How to Destroy Your Child's Athletic Future

I am guilty of two of the three ways to destroy my child's athletic future....I let him play only one sport competitively  starting when he was six, and I had the nerve to not force the child away from the sport that he loved. Oh well, at least I have some cool T-shirts

 What ever happened with being happy with what you have?  Why is everyone in such a rush to get something different.  Oh, your 8u kid is "happy" in baseball?  Well, he might like soccer better so remove him from the sport he is happy in just in case he can be happier with something else!  I can't imagine where this generation is getting concepts like move from job to job every 2-4 years....after all, what if you like somewhere else better?

I personally find the article to be spot on.  FWIW, the college coaches and professional people I have had the benefit of associating with from time to time, unequivocally state that they prefer dual sport athletes.

Further, a retired MLB acquaintance of mine refuses to let his kids specialize.  He actually encourages his kids to play s_____r.    (Gasp!)

I guess other people are just stronger than me.  My kid says he loves baseball and that's all he wants to play competitively.

When I ask about the possibility of playing other sports I get the look I get when I ask him to eat his spinach.  I stopped serving spinach, he'll eat the Lima Beans, but he won't even talk about playing other sports competitively.  The high school has already sent down the track coach and the football coach, he just won't budge.

I give him kudos for being passionate about HIS sport, and I back off because it isn't MY sport/team/dream.  Guess I'm ruining him

I think each child is different... At a young age, I introduced alot of different sports too him (soccer, basketball, football, baseball, etc). He played them all until overlapping occurred and then we asked him which one he like better. As he got older, the number of sports he played declined due to more school activities, homework, etc. Once he was in middle school, he played baseball, football and basketball. He dropped basketball after his 8th grade year, then dropped football after his freshman year to focus full time on baseball. So, what's my point- I think as a parent you should introduce all kinds of activities too them and as they grow they will be able to tell you what they like the best. I don't think you have to play year round baseball at 10yrs old, but when he gets older if that is what he wants to do, it won't become a burn out issue. Let it be their decision and the majority of the time, it will all work out fine...

I think there is a lot of truth in that article.  Both of mine played HS basketball as well.  Number 9 was actually pretty decent, all state as a senior and school rebounding record.  7 is a senior this year and really contemplated not playing this year.  I encouraged him to play but certainly didn't force him at all.  He decided to play, and I'm glad he did. 

There are a bunch of generalizations in the editorial that I don't agree with. His "steps" may not be ideal, but I doubt they've destroyed many futures.

Step 1 is kind of obvious, but even this one has its pros and cons. I believe there are some skills that develop at a young age that just can't be learned later. I've seen it many times with ice hockey. It's rare to see a professional player who started skating after 10 years old. Is the laisez faire parent going to get up at 5am to take his 8 year-old to practice?

The other 2 steps are kind of redundant, and the "damage" is probably difficult to prove. Siting ice hockey again, how many NHL guys were multi-sport athletes? Most of them leave home at 14-16 to play Juniors! They excel in part because they skated and played hockey for endless hours as kids.

The author seems to be talking about two main problems: injury and burn-out. I would think that organized sports, and "training" does lead to more injuries than simply playing a sport. Most of us do tend to rush our kids back after injury, or at least let our kids rush themselves back when they really need more recovery time. We tend to place too much importance on not missing games. That may be a byproduct of organized sports, but it can be managed by making good decisions. The burn-out issue is real for some kids, but others just can't get enough of their favorite sport. Parents need to know their own kids, and adjust accordingly.

My son played every sport imaginable as a youngster (never liked hockey), and 4 in high school, so I'm not trying to justify my own decisions. He didn't want to play baseball year-round, so he didn't. Simple.

CaCO3Girl posted:

I am guilty of two of the three ways to destroy my child's athletic future....I let him play only one sport competitively  starting when he was six, and I had the nerve to not force the child away from the sport that he loved. Oh well, at least I have some cool T-shirts

 What ever happened with being happy with what you have?  Why is everyone in such a rush to get something different.  Oh, your 8u kid is "happy" in baseball?  Well, he might like soccer better so remove him from the sport he is happy in just in case he can be happier with something else!  I can't imagine where this generation is getting concepts like move from job to job every 2-4 years....after all, what if you like somewhere else better?

CaCO3, I think maybe you are still missing the point on this one.  It's not about forcing a child AWAY from what they love.  It's not about being happy with what you have.  It's not about everyone being in a rush to get something different. 

It IS about giving adolescents a variety of experiences.  It is about giving them more opportunity to develop a true sense of their likes and dislikes through first hand knowledge.  It's about developing multiple interests and some balance.  It is about learning what types of environments they thrive in and which they don't...  developing a willingness and openness to trying new things.  If the child shows signs of thriving in a competitive environment, they can also benefit from experiencing the variety of competitive mentalities associated with different sports as well as the various athletic skills involved.

