article The Inherent Risk of Sport Specialization

[theguru]

My daughter is playing multiple sports in H.S. and it's a juggling act. But interesting enough her first scholarship offer (hopefully more to come) is in her "fun" sport. So now she's starting to take it a little more seriously.

 

Congrats to you and your little.

[theguru]

I know certain football coaches that are against their athletes participating in spring sports, as they feel it takes away and conflicts with weightlifting/conditioning and spring practice. I personally am for a multi-sport athlete but feel that athletes that participate in sports like lacrosse, that is still a club sport and not yet sanctioned by the KHSAA, are sometimes given a ultimatum of choosing between football or lacrosse.

 

I am of the opinion that ANY high school coach that discourages high school kids from playing more than one sport should be removed from coaching and not be permitted to have contact with children in a school setting.

[maysvilleky]

Thanks Guru...I have no idea if she would want to take it. It's just a partial scholarship since it's a minor sport that has to split up what they have, but she was flattered. And she still has a couple more years to decide, but it opened her eyes to other possibilities. And I really think it took some stress off of her in knowing she doesn't have to put all her eggs in one sport basket. And now she's even talking about seeing if they would let her play multiple sports in college.

 

BTW...We stress Academics first. If you don't get it done in the classroom, your opportunities become more and more limited.

[plantmanky]

I am of the opinion that ANY high school coach that discourages high school kids from playing more than one sport should be removed from coaching and not be permitted to have contact with children in a school setting.

 

I will disagree somewhat. Why do you want a coach to lie to a kid. Id rather the coach be honest. Specifically in Football, as the offseason time to get bigger and stronger can be key. Now I think, there can also be a balance between offseason workouts and a Winter/Spring Sport time, but that balance can also be conflictive, specifically in Baseball.

 

Its not an overall general yes or no thing, its specific to each player and what sports they are playing.

[sweet16]

Does anyone disagree and think high school student-athletes should specialize in only one sport?

 

Only if they don't want to play other sports. I see too many kids either by coaches or by parents think they can only play one sport.

 

As said up above, you only have one chance to play organized sports. Play them all if you want.

[godfather1]

In my opinion, a sport specific athlete {in-general} trains one (1) basic muscle group over and over, day in, and day out, which can expose them to muscle strains, or tears. When it comes to multi-sport athletes, just the opposite is true. Because the athlete is going from sport season to sport season, different muscle group(s) are being trained, and utilized. Hence, there is no over-saturation or muscle fatigue. Hey, just my opinion, but many "sports specialist doctors" seem to agree.

[mcpapa]

My dad coached three sports WAY back in the day. Football, wrestling and track. Always encouraged multi-sport participation, as he believed there was lots of positive transfer of training.

[Voice of Reason]

I am of the opinion that ANY high school coach that discourages high school kids from playing more than one sport should be removed from coaching and not be permitted to have contact with children in a school setting.

 

I agree. Even worse are coaches of middle school age kids pressuring them to specialize. These coaches care about themselves much more than they care about the kids they coach.

[2021PGdad]

I know someone that there daughter played, middle school, high school and AAU for 2 years straight. She by the end of year 8th grade year was a shell of herself. She then as a freshmen stepped away from AAU and ran track, worked all summer on her bball game and had a really good freshmen year. She is still running track and working on bball some, until track is done. Then she will again work all summer and attend a few elite camps. She realizes she may again have to play AAU next summer to get where she wants to go, but the break has been great for her. Big fan of two sports!!!!!!

[woodsrider]

This has been somewhat touched on already but will add to the thought....

 

Playing one sport in it of itself isn't bad. When it becomes a problem is most parents and coaches don't know how to properly manage playing only one sport. Meaning, they don't know to properly train or to manage rest.

 

Any athlete should start with a basic strength and conditioning program. That really shouldn't change regardless of the sport you play. Squat, deadlift, clean, press, ect... are the same if you are a linebacker or if you are a point guard. Speed and agility work again is what it is. Conditioning is conditioning.

 

It's too much of sport specific work that can cause issues.

[CincySportsFan]

This has been somewhat touched on already but will add to the thought....

 

Playing one sport in it of itself isn't bad. When it becomes a problem is most parents and coaches don't know how to properly manage playing only one sport. Meaning, they don't know to properly train or to manage rest.

Any athlete should start with a basic strength and conditioning program. That really shouldn't change regardless of the sport you play. Squat, deadlift, clean, press, ect... are the same if you are a linebacker or if you are a point guard. Speed and agility work again is what it is. Conditioning is conditioning.

 

It's too much of sport specific work that can cause issues.

 

I know quite a few that think "training" is simply playing the sport more often.

[theguru]

New Triple Threat Award recognizes three-season, multi-sport Athletes

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 14, 2018

 

In an effort to continue the national emphasis and the KHSAA’s own efforts to de-emphasize sports specialization in the athletic culture, the Association recently launched the “Triple Threat Award” program to recognize those students who participate in high school athletics year round.

