How many sports do your kids play/compete in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't specialize too early.

The best way to develop a well rounded athlete is to play as many different sports as possible.

For my 11yo son, its:

Fall: Football
Winter: Wrestling
Spring: Baseball

Too many of his friends have become ALL baseball, or ALL lacrosse.

They will not become the best athletes they can be. These kids don't need to specialize until they reach the collegiate, or at the very least, varsity level

Agreed but the push is for travel sports early on that requires a huge time commitment, often year round. It's a cash cow and not going anywhere anytime soon. Varsity HS teams are mostly made up of kids who did/do travel sports.

Agreed, and the societal/peer pressure push is real. But I tell my son ALL the time, just because they play baseball year round, doesnt not make them a better athlete, nor does it mean they will automatically be a better baseball player.

I'm sticking to it. I think, when push comes to shove, and they are trying out for varsity spots on the team, his ability to be a well rounded athlete will help him more than the kids who specialized

Plus, lets be honest, none of these kids on year round travel baseball are making the big leagues.

Its just more fun to play a lot of sports. And that's what youth sports should be: FUN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't specialize too early.

The best way to develop a well rounded athlete is to play as many different sports as possible.

For my 11yo son, its:

Fall: Football
Winter: Wrestling
Spring: Baseball

Too many of his friends have become ALL baseball, or ALL lacrosse.

They will not become the best athletes they can be. These kids don't need to specialize until they reach the collegiate, or at the very least, varsity level

Agreed but the push is for travel sports early on that requires a huge time commitment, often year round. It's a cash cow and not going anywhere anytime soon. Varsity HS teams are mostly made up of kids who did/do travel sports.

+1 unfortunately (in my area) if you want to have any hope of playing in high school (at ALL, not even just varsity) you have to play club/travel. A rec kid would never play past middle school age, if even that. Not a fan of this AT ALL but seems to be reality. And most travel/club teams require serious commitment, with other sports needing to come a distance 2nd (true the older they get).

you don need to play travel. However, the exposer will give the kids an advantage to a kid who hasnt.

[Anonymous]

10 year old DD dances 4 days a week and plays tennis 1 day a week.

8 year old DD does gymnastics 2 days a week, tennis 1 day a week, and ice skating 1 day a week.

These are all pretty much year round (except for the summer).

[Anonymous]

Right now I have a kid in dance and softball. It definitely feels like she’s going to have to prioritize one in the coming year.

[Anonymous]

There are some sports that you have to prioritize and frankly focus exclusively on pretty early if your kid is going to compete. Thankfully, these are pretty few: I would put figure skating and gymnastics into that pile. Possibly, dance as well (probably the most competitive "non-competitive" activity there is for kids).

Soccer is also a sport that you have to pick up pretty young (9 or 10) or you will forever be too far behind to catch up. Baseball (but not softball) is also getting this way. It is not that you must play year round, but you must play, and possibly at a higher level, before age 12.

A good many sports do not really get started competitively until middle school ages. Track and field, cross-country, wrestling, sking, volleyball, swim, golf, tennis, field hockey, crew, volleyball and even basketball are some examples. Yes you will find little kids leagues, but the participants are not so far advanced that it is difficult for an athletic kid to catch up in a year or two.

Now -- as far as high school sports participation -- a ton depends on where you live and what school your kid will attend. And, of course, what sports your kid is interested in. No cut sports -- no problem. Other's -- the well rounded kid likely loses out to kids who have focused on that sport. Small school -- more opportunity to play multiple varsity sports. Big school -- more requirement to focus if you want to play a sport where there are team cuts.

Don't know about your kids' likely high school? Get on line. Look up the football team and see who played quarterback. What other sports did they play last year (covid permitting). My nephew graduated last year from a small public school (enrollment about 500). He played football, basketball and golf. At the big suburban school my kids' grew up attending -- basketball and golf teams were filled by kids who focused only on those sports.

Can you catch up? The answer is: Typically no. Sure, Dennis Rodman can grow 6 inches from Freshman to Sophomore year in college. He caught up. But, your typical kid is not going to catch up. Why? Because all the other kids are working hard to get better too.