The "change jobs every 2-4 years" doesn't really apply here either - apples and oranges.  By the time you have a regular job, you are an adult (or close to it) and have already learned, for the most part, who you are and what types of interests you have.  We are talking about young kids still very much in the development stage.

Our youngest played multiple sports but really was determined that hockey was going to be his primary sport.  It's what he wanted to be and he was quite good.  A concussion issue ended the dream.  It was very rough.  He had a background of other interests and was able to quickly develop a new dream.  I can't imagine how difficult it would have been without the other interests to fall back on. 

We required all of our kids to try different sports and different other activities.  They could choose what those were.  Now that they are all adults (youngest is 21) it has become very clear that this was a good direction.  I'm not saying there is only one right way - in fact I firmly believe the opposite. 

But this is one area where you have been quite defensive.  I get that your son loves baseball and I love that he does.  What if he has a throwing arm injury and it is deemed he can't play baseball any more?  Ever.  Does he have other interests to fall back on?

My son played 3 sports till he was 12, then 2 till he was 14...then 1. he still plays rec ball hoops but it is 2 nights a week for an hour.

I don't doubt some college coaches say they prefer 2 and 3 sport kids...I just don't believe them. they care about studs and don't give a damn if they 1 or 3 sports- if Mike Trout was a 1 sport kid do you think they would have liked him...cmon and be honest.

what they mean to say is I like kids so freakishly talented they have X level skills and haven't scratched the surface of how talented they are capable of being - when I get my hands on them for 40 hours a week they will be really awesome...and I don't blame them for feeling that way. Just understand the premise.

There is no one way to do things.  I am growing increasingly disturbed with the people who seem intent on criticizing anyone who disagrees with them.

Here's some food for thought:  The moniker "our national pastime" pre-dates professional baseball.  While MLB likes to talk about MLB being the national pastime, the label originally applied not to watching baseball, but to playing baseball.  Before there was an MLB, before TV or radio, and before American football or basketball had even been invented, people in this country played baseball constantly as a way to enjoy themselves whenever time permitted.

By that measure, today's national pastime is, without question, watching TV.  And in my mind, whatever gets your kids out from in front of a video screen and outside being active is a good thing.

Odds and ends:

In our program, we don't discourage our players from playing other sports.  But it's a fact of life that the recruiting situation is very, very competitive, and the more you spread yourself around, the more likely it is you'll come up short if playing college baseball is your one big goal.  I would say, playing all spring, summer and fall, too, really only needs to happen for one or two years to pursue that goal 100%.  If you're doing it at a younger age, I assume it's because you just plain love the game.

It's true that a lot of college baseball coaches like multi-sport athletes.  What they like most about them is they tend to fly more under the RADAR and are often signable at lower percentages, yet often have not yet reached their baseball peaks due to lesser specialization and experience.  And yes, if I saw one 88 mph kid who'd been throwing a ton and another 88 mph kid who was still very raw and playing football in the fall and baseball in the winter, I would see the latter as the one with the greater upside.  But then, that kid is really competing against the 92 mph kid the coaches think he'll come to be the equal of, but who will get a higher scholarship percentage because the proven 92 mph still beats out the hoped-for 92 mph any day.  And hey, college coaches like that kid, too, because they've gotten more looks at him and feel more comfortable with their evaluation of him.

There are some who think the kid with fewer innings under his belt has fewer miles on the chassis and therefore, lesser risk of arm injury.  But this is not substantiated by the evidence.  Many times the kid with less baseball-specific conditioning finds himself trying to ramp up to the demands of college ball suddenly and gets hurt because he wasn't really ready for it.  We really don't know who'll break down or when, and anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves.

JBB - McCaffery got robbed.  He is Stanford's multi-dimensional offense!  I'm looking forward to watching him play in a few weeks and on Sundays.  No East bias here!

Love the article....let the kids choose their own path.  I saw my role as giving my children options to choose from, and advice when requested.  They got to pick from a smorgasbord of activities whether it is sports, art, music, chess, outdoor activities or whatever. 

Some may laugh but I have two former state chess champions in my house.  They picked it up when they were young and my wife and I supported it.  As they grew older they gravitated toward baseball, lacrosse, music, riflery, rocketry, and other things.  There is no doubt in my mind that they will eventually come back to playing chess again. 

I find it humorous that my kids had no interest in tennis when they were young,  My wife and I play a lot of tennis.  Now my oldest son is picking up tennis after playing college baseball and my middle son plays tennis with his girlfriend.  They'll figure out where they want to spend their time and their money.

As always, JMO.

I liked the article.  I think what it is really trying to drive home is that the journey should be the KID's journey, not the parents'.  If a parent has to drag or push a kid down a path, the kid won't go very far and it won't be a fun trip for either the parent or the kid.  And that's why I think most professional athletes don't push their kids too hard - they get that the passion has to be personal to the athlete.  It can't be forced on someone.

