Focusing on 1 sport

[Kingcarl24]

A trend that is taking over the sports world is kids playing only one sport and putting all their energy into that one sport. My oldest is getting to the age where she might play for school teams and we're being told if she's interested in playing basketball she HAS to join a club and start playing all year round. She's 12.

I was listening to the Ringer podcast and they had 3 coaches from baseball, basketball and football talking about sports. They got on the subject of how they like players that have played multiple sports and it's something they ask during the combines and what not. They recognized that those kinds of athletes are rare these days because of the demands of AAU and club sports.

Do you think specialization in sports will have a positive or negative effect on the sport as a whole. Will it create better, more skilled athletes or will they miss other skills that can be obtained by playing other sports? What are your thoughts?

[americaninfidel]

I think it may produce a better product on a per-sport basis. Specialists at things are generally better at them than part-timers. But I think it's bad for the kids. Mine played multiple sports from pee-wee leagues on up, and it gave them a broader experience. Not just the skillsets, but you also get exposure to more than one tiny group of people. Well-rounded is preferable for the vast majority of kids, IMO.

[kobeunderbite]

Many of the most successful athletes ever (Jordan, Federer, Trout) played multiple sports up to or through their teenage years, it's a shame that specialization will be so widely adopted.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Who cares about the pros. I think they'll be fine. Maybe even better. Besides, they are the very very elite of all athletes, so most would be good at multiple things.

I think it sucks for the other 99%. Because of the earlier age for specialization, often, kids have the sport chosen for them. When they tire of it... or want to try something new... nope. It's what you chose when you were 6 or 9 or 12. Most kids aren't uber-athletes who just make the switch easily.

I feel bad for those kids playing hoops that end up being 5'7"... maybe soccer would have been better.




[Note: I get why football digs more well-rounded athletes. It's the one sport you don't need to specialize in to excel. Heck, you don't even have to play it until you're a teen if you don't want to and still do pretty well. You can't do that with hoops or hockey or tennis or whatever. Those require more skill and years of training.]

[lettherebehouse]

Meh, I like the trade school approach. I’m training my kids 12 months out of the year to be punters. They don’t need to learn anything about anything. But if they can move a football in the air about 55 yards with their foot, there’s a $750K/year job waiting for them after college.

[CleveTown™]

Let the kid enjoy herself. Sports is meant to be fun.

[zombiesonics]

Steve Kerr talked about this last year. He said that basketball players should play soccer because it makes you a better passer.

Focusing on one sport will not only make you one-dimensional, it adds injury risk because of repetitive motion on the same body parts.

[Kingcarl24]

To me it's kind of sad that we're telling kids that in order to make it, even at the high school level, in any sport, they have to dedicate themselves to just that one sport. Gone are the kids that play football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball/track in the spring.

But I guess the point of this thread is there's apparently a disconnect between high schools/clubs/AAU and pros as the coaches are saying they want you to play multiple sports. The coaches in this podcast were saying they love a basketball player that also played quarterback because they know how to lead and direct a team.

[americaninfidel]

To me it's kind of sad that we're telling kids that in order to make it, even at the high school level, in any sport, they have to dedicate themselves to just that one sport. Gone are the kids that play football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball/track in the spring.

But I guess the point of this thread is there's apparently a disconnect between high schools/clubs/AAU and pros as the coaches are saying they want you to play multiple sports. The coaches in this podcast were saying they love a basketball player that also played quarterback because they know how to lead and direct a team.

Maybe it's because there are some high school/club/AAU coaches who are out to make a name for themselves (and then some money for themselves) by producing the next Jordan, or Mahomes, or Gretzky.

[Kingcarl24]

To me it's kind of sad that we're telling kids that in order to make it, even at the high school level, in any sport, they have to dedicate themselves to just that one sport. Gone are the kids that play football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball/track in the spring.

But I guess the point of this thread is there's apparently a disconnect between high schools/clubs/AAU and pros as the coaches are saying they want you to play multiple sports. The coaches in this podcast were saying they love a basketball player that also played quarterback because they know how to lead and direct a team.

Maybe it's because there are some high school/club/AAU coaches who are out to make a name for themselves (and then some money for themselves) by producing the next Jordan, or Mahomes, or Gretzky.

Do we know the names of any of those coaches that produce star players? I'm not involved in this at all at this level so I'm sure these guys make good money but it's not like they're famous. Or are they?

[Bush4Ever.]

Who cares about the pros. I think they'll be fine. Maybe even better. Besides, they are the very very elite of all athletes, so most would be good at multiple things.

I think it sucks for the other 99%. Because of the earlier age for specialization, often, kids have the sport chosen for them. When they tire of it... or want to try something new... nope. It's what you chose when you were 6 or 9 or 12. Most kids aren't uber-athletes who just make the switch easily.

I feel bad for those kids playing hoops that end up being 5'7"... maybe soccer would have been better.

