When to specialize?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you don't have to completely specialize, but drop from 4 sports to 2 or 3. Then they'll be less conflict and more time for focusing (and not letting down teammates).

We've either personally dealt with or had friends who dealt with a lot of solid players missing out on games this year because they are overcommitted - either multi-sport athletes or playing on 2 or 3 different teams in the same sport. People end up getting frustrated when that happens.

Good point about dropping from 4 to 2.

The other thing to consider is that if you do a field sport, its hard to do 2, bc programs offer it in both fall/spring.

So if your kid plays soccer, maybe their second sport is a winter sport, not a spring sport.

[Anonymous]

You cant - and shouldnt- play two sports at once. When people talk about multi-sport they dont mean at the same time/season. Thats ludicrous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You cant - and shouldnt- play two sports at once. When people talk about multi-sport they dont mean at the same time/season. Thats ludicrous.

With club/travel taking over more and more of the youth sports world, more and more sports are year round/overlap.

I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm just saying you see it more and more often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cant - and shouldnt- play two sports at once. When people talk about multi-sport they dont mean at the same time/season. Thats ludicrous.

With club/travel taking over more and more of the youth sports world, more and more sports are year round/overlap.

I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm just saying you see it more and more often.

My 14 year old son plays baseball and basketball (both travel). Our strategy is to prioritize the seasonally “correct” sport at all times. Meaning, if his baseball team has winter practice he’ll go if he can make it, but there is no chance he’ll skip basketball for it. Similarly, as basketball drags on into spring, he might go to baseball practice over basketball practice (but probably a basketball game over baseball practice unless he’s already missed more than one baseball practice).

This seems to work for him (and us) but we have also been lucky I suppose in that none of his coaches have been lunatics who don’t understand or remember childhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people are right that the answer is to do multi-sport for as long as possible.

Unless its baseball. Then, honestly, around 12, the best players, and the ones that make varsity, are the ones that specialized. But truthfully, that's bc much of baseball is skill based, not necessarily athleticism.

But for the other sports, cross-train. 3 sports a year for as long as possible.

And hopefully one of them is either wrestling or swim. Bc that sets you up to be the fittest on the "other teams" in spring/fall

No, not unless it is baseball. Lots of great baseball varsity players play multiple sports.

There is no one answer. Kids in the DR do nothing but play baseball and they have the highest per capita representation in the MLB.

Regardless of Trevor Bauer’s personal issues, he readily admits he is a terrible general athlete and would never have played in college and the MLB without devoting his efforts to pitching.

It’s rare that someone is a multi sport athlete that isn’t just a top athlete in general. That said, both Brock Purdy and Patrick Mahomes eventually gave up baseball around 16 to focus on football.

You don’t see a HS kid that is a superstar in one sport and just meh in another and continues with both.

Nobody is talking about professional athletes.

And correct, there is no one answer. Thus, the statement “unless it’s baseball” is nonsense. There are many kids who play baseball at a very high level along with another sport.

Sure. There are just "studs" at every school. Kids that can do anything

But baseball also has the higher percentage of kids that wouldn't stand a chance at any other competitive varsity athlete. Kids that are PO who would never make any other sport, JV or otherwise.

I guess my point is that there are parts of baseball that don't rely as much as on athleticism, and much more on skill. If your kid isn't one of those "studs" that can pick up any sport in a week and be the best player on the field, then baseball is a good sport for them to specialize in early. If they can throw a nasty slider, but can't squat their own bodyweight at 15 or run the 40 in under 7 seconds, you'll still have a shot at a baseball career.

But slow and/or weak won't work in any other sport.

And FWIW, I say that as a baseball Dad (and former baseball coach). On my MS aged teams, I always looked for athletic kids first, but would happily take the kid that only weight 70 pounds that could locate a curveball.

I know Trevor Bauer is controversial...but he will be the first to describe himself as a terrible athlete. He's slow and his vertical leap is about 4 inches. But, he devoted himself to pitching and was one of the first Driveline adherents and was one of the best MLB pitchers for several years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cant - and shouldnt- play two sports at once. When people talk about multi-sport they dont mean at the same time/season. Thats ludicrous.

With club/travel taking over more and more of the youth sports world, more and more sports are year round/overlap.

I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm just saying you see it more and more often.

My 14 year old son plays baseball and basketball (both travel). Our strategy is to prioritize the seasonally “correct” sport at all times. Meaning, if his baseball team has winter practice he’ll go if he can make it, but there is no chance he’ll skip basketball for it. Similarly, as basketball drags on into spring, he might go to baseball practice over basketball practice (but probably a basketball game over baseball practice unless he’s already missed more than one baseball practice).

This seems to work for him (and us) but we have also been lucky I suppose in that none of his coaches have been lunatics who don’t understand or remember childhood.

