The other side to the "Multi-Sport Athlete"

[Vertigo]

She's a talented athlete who loves playing multiple sports. I doubt that playing multiple sports made her better at any one of the sports.

Michelle Moultrie is an example of a talented athlete. She was a walk-on and then standout at Florida and I believe she didn't even start playing softball until high school.



I think the problem is repetitive intensive training all year for the single sport that is the problem. If the kid takes time off to give their body a rest they should be okay.

Wasn’t saying that the MS made her a better athlete in one particular sport; was saying that she didn’t need to specialize in softball to get recruited by a D1 program, as was being mentioned by some on this thread.

 

[Santa]

My daughter loves to compete. She plays 10 Varsity sports. She is not the best at all of them (volleyball, cross country running, Nordic skiing, rifle, tennis, wrestling) but has made the State Championships in all of them. We are very remote: taking planes to basketball games, 700 mile bus trip for Conference opponents... but those are the trips and experiences she values most of all.

She has traveled across the globe for track, softball, baseball, and basketball. She is very busy during the summer but has gotten encouraging feedback from college coaches on her athleticism.

Playing a lot of sports and trying new ones (represented USA in international competition for *table tennis*) has definitely shaped my daughter in ways playing only softball never would have.


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[coachdpr]

I have heard it many times from college coaches, “Kids should be multi-sport”. However, I have noticed that those who PLAY D1- those players you see on ESPN come June, pretty much specialized from the age of 14 on.

 

[schwabach]

My daughter loves to compete. She plays 10 Varsity sports. She is not the best at all of them (volleyball, cross country running, Nordic skiing, rifle, tennis, wrestling) but has made the State Championships in all of them. We are very remote: taking planes to basketball games, 700 mile bus trip for Conference opponents... but those are the trips and experiences she values most of all.

She has traveled across the globe for track, softball, baseball, and basketball. She is very busy during the summer but has gotten encouraging feedback from college coaches on her athleticism.

Playing a lot of sports and trying new ones (represented USA in international competition for *table tennis*) has definitely shaped my daughter in ways playing only softball never would have.


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She doesn't seem very well-rounded. Does she play violin at a high level? Is she at the top of her class academically?

 

[Santa]

She doesn't seem very well-rounded. Does she play violin at a high level? Is she at the top of her class academically?

She plays the harp but not at a high level. Yes, 4.0 and solid test scores.

Are you being sarcastic?


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[docnsx01]

I usually chuckle when I hear about the benefits of the multi-sport athlete. I truly understand and fully appreciate the point of view that kids should engage in as many sports as possible for various reasons. However when the time comes to specialize I don't think that the specialization turns off the valve of training and has such negative consequences like others feel. When my softball player trains she runs, maybe more than some track athlete's. She lifts heavy and for reps. She trains kickboxing at the local UFC gym and spars with others often. She jumps during anaerobic workouts and puts up numbers that are top of the charts. Her team workouts include burners, suicides' and just about every other exercise that basketball players engage in. Maybe her program is unique but I doubt it and think that many on here have their DD's in programs that are similar and I'm sure some are more intense.
Fast forward to this week, I am having a conversation with a parent who has a DD the same age as my kid. This is a parent who was adamant that my DD should not specialize in softball so early and even questioned our parenting back in the day for allowing her to do so. Our DDs both played basketball until 12's and LAX, Softball etc and they both wanted to play D1, they even picked out schools at 12 years old and hung banners on their walls. They were like sisters and the other DD was a much better pure athlete in my opinion, in fact she was a better softball player than DD in REC. DD decided to take the softball path and her friend went with the multi-sport approach because her parents refused to allow her to focus on only one sport even though she wanted to play softball year round. So her glove would get put away in fall and picked back up in spring.
Here we are 3 months from HS graduation and I bumped into DD's friends mother last night. Hadn't seen her in years. She congratulated me on DDs commitment and said "Yea I wish we could have kept "Danni" in just one sport, she is looking at a few colleges but no matter the sport will be a walk on, no schools have offered her as of yet".
I have no doubt that she will walk on and be a contributor to any program. Still a great overall athlete but in my opinion but never made the commitment to become great at one sport. I know that this is not a popular point of view and I remember being judged by parents from REC back in the day for moving DD from our local travel team to a regional team. There is no one size fits all approach and guess what, the multi-sport athlete doesn't have a clear advantage when it comes to playing in college, I'd argue it's a disadvantage to those who want to do so. Just my point of view.

I agree there is no book with this ! Yes benefits to multi sport at early age helps physically as well as mentally to figure out what sport you truly love or excel in. First year residency after med school u rotate thru all departments before you decide on a specialty . That’s a grown educated adult .. how is a pre-teen teenager supposed to decide at that age ..when my daughter was in 8th grade we went to the high school spring awards ceremony so she could get her varsity letter. The AD leading the ceremony gives out the last award of evening which being the last ceremony of the years is the award for a student playing a sport each and every season every year while in school (fall,winter,spring ) he said he has been at school for over 40 years and when he first would give out award there was dozens of make and female student athletes who achieved this milestone .. he says thiS YEAR ONE FEMALE AND ONE MALE ONLY! He says it is bc to truly compete and play at a high level to maybe play on college level the time and commitment from these club teams is a year round commitment which is so Diff from years past ! He says it is just another sign of the times ..mind you the next year we had special ceremony from a psych from Duke university on benefits of playing multiple sports for as long as you can mostly bc he says the percentage that committ to one sport even those that maybe in the one percent who actually play at next level will succeed but others he says will have lost out on other opportunities both physically and socially !

 

[_MIA_]

She plays the harp but not at a high level. Yes, 4.0 and solid test scores.

Are you being sarcastic?


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TBH I thought you were being sarcastic since your name is Santa, have your location as being North Pole (which I guess is consistent) and said your kid plays 10 sports..

 

[Santa]

TBH I thought you were being sarcastic since your name is Santa, have your location as being North Pole (which I guess is consistent) and said your kid plays 10 sports..

No, I am serious.
She plays baseball internationally as her primary sport but will play softball in college.

She is a driven kid who enjoys playing many sports—regularly competing in several the same day.


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[_MIA_]

No, I am serious.

My 5 YO is going to be pumped that I have a direct line to Santa..I will hit you up with a PM next November or so.

 

[jdint]

My daughter loves to compete. She plays 10 Varsity sports. She is not the best at all of them (volleyball, cross country running, Nordic skiing, rifle, tennis, wrestling) but has made the State Championships in all of them. We are very remote: taking planes to basketball games, 700 mile bus trip for Conference opponents... but those are the trips and experiences she values most of all.

She has traveled across the globe for track, softball, baseball, and basketball. She is very busy during the summer but has gotten encouraging feedback from college coaches on her athleticism.

Playing a lot of sports and trying new ones (represented USA in international competition for *table tennis*) has definitely shaped my daughter in ways playing only softball never would have.


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Are you trying to make the rest of us feel like slackers? Cuz if you are......it might be working.