Multi-Sport Dilemma

What was done was probably illegal. They can't force a kid into offseason optional workouts. However, you can't prove it's why he was cut.

Since it's the freshman coach with the issue your son should talk with the varsity coach. The varsity coach doesn't want to miss out on a potential future varsity player. No whining allowed by your son. Be factual and enthusiastic about playing baseball.

The football coach has shown some love. I would hate to see you overestimate his baseball skills at the cost of playing football, unless he dislikes football. I 've seen enough kids drop football for baseball only to end up not playing in two sports.

Carefully evaluate his skills and what the baseball team is looking for before jumping!

My son's HS AD had a very specific policy on multple sports, no coach could discourage a kid from playing another sport and summer practice time was divied up between the teams I.e. football had some min requirments that didn't overlap with basketball min requirements and the remaining time went to club sports (i.e. basketall or baseball).

Its high school not college , kids should enjoy playing what they can play. I love recruiting multi sport high athletes because I feel it builds other athletic skills that arnt developed in baseball but would help in baseball.

Let him do what he has fun doing.

I don't like the 'must live one sport, 24/7' thing for high school kids. But, if he has to choose, Play Football! You're from Texas!

My son was the starting point guard on the freshman team. He was cut the next year. He was told he didn't have enough time to commit to playing three varsity sports. He already made one in the fall. The basketball coach knew his sport was baseball. Due to lack of time with baseball and s****r commitments my son never went to offseason workouts until a week before tryouts and didn't play in a summer league.

I don't know how it works in your area, but IMO High School Baseball is probably on the outs in terms of competitiveness. With the onslaught of select/trave/club teams and the long summer, I would gather most of the best baseball is played on these teams for the serious player. For example, one organization around here they look for the best HS players from the area, train all winter, break for the HS season, and then as soon as schools out start playing thru August.

So with that said, I would be less concerned about what the freshman coach wanted and the politics of playing fall baseball. If he really likes football, go ahead an play. Tryout for the baseball team and see what happens. If your kid is as good as you say (not doubting you) and can make a contribution to the team, the coach will pick him. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by 5Tools:
He played in all three summer programs for his schools incoming freshman... and then went to post season baseball tryouts where he was pronptly cut... Once spring baseball tryout arrived in january he was cut again, even thought he outperformed everyone else at the tryout.

I'm going to start with this...
Something doesn't add up here. Were any of the V or JV coaches involved in any of these summer programs or tryouts?

I don't get these HS coaches that don't let players or threaten players when it comes to playing multiple sports. They should be glad they get a dedicted athlete that plays and trains year round. HS should not be the place where coaches make demands on where players play. In our school system, it's encouraged to play multiple sports in they can. What's the big deal? The most they'll miss is some preseason conditioning and if they're one of the better athletes in the school, they'll catch up fast anyway. My son played a winter sport and was on the varsity since his freshman year and every year, his teams went deep into conference and state tournaments so the most he'd miss is some after school conditioning for baseball. It made no difference, by time the preseason/tryouts opened he was ready for the baseball season. In fact, in my son's case, being involved in conference and state tournaments as a freshman got him introduced early to competing on the varsity level. By the time he made varsity in baseball, mentally dealing with pressure in conference games was no big deal for him because of the experience he gained from his winter sport.

Bottom line is coaches who ban kids from playing other sports are clueless and are on a power trip. Nothing more.

I'm with cabbagedad in that why aren't the varsity or JV coaches involved in all aspects of the program. When I was head varsity coach it was my decision who was kept (with input from my coaches) as to who played what level. I didn't let my freshman coach pick and choose who he wanted because at the end of the day it was my name on the line.

That being said no player anywhere in the US should play football and fall ball at the same time. I don't care of one is for the HS and the other an outside time or both are HS sports or whatever. Playing two sports like this at the same time is wrong and never be done. But a coach should never say "don't play this so you can concentrate on my sport". That is just as wrong.

Let the kids play whatever sport they want to play and then do your job and coach the h*** out of them when you do get them. The biggest excuse given to hoarding players is building commitment to team. You know what I've discovered builds commitment to team? Winning games builds commitment not practicing one sport for 12 months.

We had an outfielder who played football and wrestled. Our first time seeing him for baseball was our first game of the season. He never participated in one single preseason workout because he was wrestling at the state championship level. Having kids like that will do more good in terms for building your team than hoarding them all year. Winners tend to be winners in the vast majority of aspects of their life.

If your son wants to play football then let him play football and if the baseball coaches are too stupid to keep a great athlete then what he does in the summer with those teams will be enough.

