Heres Why You Play All Sports In HS

Sorry to hear about your sons injury but I am not sure what playing multiple sports in HS has anything to do with his injury in college.

Mine played one sport in HS, and one reason was to be able to remain healthy (more sports more chance of injury). Everyone sees things differently.

There are lots of kids who go all through HS with no injury and then receive their first in college. College baseball is a whole different animal than HS baseball, the chances of getting hurt pretty amazing, you can't predict what will happen, at any level.

The good part is that he is where he is and of he misses a part of a season, he hasn't missed out on college recruiting. He has an opportunity to concentrate on school, as a freshman not sure of what chances of playing full time might have been anyway. Might be able to get a medical red shirt year out of it as well.

monty, I completely agree. Granted, the less sports a kid participates in, the less chance of injury. Similar rational applies to those who fear flying or eating fatty foods. If you never fly or refrain from eating bacon, you'll never be the victim of a plane crash or contract a bacon related illness. However, you will potentially miss out on some enjoyment in the meantime, and could be the victim of an unrelated hazard.

A good friend was considered a 1st round pick in the 1999 MLB draft (pitcher). He just so happened to be a top DE prospect, nationally. Most MLB organizations he talked to in late summer/early fall of his Sr. season, encouraged him not to play football, for obvious reasons. Baseball was his first love. He played FB, was on a state championship/nat'l championship team, and emerged unscathed. Several months later, he was a sandwich pick in the June draft. Signed for $1M, spent 4 years in MiLB (had a cup of coffee in AAA), tore UCL; returned to FB, won a BCS Championship at LSU, rehabbed elbow and returned to MiLB. A year later, he was released. He went back to LSU, graduated, got married, had kids and lived happily ever after.

On the flipside, I can name several kids, though not as highly recruited, who were injured during FB and missed baseball season.

The big picture as I see it: a parent can encourage his/her son to play only one sport in hopes of limiting his exposure to injury, which is completely logical. In doing so, the athlete is also limited to the memories, relationships, experiences that result from playing only that sport(I'm assuming the kid actually enjoys playing multiple sports).

Believe it or not, the injury bug bites football-1st kids too; I coached a kid 3 years ago who loved FB 1st,Bball 2nd. He was a potential RB prospect; broke his leg sliding into 2B as a Soph; missed spring FB and never played baseball again.

Just encourage them to play the sports they WANT to play. If they want to play three fine. If they want to play just one fine.

I would have to disagree. Being from the great state of Texas, there is a lot pressure to play football. I played, my friends played, my three brothers played. When son entered the 7th grade, he had already been playing baseball for 3-4 years. He decided to go out for his junior high football team more or less because of peer pressure and probably a little nudge from dad.

First practice ever son breaks left wrist (LHP) and never steps on a football field again. Wrist healed and now son continues to play baseball at the next level.

The broad brush approach that all kids should play multiple sports just doesn't fly. Some kids are football players, some baseball players, and some all around athletes.

For us, baseball only worked out just fine.

As TPM mentioned, everyone see's things differently and this is what worked best for our son. I wouldn't change a thing. As for memories, yea, maybe he can't talk about the pass he caught, or the three pointer he nailed to win the game. But I can promise you, son has a ton of memories and relationships built up over the years. Just not the all-sport athlete ones.

.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
Just encourage them to play the sports they WANT to play. If they want to play three fine. If they want to play just one fine.

Ownership...it's a vital, if not the most vital component of any athletic journey...

...lifetime lessons learned from the challenges and lifetime memories from the good times had, the lifetime conection with family and friends, they are the end game...

...lots of roadmaps...but they all end with the game ending for you and yours...and you are left with lessons and memories...

...if your doing it for the $, either college $ or pro money you have missed the point.

Mine played all sports, got hurt in HS and college persevered...wouldn't trade the journey...the character the memories....even withe the warts.

44
.

Let the KID decide. He's the one that has to run all the sprints, etc
Don't let another ADULT decide (especially a basketball, football or baseball coach... heck, they are the most biased individual you could listen to and yet people let them sway their decisions on something so vital as a kid's one time shot at high school.

It sometimes amazes me how quickly we can divert a thread from its original purpose.

I think nhmonty gets all this advice being posted, and I don't think he was trying to start another long discussion of the multi-sport issue.

His son just broke his hand.

I commend him for looking for the silver lining. It would have been very easy to write a depressing or bitter post. Instead, he took the high road of thinking of reasons to be grateful. I say, good for him!

Best wishes for your son's speedy recovery, Monty!

I agree with letting kids do what they want, having recently learned the lesson. My son committed to his college in July and I spoke with him about giving up football and playing fall baseball. He was very emphatic in telling me that he made a commitment to his football program as a freshman and he was going to finish it unless I told he he could not play. I decided it was up to him and I couldn't step in and forbid him to play, even though I was concerned about injury. I also didn't want him to resent me for shutting down football on him in the future. Thankfully, he played a 10-game season without injury and created a number of great memories along the way.

Swampboy, no disrespect to you or nhmonty. But, the title of the thread was "Heres Why You Play All Sports In HS" and his closing quote was "Opinion, encourage your kids to play all sports in HS they can't go back and replace what they missed - injuries can happen anytime."

Not speaking for anyone else, but I was only giving my opinion on what I read. Apologies if you or anyone else felt it was a diverted in anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by Baseballdad1228:
Thankfully, he played a 10-game season without injury and created a number of great memories along the way.

