I want to get a discussion going on the growing trend of Burn Out in athletics, and how it impacts the potential to play in College.
Two weeks ago while getting ready to deliver College Recruiting Simplified at a central Indiana High School, a young lady was helping me greet families at the door. She was a 12th grade golfer. I asked her if she was going to play College golf. She said no. She was going to College, but was burned out on golf. When I asked her why, she said she had been doing it year-round for long.
Last week at an event, a mother sat up front with her two daughters. One was a volleyball player, younger and fresh, the other was an upperclassmen who had played basketball. She quit because she was burned out.
I have had a lot of encounters like this on the speaking trail, so I wanted to bring up the issue of Burn Out. When I speak, I often bring up the importance to sit down as a family from time to time and talk candidly about the Burn Out possibility if your goal is to be a College athlete. To be able to play at that level will take many hours of practice, training and games.
My wife and I have six children that are athletes in the elementary, middle and high school levels in various sports. I am constantly around parents that have “been told that to play College, their kid has to go hard year round and specialize in a sport.” They don’t quite know who told them this, but they heard it so off they go. As a result, some kids get fried.
Now, some young people are “unburnable outable” as I like to say. They could play their sport 16 hours a day for 365 days a year and be happy as a puppy. Others, you have to watch it. You have to have an awareness of the pedal on the gas. When do you let up? It takes honesty from the athlete and the parent.
It’s not easy to make it to become a College athlete. It takes commitment, and part of that is keeping your eye on the goal. There will be times where it gets rough, but you have to “keep on keepin’ on” as my Uncle Everett used to say.
I do think in some cases, burnout comes from specializing. I know in some cases it is hard to play multiple sports, but I always advise it and College coaches love kids that play multiple sports. They tend to stay fresher. Maybe you can’t play three, but try two as long as you can keep your academics up. The book Athletes Wanted goes in depth into the value of playing multiple sports in High School.
Two sports that often wait very late in the recruiting process before offering scholarships are swimming and track/cross country because they want to know how committed the kids are and if burnout is a factor. If a college cross country coach see’s a 12th grader that has an impressive 16:05 p.r. time, he has to find out if that kid is still raring to go through College, or have all those miles led to burn out. Part of your job is to communicate to College coaches how fresh you are with your sport, how much you love it, and how you are fired up to get even better at it in College. Remember, establishing relationships with College coaches is about the most important thing in recruiting.
My oldest daughter is in a Swim Club. She has a passion for swimming. The Club has helped her develop as a swimmer. As an 8th grader, she goes to practice at least 3 nights a week, but she doesn’t go every night. She wants to keep her fire burning bright for the sport. She is pacing herself for High School. She often tells me of some swimmers at various schools that she knows that are quitting in High School because they are burned out.
Everyone’s situation is different. It is important, though, for everyone to have communication about it. My daughter and I discuss it regularly and candidly.
I don’t want to get too deep with this because I don’t claim to be a national expert on Burn Out in Sports, but it is bursting onto the sports scene often because of the emphasis on specializing and starting sports earlier. Just now we are starting to see some kids flame out, which is a shame. One hockey parent told me some Boston area College coaches are starting to look warily at kids that started firing pucks at age four because some of them are burning out.
For those that have seen burn out first hand, what have you learned? Respond with your experiences and lets get a discussion going. When I sent this out to people who have heard me speak before, here are responses I received:
“Charlie, I couldn’t agree with you more about specializing. Play as many sports as you can and be happy. Doing the same thing over and over again turns into a job for the kids. Most adults don’t like doing the same job day in and day out that is done over and over again, so why would a kid. I think a coach is robbing a kid of their teenage years if they tell them, their parents, or whom ever to “concentrate on one sport” or that they could be something “special” if they would put the time into a certain sport. Do as much as you can with the little amount of time you have and never leave one regret. Could’ve, Should’ve, and Would’ve is something you never want to be saying later in life.”
Jeremy McCaskill
Horizon School
“Charlie, I’ve been watching this closely with my kids as well. So far, so good. They play 6 out of 7 days a week. They have a ton of fun so I feed their hunger with new fun and creative drills so long as they don’t get full. You’re right. It’s something to watch closely.
When I was a sophomore in high-school, I played with a Division I athlete, Brad Albers, a senior at the time that committed to basketball year after year. He was always in the top 20-25 in the state in scoring. He scored the most points in our school history, etc., but didn’t get picked up by a big university, but instead went to Danville, a smaller school. As I recall, I don’t think enough universities saw him play and there was little he or his parents did to get him exposure. However, after playing at Danville for two seasons and leading his team there, he was recognized and had offers by some larger universities and could have played his last two years at a Big Ten school as a 2 guard. However, he hit the wall and was done playing. He didn’t want to do it any longer. He finished up his education at the Purdue North Central campus which was close to home and that was it. He honestly could have been a starter and contributor to a major program but was burned out. It’s interesting that sometimes kids burn out while trying to reach their goals and others burn out upon reaching them.”
Doug Konieczny
MBA Select Youth Basketball Coach