I forced my kids into childrens choir at church, and an entire year of piano lessons.  That's where I learned the lesson above about dragging them down a path.  I took them to the water, but I couldn't make them drink.  We were all much happier when I let them quit those activities.          

My kid started in karate at a young age & continued on until 10 years old. In league baseball we never let him play all stars due to time consumption of karate. At 10 he wanted to take the spring off from karate so he wouldn't have to miss any baseball practices. Season ended and he wanted to play all stars so we let him. Fall came and he wanted to play travel baseball, never returned to league or karate. Would play basketball about every two out of three years, wasn't bad but also wasn't into it. Wanted to play football when he was much younger, told him he could play in Jr High if he was still interested. Did spring training prior to Jr High & loved it. Fell out of love when he found out it would interfere with fall baseball so he never played. Soccer was never an issue because he thought it was stupid (his words not mine, no offense intended). He was not denied oppportunities to play other sports although his other activities sometimes conflicted. He was given a choice and baseball has always been #1. I see nothing wrong with that if its what the kid loves.

MomLW posted: 

I forced my kids into childrens choir at church, and an entire year of piano lessons.  That's where I learned the lesson above about dragging them down a path.  I took them to the water, but I couldn't make them drink.  We were all much happier when I let them quit those activities.          

Mom is that you??? Ha ha

McCaffrey at age 7: https://amp.twimg.com/v/20abb5...16-be22-eb36ef5f7760

Pretty funny.

The problem with articals like these is that the parents it could actually help, the ones it's targeted toward, won't get they are those parents. They will either dismiss the author or somehow justify they do it differently than the exact way the author states so it's not about them. 

I believe parents targeted in this article are outliers, as are the parents who wholly absolve themselves of influencing their children towards any activity. Most are trying to keep their kids active and involved. People are crazy, some batshit even. You cant cure crazy. My kid played baseball from Tball at 4 until now, freshman at Power5. He did entertain...due to my influence ( insert shaking finger here), basketball in 4th grade...my first love and played one season after which he said, "Dad, i don't want to play basketball anymore, it's cutting into my friend time" He never played again. I have no regrets about baseball, heck he was considered for the draft, FWIW and is on scholarship. On the other hand, i wasnt the perfect parent and pushed too much at times and those, i certainly regret BIG TIME. If you are the Good outlier, enjoy that your kid chose something and leave the other alone.......if you are the Big Bad Wolf outlier, chill out or you might find that your kids not only quits the game you force upon them but also quits choosing to be around you when it's an option. 

(WARNING, this is an unusually long post . . .but I hope some will find it useful)

I feel the title "How To Destroy Your Child's Athletic Future In 3 Easy Step" is simply to invoke dramatic interest.  And I do feel the article's 3 issues tend to be a problem for many. . . at least from my limited observations during my two son's cycle through these periods.

As I observed some parents (in their "helicopter" way) try to control their child's success and future.  And the 3 issues in the article stood out to me early on and it didn't seem to me to be the best path for how I felt a child should grow up.  I had my first child late in life (age 40)  and had plenty of time watching long time friends raise their children and tried to determine what I liked and didn't like and I might take the best approach for my own children.  Certainly, being a controlling parent wasn't the style I was going to be comfortable with.  As we all know, our children just don't come with a user manual and we do the best we can with what we know and what we learn along the way.

Wanting my kids to be active in whatever they found of interest and that often would come through what their friends and piers are involved in.  So, if their's any "control" I felt I wanted to impose, it would be the environment my kids were in to have the kind personal relationships and experiences that were conducive for them having fun and keeping their interested in what they were doing.  And I must confess that the most  "controlling" thing I did to my children was to have very strict limits on time for watching television and playing video games and made a point to have as much family together time (like actually eating at the supper table without the TV or any other outside distractions).  Trying to get them outside to play with neighborhood kids wasn't easy and getting my sons started at a very young age in youth sport activities helped them get out of the house (e.g. playing soccer and baseball).

Sons did show early on that they had some definite above average athletic talent.  So, what to do when you see that?  Letting them explore whatever was available seemed like the best approach to me.  Being athletic myself and in my more advanced years I played a lot of golf as well as basketball on teams with younger men.  So, as my boys I would get them out with me and do what I do along with their other organized sports.

Over time, older son took a path of rebellion that started in Junior High where he sought out friends and groups that were not really acceptable to his parents.  He wouldn't maintain interest in school and let grades get so bad that in HS he finally wasn't allowed to continue to play the sports he loved (Football and Baseball).  Though he had good athletic talent, he didn't have enough interest in any sport to drive him to accomplish more and go further.  And looking back, I don't see any amount of parental control that would have really worked.  Today (10 years after getting his HS diploma and several times attempting to complete college) he jokes now how he's "turning into his parents" as he begins his own parenthood with a baby boy.

