Wide variety of sports versus year round specialization?

[Anonymous]

Our 6th grade old loves basically all sports and plays a lot of them. He isn't the very best on any of his teams, but seems to be within the top quarter, and the coaches always say he's a strong athlete and should be doing more of x sport (whatever the sport is they are coaching) and he could really excel, has so much potential. He loves them all and can't seem to choose to give one up, so he ends up doing them all on a rec level, with multiple sports per season, and seasons start to overlap. Of course, we want him to enjoy his sports and don't want to take that away just because it's not on a certain track that other kids are on -- on the other hand, we don't want to hurt his chances of excelling at a certain sport by not playing travel and practicing a lot which seems to lead to specialization and high school teams.
Any advice from those with older kids? Athletic kids who have done a variety of sports for longer than most but still played high school sports? we keep meeting families whose kids are specializing in one sport year round younger and younger. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

We have steered our kids towards sports that they are excellent at now and will be able to continue in as adults- one golf and one swimming. We figure that even if they give up those sports competitively as kids they can still easily pick them up again recreationally as adults. They both also play on basketball rec teams, but the primary focus is on swimming and golf. The older one was an excellent tennis player but his heart wasn't in it so he gave it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our 6th grade old loves basically all sports and plays a lot of them. He isn't the very best on any of his teams, but seems to be within the top quarter, and the coaches always say he's a strong athlete and should be doing more of x sport (whatever the sport is they are coaching) and he could really excel, has so much potential. He loves them all and can't seem to choose to give one up, so he ends up doing them all on a rec level, with multiple sports per season, and seasons start to overlap. Of course, we want him to enjoy his sports and don't want to take that away just because it's not on a certain track that other kids are on -- on the other hand, we don't want to hurt his chances of excelling at a certain sport by not playing travel and practicing a lot which seems to lead to specialization and high school teams.
Any advice from those with older kids? Athletic kids who have done a variety of sports for longer than most but still played high school sports? we keep meeting families whose kids are specializing in one sport year round younger and younger. Thanks.

You can "specialize" in one and still play in rec sports. However, some sports he may be well behind in some skill sets that would make specialization difficult. Take soccer for example, he could likely join a travel team and it may not be a high level team and that is okay. But, the quality of the experience, commitment wise, may not be better than what he is getting in a cheaper and less demanding rec program.

But, in order to specialize at his current "later age", he would have to display a particular passion for the sport. There is nothing wrong with keeping life simple and enjoying all the sports at a rec level.

[Anonymous]

Many kids specialize, but that's often because kids who play club or travel end up having a hard time fitting other sports into their schedule. My children each have a club or travel team, and then play rec sports around that schedule. Their club lacrosse coaches have always recommended basketball as a good sport for lacrosse players.

If your kid likes a specific position, it may help to make sure he's attending camps or training opportunities associated with that position. But if he's a good general athlete, and has experience with a variety of sports, he should be fine. We ended up going club/travel because the kids friends went that way, more than that the kids were ready to start focusing on one particular sport.

[Anonymous]

Our kids play multiple sports, they play some year round but mix others in. It is important.

They will play 2 or three in high school, one currently does and is probably going to play one in college.

don't fall for the specialization, good quality coaches will encourage the mix up and down time.

Less injuries, more friends, more overall conditioning and like pp said, life long ability to play many things.

[Anonymous]

In this area, kids who play a sport only at the recreational level will have great difficulty making the varsity team at the big public high schools and the larger private/Catholic high schools.

There are some exceptions of course. For instance, there are always a few recreational team coaches i any rec league that are as good at training players as the typical travel team coach. And some recreational leagues provide tiered levels of competition which can largely mimic the competition found at the middle to lower levels of a travel sport and thereby challenge even the best rec players and teams. Those are pretty unique circumstances, however, and if you are not playing rec for a talented knowledgable coach and at the top of a tiered rec league, your kid is falling further and further behind his/her travel team peers each season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In this area, kids who play a sport only at the recreational level will have great difficulty making the varsity team at the big public high schools and the larger private/Catholic high schools.