I would have hated for my son's coaches to have discouraged him from playing football. He would have missed out on one of the most rewarding experiences of his high school years had he not played.

At my son's school we were the smallest school in our class AAAA conference so in most cases the High school coaches worked with each other, they need the athletes to play.

My son was the QB on the football team starting in his Soph year and was also played on the baseball team. When it came to fall , the baseball coach said a players primary sport took precedent, so my son did not play in the fall ball league. When baseball came around baseball took precedent. it worked well because the coaches worked with each other. He also played basketball but it was difficult for him to continue with basketball. One the coach really wanted the players to play together and worked out during the summer, which he could not do because of his travel baseball schedule and summer workouts for football.

At our school it use to be that members of the football team would finish football and then join the baser all team then roll right into their spring sport. today that is hard to do because of the off season training for these sports.

Rough situation for the poster, some good advice has been given, talking to the varsity coach and get his pov, if he shows that he will not support the posters son doing both, then play football and look for good summer teams to play baseball.


it is a shame that posters son may have to decide between the two. During my son's recruiting process, many college coaches commented they liked that my son played football. They liked the leadership, and mental toughness the QB position required.

Seems like the trend is for HS coaches to require dedication to one sport. Many of the larger schools that have a large pool to pull from seem to be going way. However, seems like in those schools you will find the football coach, then maybe s****r, then basketball be the ones that require dedication to their sport, not the baseball coach, but that maybe just our area where football, s----r and basketball are bigger sports.

Hopefully it works out for your son, good luck.

I feel for your son and his situation. If he feels strongly about it, he'll have to make a decision on the next step. Truthfully, I think this is a policy issue so I would go to the AD. You pay taxes for public school or tuition for a private school. Your son is being denied access to an opportunity he wants to pursue at his school. Fundamentally that is wrong.

If the coach doesn't understand that his policy is an issue, you need to move this up the chain. Bear in mind there may be consequences. Is your son willing to deal with those consequences? I wonder what the coach would think if it was his kid? Would the coach allow his son to be limited to one sport?

I don't understand coaches that do this. My middle son played football, basketball, and baseball at a 4AAAA school. He started varsity in all three for all four years. The coaches liked that he was a competitor and brought success to each team. Interestingly, 3 of the five starters in basketball started all three sports their Junior and Senior years and those were two of the school's most successful years in sports.
I will agree with most. Competitors are competitors.
Some will disagree, but I think play all you can. If your high school won't let you then play travel ball instead but don't give it up. One of my baseball players yesterday talked about the great game my son had in football against his team. With all his baseball accolades, he is still remembered more as a football player.

Hello again everyone:

First of all I am impressed and thankful for all the time everyone has taken to read and respond to my post. That shows you all really do love the game and care about it and those who share your love.

Someone asked if the JV and Varsity coaches were invloved. They were involved in the summer camp, but it is a fine line out here in Texas where year round "Practice" is possible, but illegal per rules. The fall ball team is coached by a third party and the coaches can only observe. Tryouts were run by all three levels of coach, and some were very impressed by my son, and some felt he needed to be better at some things. My son called a meeting with all the coaches and asked for input after the 1st cut in the fall and they provided some feedback. He worked very hard on all areas mentioned (even the ones he was not really weak in) and came back very strong for the January tryout. At that point the tryout was limited to him and 4 other boys. They had alreay posted a spring roster over the x-mas break before the tryout even occurred. They told my son for him to make the team not only would he have to have a great tryout, he could not just be as good as others already on the roster, but he would have to significanlty outperform them to even be considered. I personally attended two of the tryout days to see for myself, and he did just that. Even guys already on the team told him he was better than guys already on the roster, and he was easily the best one out there in the group of kids trying out.

I think at this point for his clarity and for mine a little too, I will schedule a meeting with the AD, Baseball Coach, and Football Coach and ask them straight out if they will support him in both sports. If they dont give a straight answer, then at least my son will know where he stands in thier eyes, and he can make a decision for himself based on what makes him happy. Either way he will continue to play baseball, even if its outside his school. He loves the game too much and never tires of practicing.

quote:

Originally posted by 5Tools:
Tryouts were run by all three levels of coach, and some were very impressed by my son, and some felt he needed to be better at some things. My son called a meeting with all the coaches and asked for input after the 1st cut in the fall and they provided some feedback.

5 tools,
Thanks for answering that question. I think it was smart of your son to ask for input and get feedback from the coaches. It sounds like there is good dialog there. If some coaches felt he needed to be better at some things, this is where I would suggest he continues to focus.