Younger son took much the same athletic path in the early year as his older brother.  But there was a significant difference in that by the time he entered Junior High School, he had decided on specific goals that he came to on his own.  One main goal was that he wanted to go to a D-1 college and the other was he wanted to compete in the Summer Olympics for track and field.  He decided he needed to make the Dean's List every quarter, and he not only did that through JH but also all through HS that was a tough college prep private school.  Since academics doesn't come easy for him, he was very organized and worked very, very hard to achieve his 3.6 GPA in HS.  

During JH, he played every sport he could and excelled at them all as he did with his continuation of organized soccer and baseball.  He did so well at Track & Field that I thought he just might choose that finally as an area to specialize in, given his previously stated goal for Summer Olympics.  Because of conflicting practice schedules between his organized soccer and baseball, he had to choose one of them to drop to better participate and develop closer bonds with players of the team.  He chose to continue with baseball and he also decided that Track & Field wasn't what he wanted to do and wanted to focus mostly on baseball as  the primary sport of interest.  By the end of JH School he began thinking (mostly on his own) about what baseball might bring him in terms of getting to a D-1 school AND on some kind of scholarship.

While as a parent I never tried to "control" or impose onto any of my sons decisions, I do admit to some effort to influencing their decisions. I feel all parents do that whether they intend to or not.   And in the case for both my sons my parental influences worked on one but not the other.  For my youngest son, I tried to analyze his athletic make up and how it best fits various sports in terms of his greatest chances for success.  I really didn't care which sport he might choose to go after, I would support him in which one it might be.  But I felt Baseball was his greatest potential for most success.  That's when, as he was doing so well in JR School, I made a lot of effort get him in travel ball programs to raze the bar and challenge him to compete at a higher level.  Apparently, he really loved baseball  and playing with really top notch players and with my efforts/support with travel ball, he focused on baseball above all other sports.  

In his freshman year at HS, I encouraged him to play other sports as I feel playing other sports can augment some of his baseball skills.  So, he did play basketball that year.  But he was not happy that the basketball season overlapped the start of baseball season, that he didn't like the feeling of falling behind the other baseball players as the season started.  In fact, it did appear to set him behind the other baseball players.  But the players he was behind was the Varsity Team players that he was expecting to play with.  After a couple of weeks into the Varsity season, he got his chance as a starter and stayed there the rest of the season.  Never again did he try to play other school sport even with my continued encouragement.     

Well, he did absolutely great at baseball during HS and had interest from many D-1 colleges and offers from several, including from some very top notch schools . . . as well as being a good draft prospect.    It wasn't until HS that he seriously began thinking about a career in professional baseball.  He decided he wanted to be a professional baseball player, but knew from watching some former teammates that injury can end that pathway quite abruptly.  Though he was a two-way player SS/RHP playing mostly SS, he was drafted as a pitcher and got a pretty good 6 figure offer for a player that wasn't really viewed as "signable".    

When son was trying to decide whether to sign a pro-ball contract offer or accept the scholarship offer from his number one dream school to play ball for, I felt somewhat conflicted.  From strictly a baseball career, I was inclined to try to influence him to sign the draft offer.  But knowing how hard it is to come back to school afterward and finish later on,  I really didn't want to discourage him from going to the dream school he's worked so hard for.  So I tried to remain as neutral as possible discussing the pros and cons that he would make his own decision with my blessing whatever it might be.  He chose to go to school and in his Jr. year he was drafted again and signed and now is just one semester away from getting his degree.

Even now, from the baseball career perspective, I feel that he would have been much better off had he signed the first time he was drafted.   The situation in the baseball program at his dream school was not really the best for him and I'm sure it was a bit of a detriment to his draft prospects in his Jr. year.  But then, you can't argue with having gone to a great school and also had good (not great) success with baseball there too.  His pro baseball career has had some hiccups, but it's progressing along and we're all encouraged.

So. . .

Two sons with possible athletic futures, one doesn't get very far at all in athletics and the other soars.   If I as a parent had tried to "impose my own ambitions",  tried to have them "over-specialize early" and made them "focus on a single sport", I don't feel things would have turned out as well as they have for either of them.   A parent just can tell what path their child will take or which will truly give them happiness, contentment and success.  

And finally, I can honestly say that I am truly equally proud of where both sons have arrived and what they've achieved.   I see my greatest contribution to their success is simply the support given for what they've wanted to achieve and I plan to continue with what seems to be working well.

PS:  I came to my approach though pages from other successful parents as well as listening to some very good coaches.  :-)  

It's simple for me.  I let my kid do what  he wants and is willing to work hard at.  He's 14, in 9th grade and it's baseball.  I've seen kids forced by parents to play a sport and they are a cancer on the team.  They don't want to be there.  My son is a good ball player and baseball has taught  him many lessons but the reality is that he is not going to be relying on a baseball income to keep the lights on at home.  My objective right now is for him to learn that hard work pays off, whether in sports or academics, preferably academics.  He works very hard at baseball and I reward that with spending many $$$ on camps and coaches.  That's my choice.    The time in the car arguing over music is priceless.  Enjoy the ride.   

