Multi-Sport Athletes

[SoccerDad]

My DD is a multi-sport athlete and frankly I'm glad she likes so many different sports. I'm a huge believer in the benefits of playing more than just one sport. At some point she will have to narrow it down, but she is only 8 and I am trying to do everything I can to keep up with her and let her find "her sport". She is an absolute sports nut.

Here is our problem. She currently plays academy soccer (travel soccer......but they don't actually travel) and in softball she plays rec only (she is a pitcher). Recently, she has talked about wanting to play travel softball also. I'm thinking it's impossible to do both, but maybe she could be a pickup player from time to time when a local softball team might need a guest at a local tournament. However, after reading these boards, it seems as though pick up players aren't very welcome in many places.

Have any of your daughters been able to play two sports at the same time on a competitive level? or is it totally impossible?
Are youth softball coaches understanding if you miss some softball practices due to another sport? I know many of the youth soccer coaches are not very understanding. My DD's last soccer coach was pissed that she left a few soccer practices early to go to a different sports practice. I think a lot of it was the coaches ego. I refuse to let a coach pressure my daughter into only playing only one sport at the age of 8. From my experience, most of the kids that excel at any sport are the ones that put in the extra practice time at home or with their dad........not the ones with the best attendance at the organized team practices.

So, I guess I'm asking......Do understanding travel ball coaches exist? or is my daughter destined to stay in rec softball ?

 

[bucketdad99]

Understanding coaches exists but you have to find the right coach/teams. We are fortunate to have understanding coaches for club soccer and travel softball (14u) right now, but as my DD goes into high school I have been told that things will be different...and that makes sense I guess.

Here in Southern California the Fall/Winter season is the most competitive for soccer and Spring/Summer is most competitive for softball. My DD is a pitcher in softball and goalkeeper in soccer and her coaches are understanding of our "per season" commitment and support her being an overall athlete. In the Fall, it is ALL soccer and softball when we can make it (which really amounts to 3 practices a week for soccer plus games on Saturdays and Sundays, adding on 2 softball practices a week and whatever games we can make on Saturday plus Sunday games. Not ideal for softball coach, but again, he is understanding and adjusts roster accordingly)... In the Spring, it is totally switched and softball becomes #1, everything reverses. The big downside we have faced is balancing school/homework etc, with minimum 2 hour practices every day (and more on double practice days) and games every weekend...all year long...It does take its toll. She's does well and it is what she enjoys, so we support it.

I feel lucky though, because I don't think many other coaches look beyond their own team's immediate season and the benefits that an athlete can gain playing multiple sports. Anyhow, I heard Jennie Finch answer an interview question of when she stopped playing multiple sports and her answer was, when she got her full scholarship to Arizona and that is all she was allowed to play. She credited playing basketball and volleyball with giving her a different perspective on teamwork, leadership, responsibility and overall body conditioning that she translated into her long softball career.

Good luck with expanding your DD's sporting experience...whether it ultimately focuses on softball or soccer, or both...continuing to be an athlete is what matters most...and it helps to find like-minded coaches I guess.

 

[Phathead]

Bucket 99 hit right on. I coach rec and TB 12U team. Spring I encourge softball first with the occansional miss for other things. In fall its school Volley Ball. So SB is back seat and I have the make it if you can Sat or Sun afternoon pract. Some of the school VB coachs have camps etc in spring/summer and they give the girls a hard time and I think they should as I do and encouge the girls to develope other skills and muscle groups as I several other coachs do. This yr 2 sisters made the LL allstars that I was HC on. This has been the only time that I was insistant on attendance. The parents and kids were great. The sisters had VB coach insist that they attend "open gym". Mom layed into him and he backed down. I agree that there is a time to commit more to one than the other but there has to some give take untill then. What that age is up to parent and mostly the child.

 

[howellhandmade]

This year my 11yo went all out for softball, passed on basketball, practiced SB all winter, and had an overhand throwing shoulder injury middle of the summer. It happened when a coach decided to have the outfielders catch long fly balls and make max throws until somebody got hurt, but the ortho said going one sport too young can be risky. She's adding a sport or two.

 

[Ken Krause]

At 8 you shouldn't have to specialize in a sport. That's just crazy. Not that there aren't coaches out there who expect it, but it seems way over the top to me.