There are some exceptions of course. For instance, there are always a few recreational team coaches i any rec league that are as good at training players as the typical travel team coach. And some recreational leagues provide tiered levels of competition which can largely mimic the competition found at the middle to lower levels of a travel sport and thereby challenge even the best rec players and teams. Those are pretty unique circumstances, however, and if you are not playing rec for a talented knowledgable coach and at the top of a tiered rec league, your kid is falling further and further behind his/her travel team peers each season.

I think this depends greatly on the particular sport. If you are a good enough athlete and are blessed with size and speed sports like basketball and football, track (possibly), cross country, wrestling can be played in HS without tremendous travel experience.

Baseball, soccer and LAX, to a lesser extent, require more experience but is largely dependent upon the player pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In this area, kids who play a sport only at the recreational level will have great difficulty making the varsity team at the big public high schools and the larger private/Catholic high schools.

There are some exceptions of course. For instance, there are always a few recreational team coaches i any rec league that are as good at training players as the typical travel team coach. And some recreational leagues provide tiered levels of competition which can largely mimic the competition found at the middle to lower levels of a travel sport and thereby challenge even the best rec players and teams. Those are pretty unique circumstances, however, and if you are not playing rec for a talented knowledgable coach and at the top of a tiered rec league, your kid is falling further and further behind his/her travel team peers each season.

I think this depends greatly on the particular sport. If you are a good enough athlete and are blessed with size and speed sports like basketball and football, track (possibly), cross country, wrestling can be played in HS without tremendous travel experience.

Baseball, soccer and LAX, to a lesser extent, require more experience but is largely dependent upon the player pool.

PP, here and yes my comments were directed towards team sports where year round travel teams operate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In this area, kids who play a sport only at the recreational level will have great difficulty making the varsity team at the big public high schools and the larger private/Catholic high schools.

There are some exceptions of course. For instance, there are always a few recreational team coaches i any rec league that are as good at training players as the typical travel team coach. And some recreational leagues provide tiered levels of competition which can largely mimic the competition found at the middle to lower levels of a travel sport and thereby challenge even the best rec players and teams. Those are pretty unique circumstances, however, and if you are not playing rec for a talented knowledgable coach and at the top of a tiered rec league, your kid is falling further and further behind his/her travel team peers each season.

I think this depends greatly on the particular sport. If you are a good enough athlete and are blessed with size and speed sports like basketball and football, track (possibly), cross country, wrestling can be played in HS without tremendous travel experience.

Baseball, soccer and LAX, to a lesser extent, require more experience but is largely dependent upon the player pool.

PP, here and yes my comments were directed towards team sports where year round travel teams operate.

Does he play a particular sport in a 'pick up" situation with friends more than other sports?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In this area, kids who play a sport only at the recreational level will have great difficulty making the varsity team at the big public high schools and the larger private/Catholic high schools.

There are some exceptions of course. For instance, there are always a few recreational team coaches i any rec league that are as good at training players as the typical travel team coach. And some recreational leagues provide tiered levels of competition which can largely mimic the competition found at the middle to lower levels of a travel sport and thereby challenge even the best rec players and teams. Those are pretty unique circumstances, however, and if you are not playing rec for a talented knowledgable coach and at the top of a tiered rec league, your kid is falling further and further behind his/her travel team peers each season.

I think this depends greatly on the particular sport. If you are a good enough athlete and are blessed with size and speed sports like basketball and football, track (possibly), cross country, wrestling can be played in HS without tremendous travel experience.

Baseball, soccer and LAX, to a lesser extent, require more experience but is largely dependent upon the player pool.

+1. Of course specialization doesn't have to mean only playing a single sport, just that you put a lot of time into that sport. Plenty of top soccer players play rec basketball or other sports in the winter.

[Anonymous]

I think being "good" at a sport is good for kids' confidence, so I think some specialization is healthy and worthwhile. Plus, playing at a higher level can be helpful in getting a leg up in admission to some schools.

