The Multi-Sport Athlete
December 2nd, 2009 - byImagine that you were looking to purchase a car stereo for around $100, and these were your options:
• am/fm with CD player
• am/fm with CD player and detachable face
• am/fm with CD player, detachable face, and mini-stereo input for iPod or other Mp3 player
If every stereo cost the same amount ($100), of course you would want to purchase the one with the most features!
College coaches also want to get the most bang for their buck. An athlete who brings skills, techniques, and that ‘extra edge’ of playing two or more sports is always going to win out over a single-sport athlete costing the same amount of scholarship dollars but with less diverse skills.
Within limits, students should try to participate in as many sports as possible while in high school. College coaches love to find student-athletes who love to compete!
“Any person who is good at multiple things has a marketing edge,” said Ty Garland, former multi-sport star in the Big Ten at Michigan State. “The more a student can show a coach, the better.”
Yet parents and students should keep some considerations in mind. First and foremost, a high school child’s academics must be considered first. Involvement in several sports should not cause overload, especially when two sports overlap.
“A coach will not even consider a student’s athletic ability if his grades are not up to par,” said Augie Maurelli of Georgetown University.
“Be careful to balance academics with love of sport. If a student loves football but is three times better at wrestling and can earn a full scholarship to a great academic school, the student might prefer to focus on wrestling instead of football, especially if football is getting in the way of his academic performance,” agreed Garland.
For a high school athlete that plays two sports, one sport is generally the primary sport, while the other is secondary. An athlete is rarely gifted with the skills to excel in two sports equally, although it is possible. Garland suggested that an athlete should begin considering not only which sport is more marketable, but also which sport the athlete excels at, by the junior or senior year.
Often, one sport will have far greater opportunities than the other, due to popularity or an abundance of programs. Football, baseball, and basketball players today are always going to have the most options, because the number of programs is greater. However, that also means that competition in those sports is very fierce.
If a student is gifted in a sport that has fewer programs around the nation, it could be that the athlete’s chances of getting noticed and of finding a good match are much higher, simply because both the student and the coaches have fewer options and less legwork. The student is less likely to get “lost in the shuffle” of a more niche sport.
An athlete should consider whether participation in a second sport will increase the chance of injury so much that participation in the primary sport is endangered. For example, a gymnast who specializes in vault might also be a hurdler, which can cause severe ankle injuries and set a gymnastic career back months and months. A missed competition could mean missing out on an offer to join a college team.
Coach’s Tip:
A student forced to choose between two sports should choose the sport the athlete loves most which may or may not be the stronger sport. During college, playing a sport can be a full-time job, so being passionate about the sport is critical to success and longevity.
Some sport combinations work synergistically—track and football, for example. For running positions on a football team, the sprints of the short distance runner and the conditioning of the long-distance runner are icing on the cake. While other players might be doing half-hearted jogs to keep in shape during the off-season, the student-athlete is following a rigorous, systematic training program to keep his body in peak physical condition while improving his speed. Competition (in heats or races) also serves to sharpen his competitive edge.
Though competing in multiple sports is encouraged at the high school level, most Division I revenue sports frown on a student-athlete competing in more than one sport because they do not believe there is enough time to excel in both. It takes a rare student-athlete to compete at the high Division I level in one sport, let alone two. The best option for the multi-sport athlete who wants to continue playing both sports in college is usually at Division II, Division III, or NAIA levels.
This advice was taken directly from Athletes Wanted – The complete game plan for maximizing athletic scholarship and life potential. To learn more about Athletes Wanted and read the full version, click here.
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:50 pm
I enjoyed this article. My son is a junior and actually has excelled at multiple sports from the age of 9 up until now. He loves to compete. However, he has decided to concentrate on football and baseball. He excels at both of these sports, and we feel that he will have a greater opportunity at being recruited in either one of these. He says that he loves both of them and has no preference. As a parent, I do not want him to drop one and then miss out on an opportunity.
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
My son is a freshman in college. In HS he had a passion for football but was really good in baseball. I wanted him to have as much fun as possible and encouraged him to play both. His teams were very successful and he was recruited for both sports. He went to a school that recruited him for football but, decided that it was not the right way to go. He is now playing and focusing on playing baseball for the same school. He and his coach are very happy.
The lesson is,you just never know how things will turn out. If you have opportunities. take advantage of them.
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:12 pm
This is a very great artical! I am a freshman in high school and i play siftball basketball and volleyball.
My dad thinks i should cut one sport out of there.
but I dont know.
Thank you!
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:37 pm
im jenny i play soccer,volleyball, track, and cross country!!..im a freshmen!!!!..