I don’t doubt that your son is a good player and athlete, capable of playing many sports. I will comment on some things that may or may not apply to you and your son. It is common for players to come up to the HS level expecting to still be the standout as they have been at previous youth levels and perhaps travel ball. They and the parents don’t always see that the playing field begins to level. I believe that all parents have rose colored glasses about their own kids’ abilities and skill sets to some varying degree, consciously or otherwise. I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that your enthusiastic bio may indicate that you are susceptible to being closer to one end of the spectrum than the other. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but I’m hoping that having a $%#&head like me bringing it up puts you in a better position to manage it .

quote:

Even guys already on the team told him he was better than guys already on the roster, and he was easily the best one out there in the group of kids trying out.

Again, I am sure there is some degree of truth to this, but what would you expect others to say to him after he had been cut? If your son truly did clearly stand out among those who tried out, don’t you think the coaches would want him on the team regardless of whether he participated in other sports? I would have him focus on making that leap to “significantly outperforming” the others next time and leaving no doubt.

OK, I'm guessing at this point, you are somewhere between "pi$$ed off" and "this guy has no clue about my kid". Please read the rest anyway.

Regarding multi-sport athletes...

I am a big proponent of HS kids playing multiple sports. All three of mine were/are. That said, I think they have to be realistic and understand the pros and cons. If one has no aspirations of playing any sport at the college level, I say go for as much as you can handle but still understand that you will likely find yourself being passed by from a skill/experience/performance level by those who are practicing a single sport on a more constant basis. Then, there is the overlap issue. Particularly if a school makes playoffs, the overlap of seasons can make it very difficult for a player to get a fair tryout and assessment in short order, get caught up on the specific skills, know the coach’s system and be able to mesh with teammates quickly enough to contribute to the team, regardless of overall skill level and athleticism. Participating in off-season programs should not be a requirement, but those who do participate are not standing still. They are making progress while your son is not. Not right or wrong. Just a reality.
There is also the injury factor to consider. And if you do aspire to play a given sport in college, can you make the necessary progress in that chosen sport while participating in two others? Usually, sacrifices have to be made. Now, these issues will apply less to the rare true stud and more for bigger schools. With your son being passed over in tryouts twice, I think we can rule out “true stud”, at least for now.

quote:

Have any of you experienced this and is the ever a politically correct way to approach these coaches and tell them to quit holding him to a special standard or to being a single sport athlete?

I think we have all experienced some version of this. I hope that some of my earlier comments help you understand that there may be valid reasons that a coach would look for the multi-sport kid to be a bit better than the one-sport kid. One reason is that he knows the one-sport kid will likely continue to improve at a rapid pace due to his far more frequent participation in practices, summer programs and games of his specific sport. (And, yes, I understand and agree that there are other advantages that come with being a multi-sport kid)

quote:

I will schedule a meeting with the AD, Baseball Coach, and Football Coach and ask them straight out if they will support him in both sports.

Before doing so, I would consider that you may become “that Dad” and this may become an additional hurdle for you son to have to overcome. It sounds to me like your son already does a fine job of communicating with these folks on his own, as it should be as he enters HS years.

quote:

Either way he will continue to play baseball, even if it’s outside his school. He loves the game too much and never tires of practicing.

All said, I agree that there is nothing wrong with pursuing baseball outside of school whether or not the school situation works out. Although, if HE is the one that truly loves the game and doesn’t tire of practicing, I’m sure it will work out just fine. Sometimes, as parents, we have to just get out of the way and let them shine on their own merit. It sounds like you've done a good job in guiding him on how to overcome obstacles. IMO, you should let him continue to do so.

Lastly, there is nothing wrong with him telling the FB coach that he is trying to evaluate what he can realistically handle and isn't ready to commit today to playing next year but he loves to play the game and will keep him informed. Any decent coach would respect that.

Welcome to the world of high school sports. It has been our experience here in the northwest that we get 3 types of coaches in the different sports: about 1/3 really good ones, 1/3 incompetent ones, and 1/3 competent but jerks. This has a lot to do with how coaches are selected here so may be different down in Texas. Getting any results assumes a level of reasonableness on the coach's part that may not exist.

My son is kind of in the same boat as yours - varsity was pre-selected back in the fall when the coach put together a fall-ball team that was supposed to be kept secret from the boys he did not want on the team this spring. "Tryouts" are a sham. Like yours, my son plays in a good select program and got noticed during tournament ball and at local camps. He had a choice of local JC programs and signed his LOI without ever playing in a HS game.