That said, in addition to some specialization for my kids, I also want them to have exposure to other sports that are fun and they may want to know how to play now or in the future:

- throw and catch a football and baseball
- toss a Frisbee
- basic tennis
- ping pong - odd to list maybe but seems most adults know how to play pretty well
- row a rowboat and paddle a canoe
- read the wind and sail a sailboat
- camping/hiking - set up a tent and build a fire, outdoor sleeping experience, plus basic knife usage/whittling
- swimming/diving - be able to do decently and safely, understanding water safety too
- fishing - how to hook a worm, cast a line, take a hook out of a fish
- shooting/hunting - basic gun usage and safety

[Roar]

My son plays travel hockey at a Tier 1 level. We shut him down right after his season for a month (except for his private lessons 1x per week) and let him enjoy Lacrosse. I found that he's way more refreshed when he comes back to the ice vs. the year round kids.

If you think you're kid might miss out on making the upper team by not playing in the spring league, sometimes the opposite is true. The kids flaws get noticed during spring and it can taint the coaches vs. the kid who comes in fresh at the tryouts and looks like the shiny new object.

I also worry about wear/tear on joints and burnout, so letting them play something different is really great. A couple of years ago, Syracuse had a lax midfielder who was also Mr. Ohio in hockey. Syracuse coach commented on how much he loved that because 2 sport athletes can balance/time and pressure really well.

[Anonymous]

Roar wrote:My son plays travel hockey at a Tier 1 level. We shut him down right after his season for a month (except for his private lessons 1x per week) and let him enjoy Lacrosse. I found that he's way more refreshed when he comes back to the ice vs. the year round kids.

If you think you're kid might miss out on making the upper team by not playing in the spring league, sometimes the opposite is true. The kids flaws get noticed during spring and it can taint the coaches vs. the kid who comes in fresh at the tryouts and looks like the shiny new object.

I also worry about wear/tear on joints and burnout, so letting them play something different is really great. A couple of years ago, Syracuse had a lax midfielder who was also Mr. Ohio in hockey. Syracuse coach commented on how much he loved that because 2 sport athletes can balance/time and pressure really well.

There is far more synergy between hockey and lacrosse versus many other second sports. I get what you are saying, but the sports are so complimentary to each other that lacrosse should almost be required by any ice hockey player.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Roar wrote:My son plays travel hockey at a Tier 1 level. We shut him down right after his season for a month (except for his private lessons 1x per week) and let him enjoy Lacrosse. I found that he's way more refreshed when he comes back to the ice vs. the year round kids.

If you think you're kid might miss out on making the upper team by not playing in the spring league, sometimes the opposite is true. The kids flaws get noticed during spring and it can taint the coaches vs. the kid who comes in fresh at the tryouts and looks like the shiny new object.

I also worry about wear/tear on joints and burnout, so letting them play something different is really great. A couple of years ago, Syracuse had a lax midfielder who was also Mr. Ohio in hockey. Syracuse coach commented on how much he loved that because 2 sport athletes can balance/time and pressure really well.

There is far more synergy between hockey and lacrosse versus many other second sports. I get what you are saying, but the sports are so complimentary to each other that lacrosse should almost be required by any ice hockey player.

This comment reminded me of what one of my college classmates - a sprinter from Jamaica - said while watching his first college lacrosse game. He said, "I get this sport ... its just hockey in the air"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Roar wrote:My son plays travel hockey at a Tier 1 level. We shut him down right after his season for a month (except for his private lessons 1x per week) and let him enjoy Lacrosse. I found that he's way more refreshed when he comes back to the ice vs. the year round kids.

If you think you're kid might miss out on making the upper team by not playing in the spring league, sometimes the opposite is true. The kids flaws get noticed during spring and it can taint the coaches vs. the kid who comes in fresh at the tryouts and looks like the shiny new object.

I also worry about wear/tear on joints and burnout, so letting them play something different is really great. A couple of years ago, Syracuse had a lax midfielder who was also Mr. Ohio in hockey. Syracuse coach commented on how much he loved that because 2 sport athletes can balance/time and pressure really well.

There is far more synergy between hockey and lacrosse versus many other second sports. I get what you are saying, but the sports are so complimentary to each other that lacrosse should almost be required by any ice hockey player.

This comment reminded me of what one of my college classmates - a sprinter from Jamaica - said while watching his first college lacrosse game. He said, "I get this sport ... its just hockey in the air"

It is just hockey in the air. Gretzky credits lacrosse for teaching him how to set up shop behind the net. He also credits lacrosse for continuing to develop stick control. The wrist motions are mostly the same.