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I’m curious most of these conversations focus on boys. Does this work the same for girls, with this say volleyball and softball. My daughter and I both feel she will be better at a smaller school and she is hoping she can continue to participate in both sports, however should an opportunity for her to catch for a DI she would be all over it. Her email focus for the Showcase season was mostly DII and DII with a couple of close by DIs. Could you please, sometimes focus on girls. Some of the recruiting info is a little different. We would appreciate it.
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:49 pm
In regards to this article; do that many college coaches really collaborate about a multi-talented player for multiple sports? From what I’ve seen, example: water polo swimming, the college has two different coaches that work two different schedule and never feed each other an athlete’s talents/information. Please help me understand.
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Margie says:
My son has been running track since age 5. He is a 3X junior olympic gold medalist in track. Now in high school, while he continues to do track, he also plays football and basketball. His football coach is encouraging him to play football next year because he is so good at. He wants to run track in college and even go to the Olympics some day. Should I allow him to be a multi-sport athlete because he enjoys other sports too?
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I’ve been wondering about this for a while. I quit baseball my freshman year in high school to concentrate on wrestling and football and powerlifting but since I play running back the running back coach (who coaches pole vault) wanted me on the track team. I’m not not that good at vaulting but I don’t want to make my coach mad and possibly lose playing time. What do I do? I should also say that I’m a straight A student.
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:02 pm
This is a great article for all eigth graders going into high school next year. I am currently a senior at one of the top athletic schools in the country. I play three sports: volleyball, basketball, and softball. I am a good academic student with a 4.3 All you need to do is balance your time which is a life lesson. These three sports help each other in different ways and I love playing them. They give a break from my main sport softball. I have been contacted by colleges for all 3 sports and it helped make my decision to my school; which I may be playing 2 sports in college. So I recommend all freshman, boy or girl, to do more then 1 sport. It is very helpful and I’ll never forget all of the experiences.
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I enjoyed the article, but it did not address what a multi-sport athlete should do with the coaches who say, “if you play basketball, you will not be a starter for me in baseball. Or, the coach who says “if you miss a summer league game for another sport, you might as well quit now.” (all sports at our high school have summer programs…actually year-round programs.) I am so tired of coaches thinking they own these athletes. I think if a kid is good enough to be a starter on any team, he should be allowed to even if he is a starter in another sport. This puts so much pressure on the athletes, much more so in our case than keeping up with good grades. Kids in high school are still developing and don’t know what sport they are best at or even like the most! I wish someone would address these selfish coaches.
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I agree with Teresa. If the athlete can start in two or more sports these high school coaches need to back off. The pressure to play one sport makes the highschool experience too stressful for the athletes today. These high school coaches are tooooo selfish and it ruins the high school athletic experience.
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:17 pm
I printed this article as soon as I read it. My son playes football and Lacrosse. He also played Basketball but gave it up. He was brought up to varsity as a Sophomore for both sports but only started on the football team. He did play Varsity Lacrosse but wasn’t a starter. Now in 11th grade he is considering quiting Lacrosse as well. He made it clear to me that even if he was offered a scholarship for Lacrosse he wouldn’t take it because his love is for football. My son has a 3.9 GPA and a member of the Honor Society and plans to study Pre-Med. I have been telling him that colleges look for multi-athletic students and I hope seeing it in writing will help him understand. Thanks for writing this article.
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:04 pm
For Theresa & Anthony-
There is a point where the parent (you) need to step in and talk to these coaches. My son is a three sport athlete and each of the coaches were pressuring him and his dad and I finally stepped in and told them all they could have him during their season but not during the others! For instance, when its football season he will only be playing football, etc. If your son/daughter is a good enough athlete the coaches will back off and be happy to get them when they can!
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
This was a good article but as a high school football coach I am totally against specialization for any reason. There are a limited number of athletes at some schools and when a player decides to specialize it is going to hurt the team(s) he/she drops off of.
I do think that more kids would participate in multiple sports if coaches were less demanding in the off season. I have workouts year round just like everyone else but I try to be mindful that kids and parents have other lives. I sympathize with Teresa above. The summer is the kids time. We encourage kids to come when they can but if they are playing summer baseball or going to camps for basketball or wrestling, we allow it. All states are different but you might try contacting your state association. They may have a policy against such threats from a coach.
At the end of the day, I’d rather have one of my players playing basketball or wrestling in the winter or playing baseball, tennis or competing in track in the spring than have them in the weight room. It is my opinion that nothing will ever take the place of athletes who compete in something year round !.
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:14 pm
My son is a sophmore in High School, he plays three sports. Football, Basketball and Lacrosse. He was brought up to V football and started all the games on V Lax as a freshman. This year he started all the V FB games at QB and has made the Varsity in BBall and will be on V LAX. I found that when he is playing all the sports he is more focus and organized with his academics. Reflecting in his 3.5 GPA. We have read different views on this subject but feel it is best for him to play all three. His dream is to play football at the next level, so we will see.
