Recently I have been discussing with several people about sports specialization vs being a multi-sport athlete. So, I have decided to share my thoughts on this with the rest of you.
When I was younger, kids were told to be well balanced in what they did. We would play all sports. Some parents believe that specialization can help their children become stars, earning a college scholarship or even a pro career.
When an athlete decides to give their all in a single sport, it seems like it would be rewarding. By focusing your attention on just one sport, you can become somewhat of an expert in that sport. You'll have a lot of time to practice and focus on improving your skills in that sport. You will also have the time to attend camps and join club teams.
But, (Yes, there's always a "but".) there are many benefits to be gained by being a multi-sport athlete. And I believe in student athletes playing multiple sports.
When you participate in multiple sports, you absorb different types of skills and disciplines from each sport.
Every time I'm talking to a student athlete about playing multiple sports the first thing to come out of their mouths is that they don't want to risk an injury. Understandable. But, (yes, another "but".) a student athlete puts themselves at a higher risk of injury when focusing on a single sport. There’s probably more hours of competition in that one sport than there are competing if they have two or three other sports. It’s the hours of competition that puts them most at risk for injuries.
Although, I do understand that you or your child will eventually go to college to play a single sport, I encourage you or them to play multiple sports throughout middle school, high school and even before that.
Pictured: 42 of Urban Meyer's 47 Ohio State University football recruits were HS multi-sport athletes.
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