<p>LOL - called good time management - and a willing taxi driver ROFL</p>
<p>High school sports are spread out - so kids can play 1 sport per season - fall/winter/spring - we have a couple of weeks between seasons that is unless your team makes the playoffs and states - then only a couple of days - whew!! Kids cannot play the same sport for another team during the high school season - ie - high school and a club/town.</p>
<p>My guys sport tho was year round - and sometimes twice a day!! - before/after school.</p>
<p>It’s usually due to being spread out over different seasons. Football, basketball, and baseball are the traditional big three boys’ sports that correspond to fall, winter, and spring, respectively. In fact, James Naismith invented basketball as an indoor sport meant to played during winter to fill the gap between football and baseball seasons and keep the guys from getting put of shape. </p>
<p>But these days some sports are nearly year-round. Here in SoCal if you play both school and league soccer you will be playing almost year-round. Same with tennis. Serious runners can compete in cross country (fall), indoor track (winter), outdoor track (spring), and independent meets and road races (summer).</p>
<p>High school sports are actually easier to manage than when the kids are younger. High school sports at least happen (usually) AT the school and in some proximity to the school day. I remember when both our kids were in club (USS) swimming. We were driving all over town every evening. They were at different locations on different days of the week, and inevitably we wound up at the wrong place for the pick-up once a month or so.</p>
<p>My son was recently talking with one of his professors who is from Morocco. He was bemoaning the club soccer his ten year old was involved in. He told son that in their native country, soccer is fun, unorganized at the early ages and the kids learn to love the game. He is afraid that here with so much organization, paid coaches, and parental pressure his son will miss out on the love of the sport. This led to my son sharing with him the “burn out” he experienced and the regrets he had of not playing “just” school sports where each had a designated season, allowing one to participate in more than one sport.</p>
<p>OOO MOWC LOL - I remember those days - whew!!! One swimming and the other one God knows where - the car pools had to be posted on a board weekly to keep us moms straight - I recall those years very fondly tho - except for the 4:30 am practices!!! - in the winter - waiting in the car all bundled up with my pillow and blanket and hot coffee - the popsicle kids when they came out - then off to school!!! whew!!! - miss the old days LOL - NOT.</p>
<p>MKM - My guy was a one sport kinda kid - tried an in-school sport but his major out-of-school sport coach forbade this!!! Made me nuts - but my guy did stick it out for the most part - did quit for a year - but missed it so much he went back - tho with a different coach - went off to college and participated for 2 years - until an unreasonable college coach made life so miserable - that he quite - but other doors opened and he was rewarded greatly - brought back his love for his sport and the rest is history for him.</p>
<p>My gal tho - a different story - she would be very board with only one sport - so she was able to change sports every 3 months or so for the most part.</p>
<p>When my son was three years old …he had an imaginary team. Sort of like an imaginary friend only there were 13 of them. Known as the guys. S was the captain and the coach and they played football, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, tennis, golf, basketball etc etc etc on the front lawn. He had a uniform for every sport – a specific shirt and specific pants and perhaps a hat – and play equipment. The locker room was our guest bedroom and he would go in and change uniforms and sports. He could amuse himself all afternoon with the imaginary guys!</p>
<p>In elementary and middle school he played soccer, then football. Basketball and hockey, baseball and lacrosse. He eventually had to trim down to keep me sane, and it sorted out to football, basketball, and lacrosse by high school, and he only did rec basketball, not varsity. This was all his own choice.</p>
<p>Then … he decided he wanted to go to a specific college and play lacrosse and he really pushed himself academically to qualify. Pushed himself athletically too – on January 1 he would lay out his goals for the year – and how to get there! All his own plan, although we were supportive of his ambitions.</p>
<p>I believe that most people agree that specializing in one sport too early isn’t a good idea, and also leads to the increase we have seen of “overuse” injuries (which will vary according to the sport, may be knees in basketball and elbow/shoulder in baseball). If you are going to specialize, special care needs to be taken to condition and condition and condition, and cross-train, and to focus on mechanics/nutrition/muscle and joint recovery, to avoid injuries.</p>
<p>The idea that kids get burned out in a sport has me skeptical however. Do the top kids really get burned out? I think the kids at the way top, like first round draft pick-types have a passion for the sport, as well as a gift, that consumes them. For good or bad, the sport is in a very real sense, their life–their support system, their reason for getting up in the morning, their delight. How many kids who are nationally ranked really burn out at 14 or 15?</p>