Truman, thank you for that story. 

Cabbagedad...I do get defensive with this topic because I don't understand how forcing a kid to play a sport they don't want to is any better than forcing them to play the sport the parent wants them to play. I feel like there is this big misconception that by forcing our children to try multiple sports we are "helping" them to become more well rounded children when in reality the parents may be doing more harm by taking away something they love, with good intentions, but still there is damage.

 This sentence from you " We required all of our kids to try different sports and different other activities.  They could choose what those were."...  I required my son to play "A" sport, any sport, I wanted him out of the house and on a team.  He chose baseball Fall of 6u, in the Spring he chose baseball, that summer he was chosen for the all-star team and he begged us to let him so we did,  when Fall came around a few weeks later he chose baseball...the option for other sports was always there.  I got information about soccer, football, lacrosse... it seems like every month to this day my son comes home with another story of how such and such coach talked with him AGAIN about sport X, he always says no. 

At what point do you respect your child's wishes on which sport he/she wants to play? Maybe my perspective is skewed because of how my specific son is with baseball.  He picked up the ball at 6u and metaphorically speaking he hasn't put it down since, not in his brain.  He is passionate about it, if he broke his arm tomorrow and could no longer play it would hurt him bad, but he would hopefully find something else.  I'm not going to plan for his failure.  As of this moment he LOVES baseball.  When you love something or somebody do you keep a backup?

I'd rather have a kid that is passionate and committed about his sport than a take it or leave it attitude about his sport. Maybe that's just different parenting, or maybe it's just unique to my kid that he just loves it more than most. I have floated the idea of taking Fall off from baseball more than once to play another sport, every time the look on his face is right up there with a kicked puppy.  I've made it clear we can go try anything else he wants, any time, he just has to let me know and I will have no problem buying football pads, or soccer cleats or lacrosse sticks, all he has to do is say the word and he can try out something else.  I'm considering the ball in his court, so to speak, I won't DEMAND he play another sport, I think that in itself would be cruel.

Things tend to happen best naturally without forcing things.  I loved sports and my sports were football, basketball, baseball, and some volleyball.  My kids were exposed to these because of my interest in them.  I played a little outdoor hockey as a kid but never exposed my kids to it and none of them have any interest in hockey.  I am guessing I would have had a family full of hockey players if I had shown more interest in it.  I think of Wayne Gretzky's Dad flooding the backyard so his son could play hockey.  I was kind of like that with baseball and the only reason I was, was that one of my son's passion for the game greatly influenced my wanting to help him succeed. 

I read the article and all the responses here.  A couple of observations and my experience.  

One is I think if parents are doing #1, it is a problem.  I'm sure there are some of them out there, but I really haven't seen too many parents "forcing" a kid to play a sport that he/she doesn't want to play.  Maybe at a very young age, to give the kid exposure to the sport, but not for an extended period of time.  We pretty much "forced" my younger son to play baseball when he was around 7.  At least to give it a try.  He wound up playing for a couple years, but it wasn't for him and he wound up not playing anymore when he was around 9.  

I think #2 & #3 are basically the same thing.  And I pretty much agree with what he is saying.  However, I don't think that it means that a kid has to play multiple organized sports.  My older son, who is now in his college senior year playing baseball only played one season of "organized" sports, other than baseball, growing up.  He played football in 7th grade and decided he didn't really like it.  However, he played everything in an unorganized way.  He and his friends were very athletic and very competitive.  They played pickup football, basketball, soccer.  They played "man-hunt" (basically a modified hide and seek/tag).  They played king of the hill, paintball, tennis, dodgeball, they swam, played sharks and minnows.  They rode their bikes everywhere.  I could go on and on.  If it had to do with competing with each other, they did it.  I think it kept them all well rounded and "cross-trained".  None of his closest friends were baseball players.  They were soccer players, football players, lacrosse guys, etc...  When he wasn't playing baseball on his teams, he was out with his friends doing everything else.  

So, I think he had a pretty well rounded existence, even though he didn't play multiple sports in an "organized" way.  He never lost his love of baseball.  He never got burned out.  Never had any serious injuries that required surgery.  Had some tweaks and scares, but never anything structural.  And he never played multiple organized sports.  But he did play multiple other sports in a pickup environment with his friends.  I would consider that just as important and worthwhile as if he played football or basketball or track or whatever in an organized way.  Baseball was his thing.  It is what he loved to do for real.  But he just had fun playing and being competitive with his friends.  I think he got what he needed...

I have always thought kids should play every sport they want.  Thàt said it is confusing when some say kids shouldn't play baseball year around, even if they want to.

Is anyone keeping track of things?  What other sport are all those Dominicans playing?  Close to 30% of all the major league players are from Latin American countries.  Guess what?  They are playing baseball year round!  

