Athletes should participate in as many sports as possible. Our current sports calendar discourages participation in multiple sports due to overlapping timelines. It also allows coaches to improperly pressure athletes to not play one sport in order to participate in the offseason program of another. Below is an athletic calendar for football, basketball, and baseball that would allow an athlete to play all three. All three sports give up a bit to make this possible.

 

Football:

Start: Last Monday of July

Pads: First Monday of August

Game #1: third week of August

Final: Third weekend of November

Give up: Week 0, one round of the playoffs, and spring practice.

 

Basketball:

Start: Monday after football state championship

Game #1: Last Week of November

Finals: 2nd week of March

Give up: One week of regular season, Open Gym, June tournaments

 

Baseball:

Start: Monday after basketball state championship

Game #1: 3rd week of March

Finals: 2nd to last week of June

Give up: One week of regular season

 

Dead Period:

Start: First day of Summer Break (except baseball)

End: 2nd to last Sunday in July

 

 

 

Rules:

- No sport-specific training outside of the established dates for each sport. Only weight training and conditioning allowed

- Maximum of 5 hours per week of conditioning during a sports offseason

Suggestions:

- High school coaches must read a KHSAA script that promotes multi-sport athletes at the start and end of their season each year. This must be observed by the athletic director of the school OR the principal if the athletic director is a coach.

- High school coaches should never encourage or require athletes to participate in non-KHSAA sponsored programs (AAU basketball, Club soccer, 7on7 leagues, Showcase Baseball, etc.)

- The KHSAA should mandate that all high school athletes watch a training video that covers the basics of recruiting including:

- Academic requirements at different levels

- the amount of scholarship money given in a given sport

- the percentage of high school participants who play a given sport at the college level

- the percentage that receive a scholarship to play a given sport at the college level

- the amount of scholarship money that the average player in a given sport receives to play at the college level compared to the total cost of attendance

- the average height and weight of players in each sport at each division competing in that sport

- The percentage of players in a given sport that were multi-sport athletes in high school.

So your basketball team gets one week of practice before its first game?

I'd be fine if basketball practice started as soon as schools were done with football season. I also think one week is fine. Regular season, non-district games have no importance in terms of wins and loses anyway.

There's always been some overlap in sports, and I don't think that's all that big of a deal. It's not the overlap that's causing kids to specialize. It's a few misguided coaches and parents.

 

As far as your educational items you want addressed, I'm here to tell you while that info is nice, it's already all easily accessible and out there. And not many will pay attention to it. And there are many coaches (including myself) that discuss the "numbers" game ad nauseum. And many refuse to listen. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Expansion of seasons is something to look at.

 

Soccer, volleyball, lacrosse are also in the mix in this issue.

 

In general you have (or should have) no more than 11 months in the year if one assumes a one month dead period in mid-summer centered around 4th of July. But the season for the major fall, winter, spring sports seem to be 4+ months. The simple (real simple) math says that overlap can be problematic for the multi-sport kids.

Exactly, I hate that Tackett talks about how kids should play multiple sports while putting forth a calendar that obviously makes kids choose between sports. No basketball coach is going to be happy in the current system if his school's football team makes a deep playoff run. His team would already be playing games by the time the football kids show up. This produces a system where the rational response of the basketball coach is to discourage participation in football.

If you want kids to play multiple sports, you have to enact policies that encourage it. Having sports overlap sends a clear message that the system is not designed for multi-sport athletes. That discourages participation.

 

Until education on topics like those I listed is "mandatory" it can't be assumed to be known. Once you require it and follow through, the excuses stop.

There's always been some overlap in sports, and I don't think that's all that big of a deal. It's not the overlap that's causing kids to specialize. It's a few misguided coaches and parents.

 

As far as your educational items you want addressed, I'm here to tell you while that info is nice, it's already all easily accessible and out there. And not many will pay attention to it. And there are many coaches (including myself) that discuss the "numbers" game ad nauseum. And many refuse to listen. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

 

I would argue it's more than a few.

Agree, it's nice to think that coaches would simply do the right thing and encourage, or at the very least not actively discourage their players from playing other sports, but the truth is, with the current strutcture, coaches are incentivized to discourage multi-sport participation. When faced with the choice between winning and doing what's best for the school's overall athletic program, many - maybe most - coaches will choose winning.

There's always been some overlap in sports, and I don't think that's all that big of a deal. It's not the overlap that's causing kids to specialize. It's a few misguided coaches and parents.

As far as your educational items you want addressed, I'm here to tell you while that info is nice, it's already all easily accessible and out there. And not many will pay attention to it. And there are many coaches (including myself) that discuss the "numbers" game ad nauseum. And many refuse to listen. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Bingo!

