playing another sport.

I heard an interesting take on this from Bob Valvano on his radio show the other day. He said he would encourage kids to play many sports if for no other reason than each sport has its own particular problems during games and its own ways of attacking and solving the problems. He said these methods could be utilized in the other sports the kid is playing and thus give him/her an advantage. (I don't recall him giving any examples, though.)

We had a coach at Campbell County, for a short period of time, that told a couple of his top players they had to choose. They did, and it wasn't his sport. He was very displeased with their choice. He called and talked to their parents after the students decision, to try and have them reconsider their decision, to no avail however. So a coach's need to be careful what they wish for. When a coach puts pressure on a 3 sport athlete to choose, he's wading in dangerous waters.

Generally, we talk with the athlete together. The football coach and the basketball coach are both sitting in the room with the student. I have a kid that has gone from the end of the bench to a possible starter next year because he is going through summer workouts, summer games and summer basketball conditioning. He was too skinny to get on the field in football, he got hurt every season and it ruined both sports for him. The football coach wasn't going to cut him but he encouraged him to concentrate on basketball during the summer because he had a shot at playing time in basketball. I have done the same for several kids that are good kids to have on the basketball team, they are athletic, they hustle, but their skill development is so far behind that they will probably always be role players in basketball. We encourage them to concentrate on football in the summer. We let them know it may hurt their potential in the sport they slight, but sometimes kids need some direction. Hanging out with your friends/the social part of sports is all some kids are looking for, while other kids are hoping to play collegiately. I think coaches have a responsibility to let kids know where they stand and what they need to do to reach their goals.

Absolutely not. And vice versa, its not ok to tell football players they shouldn't play basketball.

 

To the second quote, I don't think this is the case anymore. A lot of basketball programs have their bball only kids doing a lot of strength training. You don't need to play football to be a physical basketball player.

 

In N Ky the current cream of the crop bball programs have little to no participation from footballers. I am not suggesting that these schools have coaches that dissuade playing two sports, they are just in a cycle of bball only kids. Holmes made a deep run in the sweet sixteen with an entire team of bball only kids. NCC had a great season and will be very tough this year with bball only kids. CovCath, Brossart, are two more programs that do not have footballers but win. Cooper is the lone example of a very successful current N Ky team that relies on some football players to compete at the highest level.

NCC wasn't playing with "basketball only" kids last year. At least 5 of them played golf and a number more played baseball and soccer. Let's don't confuse footballers with other sports. The athletes at NCC play more than one sport, it just isn't football.

NCC wasn't playing with "basketball only" kids last year. At least 5 of them played golf and a number more played baseball and soccer. Let's don't confuse footballers with other sports. The athletes at NCC play more than one sport, it just isn't football.

 

Does golf season interfere at all with basketball season? I do not think so therefore Dupont and McDonald could work on basketball as well. Freppon is the only soccer player and he saw no varsity time and in fact did not dress until the end of the year. The football kids: Haas, Franzen, Neff and Gray saw virtually no action at all. What Stinky was trying to say is that NCC hoops do not have much if any contribution from kids that play on the football team which also goes for CovCath, Holmes and a few others.

Generally, we talk with the athlete together. The football coach and the basketball coach are both sitting in the room with the student. I have a kid that has gone from the end of the bench to a possible starter next year because he is going through summer workouts, summer games and summer basketball conditioning. He was too skinny to get on the field in football, he got hurt every season and it ruined both sports for him. The football coach wasn't going to cut him but he encouraged him to concentrate on basketball during the summer because he had a shot at playing time in basketball. I have done the same for several kids that are good kids to have on the basketball team, they are athletic, they hustle, but their skill development is so far behind that they will probably always be role players in basketball. We encourage them to concentrate on football in the summer. We let them know it may hurt their potential in the sport they slight, but sometimes kids need some direction. Hanging out with your friends/the social part of sports is all some kids are looking for, while other kids are hoping to play collegiately. I think coaches have a responsibility to let kids know where they stand and what they need to do to reach their goals.

 

Playing football and basketball is very hard to do. You need a mix of skill basketball and weight strength for football. Very few kids can do that. If a kid can start on both the football team and basketball your a special player. Dixie heights had two kids that played a lot started that are football starters. Alex milligan he was a senior last year and Andrew Hedger was a sophomore last year. Both kids played in the post.