<p>patient- the problem is that there is a VERY fine line between burn-out and being that top ranked athlete. A few years ago a particular dad was being discussed in our running group. He really pushed his kid- we thought, too much. A guy who coaches kids said the ones who “make it” tend to have that type of parent. Of course, it can really backfire and the kid quits. A lot of the top 10 and under swimmers are nowhere to be seen in college swimming. Same with running. It IS a passion, but even passions can fade. There are so many competing demands on kids (and adults). Academics, social life, other sports…It’s hard to keep that focus year after year. My son is quite a student of his sport. He insists that a lot of the really great high school runners run too many miles in high school. When they get to college they have to run three seasons with too many meets. They are injured and burned out. They don’t improve. Hence, the sorry state of US distance running. It will be interesting to see how this plays out for my son. Due to various circumstances, he didn’t do the kind of mileage in high school that other top runners did (his coach didn’t believe in it, for one thing). He was injured all of senior year and just now running again. He has the hunger and had a nice rest from the daily pounding. He is committed to running at an elite level and is willing to take some time to get there.</p>
<p>For my son, it wasn’t us doing the pushing–it was coaches. He heard over and over "You have the ability to take this as far as you want, but you must play year round, give up the other sports, travel to X city to play with a more competitive team, etc. By the time he was 18, he was tired of it all. He finally said to his then coach “When I am 40 will it really make a difference if I played this sport (not a sport that has great pro money anyway–not that he would have been pro level) in college–but it will make a difference where I go to school academically–I’m going to focus on academics and make sports a hobby” And that’s exactly what he did. Unfortunately in some ways, he became “addicted” to weight lifting and I think he misses the team aspects–so he is going to look for some team options next semester.</p>
<p>I think you really can pick both. Ultimately, my decision was about both. I had two very different schools, one a D3 LAC and one a larger D1 school. Probably the D1 school was ranked slightly lower, but it had a lot more opportunities in my major, so I went with it. Now I do have the chance to earn a sports scholarship, and I’ve already had some athletic opportunities I probably wouldn’t have had at the D3 school. If I had chosen it, though, I loved the coach, I loved the team… I would have been happy with that, too. </p>
<p>I think with most sports, there are 10-20 schools that are usually in the mix for being at the top. Any given year, if they get some really good recruits, they can move way up in the rankings. It’s not like you pick one school that is number 1 this year, and that means you’ll be on the best team in the country in two years. I’m from Connecticut, so I’m talking about women’s basketball, because that’s what I follow. A top recruit who wants good academics and athletics can pick Duke, Stanford, or UNC. Someone who wants warmth can pick LSU or Georgia. If they want the most tradition, Uconn or Tennessee. Maryland won it all last year, if they want to join the current powerhouse. That’s a lot of schools and a lot of range. </p>
<p>That’s ridiculous about coaches pushing players that much. It should come from the player, and if they go to the coach and say “what should I do to get better so I can play at ___?” the coach can step in and advise, but the motivation has be internal first.</p>
<p>let’s take volleyball, just as one example. i’m guessing most of the top h.s. programs in most states have players that have played club volleyball for many years. </p>
<p>basketball…playing with mayb or aau teams is seen more often now than years ago, imo. </p>
<p>participation in the club sport can sometimes be a key element in the success of the player in the h.s. program. </p>
<p>i’m guessing you’re also seeing fewer multi-sport athletes at the h.s. level now because of the time commitment to doing their club sport.</p>
<p>even the club sport has evolved…take women’s basketball for instance…now in addition to aau national events , there are other national events put on by different organizations (tournaments and showcases) where coaches evaluate prospects. some of the players travel nearly every weekend or every weekend during the recruiting evaluation period in the summer across the united states to be seen by coaches at certain events. some events will draw more coaches than others.</p>
<p>there’s also a landscape change, for instance, in what coaches are looking for. take a look at the rosters…are they bringing in more junior college transfers in their recruiting instead of freshman players?</p>
<p>players are making verbal commitments to colleges at ages that are earlier, some as early as 9th grade now, it seems. </p>
<p>has anyone else noticed these landscape changes too?</p>