....or simply screw all of the crap in June and July for all sports, go back to how things used to be and everybody go the hell home/hang out/do stuff things you're supposed to do in the summer.

 

It's always 70 degrees for basketball. They should be last in the topic of the big 3.

 

Start football practice August 1. Knock two games off the regular season ( non district scheduling is a headache as is since the birth of 6 teams). Still end the 1st weekend of December.

 

Baseball only needs 20 regular season games..which would make their season a couple weeks shorter..same for basketball.

 

All of this summer crap is a joke anyway. Ties up way too much time for kids, coaches and families of both (not to mention with cuts in extended days, coaches aren't getting compensated for it...and, I hate to say it (actually I don't)..but, it's not that dang important in the first place. Know why we are losing so many coaches, only to never see the vast majority of them resurface? Tell ya why...summers and no pay for it.

 

In football, we wonder why it's getting harder and harder to get kids out, yet programs are now practicing three FULL weeks in the month of July (and, many at an average of 6 times a week when you factor in "camp week" and 7v7 tourneys on Saturday's). Yet we wonder why kids don't want to play...really? Is it that hard to see why?

 

You aren't going to meet a bigger believer in working hard, while at the same time knowing fully well that there is also something to be said for that when it boils down to...you either have a group of kids (or kid) that either can or cant (as well as a schedule loaded with more teams that are worse than you).

 

...but, admitting that stuff above doesn't allow the ole' chest to stick out as far.

....or simply screw all of the crap in June and July for all sports, go back to how things used to be and everybody go the hell home/hang out/do stuff things you're supposed to do in the summer.

 

Exactly right. I think a hard dead period from the end of school until football practice begins in Late July or early August is better for everyone

 

It's always 70 degrees for basketball. They should be last in the topic of the big 3.

 

Start football practice August 1. Knock two games off the regular season ( non district scheduling is a headache as is since the birth of 6 teams). Still end the 1st weekend of December.

 

Baseball only needs 20 regular season games..which would make their season a couple weeks shorter..same for basketball.

 

All of this summer crap is a joke anyway. Ties up way too much time for kids, coaches and families of both (not to mention with cuts in extended days, coaches aren't getting compensated for it...and, I hate to say it (actually I don't)..but, it's not that dang important in the first place. Know why we are losing so many coaches, only to never see the vast majority of them resurface? Tell ya why...summers and no pay for it.

 

In football, we wonder why it's getting harder and harder to get kids out, yet programs are now practicing three FULL weeks in the month of July (and, many at an average of 6 times a week when you factor in "camp week" and 7v7 tourneys on Saturday's). Yet we wonder why kids don't want to play...really? Is it that hard to see why?

 

Correct, factor in that we also have kids trying to play summer baseball and basketball tournaments, and it becomes pretty clear why so many good athletes get burnt out and specialize

 

You aren't going to meet a bigger believer in working hard, while at the same time knowing fully well that there is also something to be said for that when it boils down to...you either have a group of kids (or kid) that either can or cant (as well as a schedule loaded with more teams that are worse than you).

 

...but, admitting that stuff above doesn't allow the ole' chest to stick out as far.

I think this is why it's so important that the changes come from the KHSAA. Individual schools can make changes to help, but only systematic change that applies to everyone can resolve the biggest issues, if for no other reason than that coaches will never enact change on their own if it is perceived to put them at a competitive disadvantage.

Baseball I'm torn. On one hand it's THE sport of summer...on the other, asking them to play the last month of their schedule when school is out (for those in district, region and state tourney ) isn't something else the other school affiliated sports have to do.

 

I also don't believe that football needs to take a hit in the summer just so baseball and basketball can play 4011 summer/travel ball games either.

 

Fact is, guys in both of those sports would benefit by hitting the weight room. Which, I forgot to add....leave the weightroom truly open in June and July. Flat out involuntary weights. Kids come when they can around work, family, etc schedules. As for coaches? Let each coach have couple weeks in those months where they supervise the weight room. Be done.

The problem with multi-sport athletes isn't the high school schedule. It's that they are starting specialization at earlier ages. Most have chosen one sport by middle school and for a lot that play multiple sports once they get to high school if they aren't getting much playing time in one sport then they will quit the sport they don't play much in for the sport they get more time in.

The problem with multi-sport athletes isn't the high school schedule. It's that they are starting specialization at earlier ages. Most have chosen one sport by middle school and for a lot that play multiple sports once they get to high school if they aren't getting much playing time in one sport then they will quit the sport they don't play much in for the sport they get more time in.

 

Partially. There is no off-season in most high school sports now. There are "voluntary" workouts that look a whole lot like practice to me in most if not all varsity sports year round. Coaches may not "forbid" playing multiple sports but some make it very clear that if you don't devote 100% of your efforts to one sport you won't play.