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:37 pm
I coach a high level national travel baseball team. I, too, get this question asked of me. Although I understand why some play multiple sports, I actually see it hurting many careers, more than it helps. Let me explain. Say a kid is a super baseball player. He says he plays basketball in the winter just to stay in shape. Ok, true. But, what he’s losing is much more. He has no time for serious strength program (it’ll mess up his shot, right?) And, he misses valuable skill training all winter long. In the meantime player B decides to focus all winter long on getting bigger, faster and stronger and worked on skill training for baseball. Now who do you think the college baseball coach wants? You guessed it. For most high school kids its way to competitive at the college level to be mediocre at two or three sports. Like it or not, we are much more specialized now than ever before.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I always believed in allowing my son to compete in multiple sports, and he was always a standout in both baseball and basketball. The summer before his freshman year he pitched some for his school’s summer varsity team and would have been pitching varsity that spring, had he not dislocated the shoulder of his pitching arm in a freshman basketball game. He went on to play varsity basketball, but missed freshman baseball, played JV baseball, then missed his junior year all together because he had to have surgery to repair related damage from the dislocation. Based on his early performance, I have no doubt he would have been highly recruited for div 1 in baseball, but he is completely under the radar now after 9 months of rehab, and going into his senior season completely unnoticed. I still have hopes he will play in college somewhere, because not only is he throwing strong, he has a great bat and the best speed and reflexes on the team. But we have had an agonizing time of second guessing our multi-sport decision.
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:06 am
one final comment I have addresses Mark above and those like him. I am also a former division one college baseball player that played two sports in high school. I’m sure there is a study to back me up but I doubt there are any more players who specialize in high school that earn college scholarships than there are those who play multiple sports.
It started years ago with AAU basketball and it has become epidemic in baseball today in that so many claim if you focus on one sport it will increase your chances of getting a scholarship in that particular sport. It is a myth. Look at the numbers. The chances of anyone getting any athletic scholarship is very small. Play sport(s) for the love of it.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 am
I love this article. Today so many coaches and parents make High school students choose one sport and even discourage students from participating in other sports during “their” off-season. My oldest son played 2 Varsity sports all through high school and even took on a 3rd sport (track and field) his senior year for the “fun of it”. Although he was most passionate about the Water Polo in HS due to the quality of the program, he was probably best at swimming due to his club team. Today he is a DIV I college swimmer because he chose a college based on academic program (the best reason in my mind) and no Water Polo team
Without a support system that allowed him to particpate in several sports, his high school experience would not have been nearly as fullfilling and he would not be a college athlete today. The lessons/skills he learned in each sport are lifelong!
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
My daughter has been on all varsity sports since her freshmen year of high school. She is now a junior and is still playing volleyball, soccer, and softball. Last year her sophmore year she decided to add track as another sport and is thinking of adding basketball on her senior year. I had wanted her to focus on only one sport her senior year, but after reading your article I am thinking maybe that is not a good choice. Thanks for the info and both she and I will have review your article together and make a final decision before her senior year!
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Softballmom – All recruiting information is accurate for both genders. My daughter was a 5- sport athlete in Junior high, a 3-sport athlete in HS, and will graduate from college in May after playing her #1 sport for 4 years. I’m sure your daughter can find the best fit for her if she works at this process as hard as my daughter did. Good luck!
December 4th, 2009 at 8:16 am
As I read this and many articles concerning the high school student athlete, I believe the single most important article/comments are concerning the multiple sport athlete and the pressures put on them by coaches. These ahletes look to their coaches as role models, when one coach pressures the kids for their time it puts an enormous amount of stress on these kids. Coaches need to consider these issues before it leads to overload and breakdown as these kids want to be passionate about playing sports. Coaches need to coordinate these issues among themselves and keep the pressures off the kids!
December 5th, 2009 at 9:20 am
We’re frustrated with the HS coaches, too. My daughter is a 3-sport varsity athlete since freshman year. She’s a junior now, and is planning on attending high level college recruiting showcases this winter for her #1 sport. She faces a penalty of being suspended for 25% of her winter sport games for the 1st offense, and the team is at risk of forfeiting a post-season tournament slot. I mistakenly thought the HS coaches and AD would be thrilled to have one of their athletes have a successful college career . If the coaches and administration won’t be flexible, she’ll have to quit her 2nd and 3rd sports. Everyone loses under that scenario.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:34 am
My daughter was an incredible 5 sport athlete in hs. She just finfshed her first year of college at the D1 level cvompeteing in both Basketball and Track and Field.Her team went to the NIT and she broke several school records on the track. She was 2nd team all conference in track and on the Deans and the Comminsoners All Avcademic teams. She finished her freshman year with a 4.0 and very happy. She has transferred from the cold to the warmth of the south and had to sit out a year for basketball and is just competeing in track and is miserable. Once a child finds that they are good at more than one thing thaking one away is pure torture even if it is for just a year, I enccourage everyone to let their child try several things in hs.