I suppose some get bunt out and some get injured.  I also know they are filling up MLB rosters! Maybe someone should tell them they shouldn't be playing so much baseball.

Thx Pg staff , finally someone speaks the truth . One more to add , how many lessons a week do the Latin kids have ?

they just play baseball 

PGStaff posted:

I have always thought kids should play every sport they want.  Thàt said it is confusing when some say kids shouldn't play baseball year around, even if they want to.

Is anyone keeping track of things?  What other sport are all those Dominicans playing?  Close to 30% of all the major league players are from Latin American countries.  Guess what?  They are playing baseball year round!  

I suppose some get bunt out and some get injured.  I also know they are filling up MLB rosters! Maybe someone should tell them they shouldn't be playing so much baseball.

And basketball players -- at least the top ones -- play basketball year round. It's always a laugh when the top picks in the NBA draft get invited to an MLB game to throw out a first pitch -- they've clearly been playing only basketball!

And swimmers -- at my daughters' club they practice 11 months a year. And soccer players. MidatlanticDad mentioned ice hockey . . . has anyone seen what soccer players in Europe do? Etc., etc.

P.S. -- my kids all play and have played multiple sports through 8th grade, at least. Their choice.

How to get clicks...

-Use "participation trophy" and "wussification of America" in same sentence

-Promise "Add 5 mph to your fastball in 5 days"

-Say "Death of multi-sport athlete"

-Say "Helicopter parents are ruining _________"

Then start your first paragraph "Back in my day...."

c2019 posted:

Thx Pg staff , finally someone speaks the truth . One more to add , how many lessons a week do the Latin kids have ?

they just play baseball 

Actually, now days, a lot more than you would think. the days of those kids playing with sub-par (if any) equipment on dirt lots has been replaced with major league academies and instruction.

PGStaff posted:

I have always thought kids should play every sport they want.  Thàt said it is confusing when some say kids shouldn't play baseball year around, even if they want to.

Is anyone keeping track of things?  What other sport are all those Dominicans playing?  Close to 30% of all the major league players are from Latin American countries.  Guess what?  They are playing baseball year round!  

I suppose some get bunt out and some get injured.  I also know they are filling up MLB rosters! Maybe someone should tell them they shouldn't be playing so much baseball.

I generally agree with you, but some context is lacking.  Baseball and soccer are incredibly popular in Latin American, and Carribean countries/islands, and therefore get the lions share of the play.  Not to mention a lack of infrastructure, equipment, financial means, and otherwise to take up a sport such as American football, for example.  Add in climate, and sport as a means for economic mobility, and you have altogether a different set of circumstances.

The white kid from the suburbs isn't trying to defect from his country, nor go spearfishing for food.  He is choosing which songs to add and subtract from his iPod playlist, while pondering which fall sport to choose from.  In our country we are blessed to have such alternatives and distractions.

GoHeels posted:

PGStaff posted:

I have always thought kids should play every sport they want.  Thàt said it is confusing when some say kids shouldn't play baseball year around, even if they want to.

Is anyone keeping track of things?  What other sport are all those Dominicans playing?  Close to 30% of all the major league players are from Latin American countries.  Guess what?  They are playing baseball year round!  

I suppose some get bunt out and some get injured.  I also know they are filling up MLB rosters! Maybe someone should tell them they shouldn't be playing so much baseball.

I generally agree with you, but some context is lacking.  Baseball and soccer are incredibly popular in Latin American, and Carribean countries/islands, and therefore get the lions share of the play.  Not to mention a lack of infrastructure, equipment, financial means, and otherwise to take up a sport such as American football, for example.  Add in climate, and sport as a means for economic mobility, and you have altogether a different set of circumstances.

The white kid from the suburbs isn't trying to defect from his country, nor go spearfishing for food.  He is choosing which songs to add and subtract from his iPod playlist, while pondering which fall sport to choose from.  In our country we are blessed to have such alternatives and distractions.

GoHeels, The article said that two of the top three ways to destroy your child's athletic future is to let them specialize when they are young in one sport and to only play one sport.

  PGStaff has a valid point in that that is exactly how several Latin American Countries treat baseball and they now comprise almost 30% of the MLB rosters.  i.e. perhaps the premise of  those two things  being bad for kids may be false, since it seems to be working for the Latin American countries.

To play devil's advocate.  We don't know the injury rates for these countries.  I'm sure there are not many TJ surgeries being done.  Blow your elbow out, you just go back to spear fishing...  Who knows, injury rates may be WAY higher than in the US.  Yes, if you play a TON, you will get better.  But at what cost?  Before spouting the wonders of playing every day all year in Latin America, look into how many of those kids wind up hurt and just disappear.  