My daughter played 4 years of college soccer. To do that she had to play club soccer from u9. Her u16 year a girl showed up at open tryouts and made the team. She was tall and fast and her dad had been coaching her at a smaller local club. She was a nice, hard-working kid, who was the worst player on the team by far. Had she come to play for the club at 12 versus 16 she almost certainly would have been a top Power 5 Conference recruit, because of her size and speed. She ended up playing D2 for 4 years which was nice. But, that was the difference between a kid who played low level club versus high level club through their middle school years. That same thing goes on all the time, in every sport.


Finally -- as a bit of an aside -- colleges do not want well-rounded kids. Colleges want well-rounded classes. They want kids who collectively stand out in a variety of activities and skills. They want the artist who focused for years on oils and displays in local galleries; the musician who spends 4 hours a day practicing and plays with a band and the local orchestra. Those are the stand out kids. Most of our kids are not standout kids. So -- they need to get in on good grades and pretty much everything else they do is for their own entertainment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some sports that you have to prioritize and frankly focus exclusively on pretty early if your kid is going to compete. Thankfully, these are pretty few: I would put figure skating and gymnastics into that pile. Possibly, dance as well (probably the most competitive "non-competitive" activity there is for kids).

Soccer is also a sport that you have to pick up pretty young (9 or 10) or you will forever be too far behind to catch up. Baseball (but not softball) is also getting this way. It is not that you must play year round, but you must play, and possibly at a higher level, before age 12.

A good many sports do not really get started competitively until middle school ages. Track and field, cross-country, wrestling, sking, volleyball, swim, golf, tennis, field hockey, crew, volleyball and even basketball are some examples. Yes you will find little kids leagues, but the participants are not so far advanced that it is difficult for an athletic kid to catch up in a year or two.

Now -- as far as high school sports participation -- a ton depends on where you live and what school your kid will attend. And, of course, what sports your kid is interested in. No cut sports -- no problem. Other's -- the well rounded kid likely loses out to kids who have focused on that sport. Small school -- more opportunity to play multiple varsity sports. Big school -- more requirement to focus if you want to play a sport where there are team cuts.

Don't know about your kids' likely high school? Get on line. Look up the football team and see who played quarterback. What other sports did they play last year (covid permitting). My nephew graduated last year from a small public school (enrollment about 500). He played football, basketball and golf. At the big suburban school my kids' grew up attending -- basketball and golf teams were filled by kids who focused only on those sports.

Can you catch up? The answer is: Typically no. Sure, Dennis Rodman can grow 6 inches from Freshman to Sophomore year in college. He caught up. But, your typical kid is not going to catch up. Why? Because all the other kids are working hard to get better too.

My daughter played 4 years of college soccer. To do that she had to play club soccer from u9. Her u16 year a girl showed up at open tryouts and made the team. She was tall and fast and her dad had been coaching her at a smaller local club. She was a nice, hard-working kid, who was the worst player on the team by far. Had she come to play for the club at 12 versus 16 she almost certainly would have been a top Power 5 Conference recruit, because of her size and speed. She ended up playing D2 for 4 years which was nice. But, that was the difference between a kid who played low level club versus high level club through their middle school years. That same thing goes on all the time, in every sport.


Finally -- as a bit of an aside -- colleges do not want well-rounded kids. Colleges want well-rounded classes. They want kids who collectively stand out in a variety of activities and skills. They want the artist who focused for years on oils and displays in local galleries; the musician who spends 4 hours a day practicing and plays with a band and the local orchestra. Those are the stand out kids. Most of our kids are not standout kids. So -- they need to get in on good grades and pretty much everything else they do is for their own entertainment.

Well that was one big non-sensical ramble

[Anonymous]

All your DD’s are going to look too muscular.

[Anonymous]

DD 13- no sports (she hates them).

DS 11- fall and spring travel baseball (practices 2x week, sometimes additional optional workouts like batting practice, and doubleheader games on Sundays). He'll do one last Little League spring season as well. Pre-COVID, did rec basketball in the winter (one practice, one game/week) and summer (no practices, one game/week).