The other side to the "Multi-Sport Athlete"

[_MIA_]

Your daughter plays/practices softball year round

I would venture to guess these days that most multi-sport athletes do the same and if they play club/travel for more than one they practice all year round for the ones they play club/travel for. My DD plays TB and AAU bball and practices with her team (and me on the side) all year in both. She is only 11 though so we will see if that still works for her as she gets older.

 

[FP26]

I'm not against playing multiple sports, but I do worry that some athletes overdo it. I remember when DD was in high school. Basketball "open gyms" typically started in September. Official practice started in November. Games were played between December and February and could carry over into the beginning of March depending how well the team played. Softball open gyms would begin in January with official practice beginning in March and ending in May. Then it's off to travel softball while still playing summer league basketball (unofficially of course). Just playing two sports made sure that she had multiple events scheduled every week 52 weeks per year. Between practices, scrimmages, and games, it was rare to have more than 3 days off in a row without something scheduled. And this is just with two sports. I cannot imagine trying to fit in a 3rd.

 

[BT3100]

I would venture to guess these days that most multi-sport athletes do the same and if they play club/travel for more than one they practice all year round for the ones they play club/travel for. My DD plays TB and AAU bball and practices with her team (and me on the side) all year in both.

If a kid can work year round at 3 sports
Have good grades and hold a part time job (required in my home to teach life skills) and get it all done then great! Hard to believe but great!

 

[_MIA_]

If a kid can work year round at 3 sports
Have good grades and hold a part time job (required in my home to teach life skills) and get it all done then great! Hard to believe but great!

She won't be playing 3 sports. My sister did that and she was burned out by her Sr. year and that was 30 years ago when club/travel wasn't a thing.

 

[Vertigo]

Your daughter plays/practices softball year round

Yes but during the winter months when all we do is indoor practices on a weekend day, she would still have practice 5 days a week for her off-season sport; therefore, she was still working out and I didn’t have to do any extra travel or pay extra money for her to do so. Ha! There’s another benefit!

During the fall season, we would only practice on Saturdays and then have games all day on Sundays, until the showcases took up the whole weekend. Maybe one day during the week at the field until it became too dark too soon.

Once HS softball starts up, we go dark travel-wise.

 

[Vertigo]

The other nice thing is that her current PT job is at the facility where she works out for softball so she doesn’t have to pay to get cage time or turf time for pitching practice. Win-win for us there. Other positive is that she drives now, as well.

 

[Rick M]

Here’s where my softball snobbery comes into play :

This is a tough sport, with a wide range of skills required to stand out. DD has a number of friends who play lacrosse, and she’ll go out and throw a ball around with them occasionally. She’s also played some rec soccer and basketball. She’s not serious about any of those, but she can tool around with serious players and not look foolish.

If you hand a bat to an inexperienced player, it’s immediately apparent when you see them swing. Or throw overhand. Not to mention the somewhat esoteric rule set.

I think a serious soccer player will benefit from playing Lax in the spring or even basketball in the winter, just from a cardio standpoint. But softball is unique and difficult, there’s not much skill crossover IMHO.


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[_MIA_]

hold a part time job (required in my home to teach life skills)

I didn't get a job till college..probably why my wife handles all the bills

 

[_MIA_]

Here’s where my softball snobbery comes into play :

This is a tough sport, with a wide range of skills required to stand out. DD has a number of friends who play lacrosse, and she’ll go out and throw a ball around with them occasionally. She’s also played some rec soccer and basketball. She’s not serious about any of those, but she can tool around with serious players and not look foolish.

If you hand a bat to an inexperienced player, it’s immediately apparent when you see them swing. Or throw overhand. Not to mention the somewhat esoteric rule set.

I think a serious soccer player will benefit from playing Lax in the spring or even basketball in the winter, just from a cardio standpoint. But softball is unique and difficult, there’s not much skill crossover IMHO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Basketball and softball are similar in terms skill difficulty imo but building your skills is a lot easier (if you have the drive to work) in bball in the sense that you really only need to own a ball and find a court.

 

[Vertigo]

Just FYI - dd did not play any other travel sport other than softball. She did do competitive dance for a while but that took a backseat to softball. She still enjoys it, though, and takes a class at her HS. She also has her black belt in Tang Soo Do but also stopped that once she started travel softball.