 

The award, which is given to student-athletes who participate in a KHSAA sport or sport-activity on the varsity level during each season of the academic year (fall/winters/spring), will be presented to a total of 1,814 student-athletes for 2017-18.

 

The awards are based solely on each member school’s rosters that were submitted through the KHSAA’s online system, as that is the only permitted determinant for athletic eligibility (including team eligibility).

 

A closer look at the breakdown of honorees for the 2017-18 academic year shows that:

 

266 of the 280 member schools have at least one honoree

 

Three schools (Holy Cross-Lou., Oneida Baptist, and Pikeville) each have 22 award recipients, followed by Villa Madonna with 21, and McCracken County and Scott with 19 each

 

By class, 465 seniors, 511 juniors, 458 sophomores, 318 freshmen, 43 eighth graders and 19 seventh graders were honored

 

By gender, 838 females and 976 males qualified for the award.

 

Further details on the breakdown of award recipients can be found at: Triple Threat Award | Kentucky High School Athletic Association

 

The KHSAA staff and Board of Control are proud to issue these first-time awards and look forward to continuing the program in the future to emphasize the values of participation and the now-documented likely negative aspects of sports specialization.

 

5/14/18 – New Triple Threat Award Recognizes Three-Season, Multi-Sport Athletes | Kentucky High School Athletic Association

[Oldbird]

New Triple Threat Award recognizes three-season, multi-sport Athletes

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 14, 2018

 

In an effort to continue the national emphasis and the KHSAA’s own efforts to de-emphasize sports specialization in the athletic culture, the Association recently launched the “Triple Threat Award” program to recognize those students who participate in high school athletics year round.

 

The award, which is given to student-athletes who participate in a KHSAA sport or sport-activity on the varsity level during each season of the academic year (fall/winters/spring), will be presented to a total of 1,814 student-athletes for 2017-18.

 

The awards are based solely on each member school’s rosters that were submitted through the KHSAA’s online system, as that is the only permitted determinant for athletic eligibility (including team eligibility).

 

A closer look at the breakdown of honorees for the 2017-18 academic year shows that:

 

266 of the 280 member schools have at least one honoree

 

Three schools (Holy Cross-Lou., Oneida Baptist, and Pikeville) each have 22 award recipients, followed by Villa Madonna with 21, and McCracken County and Scott with 19 each

 

By class, 465 seniors, 511 juniors, 458 sophomores, 318 freshmen, 43 eighth graders and 19 seventh graders were honored

 

By gender, 838 females and 976 males qualified for the award.

 

Further details on the breakdown of award recipients can be found at: Triple Threat Award | Kentucky High School Athletic Association

 

The KHSAA staff and Board of Control are proud to issue these first-time awards and look forward to continuing the program in the future to emphasize the values of participation and the now-documented likely negative aspects of sports specialization.

 

5/14/18 – New Triple Threat Award Recognizes Three-Season, Multi-Sport Athletes | Kentucky High School Athletic Association

 

As I was looking through the list, reading names I came across a familiar name. Didn't even occur to me that my son would be on the list.

 

Not sure what this does nor doesn't say, but three of the better sports programs in the state didn't have many:

 

- Trinity had 4

- Cov. Cath had 2

- St. X had just 1

 

Also of note: Male had 1, Ballard had 2, Tates Creek had 4, Scott County had 4, Sacred Heart had 4, Dunbar had 5, Lafayette had 2, Fairdale had 5, Dupont Manual had 2, Daviess County had 1, Henderson County had 3, Madison Central had 2, George Rogers Clark had 2, Butler had 1, Fern Creek had 3, Henderson County had 3, Notre Dame had 1, and Assumption had 1.

 

Not sure what that means, but interesting that some of the bigger schools in the state didn't have many.

[rjs4470]

As I was looking through the list, reading names I came across a familiar name. Didn't even occur to me that my son would be on the list.

 

Not sure what this does nor doesn't say, but three of the better sports programs in the state didn't have many:

 

- Trinity had 4

- Cov. Cath had 2

- St. X had just 1

 

Also of note: Male had 1, Ballard had 2, Tates Creek had 4, Scott County had 4, Sacred Heart had 4, Dunbar had 5, Lafayette had 2, Fairdale had 5, Dupont Manual had 2, Daviess County had 1, Henderson County had 3, Madison Central had 2, George Rogers Clark had 2, Butler had 1, Fern Creek had 3, Henderson County had 3, Notre Dame had 1, and Assumption had 1.

 

Not sure what that means, but interesting that some of the bigger schools in the state didn't have many.

 

Smaller schools have less bodies to fill out rosters, along with less competition for those spots. It’s not surprising big schools don’t have many 3 sport athletes. At bigger schools, it’s simply harder to even make some of those teams.

[Oldbird]

Smaller schools have less bodies to fill out rosters, along with less competition for those spots. It’s not surprising big schools don’t have many 3 sport athletes. At bigger schools, it’s simply harder to even make some of those teams.

 

I get that, but I think when you just have 1 or 2 it is still surprising.