You and your son have the same dilemma we had 2 years ago. Unfortunately, being one of the best players does not guarantee a varsity spot or playing time.

quote:

Originally posted by Primary:
...Unfortunately, being one of the best players does not guarantee a varsity spot or playing time.

OK, FWIW,
I am a HS coach. I know at least 100 other HS coaches. If there is a player at our HS who would be one of the top five or six players in our program, he would NOT be cut or otherwise not allowed to play because he plays other sports or because he did not participate in off-season program due to other sports. I know that those other 100 think pretty much the same way. The reality is, in fact, quite the opposite. Now, if there are other issues...

Stories like these just get under my skin. I know times have changed but we were always encouraged to play multiple sports. If you played football and didnt play baseball in the spring, you ran track. And most coaches coached other sports so there was no fuss on letting kids play multiple sports.

At my son's school the baseball coach does not get along with any of the other coaches. My son played 3 sports last year and while he was going to give up basketball this year, the baseball coach demanded he not play basketball. He played football this year and the baseball coach couldnt stand it. The coach sent my wife and I an email saying he came to class late all cocky, with his football jersey on. Yeah he was late because a college coach came by to speak to him and he wore his jersey because it was game day!! Sorry for the rant.

5tools I really feel bad for your situation, but I would not let a coach discourage my son from playing something he loves. Everything will work out in the end!! Keep us posted

5tools, I would encourage him to play whatever he wants. He doesn't need the Highschool exposure if he is playing on a select travel team. If he has the talent he will eventually get noticed (travel, Showcases ETC)Keep trying out also, maybe the JV or Varsity Coach will see his ability.

Cabbagedad:

I'm taking your advice. The kid is ready to handle himself with the coaches...and no I definately don't want to be "the Dad" or even worse embarass my son or make him feel caught in the middle.

Everyone:

I will work out with him as much as he wants outside school and help him get wherever he desires through practice and hard work. Tournaments start this weekend. I am excited for him and know he will do well. I'll repost later in the year and let you guys know where things go. I know everyone is proud of, and thinks the world of, thier own kids, but I know when I have seen athlete who is a gamer and has natural ability/drive others will never have, so I am confident in time, his day will come! If any of you have kids in 14U ball in Arizona or Texas, we may see you soon this Spring.

Take care everyone!

Awesome. I'm glad you didn't take my directness and some assumptions too personally. Sounds like a great kid and I would bet on you being right that his day will come.
Best wishes.

5Tools I feel your pain. Mine is your son's age but in 8th grade and the kids that are primary baseball players are already having issues with the high school football coach. No surprise it is TX right.

Tells the parents that he is all for the boys to play multiple sports in high school, but then when you never release your football players from football class it doesn't really send that message. So if my son chooses to play football past his freshman year he will still go to football class for offseason and only participate with the baseball team after school, this will be even during baseball season.

If you are a football player period you train/lift, etc. for football only. No concessions made for some of the lifting that is not good for a baseball player, etc. Not an ideal situation for kids like my son who are baseball first and play football because they enjoy it and all their buddies play as well. This to me is the reason why kids move to playing only one sport in high school.

The other issue you have here is the football coach and the AD are basically one and the same. Football coach is the entire face of the athletic program. Only one guy cares about baseball and that is the head baseball coach and even he has to coach football on some level.

My son was drafted by MLB team, didn't sign, now playing D1 college baseball. Similar situation, But football coach was the jerk. My son is a multi sport athlete. V football held him down Freshman and Sophmore years, should have played Varsity. Coach said he quit Junior year, other team mates over heard coach tell him he is done though. V football coach begged him to play Senior year. I told him no, you're not going to play for that P.O.S.! I think my son could have recruited to play D1 football, but we considered him a baseball player playing football. Summary: have your kid play all the sports he wants, he's in High School. It will work out for him in the end. Unfortunately there are coaches that only think about themselves, instead of the kids. Also a lot of the college coaches approve of kids playing multiple sports, because they know the kids can handle a heavy work load. Good luck.

Sadly, the honest truth is that it is pretty tough to compete in the upper years of high school with kids who have been specialized and focusing on one sport for a few years if you have been playing multiple sports.

Multiple sports are terrific for the high school athlete but it's my opinion that all but the most special talent won't play beyond high school if they diversify themselves too much. There are just too many really good kids honing their skills year round at all sports these days.