I love football, but I'll be honest. For twelve years, after the last whistle of the season, I always paused to look up in the sky and say, 'Phew, his knees made it, again. Thanks.'

Danny,

No offense meant or taken.

The pros and cons of multi-sport participation make for a perennial favorite topic because we all have our stories.

NHMonty's post showed that he was well aware of the long threads that already exist on this topic.

I fully get that once someone starts a thread the community decides where it goes, and I wasn't trying to make anyone feel bad about what they offered. They were, after all, good comments.

I was just trying to remind folks of the original context.

You know the more I hear that focusing on one sport reduces the chances of injury the less I believe it. If you do it right you are going to be working out year round or pretty close to it. Therefore you are always constantly at risk of being hurt. Only way to reduce the chance of injury by focusing on one sport is once the season is over then go sit on a couch until next season.

Taking grounders you're a bad hop away from taking one in the eye. Taking BP you're one foul ball off the foot away from a broken bone. Every throw you make is another chance at blowing an elbow / shoulder. Every time you enter the weightroom you are taking a chance of getting hurt. People get hurt when they are doing stuff that is active. When I was in college at the peak of my fitness I pulled a muscle in my back just by pulling my shirt off. Focusing on one sport doesn't limit the chance at injuries.

I think kids should play the sports they want to play. They only get one chance to be young and do this stuff but if they want to focus on one sport then let them. If they want to focus on one sport and not work in the offseason then make them get a job. But don't badger them into this, that or the other - let them make that decision.

Everytime you step foot on the a field / court you're taking a chance. Every time you work out for whatever sport you're taking a chance. Every time you get into a car you're taking a chance. Life is a huge chance and if you want to do something then don't let fear be a motivating factor as to why you "DON'T" do something. Chicks dig scars and injuries make for great stories when you get older.

Antz,

You are so GD right! He carried the ball over 200 times and made over 100 tackles. I aged 10 years in three months!

The concern for injury is but one consideration of the multi-sport discussion. Let the athlete decide what's best for him currently with consideration for what his long term desires are.

Two Outfielders for Georgia collided head first attempting (and making) a diving catch. Both were down for awhile. One walked off the field with help but the other departed on a stretcher. The latter had spinal fusion surgery yesterday and is now at the Shepherd Spinal Center, likely paralyzed although they have not reported on his condition as yet.

We never allowed our son to play football despite the coach trying to get him out, because of the injury potential. I cannot tell you how many kids tore ACL's or broke bones over those four years. One promising baseball player lost an entire season because of a football injury. So your son is lucky he never got seriously hurt in HS football.



Over the 4 years our son has played cross county, basketball, tennis and baseball. Eventually he stopped playing tennis because of conflicting schedules, and this year he was on the CC team, but skipped basketball to concentrate on baseball. As it turns out two different basketball players hurt themselves during the season. Since my son is not talented enough to play those other sports in college, it made sense for him to concentrate on the sport his bread is buttered on. It was ultimately his decision, but we encouraged him in that direction. He did miss not playing basketball in the beginning, but now is happy since he is off to a great start in baseball.

I do not presume to know what is best for every kid, but for our son, he made the right choice.



Good luck to your son once he returns from his injury.

My son begged to play football when he was 10. We reluctantly allowed it and hoped he would not like it and save us from the injury worries. He is now captain-elect on a team that expects to 3-peat as conference champions. We still worry, but football definitely has had a positive impact on baseball - he has excellent work habits and is in top physical shape due to football. He hasn't missed a game in either sport due to injury (or anything else). It remains to be seen whether he can compete at the next level in baseball but he will have more memories and lifelong friends from HS football that I know he would never trade.

Within hours after our freshman son made the basketball team, a senior on the baseball team starting texting him, strongly encouraging him not to play. After a brief tug-of-war, he decided to use that time to condition for baseball instead of playing basketball. Around here, baseball season begins in late January and wraps up in early November, so this was the only time he had to really work on those all-important stabilizer muscles. Freed from a practice/game schedule, he also enjoyed a much more active social life during this time, hanging out with non-baseball friends, and "gasp!" non-athletes. He also played some incredibly bad club-level basketball, where the greatest chance of injury was tripping over his own feet during the fast-break.
By the time baseball tryouts rolled around, he'd put on about 15 lbs, and seemed refreshed and ready to go. He made varsity as a freshman, and starts. From his perspective, I'm sure he'd say narrowing to one sport is working for him. If he gets hurt, it will be doing the thing he loves most.

As has been stated on this site many, many times, there is no right or wrong. It is a personal, family, and more so an athletes decision in which direction to take.

I think that I didn't take the post the way it was intended, perhaps. If so I am sorry.

After seeing the news about the game played and won by the team of the basketball player who died suddenly, I just think that a broken wrist (or any other injury that can heal)is really not all that bad, in comparison.

It's not like the players career is over, this is just a small bump on a long winding road.

JMO.

My son didn't play high school football out of fear of injury. He injured his knee in a minor collision at home plate. Then he injured his shoulder falling during knee rehab. Live your life.

The only thing I told my son about football is if he goes on the field concerned he will get injured, he probably will. He proceeded to get knocked out and temporarily paralyzed (about five minutes/longest five minutes of my life) playing high school s****r, getting kicked in the head and kneed in the back of the neck diving head first for a save.

I agree with Monty. Live your high school life. Don't look back saying "I should have ...."

Juggler--Love the post. Especially the "gasp" part.