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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| gasbag |
Posted - 06/26/2009 : 11:40:32
As my son ages ( if that's what one can say about a rising 12 year old ! ), I'm hearing more and more about how he'll need to focus solely on baseball and drop his other sports as he gets older. I'm not too sure I agree at all with that sentiment, but it begs the question that if you do agree with it, at what age should you begin to focus upon a single sport ? |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| highcheese |
Posted - 06/28/2009 : 02:00:35
What level of "star" are you talking about?? Is this a 5aaaaa wanna be star or a legite D1 draftable prospect?? Or is it just a star in the parents mind? Got to be careful here. I say grades first, sports second. Though it works out the latter sometimes.(speaking from experience) I say sports is a lifetime committment, you start specializing at 12 you will be missing a bunch of fun, cross training, team mates, life lessons, etc.. Keep as many options open as possible and play as many sports as possible. Look up the story on David Justice sometime - college scholarship to play basketball, straight A student, went to college early. Guess what he ended up playing, just a little hard ball and he wasn't bad either. Dave Winfield - drafted in three sports, chose baseball.
Be careful with specializing too soon also - just playing a lot of one sport does not necessarily make you better at it than the rest, may even cause some burn out. And the crap about high school coaches - of course they will feed you a line and want you to tow their agenda - but in the end their job is to put the best product on the field to represent the school and if your child has what it takes then some schedule adjustments can be made. Here is another example of how it helps with multiple sports, i know a great baseball cather that plays football too. Man what a great conditioning program football is for a catcher. Love to have a catcher that can dish out and also take a hit.
In the end let the child play everything he or she wants, the "star" will shine when there is a passion and a fit for the sport. Specializing does not always move the bar and make the star shine. And if you are worried about injuries, join the club, they may or may not happen, you just have to prepare and play your best and let the chips fall on that one. No crystal ball here. Love what you do and do what you love! |
| a1prog |
Posted - 06/27/2009 : 18:39:17
i understand what everyone is saying here but let me offer another opinion based on what i am seeing in high school. i coached travel ball for 5 years and had almost every kid on my team playing multiple sports thru middle school. i stay in touch with these kids and their parents. and many of them continued to play football and baseball as freshman.
can they continue to play multiple sports in high school? sure. but the time commitment needed for two sports is going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on maxing one's academic achievement. and it doesnt matter whether you are at a 5a school or a 1a school. i see it. not so much in the freshman year but come the sophomore year and clearly as a junior it becomes very hard to play two sports at a varsity level and keep your grades up.
and its all because of the coaches. they want kids year round with little or no break. they'll give you lip service about playing two sports and kids getting a break. but trust me- they dont mean it. this is why you see so many kids move to one sport as they get older. didnt used to be like this. and i dont like it. but it is what it is. |
| whits23 |
Posted - 06/27/2009 : 16:50:53
when you draw a paycheck to do it |
| ItsjustLLBBall |
Posted - 06/26/2009 : 14:04:19
I say never....If he is a good enough talent he can play all of them for as long as he wants to. I do not believe at all about "specializing" in any sport. That is just my opinion. And if it eventually happens, I think 12 is way too young to even think about it. They aren't even physically matured 100% yet. Say he played basketball and baseball and grew 5 inches between his soph and junior year and then wanted to play basketball but he hadnt played since 7th grade because he wanted to "Specialize"...He would be way behind... |
| 12uCoach |
Posted - 06/26/2009 : 13:40:17
College graduation. Seriously, don't fall into the trap of being a 1 sport star, it's the coaches wanting a 12 month program, and you might guess wrong. I have have seen too many High School baseball players drop summer ball for football until their senior year and then realize they'd rather play baseball in college.
If your son ONLY wants to play baseball, I would put off the 1 sport until High School at the earliest. Now, if your son wants to drop the other sports, and you can shut his arm down for 60 days each year, the by all means let the kid be happy...
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| Dr. Old School |
Posted - 06/26/2009 : 13:35:03
It is more of an urban legend than a rule. However, there are certain routes he may chose in the future (specific travel teams, HS, etc) that may require him to tune down the other activities because of time conflicts. Baseball and Football line up pretty well as they have opposite seasons. However, if he gets involved with a travel team/program that plays in the fall, or a HS coach that does not want his players risking injury with football, he may not be able to play both.
There is no hard and fast rule. Play it by ear and let him play what he has interest in. Versatility will only help him along the way. Taking time off from one sport can actually help more than playing it 11 months a year. |
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