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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]absolutely keep it diverse. not only will it keep them happy, but if you are serious about a future in sports -- and I'm not saying pro -- the variety of sports and skills they encourage will help them in the long-term.

Except for sports like gymnastics of figure skating where 14 is the start of peak time, the transformation that kids go through at 14 will totally change the picture for them.

investing lots of money in training and burning your kid out because they like basketball and are the tallest 4th grader means nothing when they stop growing at age 15 and top out at 5'8. Likewise I know several college basketball playes who had never played organized basketball unti ltheir sophomore year at college when they showed up on the first day after a summer growth spurt, suddenly 6'2+.

And if you ask anyone who is not being paid to encourage you to put your kids in travel before the age of 13, what they recommend for development, the answer is ALWAYS more sports, not just one. [/quote]

It's not that you peak at 13-14 in gymnastics and figure, it's more that you have to master certain skills by those ages to stay on a competitive track. In figure skating, for example, you need to have your double axel by ~ 10 and all your triples by 12-13 if your goal is to be nationally or internationally competitive, so by 11, you know if you're on that track, or if you're doing it recreationally, in which case by all means, do as many sports as you want.  Also, specializing in figure skating doesn't mean you're foregoing all other sports, as most do helping sports such as ballet and other dances, gymnasts/rhythmic gymnastics. I don't know the equivalent for gymnastics, but it's similar, and even if you make a go at gymnastics at a young age, you can still ‘retire’ as a teenager and pick up another sport as an elite athlete as an elite athlete. [/quote]

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