Some of your best basketball players excel at other sports. Take Amber Riddle from Rowan County. The good athletes don't focus on one sport at a time. They find time and put in the extra work that is needed to be good at two or three sports.

 

I totally disagree with this statement. At the middle school level it is still do-able and it gets tougher as they progress to high school. There are alot of "good' athletes that play just one sport and it is because they like that sport and excel at it. I would much rather have an athlete be very good at one sport than to play multi-sports and be marginal at those.

If your child wants to play at the next level, she has to decide which sport will benefit her the most (what sport will she get the best scholarship). She may have a passion for several sports but only be good enough at one to go to the next level. Take the one and run with it. However, if she doesn't want to play at the next level, play them all and have a good time.

 

One thing to think about when looking at scholarship opportunitites is to look at the number of scholarships available to players- some sports like basketball & volleyball can offer more $$ than softball and soccer for instance. Now don't get me wrong, any $$ is good but in soccer, most of the full scholarships go to the goalies and most teams have only partials to give to the rest. Pair that with academic money or financial aid and you can get a pretty good package. Just know that some sports have to "share" scholarship money and don't have as much to offer per player.

Everyone who is dreaming of that big athletic scholarship needs to remember just how tough they can be to get and your child can be one injury away from being on the sidelines. D-III schools can't even give athletic scholarships. This includes Centre, Transy, Thomas More, just to name a few. However, all schools give academic scholarships. As long as athletes can keep their grades up and want to play multiple sports, I say let them do it.

 

Back to the thread topic. I have seen good girl athletes quit their sport so they can watch their boyfriends play their sport or even keep stats for their team. I have never seen it the other way around. A sad reflection of our culture. I have also seen girls quit sports to be cheerleaders. Sometimes this was a good idea other times not so much. I saw a 5' 11" 8th grader who was becoming a decent bball player give it up to be a cheerleader. She later regretted her decision.

I agree with alot of this. But this brings up another ?. If your good at two sports should there be a point when you focus on one or the other or play both. And when should you decide this. I always thought by the begining of your freshmen year.

 

My daughter made a decision in middle school to drop from 3 sports to 2, basketball & soccer. She began playing at the high school level in both sports in the 8th grade. She also played club basketball (AAU) since the 6th grade. It can be done & they can be highly successful in 2 sports. I think the difference deciding on whether they should play in more than one also depends on what they can play at the next level. When you talk about a DI player in a sport, that is a whole different issue. We all know that those are very few & far between. Most of us are talking about possible DII, but for the most part DIII & NAIA. It becomes even more important at those levels to have decent grades & test scores.

 

We did as a family have to decide how to handle "the car" when she got to that point. She does not have the time to work a part-time job to pay for her "extras." We told her that as long as she gave 100% & kept her grades up, that we did not want her to work. She will be a Senior, has a 4.0, scored very high on the ACT & has college interest in her in both soccer & basketball. Her toughest decision by far now is deciding which sport to play at the next level. If she thought she could, she would play both.

 

Crazy8's has a point, it's all about work ethic. Not excuses. No one's fault but your own when it comes right down to it...pick yourself up from whatever it may be, a bad game, an injury, a nightmare of a coach or program & WORK. But the sad part is that parents seem to be the ones that start the process dishing out the excuses. When we talk of politics, a "bad" coach, a "ball hog" player...all of the usual stuff. The kids have big ears just waiting for a reason why they are sitting the bench. We all complain, but we have to remember that kids are listening & we do an incredible amount of damage that cannot be undone. Do we tell them after bashing someone or something that we are just venting? Usually not, we don't teach them to handle frustration or adversity very well, we just find excuses to justify the frustration, whatever it may be. I am as guilty as the next parent I guess, just thank my lucky stars that my daughter didn't hear most of it & worked her tail off in spite of me!

I don't think its a problem to get girls to play sports. I think its a problem to get girls to play multiple sports. In NKY at volleyball powers such as NDA and maybe SHDHS, you don't play any other sport. Its high school vball followed by club vball. No options.

 

 

I can't speak for NDA, but that is not the case at SHDHS. With little exception, all the girls that are currently playing and have graduated in recent years are multiple sport athletes. As a matter of fact, the leading scorer and MVP's from the past few years have been volleyball players (Niemer & Luckman to name two). I also know for a fact that many of the girls currently playing basketball also play soccer, softball, and run track. There are several of the girls that participate in 3 different Varsity sports.

I can't speak for NDA, but that is not the case at SHDHS. With little exception, all the girls that are currently playing and have graduated in recent years are multiple sport athletes. As a matter of fact, the leading scorer and MVP's from the past few years have been volleyball players (Niemer & Luckman to name two). I also know for a fact that many of the girls currently playing basketball also play soccer, softball, and run track. There are several of the girls that participate in 3 different Varsity sports.

 

Thanks. When SHDHS had the run a few years ago with that strong class, did they play other sports? I thought they played club v-ball.

Thanks. When SHDHS had the run a few years ago with that strong class, did they play other sports? I thought they played club v-ball.

 

Both Niemer and Luckman were part of that run that included "back to back" state runner-up in volleyball 2005 & 2006, losing in the finals to an Assumption team that I believe was ranked # 1 in the Nation. Both Niemer and Luckman are currently playing DI volleyball but had several college offers to play basketball.

Niemer was voted Big East freshman of the year playing volleyball at UC. These 2 girls were also part of the SHDHS that upset Boone County two years ago to win the District in basketball. That team also included Emily Robinson & Kasey Gamm, who both went on to play college soccer.