This is what we've done (not baseball/basketball but lax and basketball). It just demonstrates how awful soccer is with club coaches and directors seeking out the next Christian Pulisic but you got to feed the travel soccer fees and salaries.

No other sport seems to want to demand as much "practice" time as the other sports. Soccer starts in the late summer and basically runs through June and there are generally no excuses. All the other sports seem to understand there is an offseason and take time off for long stretches. The AAU season starts after the normal season is over. Most HS lax travel programs have a few practices in the fall and winter and take off much of the spring for HS (youth is a little different with HOCO). Football has fall and that's it. But, soccer runs all year. Maybe we've been lucky but most of the coaches we've crossed paths with in travel sports have accommodated the view that missing practice in the off season for in season sports and games was okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cant - and shouldnt- play two sports at once. When people talk about multi-sport they dont mean at the same time/season. Thats ludicrous.

With club/travel taking over more and more of the youth sports world, more and more sports are year round/overlap.

I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm just saying you see it more and more often.

My 14 year old son plays baseball and basketball (both travel). Our strategy is to prioritize the seasonally “correct” sport at all times. Meaning, if his baseball team has winter practice he’ll go if he can make it, but there is no chance he’ll skip basketball for it. Similarly, as basketball drags on into spring, he might go to baseball practice over basketball practice (but probably a basketball game over baseball practice unless he’s already missed more than one baseball practice).

This seems to work for him (and us) but we have also been lucky I suppose in that none of his coaches have been lunatics who don’t understand or remember childhood.

This is what we've done (not baseball/basketball but lax and basketball). It just demonstrates how awful soccer is with club coaches and directors seeking out the next Christian Pulisic but you got to feed the travel soccer fees and salaries.

No other sport seems to want to demand as much "practice" time as the other sports. Soccer starts in the late summer and basically runs through June and there are generally no excuses. All the other sports seem to understand there is an offseason and take time off for long stretches. The AAU season starts after the normal season is over. Most HS lax travel programs have a few practices in the fall and winter and take off much of the spring for HS (youth is a little different with HOCO). Football has fall and that's it. But, soccer runs all year. Maybe we've been lucky but most of the coaches we've crossed paths with in travel sports have accommodated the view that missing practice in the off season for in season sports and games was okay.

I think soccer is somehow trying to create a system that competes internationally. It seems to be the only sport where the elite club teams expressly prohibit your playing for your HS team. That said, it is also the only US sport where kids are turning professional at 14 like the phenom from Philadelphia that will be playing for Manchester City when he turns 16 and is playing for the MLS team at 14 & 15. It's fairly common for 14, 15 and 16 year old phenoms in Europe turning pro.

[Anonymous]

My son, in middle school, plays for a higher level/tier AAU basketball team that travels at times. His coach either kicked off or forced several players to quit because they were either playing for another team on-the-sly or playing on baseball teams and missing practices. We never knew who was going to show up for practice. Coach sent out a long email of expectations to parents going forward about the importance of NOT skipping practices (or losing playing time). He expects the players to show up to some practices, even if injured, to listen and observe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cant - and shouldnt- play two sports at once. When people talk about multi-sport they dont mean at the same time/season. Thats ludicrous.

With club/travel taking over more and more of the youth sports world, more and more sports are year round/overlap.

I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm just saying you see it more and more often.

My 14 year old son plays baseball and basketball (both travel). Our strategy is to prioritize the seasonally “correct” sport at all times. Meaning, if his baseball team has winter practice he’ll go if he can make it, but there is no chance he’ll skip basketball for it. Similarly, as basketball drags on into spring, he might go to baseball practice over basketball practice (but probably a basketball game over baseball practice unless he’s already missed more than one baseball practice).

This seems to work for him (and us) but we have also been lucky I suppose in that none of his coaches have been lunatics who don’t understand or remember childhood.

This is what we've done (not baseball/basketball but lax and basketball). It just demonstrates how awful soccer is with club coaches and directors seeking out the next Christian Pulisic but you got to feed the travel soccer fees and salaries.

No other sport seems to want to demand as much "practice" time as the other sports. Soccer starts in the late summer and basically runs through June and there are generally no excuses. All the other sports seem to understand there is an offseason and take time off for long stretches. The AAU season starts after the normal season is over. Most HS lax travel programs have a few practices in the fall and winter and take off much of the spring for HS (youth is a little different with HOCO). Football has fall and that's it. But, soccer runs all year. Maybe we've been lucky but most of the coaches we've crossed paths with in travel sports have accommodated the view that missing practice in the off season for in season sports and games was okay.

FYI - spring workouts began in March. And the 7:00 AM workouts begin (for our HS at least) literally the day after the last day of school.

