If you play multiple sports, you have more and different teammates, more and different coaches, more student managers, etc.----just a broader high school experience---which can only help in an adolescent's development. The student gets to see things from a different perspective and can benefit from varied coaching techniques. In high school working on the mind is more important than working on the body.

If you play multiple sports, you have more and different teammates, more and different coaches, more student managers, etc.----just a broader high school experience---which can only help in an adolescent's development. The student gets to see things from a different perspective and can benefit from varied coaching techniques. In high school working on the mind is more important than working on the body.

 

Agreed... Well said.

This is the problem right here.

 

Also, I might add (and, I know you you were just throwing out an example w/ the hitting 85 comment), but a kid hitting 85 or so as a junior or senior is as common as the day is long if he is a righty.

 

Most people just don't get it. I hear it all the time, "Well, so and so is a heck of a pitcher. He throws 86." Get in line (if a junior or senior...if younger...room to grow).

 

Or the same about a junior-senior golfer who is in that 72-76 range. Solid kid, no doubt...problem is...there are Lord knows how many (hundreds, maybe even thousands) in Bama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida etc. who are that good and then some.

 

I hate to be so blunt and sound like Debbie Downer, but the fact is, parents are the problem with a lot of this 'specialization' ideas and what they think is GOOD/SPECIAL is really just COMMON in the grand scheme of things.

 

Them and the coaches that push this stupid idea. The amount of scholarships given out to kids a year is very very small compared to the number of athletes trying to get them. When you enter your freshman year you have 4 years to be a kid, then you will make big boy decisions. Let them enjoy it, also they can work through two sports, still have the skills necessary to be successful and will get as much opportunity to earn a scholarship as the next person.

 

Better yet, take all the money you will waste on the personal coaches, running all over God's green earth to every tournament and showcase out there, and put that money into ACT prep and get your score high enough to where it does not matter what sport you play. This is a culture that is fostered by ESPN, because they live a pipe dream that they are going to be on the show one day. Nice dream not so much a reality.

This is from Ohio Varsity on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ohiovarsity

 

 

This just doesn't tell the whole story.

 

A stud RB could be listed on the HS track team...even though he goes to 2 meets all year and never goes to practice...and be called a "multi-sport athlete". Does a TE who was on the Freshmen basketball team, and then quit to focus on football for the next 3 years still count as a "multi-sport athlete" in HS?

 

Comparing the recruiting process vs HS sports vs club-travel-select-AAU between all the different sports is an insane exercise. They all are vastly different.

This fits into Urban Meyer's "competitive excellence" philosophy. He wants kids used to competing - the more sports they play, the more direct competition they are exposed to. Yes I know that offseason conditioning is a means of competing, but hopefully folks understand my point.

 

Competitive spirit has little to do with it I would bet. Playing multiple sports shows the ability to do different things and to see if one can be successful in different categories.

 

Playing multiple sports will also show coaches how an athlete can cope with different scenarios as well as show coordination etc. he or she may not be able to show at just one sport. Running track can teach speed etc. that football simply can not. Playing baseball can show hand and eye coordination and how to decipher different strategic scenarios and problem solving that basketball may not.

 

Playing multiple sports shows how an athlete can adapt to different circumstances most of all.

 

I don't think the competitive level even comes into Urbans equation at all. An athlete can be the most competitive person you ever meet even if he only plays one sport. It's what each individual sport forces an athlete to do to be successful that he is looking for I think.

Josh Kline: Mason High School grad helps Patriots reach Super Bowl - Story

 

Wrestling give a mentality that can not be duplicated in a weight room. Handfighting on the wrestling mat is the best training for a football lineman and develops balance, makes athletes more agile and just flat out.....tougher.

Josh Kline: Mason High School grad helps Patriots reach Super Bowl - Story

 

Wrestling give a mentality that can not be duplicated in a weight room. Handfighting on the wrestling mat is the best training for a football lineman and develops balance, makes athletes more agile and just flat out.....tougher.

 

I know as a wrestling coach, I'm biased. But so many football coaches (and people in general in KY) are missing the boat on wrestling and the benefits it can provide to athletes. Just the improvement in fitness and mental toughness that wrestling requires can make a difference. And you do not have to cut weight to be a good wrestler.

I don't even question this. One reason I am a fan of a small, 1A school and small school's are a numbers game as far as athletes. A school, especially a small school needs to have all the athletes that can get in each sport and usually a lot of those are the same kid, ex- a good athlete that may be a qb in football is usually talented and can play well in baseball or the same versatility in basketball. Get all the athletes that you can in each sport.

Another reason and maybe the best reason at least to me, is that a kid be they male or female only go to high school once in their life. A huge pct. of those aren't going to play any sports in college so I say that a kid should be able to play any and all sports and/or participate in any extra curricular activities that they can if they want to and are able to.