My daughter made a decision in middle school to drop from 3 sports to 2, basketball & soccer. She began playing at the high school level in both sports in the 8th grade. She also played club basketball (AAU) since the 6th grade. It can be done & they can be highly successful in 2 sports. I think the difference deciding on whether they should play in more than one also depends on what they can play at the next level. When you talk about a DI player in a sport, that is a whole different issue. We all know that those are very few & far between. Most of us are talking about possible DII, but for the most part DIII & NAIA. It becomes even more important at those levels to have decent grades & test scores.

 

We did as a family have to decide how to handle "the car" when she got to that point. She does not have the time to work a part-time job to pay for her "extras." We told her that as long as she gave 100% & kept her grades up, that we did not want her to work. She will be a Senior, has a 4.0, scored very high on the ACT & has college interest in her in both soccer & basketball. Her toughest decision by far now is deciding which sport to play at the next level. If she thought she could, she would play both.

 

Crazy8's has a point, it's all about work ethic. Not excuses. No one's fault but your own when it comes right down to it...pick yourself up from whatever it may be, a bad game, an injury, a nightmare of a coach or program & WORK. But the sad part is that parents seem to be the ones that start the process dishing out the excuses. When we talk of politics, a "bad" coach, a "ball hog" player...all of the usual stuff. The kids have big ears just waiting for a reason why they are sitting the bench. We all complain, but we have to remember that kids are listening & we do an incredible amount of damage that cannot be undone. Do we tell them after bashing someone or something that we are just venting? Usually not, we don't teach them to handle frustration or adversity very well, we just find excuses to justify the frustration, whatever it may be. I am as guilty as the next parent I guess, just thank my lucky stars that my daughter didn't hear most of it & worked her tail off in spite of me!

 

 

Very well said!!! Parents do cause most of the problems and kids have big ears.

 

We did the same thing with our daughter when it came to the car. She wanted to get a bball scholarship and we dedicated alot of family time and made sacrifices so that she could have a shot - we were fortunate enough to be able to do that for her and it was worth it. She worked her tail off for a scholarship and she earned every penny of it. BLOOO-SWEAT and yes tons of TEARS, because it is not easy and there are many obstacles, but in the end it has all been worth it.

The majority of the kids just do not want to put forth the time, effort, and work that is required. It's not easy to practice 6 day's per week and play a 6-7 month season while still meeting the rigors of the classroom. It takes a ton of discipline and a lot of kids would just rather not deal with it. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard "I have no desire to play in college so I would rather just enjoy high school instead of playing". How many promising young athletes have we seen that just decided to hang it up to do other things?

 

My Daughter was a pretty solid soccer & basketball player, but "she" made the decision to drop soccer and focus on hoops year round. It takes a different mentality and passion for a kid to make the decision to do "whatever" it takes to play at the next level (especially D1). If the player chooses to put in the work...then it's up to the parents to put them in the best possible position to be successful. It takes huge sacrifices from everyone involved.

The majority of the kids just do not want to put forth the time, effort, and work that is required. It's not easy to practice 6 day's per week and play a 6-7 month season while still meeting the rigors of the classroom. It takes a ton of discipline and a lot of kids would just rather not deal with it. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard "I have no desire to play in college so I would rather just enjoy high school instead of playing". How many promising young athletes have we seen that just decided to hang it up to do other things?

 

My Daughter was a pretty solid soccer & basketball player, but "she" made the decision to drop soccer and focus on hoops year round. It takes a different mentality and passion for a kid to make the decision to do "whatever" it takes to play at the next level (especially D1). If the player chooses to put in the work...then it's up to the parents to put them in the best possible position to be successful. It takes huge sacrifices from everyone involved.

I think your right on the money here. It does take sacrifice like time ,money but me and my wife enjoy every minute of it. My DD took the summer off more or less this year she hit the weight room 5 days a week and still went to acouple camps. i think it was good for her she had been on the road for 4 summers with softball.She will be a eight grader this year and she seems more focused after doing other things this summer.It would not suprise me if she went to AAU, BB next summer.

The majority of the kids just do not want to put forth the time, effort, and work that is required. It's not easy to practice 6 day's per week and play a 6-7 month season while still meeting the rigors of the classroom. It takes a ton of discipline and a lot of kids would just rather not deal with it. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard "I have no desire to play in college so I would rather just enjoy high school instead of playing". How many promising young athletes have we seen that just decided to hang it up to do other things?

 

 

BINGO!!!!!!

The majority of the kids just do not want to put forth the time, effort, and work that is required. It's not easy to practice 6 day's per week and play a 6-7 month season while still meeting the rigors of the classroom. It takes a ton of discipline and a lot of kids would just rather not deal with it. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard "I have no desire to play in college so I would rather just enjoy high school instead of playing". How many promising young athletes have we seen that just decided to hang it up to do other things?

 

 

BINGO!!!!!!

 

Exactly! Discipline! Sports has taught my kid to be organized, stay on task & to utilize her time well. All valuable skills including those learned in the midst of competition and a team environment. All skills needed when she ultimately enters the "real" world. Tools learned to make me feel that she will be prepared for success. It comes down to a strong work ethic & confident independence she has gained by working so hard!

 

In understanding why we have trouble keeping kids on athletic teams, I have also thought that there has been a shift in how we as parents & a society in general approach discipline...first thought used to be when dealing with a child/coach or even child/teacher situation was to question the kid's actions first, adults second. It seems today we question the adult first. I often have to catch myself when discussing a conflict my daughter may have from immediately coming to her defense. I have to say to myself...I am not to old to remember what I used to do at that age! I am not saying we should not ever side with our child in situations, but we must remember they are teenagers.