Is the female multi-sport HS athlete a thing of the past?

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NBECoach

Learning everyday
Aug 9, 2018
408
63
Thanks for all the great responses. I will resurrect this thread in 2 weeks with updated players numbers and the number of multi-sport kids .

So we had a grand total of 24 players tryout. 10 Freshman, 5 Sophomores, 4 Juniors, and 5 Seniors. Needless to say these were more about who is on what team rather than cutting anyone. Of the 24 there are only 4 multi-sport athletes. Sad numbers but here is the rub. Of the 12 schools in our conference only 8 have JV's this year because of numbers being down. So while that is disappointing the fact that we got 10 Freshman is a huge plus going forward. Still I will continue to talk up HS softball all summer with TB coaches and hope to continue with bigger incoming numbers.
 
Apr 20, 2015
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Ok weighing in as someone who went to school for 11 years post high school for my final degree I get that their future is important but there is also a finite amount of time to be young and play the sport you love before your body wears out. Why make these kids grow up so fast. I personally don't give rip if it takes my kiddo 5years to finish undergraduate because she's playing ball and loving life. Adulting isn't really all that fun. Half of graduates don't work in their degree field anymore anyway.

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Nov 26, 2010
4,784
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Michigan
So with some thread drift the consensus seems to be that athletes are good students because of the time management involved.

So wouldn't that mean the 3 sport athlete has the best time management skills and is better prepared for college?
 
Jun 29, 2013
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I don't disagree with either ang2 or chinamigarden. Solid points. I can only discuss what I know and/or see, and locally I see very few kids who play multi sports in HS, we see some in middle school and some say they will continue as they get older, but the reality is they always seem to settle for whichever one they are best at (or like the most). Where I grew up (small northern New England town), you still see a lot of kids who do many sports in HS, but it is a smaller scene and the travel/club opportunities that we have in CA are not nearly as abundant back home. I continue to think the biggest impediment to the multi sport athlete is the commitment they have to make to play at the highest level in club sports, and the fact that most travel or club teams expect the kids who do play other sports to play only when there is no conflict.
 
Sep 21, 2017
230
43
PA
I've not taken the time to read through the entire thread, but I thought I would drop my numbers here. Of the 22 we have in the HS program, 6 Freshman, 11 Sophs, 2 Jr, 3 Sr, we have 14 multi-sport athletes, some 3 sport. Mostly basketball, a few volleyball and soccer.

This was all that we had come out this year. Those Jr/Sr numbers have been that low their entire HS careers. It's the same in basketball, too. Pretty low female athlete numbers in those grades, and we're a school of around 850.

I had 3-4 other freshman who played in 8th grade I thought would play, but decided not to. They also play volleyball.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
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I had a sophomore hitting at my house a couple days ago. Her mom asked me for help finding a new softball tournament team since her old one folded. I was able to help but unbeknownst to me she also tried out for and made an AAU basketball team. She still has to do the summer high school basketball stuff in addition. She plays volleyball and has school based club volleyball constantly.

This kid is one example of many. It seems like everyone in our high school thinks they have to do this. Our basketball is average. Our volleyball is average. Our softball is slightly above average. All of our teams play without energy. They look flat. The kids don’t look like they want to beat the other teams. I sit there in my perch in the stands and think this over and over.

When I’m at the girls basketball games, sometimes our school dance team performs. There are more dancers than bb players. The dance group is littered with kids that used to play bb and frankly some of them are better athletes. They don’t want to put up with the schedule. They don’t want to play all summer. The hs girls bb coach is no fun to be around, ever. It’s a shame that this is driving away athletes and we let coaches and parents call it “lack of commitment”.

Sometimes less is more.
 
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Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
The hs girls bb coach is no fun to be around, ever. It’s a shame that this is driving away athletes and we let coaches and parents call it “lack of commitment”.

Sometimes less is more.

My DD played JV basketball her Freshman year and the coach played mind games and berated her constantly. She was also in theater which ironically takes more time than softball. I wanted her to continue with basketball as she was pretty dang good and at 5'10" she was the tallest player in the school. She said no way Jose! I totally understood and backed off.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
I really enjoy basketball! My older dd hung in there until she was a junior. We had a “dad coach” that coached varsity who was an absolutely great guy and a very good coach that the school replaced with a maniac that truly knows x’s and o’s but screams her constant disapproval at the players without relent. I can’t believe the parents or the school stand for it. If it was a guy acting like that he would be canned mid-season. It’s ruining turnout and ruining players. I believe both of my kids would have played all four years if it wasn’t for her.
 
Jun 7, 2016
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My pet peeve is schools and more importantly, parents, tolerating shitty behavior from coaches. No parent would allow the calculus teacher to treat a student the way coaches do. Most of my aquaintances would knock out their bosses if they were treated that way at work. But I think so many believe that a scholarship is on the line and swallow intolerable behavior from coaches. Plenty of examples from our HS of kids dropping from sports due to poor coaching and excessive time demands (eg coach cant train effectively in 15 hrs a week, so lets add more ineffective time)!
 
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Jul 14, 2017
181
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If it was a guy acting like that he would be canned mid-season. It’s ruining turnout and ruining players. I believe both of my kids would have played all four years if it wasn’t for her.

I accidentally “thanked” this post- not my intention. I am very sorry that your dd had a coach that ruined their love of the game. It is heartbreaking to see and experience. However, I strongly disagree with your comments of how the coach would be canned if they were a male. In the world of sports there are PLENTY of male coaches who keep their jobs year after year while causing mental and emotional trauma to their players.


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