December 14th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
My son is the straing QB for varisty High School as a sophmore and was the starting catcher for JV baseball as a freshman and will be competeing for the varisty starting catcher position. This article proves that a student athlete can excel at both sports as long as they maintain a good GPA.
December 31st, 2009 at 10:35 am
My son is now a Freshman in High School, he plays three sports. Football, Baseball and Ice Hockey. He really loves all three sports and finds it very difficult choosing one over the other so he manages to play all three with overlapping schedules. In Football was an integral part of his AYF Youth Football team that went to 5 consecutive League championships and winning 4 of 5 while 3peating from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade years while going to the National Championships each of those years 6th grade 1st runner up, 7th Grade NATIONAL CHAMPS, and 8th grade 1st runner up AYF All American Unlimited weight divisions. He was also fortunate enough to win the 2008/09 Connecticut State Championships in both Football and Junior Little League baseball last year at the 13/14 & 8th grade level advancing to the Eastern region finals in New Jersey has a very good chance to start Varsity Baseball . As a Freshman this year He started on both sides of the ball and dominated in Freshman Football as well as the Junior Varsity level and also made Varsity Football and also played offense and defense to an extent and allot of special teams play. He has played multiple sports since the age of 6/7years old and I am very proud to say that he excells at all 3 sports and is a very hard worker. He has also developed into a very solid Ice Hockey player over the last 3 years playing TIER I AAA level Hockey in the Atlantic League and is a starting player for Varsity Ice Hockey team High School Division I as a Freshman. He budgets his time very carefully and also works very hard in the classroom earning High Honors over the last several years and is currently at 3.5 GPA in High School. Frankie has also played at a very high level as a perennial All-Star pitcher/Shortstop and basically can play multiple other postions on the field wherever is needed. He bats from both sides of the plate equally well since the age of 6/7yrs old and is a clutch type seems to play his best in big games. Very focused and hard worker and physically very solid and sturdy. At this point in time is continuing what he has been doing and hopefully will do this at the next level. The dilemma will be how do you tell a player who does play at a very high level equally in 3 sports and loves them all that he will have to give one or two of these sports up some day. He is hard nose player on the field with a friendly kid off the field and all around good student academically. I just hope when the time comes that coaches don’t play the pull n’ tug game.
December 31st, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Frank – Your son is obviously a very talented student-athlete. If you wish for him to be recruited to play 1 or 2 sports in college, you’ll need to be educated on the recruiting process and the opportunities that are available. That will help you the most with your dilemma. So get competent advice from a recruiting expert. And while you’ll meet some so-called experts while sitting in the stands, the advice you’ll receive is usually wrong or out-of-date. If you want expert advice from those who have relationships with thousands of college coaches in all 3 sports, then go here: http://recruit-match.ncsasports.org/fasttrack/lead/preSAEFEntryV1.jsp?lnkSrc=SAEF-Blog
Don’t wait. As a freshman, your son is already on the recruiting clock and the next 3 years will fly by in the blink of an eye. Good luck and happy new year!
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:18 am
Thank you for a very good article. I wanted to discuss, for the benefit of anyone who might read these comments, some of the trade-offs involved in playing multiple sports. (This may come through twice as I had some computer problems.)
Our son decided, at the beginning of high school, that he wanted to play and to excel in three sports. So, he played football, basketball and lacrosse each year of high school. He developed into a good enough player that he received interest at the Division III level in each sport and even a Division I offer in lacrosse.
However, he also wanted to excel academicallyand therefore took a very challenging course load in high school. The time commitments of playing three sports plus several or more hours of homework a night made it impossible to do such things as playing on a club lacrosse team. (In addition, club lacrosse programs seem geared to the private school calendar, which means that their tryouts and initial practices fall before public school has ended and in the middle of studying for and taking finals, not to mention state lacrosse tournaments. But that is another story.) That meant he did not appear at a number of the recruting events during the summer before his senior year that are important in gaining additional exposure.
More subtly, though, playing multiple sports combined with a serious course load and the need to study for and take SATs, etc. takes a lot of time. In fact, I would argue that playing a second or certainly a third sport occupies enough of the time available to any high school student (or his or her parents) that it makes it very difficult to find the time and the energy necessary for a serious recruiting effort.
Certainly, it is possible to play even three sports and be recruited. But it makes it much more difficult both to acquire the necessary skills and to have the time available to be able to be recruited by the highest level and by a school that fits both academically and athletically.
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Thanks for sharing your son’s experience.