Football definitely gets winter off from organized training, but even then, the kids are in the weight room. But the formal weight training began again in March

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son, in middle school, plays for a higher level/tier AAU basketball team that travels at times. His coach either kicked off or forced several players to quit because they were either playing for another team on-the-sly or playing on baseball teams and missing practices. We never knew who was going to show up for practice. Coach sent out a long email of expectations to parents going forward about the importance of NOT skipping practices (or losing playing time). He expects the players to show up to some practices, even if injured, to listen and observe.

And how do you feel about this? Personally I think this coach sounds ridiculous, but I guess this is a model that works for some people.

[Anonymous]

Trying to make football, travel hockey, and lacrosse work. Football is the one that needs to go. The risk of injury is high, the season overlaps with hockey, and the football coaches expect football to be a priority, but it's not for DS. He wants to be able to go to football so long as there is no hockey practice or game. Hockey + lacrosse work well together (playing for a club that is spring/summer only).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son, in middle school, plays for a higher level/tier AAU basketball team that travels at times. His coach either kicked off or forced several players to quit because they were either playing for another team on-the-sly or playing on baseball teams and missing practices. We never knew who was going to show up for practice. Coach sent out a long email of expectations to parents going forward about the importance of NOT skipping practices (or losing playing time). He expects the players to show up to some practices, even if injured, to listen and observe.

And how do you feel about this? Personally I think this coach sounds ridiculous, but I guess this is a model that works for some people.

I don't know how high-level the AAU program may be, but DMV HS basketball is kind of like college recruiting. PVI, Sidwell, SJC, Dematha, Gonzaga, etc. are all watching these AAU games trying to recruit players. A coach from a high-level team will be judged by how many players get recruited to these HSs.

The rat race starts earlier in basketball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to make football, travel hockey, and lacrosse work. Football is the one that needs to go. The risk of injury is high, the season overlaps with hockey, and the football coaches expect football to be a priority, but it's not for DS. He wants to be able to go to football so long as there is no hockey practice or game. Hockey + lacrosse work well together (playing for a club that is spring/summer only).

Sounds like as long as your DS is on board you have a decent path forward to downselect but not completely specialize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to make football, travel hockey, and lacrosse work. Football is the one that needs to go. The risk of injury is high, the season overlaps with hockey, and the football coaches expect football to be a priority, but it's not for DS. He wants to be able to go to football so long as there is no hockey practice or game. Hockey + lacrosse work well together (playing for a club that is spring/summer only).

Sounds like as long as your DS is on board you have a decent path forward to downselect but not completely specialize.

Down-select is such a better description than specialize.

Bc even if your child wants to really dedicate their time to one sport, its still beneficial to find other training/sport to do when possible, just to introduce new movements/patterns/etc into their training.

So drop football, for sure, and focus on hockey. But maybe in the spring, find a track program, or a bootcamp series in the summer to keep his body moving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cant - and shouldnt- play two sports at once. When people talk about multi-sport they dont mean at the same time/season. Thats ludicrous.

With club/travel taking over more and more of the youth sports world, more and more sports are year round/overlap.

I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm just saying you see it more and more often.

My 14 year old son plays baseball and basketball (both travel). Our strategy is to prioritize the seasonally “correct” sport at all times. Meaning, if his baseball team has winter practice he’ll go if he can make it, but there is no chance he’ll skip basketball for it. Similarly, as basketball drags on into spring, he might go to baseball practice over basketball practice (but probably a basketball game over baseball practice unless he’s already missed more than one baseball practice).

This seems to work for him (and us) but we have also been lucky I suppose in that none of his coaches have been lunatics who don’t understand or remember childhood.

This is what we've done (not baseball/basketball but lax and basketball). It just demonstrates how awful soccer is with club coaches and directors seeking out the next Christian Pulisic but you got to feed the travel soccer fees and salaries.

No other sport seems to want to demand as much "practice" time as the other sports. Soccer starts in the late summer and basically runs through June and there are generally no excuses. All the other sports seem to understand there is an offseason and take time off for long stretches. The AAU season starts after the normal season is over. Most HS lax travel programs have a few practices in the fall and winter and take off much of the spring for HS (youth is a little different with HOCO). Football has fall and that's it. But, soccer runs all year. Maybe we've been lucky but most of the coaches we've crossed paths with in travel sports have accommodated the view that missing practice in the off season for in season sports and games was okay.

FYI - spring workouts began in March. And the 7:00 AM workouts begin (for our HS at least) literally the day after the last day of school.

Football definitely gets winter off from organized training, but even then, the kids are in the weight room. But the formal weight training began again in March

Sure. But, the OPs kid is in middle school so I doubt there is formal off season workouts that the DC is missing. HS is a completely different story.