If you want to play at a high level, eventually you're going to have to choose which high-level sport you want to commit to. But even then it doesn't mean you can't play other sports. You just probably won't be able to play club or travel ball in all of them due to the time commitment expectations.

Both of my daughters went softball-only pretty early, but that's because they loved the game and didn't much care for the others. My sons, however, played multiple sports, although only one with a high level of commitment.

One thing you will find is that the better/more important your daughter is to the team, the more leeway she will be given when it comes to how much practice time she can miss.

 

[CoogansBluff]

However, after reading these boards, it seems as though pick up players aren't very welcome in many places.

If a pickup player is not welcome, it's the coach's fault. The coach should use a pickup only when one is needed to play, not to gain competitive advantage and inconvenience permanent players. So if you go this route, express your concern to the coach and make sure that you know what your daughter's role is going to be and how that will affect the permanent players on the team.

I know many of the youth soccer coaches are not very understanding. My DD's last soccer coach was pissed that she left a few soccer practices early to go to a different sports practice. I think a lot of it was the coaches ego. I refuse to let a coach pressure my daughter into only playing only one sport at the age of 8.

At what point is a coach putting pressure on a child to choose vs. just being practical? How many practices and games is it reasonable to miss? If you disagree with a coach on that question, that's not necessarily pressure. It might be that we agree, and that it's semantics. Instead of asking 'will coaches put pressure on us,' I think it's better to ask how many practices and games would a coach allow you to miss.

From my experience, most of the kids that excel at any sport are the ones that put in the extra practice time at home or with their dad........not the ones with the best attendance at the organized team practices.

There are several reasons why some kids excel more than others. The work they do at home is definitely huge. But if organized team practices are not a significant part of the reason they're getting better, then the coach is not doing a good job with organized team practices. I definitely see a correlation between attendance and development on my team.

In closing, your daughter is only 8. It should be possible to find travel teams in both sports who play light schedules so that you could make it work. But I do think it's important to see it from the coach's point of view. They have to set limits somewhere.

 

[quincy]

Especially at your DD’s age you will find understanding coaches, players and parents. You will see posts all the time about ½ my Team was playing basketball and we needed a few pickup players. Soccer? You must live in Europe.

If the 2 sports overlap a little bit you should be able to make it work, if they run at the same time it is a lot harder and maybe not be doable for competitive teams. You probably need to pick 1 to play competitively.

I think a lot of it was the coaches ego.

DD makes almost all her practices, I will not give the coach a reason why she is not there. It is our business, not theirs. We will give them as much advance notice as possible.

 

[redhotcoach]

Dd #2 plays Academy soccer. She is 9. Play travel softball? Nearly impossible! Academy practices 3 times a week, 10 months a year. The other 2 months she plays tournament soccer on teams put together. They practice usually 2 times a week. Add church, speed and agility, and ball kid duties, there is about 1 day every 2 weeks she has free. Softball, as much as we would like her to play, is impossible. Maybe she will be like Orgeron, play soccer through high school, go d1 softball, then team USA.

 

[Atlantabell]

Let's think about what is best for the kids at this point. Research shows that playing different sports is good for athletes, as it allows them to use different muscle groups, to mentally take a break, etc. My daughter decided when she was a freshman that she wanted only to do softball. This was HER decision. Other girls NEED to do something else. I know two players currently on the National team who played multiple sports in high school. They did this for four years. Perhaps they are an exception to the rule, but if you talk to one of them, she will tell you it was good for her.

As a travel ball coach, it means you have to do more planning. In the Fall, we know that some of our girls will be playing high school soccer and volleyball. That means that in the Fall, if those girls aren't there, other players get to play more. It means we may pick up guest players on certain weekends. Honestly, we haven't had many miss weekends in the Fall because most of our high school sports occur during the week. Now, as to practice, it does interfere somewhat, but again, that allows us to spend time working with other players. We also have a rule regarding missing practices and we apply it to those players. They know that and accept it. It's funny, because the kids who play multiple sports don't seem to miss a step skill wise.

In the summer, we do insist that softball comes first and it has not been a problem.

I think we need to focus on what is better for the athlete.

 

[lstorie1971]

I fear we are raising a generation of burnouts.