That was basically my story....my father more or less "made me" quit baseball and really lessen boxing/Judo stuff to focus on basketball when I moved into the 7th grade. All in the name of getting a college scholarship through basketball.

Ironically, I got one from academics.

If I could dial back the clock, I think I would recognize that no matter how much "skill" I had I just didn't have the genetics to compete at the next level up in basketball. I think I might have told the quick story here about trying to walk on to the Purdue team and a player blocking my shot with his knees.

I would have probably swapped the roles of basketball and combat sports if I could do it over again, and never played baseball at all (that was almost strictly for my father because I never really liked baseball that much even though he was pretty successful in high school baseball).

[AbeVigodaLive]

Who cares about the pros. I think they'll be fine. Maybe even better. Besides, they are the very very elite of all athletes, so most would be good at multiple things.

I think it sucks for the other 99%. Because of the earlier age for specialization, often, kids have the sport chosen for them. When they tire of it... or want to try something new... nope. It's what you chose when you were 6 or 9 or 12. Most kids aren't uber-athletes who just make the switch easily.

I feel bad for those kids playing hoops that end up being 5'7"... maybe soccer would have been better.

That was basically my story....my father more or less "made me" quit baseball and really lessen boxing/Judo stuff to focus on basketball when I moved into the 7th grade. All in the name of getting a college scholarship through basketball.

Scholarship?

At larger schools, you have to specialize early, very early, just to make the high school JV team... if you're of relatively average size and athleticism.

I played four sports back in the glory days. Football, baseball, basketball... and one year of tennis. I started in all of them, to varying degrees. Some, I had to wait until I was a senior. Was I an exceptional athlete? Nope.

Today, there would be next-to-zero chance I'd be able to do that. I'd have been steered into "serious" baseball a lot earlier because I was best at that when I was young... and maybe another sport that I played at more of a rec level. Just the way it is today.



[Note: Personally, I liked competing against a bunch of other hacks.]

[zombiesonics]

Meh, I like the trade school approach. I’m training my kids 12 months out of the year to be punters. They don’t need to learn anything about anything. But if they can move a football in the air about 55 yards with their foot, there’s a $750K/year job waiting for them after college.

I don’t understand why soccer players don’t work part-time as NFL kickers and punters. It’s a hefty salary with almost no physical contact or risk involved.

They can easily be 2-sport athletes ala Bo and Prime Time.

[americaninfidel]

To me it's kind of sad that we're telling kids that in order to make it, even at the high school level, in any sport, they have to dedicate themselves to just that one sport. Gone are the kids that play football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball/track in the spring.

But I guess the point of this thread is there's apparently a disconnect between high schools/clubs/AAU and pros as the coaches are saying they want you to play multiple sports. The coaches in this podcast were saying they love a basketball player that also played quarterback because they know how to lead and direct a team.

Maybe it's because there are some high school/club/AAU coaches who are out to make a name for themselves (and then some money for themselves) by producing the next Jordan, or Mahomes, or Gretzky.

Do we know the names of any of those coaches that produce star players? I'm not involved in this at all at this level so I'm sure these guys make good money but it's not like they're famous. Or are they?

I don't. The "maybe" in my comment was meant to convey that that might be the case, not that I have personal knowledge about it.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Maybe it's because there are some high school/club/AAU coaches who are out to make a name for themselves (and then some money for themselves) by producing the next Jordan, or Mahomes, or Gretzky.

Do we know the names of any of those coaches that produce star players? I'm not involved in this at all at this level so I'm sure these guys make good money but it's not like they're famous. Or are they?

I don't. The "maybe" in my comment was meant to convey that that might be the case, not that I have personal knowledge about it.

AAU programs and basketball training is a cottage industry now. Of course they want kids to do yearlong training and AAU. There aren't many high school kids, or even junior high kids, who don't do AAU ball nowadays. And then there's the outside training, too.

It's not great money. But a lot of AAU coaches do it for supplemental income. And some owners of the program probably only do that. They get many hundreds to thousands of dollars for each kid just for one season... not counting additional personal training on the side.

[Odogg]

This really is true from what Ive seen. When I was a kid, my brothers and I all played soccer, basketball, and baseball, with summer off.

My older son only wanted to play soccer, with summers off. He must have played like 18 seasons between first and 7th grade. Never got in to the club soccer though.

One of my brothers kids is all about basketball. He is very good, may be the next John Stockton lol. I dont think he has an offseason.

[vcsgrizzfan]

Let the kid enjoy herself. Sports is meant to be fun.

Be still my heart but a Clevey post that makes sense?

I haven't read the thread that closely but sports should be fun. I think you risk turning a kid off a sport if that's the only thing they get to do. If the kid is completely convinced that's what they want - fine, but I think that will be the exception.

I know i loved playing them all and it would have sucked being told that wasn't an option.

[Dagger]

Absolutely it’s going to create better athletes, although the bigger change will be more depth... the top of the top would always rise up, but the 150th best player in the NBA in 2040 will probably be significantly better than the 30th best player in the NBA from 1980.... or something.