So, as long as his parents allow it and the academics don't suffer. Parents / grades usually go together as far as being able to play) ......I say play em' all, you are only in high school once and it is one of the best times of your life.

No mention of Willie Cauley Stein here. First team all state football in high school. I say let the kids play whatever they want to play. I told my kids they have to play something (anything) in their offseason because I wanted them off the couch! My daughter played soccer since she was 4 years old, last year she decided she wanted to try something else and I said go for it. She switched over to cross country and had a blast. Did her prior experience with soccer help her? I do not know, but she has always pushed herself and that came from somewhere.

My son plays football and wrestles. Wrestling has definitely helped him with movement and strength not to mention balance and leverage.

As long as there are egotistical AAU, select travel or whatever program administrators that can sell gullible parents (or those living vicariously through their kids) that they can get those kids a college scholarship the problem will continue.

As long as there are egotistical AAU, select travel or whatever program administrators that can sell gullible parents (or those living vicariously through their kids) that they can get those kids a college scholarship the problem will continue.

 

My boys play travel soccer. My main goal for it is to get used to facing the best competition that they can so that they can win the board room. They aren't earning a college scholarship in soccer, there are too few of them and almost all are split b/n mulitple athletes. They will, however, be competing against one of the most entitled and ill-equipped generation of workers in the history of this country, and I want them ready to kick butt where it matters. It is the same reason that they are in modeling and acting. I realize that I am in the minority, b/c I actually have spoken w/ parents that truly believe that their child is well on his way to a scholarship, but parents like me are there as well.

The X factor that is never brought up in these type of discussions is the student part of student-athlete.

 

If 95% of high school athletes will not continue on to play in college, the most important aspect of their high school career is their studies. Playing sports, or being involved in multiple extracurricular activities takes time away from the academic part of high school. Multiple sports or year round specialization takes time away from studies. A lot of students will lighten the load and just get by so as to increase the time devoted to playing ball. I think this is where we miss the boat with our kids. Balance. Not just between multiple sports, but with schoolwork and social time.

 

My son plays multiple sports. He meets the demands of each program which had essentially become year round for his high school. He longed for the dead period each summer. He enjoyed the few weeks each spring after basketball and before spring football. Has competed for his school in varsity action in basketball and football for 3 years. Gets up at 6:30 am, tackles a very rigourous academic schedule, has practice or games 6 days a week in season, and does homework until midnight most evenings during the week. He knows his ticket to college is through his bookwork. He loves playing ball and wouldn't have given it up for the world.

 

I will miss watching him compete when its over in a few short weeks. I'm not going to miss watching him pour over his homework at midnight knowing he has to do it all over again tomorrow. Balance. So hard to achieve and be successful in today's high school environment.

My boys play travel soccer. My main goal for it is to get used to facing the best competition that they can so that they can win the board room. They aren't earning a college scholarship in soccer, there are too few of them and almost all are split b/n mulitple athletes. They will, however, be competing against one of the most entitled and ill-equipped generation of workers in the history of this country, and I want them ready to kick butt where it matters. It is the same reason that they are in modeling and acting. I realize that I am in the minority, b/c I actually have spoken w/ parents that truly believe that their child is well on his way to a scholarship, but parents like me are there as well.

 

Which is sad. How many kids actually play sports anymore simply for the love of competition?

The X factor that is never brought up in these type of discussions is the student part of student-athlete.

 

If 95% of high school athletes will not continue on to play in college, the most important aspect of their high school career is their studies. Playing sports, or being involved in multiple extracurricular activities takes time away from the academic part of high school. Multiple sports or year round specialization takes time away from studies. A lot of students will lighten the load and just get by so as to increase the time devoted to playing ball. I think this is where we miss the boat with our kids. Balance. Not just between multiple sports, but with schoolwork and social time.

 

My son plays multiple sports. He meets the demands of each program which had essentially become year round for his high school. He longed for the dead period each summer. He enjoyed the few weeks each spring after basketball and before spring football. Has competed for his school in varsity action in basketball and football for 3 years. Gets up at 6:30 am, tackles a very rigourous academic schedule, has practice or games 6 days a week in season, and does homework until midnight most evenings during the week. He knows his ticket to college is through his bookwork. He loves playing ball and wouldn't have given it up for the world.

 

I will miss watching him compete when its over in a few short weeks. I'm not going to miss watching him pour over his homework at midnight knowing he has to do it all over again tomorrow. Balance. So hard to achieve and be successful in today's high school environment.

 

That's because the actual school part is boring. Just kidding. The amount of homework balanced with a rigorous schedule is definitely a double edged sword, especially when you go from one sport directly into the other. That's another factor that plays directly into this discussion. If your kid loves one sport, let him play one sport. If your kid loves multiple sports, let him play multiple sports. If your kid can't make grades because of the sports, then priorities need to flip. If you truly believe that specialization or generalization is going to make the difference b/n your kid being DI or DIII, then you are delusional.