Even though 30% of MLB players are from Latin America, these are still the best of the best of the best.  I'm sure there are TONS of these guys in MiLB, but they are undrafted and cheap.  No bonus's paid out.  MiLB can take on probably thousands of these guys for next to nothing and hope they get one or two with the talent to move on.

I think some more research is needed before making blanket statements.

bballman posted:

To play devil's advocate.  We don't know the injury rates for these countries.  I'm sure there are not many TJ surgeries being done.  Blow your elbow out, you just go back to spear fishing...  Who knows, injury rates may be WAY higher than in the US.  Yes, if you play a TON, you will get better.  But at what cost?  Before spouting the wonders of playing every day all year in Latin America, look into how many of those kids wind up hurt and just disappear.  

Even though 30% of MLB players are from Latin America, these are still the best of the best of the best.  I'm sure there are TONS of these guys in MiLB, but they are undrafted and cheap.  No bonus's paid out.  MiLB can take on probably thousands of these guys for next to nothing and hope they get one or two with the talent to move on.

I think some more research is needed before making blanket statements.

Valid point bballman.  Has anyone gathered the data in the US on these factors?  i.e. played year round since he was 6, vs, didn't start playing baseball until high school?  Played 3 sports and got hurt this much, only played one sport and got hurt this much?

CaCO3Girl posted:

GoHeels posted:

PGStaff posted:

I have always thought kids should play every sport they want.  Thàt said it is confusing when some say kids shouldn't play baseball year around, even if they want to.

Is anyone keeping track of things?  What other sport are all those Dominicans playing?  Close to 30% of all the major league players are from Latin American countries.  Guess what?  They are playing baseball year round!  

I suppose some get bunt out and some get injured.  I also know they are filling up MLB rosters! Maybe someone should tell them they shouldn't be playing so much baseball.

I generally agree with you, but some context is lacking.  Baseball and soccer are incredibly popular in Latin American, and Carribean countries/islands, and therefore get the lions share of the play.  Not to mention a lack of infrastructure, equipment, financial means, and otherwise to take up a sport such as American football, for example.  Add in climate, and sport as a means for economic mobility, and you have altogether a different set of circumstances.

The white kid from the suburbs isn't trying to defect from his country, nor go spearfishing for food.  He is choosing which songs to add and subtract from his iPod playlist, while pondering which fall sport to choose from.  In our country we are blessed to have such alternatives and distractions.

GoHeels, The article said that two of the top three ways to destroy your child's athletic future is to let them specialize when they are young in one sport and to only play one sport.

  PGStaff has a valid point in that that is exactly how several Latin American Countries treat baseball and they now comprise almost 30% of the MLB rosters.  i.e. perhaps the premise of  those two things  being bad for kids may be false, since it seems to be working for the Latin American countries.

I read the article, and all of the above posts.  I also stated that I generally agreed with him.  My point is simple...in many Latin American countries/Carribean Islands, they don't specialize in so much as they have no other alternatives.   Further, some kids grow up wanting to be the next __________ (insert player), because they view that as a means of economic mobility.  i.e., feed the family.   Limited means can be a great driver. 

Further, it's hard to qauntify all of the thousands of Latin players whom you've never heard of!!!!!

CaCO3Girl, I seriously doubt anyone has gathered anything that specific.  What we do know in the US is how many TJ surgeries are being performed.  It could be somewhat used as a gauge to the number of elbow injuries that are occurring.  I'm saying that in these small 3rd world countries, most of the kids who wind up injured probably don't wind up going to a doctor.  They just stop playing.  Kind of like it used to be here prior to TJ surgery and even doing some of the more complicated soft tissue surgeries done nowadays.  In Latin America and the other countries we are talking about, there is nothing really telling us how many of these kids wind up hurt.  It could be a situation where 10,000 kids start out playing baseball and by the time they are 18 there are only 100 left and 30 of them go into MiLB.  We just don't know.  

Looking at the number of Latin Players in the pro's is an inadequate way of thinking about this issue.  The  players who make it into the pro's from any country are the black swans -- extremely rare outliers.  

You have to ask what it cost in aggregate to produce a marginally greater number of still  rare black swans.  

The problem is that  if you do want to produce black swans more regularly, you have to have kids play all year round, specialize early, etc.    But it may also be that the price you pay for producing  more black swans at the margins means a  lot more broken wings along the way.   You've got to look at both sides of the equation, not just the upside but also the downside.  If you are the parent  you have to try and figure out if the thing that increases the marginal likelihood of your kid being one of those rare black swans doesn't also increase the marginal likelihood of the kid ending up with broken wings.  And you have to decide if the upside marginal reward does or does not outweigh the downside risk.  How much of an increased likelihood of having your kids break his wings are you willing to trade for the chance of his becoming one of those rare black swans? 