<p>I am sure that your comments are correct. I am not thinking of kids who are good at 10 or 12 though. The ones who stick with their sport over many years and are in the top ranks by the time they get to college are usually (surely not always though) self-motivated and their parents and coaches would need to physically tie them down to keep them from their sport. At least, that is what I see in the kids I know who are at the D1 level. “Living their dream” is the headline on about all of them. And it truly is THEIR dream. Their parents and coaches be ****** (LOL, kind of!) Even when they can’t stand the coach, and that certainly happens, they will persist. </p>
<p>At some point, of course, they begin to understand that their lives as athletes will end–whether before or after professional sports. That is where the college comes much more into play. If the college is the right social/academic fit, they can begin to explore their career options after sports. If it isn’t, they can really flounder. That’s why I cringe when I see kids going to schools that really are beyond them academically, when they are admitted based upon their athletic prowess. I’ve seen close up how that can really deflate a kid and make them conclude that ALL they can do is their sport, and then that gets really scary.</p>
<p>DD has been one of the rare 3 sport athletes at her high school. Just about varsity level since grade 9. Yes, she compromised what she could have achieved had she “specialized”, but she still did okay. She loves the variety and loves playing all three sports. Each exposeenher to different coaches and different team mates. She struggled with the idea of playing on in college, finally decided to go for it and found a school that appreciates that she’s probably still got quite a lot to learn, but brings a strong will to do so. She’ll finally have to specialize! But she’d love the school without her chosen sport, it was just a great EC that helped tip her hand.</p>
<p>Any coach that tells a 13 year old to give up all other sports and play one year round is not a good coach! The best advice a coach can give is for the athlete to play other sports in the off season to strengthen other muscles and alleviate repetitious stress on certain muscles.</p>
<p>Other posters have already mentioned this, but if your kid has talent, year round sports at this young age could spell disaster! In baseball, for example, pitchers under the age of 16 are undergoing Tommy John surgery! For others, their career is over at age 12 or 13 when they throw their arm out. A bad coach merely wants to win games. A good coach cares about the athlete’s performance this year and years to come!</p>
<p>Baseballmom, I think there is more to this overuse issue than just specializing in one sport. I know kids who have been multi-sport and have gotten tons of injuries, and those who have specialized in one for years and not been injured. I’m not sure I know all the reasons, but here are a few theories:</p>
<ol>
<li> Some coaches know enough about anatomy not to rush the acquistion of certain skills before young joints are ready. The classic example is making a kid throw curveballs before they’re old enough. (Although a competing theory is, “go ahead and teach them because they’re going to throw them on the playground anyway, might as well show them how to do it with the right mechanics, but don’t call curves more than x percent during a game”)</li>
<li> Private lessons on mechanics to spot developing overuse problems early.</li>
<li> Prompt medical attention at the slightest hint of soreness (my sports medicine doctor sighs when she sees our name on her patient list for the day, I’m sure, as in “Which kid is she overly concerned about THIS time?”</li>
<li> Lots of “sandlot” sports with friends. The “multi-sport” aspect can be from unorganized sports, it doesn’t have to be, “plays 3 varsity sports”.<br></li>
<li> Coaches who insist on off-season conditioning, and prescribe the conditioning program for the kids and monitor it. </li>
<li> Parents teaching and monitoring proper rest, ice after exertion, nutrition, etc.<br></li>
<li> Some kids just seem accident-prone? And one injury can lead to another–e.g. a shoulder problem can be aggravated or can lead to an arm or elbow problem.</li>
</ol>
<p>Just some thoughts about it and there is lots of disagreement I know on the subject…</p>
<p>Who can blame them? With more and more players jumping early to the pros or skipping college basketball altogether, a JC transfer looks like a better investment - a more seasoned player who can perhaps contribute more in the one or two years he will be there before going pro.</p>
<p>so for them to go to a less prestigious school that’s tops in the sport…will they have to go to a junior college program first ? this is the dilemma that some student athletes face. </p>
<p>just my opinion… but i think there will be X amount of student athletes who will not be willing to go the junior college route to d1 and that’s why you’ll continue to see the talent level rising of the 4 year schools that are willing to bring in freshman student athletes… Naia, D3, D2, low and mid-major d1’s. I think you can look at mid-major men’s college basketball now and their recent successes to see how the landscape is changing. on the other hand, you can also see that by some d2 programs bringing in junior college transfers, some are now more competitive than some d1 programs.</p>