letting kids play other sports

[MNDad]

I went to an SEC coaches camp and one of the AC said that she highly recommends that girls play other sports and not to specialize. But this creates a problem, especially for me. I do think "kids" should play around with other sports or dance or cheer. But at a certain age, (14?) you should know what your dominate sport is or could be. I really have a hard time trying to figure out , which sport has more priority. We have a travel tourney this weekend, and I get a call saying that a child has a team fundraiser on Saturday for a middle school sport. really? middle school? is the thought in my head. Softball can carry this girl to college if she worked on a few things, and mentally prepared herself to be a great player. I don't think a middle school team, for anything should come before travel, not even softball middle school team. Thoughts?? am i totally off here?

D1 coaches always say they want well rounded athletes and then they go out and recruit girls who specialized.

I believe in season school sports should always trump travel ball, except for camps or recruiting visits.

 

[riseball]

With the current recruiting environment that idea has to be scrapped sometimes with the top recruiting prospects being looked at earlier and earlier. They are targeting some of the top 12U players right now.

Very true. I was really referring to the other 99% of the players.

 

[murphdog]

DD plays varsity soccer, this is her senior season. Soccer is the top priority during soccer season. We don't have a lot of conflicts but there are always a few and soccer comes first during that time. State rules are you cannot miss for another sport. She'll miss 2 practices for an overnight at a college but that's excused. Her club coach is fine with it. She's likely the fastest kid on the team and a lot of that is from soccer

 

[rdbass]

I think school anything takes priority, even middle school.

Yeap.....and any tourney ball team should know that.

 

[ang2bmd]

I get it though from the posters prospective if the child in question is truly recruitable in their primary sport with the early recruiting it's difficult to justify missing a travel showcase for a I play this just for fun JV soccer game... I don't think missing should be free from consequences just saying I get it.

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[JAD]

Parents should encourage young players to try different things - different sports, musical instruments, cheerleading, gymnastics, art. By the time they are @ 14 they should know where their passion is.

 

[doublesteal]

I've coached on a few age levels 12u - 18u (not elite level ball but A & B). I always encouraged my athletes to participate in other sports. Our rule with other sports is Tournament ball your main priority, if we have practice and your other team has practice you come to ours, if we have practice and your other team has a game you can go to the game. We make all members aware of this from the jump and encourage parents to discuss with other coaches, (plus we ask for copies of game schedules).

This year and last season I've been coaching 12u we have players who do rec soccer, rec basketball, field hockey, track, gymnastics, irish dance, etc. It helps us during tryouts get athletes over other local teams because at 11/12 they are still kids and some other local teams say nothing else.

 

[Gambler Bob]

My daughter plays travel basketball and travel softball. When those two sports interfere with each other the in season sport takes precedence. Luckily those two sports do not interfere with each other very often.

In the school district that my children attend they do not have middle school or jr. high softball, most of the school districts in this area do have softball teams. I am perfectly fine that their school district does not have softball, since it would interfere with fall travel softball. The only way my daughter would play middle school softball is if the middle school coach understood that all travel ball games and practices trump those of the middle school, if he did not agree with that she would not play.

High school sports are different imo. When high school sports are in season those sports takes precedence. I don't put much value in middle school softball, the schools are too small to put a competitive product on the field.

 

[dbronstein]

Certainly, one shouldn't force a kid to choose between playing a sport she enjoys for her school,
and attending an excellent fall recruiting opportunity for her main sport in its off-season.
But some HS coaches can be irrational.

You think that's irrational? That's life. You have to make choices because you can't do everything. Unless the coach gives his/her blessing up front, it's completely unfair to the coach and the other players to join a team if you aren't fully committed to it. And it's unfair to the player who the spot could have been given to. And IMO even if the coach gives his/her blessing, it's still unfair to the rest of the team and the potential player who can't play now.

I've only coached rec teams, but I had players who missed practices and games because they were playing another sport at the same time. I wasn't in a position where I could cut them, but I batted them at the bottom of the lineup and didn't make much of an effort to let them play their favored positions. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair to the players who showed up for practice regularly. If you're not going to make my team a priority, then I'm not going to make you a priority.

 

[dbronstein]

I get it though from the posters prospective if the child in question is truly recruitable in their primary sport with the early recruiting it's difficult to justify missing a travel showcase for a I play this just for fun JV soccer game... I don't think missing should be free from consequences just saying I get it.

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Then she shouldn't try out for the soccer team knowing she won't be committed to it and is going to miss practices and games. That "just for fun JV soccer game" is important to the other players who are committed to the team.