I don't know what the injury stats are but as far as where do the majority of high level players (e.g., college and above) come from it's no accident they come from California, Texas, and Florida, Georgia, etc.  I've estimated my son on a good year, weather wise, growing up here in the North maybe got in 75 games a year between spring, summer, and fall.  I've read here where kids in warmer climates have can play 150 games or more for the year.  That's an astounding difference.  Similarly, using hockey as an example.  Where do these kids generally come from? Canada, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Wisconsin... etc. 

There are two things needed.  Good genes plus skill development.  What you'll see from Northern players are guys who may be a little more raw when they get to the collegiate level but sometimes have decent upside with further development even though they are competing with guys who are in fact more developed.  Also, Northern kids many times have less wear and tear on their bodies especially for pitchers.  You'll see elite southern programs like North Carolina and Clemson recruiting Northern kids and getting very good results.  Matt Harvey is one who comes to mind and even he had TJ surgery after he got to the pros.   

SluggerDad posted:

Looking at the number of Latin Players in the pro's is an inadequate way of thinking about this issue.  The  players who make it into the pro's from any country are the black swans -- extremely rare outliers.  

You have to ask what it cost in aggregate to produce a marginally greater number of still  rare black swans.  

The problem is that  if you do want to produce black swans more regularly, you have to have kids play all year round, specialize early, etc.    But it may also be that the price you pay for producing  more black swans at the margins means a  lot more broken wings along the way.   You've got to look at both sides of the equation, not just the upside but also the downside.  If you are the parent  you have to try and figure out if the thing that increases the marginal likelihood of your kid being one of those rare black swans doesn't also increase the marginal likelihood of the kid ending up with broken wings.  And you have to decide if the upside marginal reward does or does not outweigh the downside risk.  How much of an increased likelihood of having your kids break his wings are you willing to trade for the chance of his becoming one of those rare black swans? 

I hear you Sluggerdad, but then I'm back to my previous issue with the article.  Which sport is my son more likely to receive and injury in, baseball or football?  Doesn't his chance of injury increase if he plays both?

We're talking about repetitive, overuse injuries.  Not just regular injuries that come with life or playing a sport in general.  There's a difference.

I do agree 100% that it is all about risk and reward. Not many receive the big reward without any risk. Same could be said for those that risk too much.

That gets us right back to the question with no answer... How much is too much?  The only thing we know for sure is that answer would be different for each individual.

Broken wings can be repaired.  Even if it stops a baseball career, it doesn't effect the rest of someone's life.  Broken heads, necks, and backs are another thing. 

Guess my point wasn't to discourage kids from participating in other sports.  I'm actually in favor of that in most cases.  I just don't understand why so many are against playing one sport and working hard to get better at that sport.  I mean sports like basketball are near impossible to reach the highest level if you are a multisport athlete. Once in college, doesn't most everyone concentrate on one sport?  Isn't that so they become better at that sport?

I really don't know how many Latin players have been injured playing year round baseball. If someone knows how many, I would be very interested in hearing that.  What I do know is how many end up in the Big Leagues.  And that number is amazing!  In the meantime, we complain about the money, the living conditions and playing too much.  Yet even among those in the U.S. many of those that have made it to the top did it exactly the way that many say is the wrong way.

So in the end, I try to keep an open mind.  So far I have learned a lot, but fully understand there is much more that I don't know than what I do know.  Actually wouldn't that be true for all of us?

I think its too easy to get caught up in the details of how you raised your own sons athletically/baseball wise and to try and find justification for that way.  I sure didn't get it all right, that I know for certain!!

I think the basic principles of the article are correct.

1. Don't Impose your own ambitions on your child 
2. Don't Over specialize too early
3. Don't be in a hurry to Focus on a single sport

Also, having gotten to know a fair number of college and pro ballplayers...including in other sports (NFL in particular) I can certainly agree with the author when he says, "...some of the most accomplished athletes I have known are not the overbearing parents you might expect when it comes to athletics..."  In fact, I hear them more often than not (including my own 2 sons) advise kids and their parents to not go too overboard on this whole thing...to play multiple sports, to play 'unsupervised' by adults, to make sure you enjoy it and to stop playing if it becomes too rigorous, too regimented...too organized...not so much fun anymore.

To respond to a few comments above...yes, I would encourage your son to participate in other sports no matter how much he wants to play just baseball , no, I don't think the Dominican is a model I'd be interested in copying with respect to my own kids and yes, you get better by practicing/playing more but you also become a better athlete with perhaps better staying power from the cross-training effects of playing other sports.

I'm pretty sure everyone on here is a really good parent trying to the best they can for our baseball sons.  No I don't think one size fits all, but I always enjoyed reading and thinking about articles like this and trying to figure out if I could do it just a little better myself.  Heck, I'd be interested in reading a decent article with counter points to this one.  And yes, that would make me stop and think too!!

I'm kind of a slow (or stubborn?) learner...sometimes I feel like it took me 2 or 3 kids before I got a whole lot better at this parenting thing for kids 4-6.  But Shhhh! Please don't tell my kids that.