Last, sad as it is, if I were a coach and had a part time player and a year round guy and they were about the same talent wise, I would take the year round kid for his dedication and also that fact that I could foresee his abilities out reaching the multi sport kid.

quote:

Originally posted by calisportsfan:
Sadly, the honest truth is that it is pretty tough to compete in the upper years of high school with kids who have been specialized and focusing on one sport for a few years if you have been playing multiple sports.

Multiple sports are terrific for the high school athlete but it's my opinion that all but the most special talent won't play beyond high school if they diversify themselves too much. There are just too many really good kids honing their skills year round at all sports these days.

Last, sad as it is, if I were a coach and had a part time player and a year round guy and they were about the same talent wise, I would take the year round kid for his dedication and also that fact that I could foresee his abilities out reaching the multi sport kid.

I don't necessarily agree here. The multisport athlete is most likely a top player in one of his sports he plays who happens to be prety good at other sports as well. I see a bigger ceiling on the wel rounded athlete who hasn't spent year round honing one skill because eventually when they weed out the sports and specialize, they too will be advanced when they put the same amount of time in on one sport. The best all-around athletes adapt and catch up fast and can bypass the one sport athlete in all around ability.

I don't necessarily agree here. The multisport athlete is most likely a top player in one of his sports he plays who happens to be prety good at other sports as well. I see a bigger ceiling on the wel rounded athlete who hasn't spent year round honing one skill because eventually when they weed out the sports and specialize, they too will be advanced when they put the same amount of time in on one sport. The best all-around athletes adapt and catch up fast and can bypass the one sport athlete in all around ability.


Great post...agree 100%

He's not a pitcher is he? Problem with sitting out and playing too many other sports is that they usu. miss conditioning/practices too. If he's a pitcher you cannot not pitch for months and expect to come back in any shape to help the team-esp. at age 14. Also depends on size of school. If it's a smaller school then yes you will see many sport athletes. If it's a all male school or some program that is top ranked in your state, then it's very diff. to give each team the time needed. You also have to worry about doing too much and injuries. He would have to be amazing to set out of baseball for 7 months through football/basketball and come back and be on your game in one week of tryouts. Choose one or two that you have a passion for and find places to play-school or other.good luck

Last spring, the school district next to mine won the 4A- biggest schools- state championship in baseball and lacrosse. (and tennis) Both teams had s****r players on their rosters. The past fall, their s****r team won the state championship, with baseball and lacrosse players on the roster.

As far as high school teams go, I'm still not buying the '24/7, 365' makes you better. If students at this school were confined to one sport, could they have won three state championships? I doubt it.

quote:

I'm still not buying the '24/7, 365' makes you better.

Antzdad, I am not one who beleives you must only play one sport to be good or even great ( Tom Glavine= baseball & Hockey) However if you concentrate on one sport 24/7 & 365 you will be better at that sport than if you split the year on two sports. Some other things to consider are injuries. Now I know they are not gauranteed but when my Son was in 8th Grade he broke his wrist in Dec. Missed all of his Baseball workouts in Jan & Feb & it set him Back. He gave up Basketball after that & it was the best move he ever made. He liked playing Basketball but LOVES playing Baseball.

Every situation & Player is different. Again I am not opposed to a Kid playing 2 or 3 sports if thats what he wants but there is absolutley no doubt that any player would be a better player at a particular sport if they were 24/7 365 at that particular sport.

Ah, but you left out part of my statement.

"As far as high school TEAMS go..."

If a coach's goal (any sport) is a state title, he should use all the help he can get. If a basketball player can catch TD passes, if a football player can box out and rebound, if a s****r player can hit .450, a coach would be a fool not to welcome them.

Injuries... they happen. My brother told me yesterday, his niece, a potential college field hockey player, just blew her knee out. Dancing.

I agree with all that. My only point is a player can be better at a particular sport if he/she works on it 24/7 365.

Dancing??? YIKES

I do not subscribe to the 24/7/365 approach as being the best one NExessarily for improvement in any one sport.

Especially for a late development sport such as baseball

quote:

Originally posted by AntzDad:
Ah, but you left out part of my statement.

"As far as high school TEAMS go..."

If a coach's goal (any sport) is a state title, he should use all the help he can get. If a basketball player can catch TD passes, if a football player can box out and rebound, if a s****r player can hit .450, a coach would be a fool not to welcome them.

Injuries... they happen. My brother told me yesterday, his niece, a potential college field hockey player, just blew her knee out. Dancing.

My son gave up football when he entered high school. He said it was hard to hit on Friday and play fallball on the weekend. Bigger was he was afraid he would get hurt and miss baseball. He tore his MCL and PCL in his first day of showcase ball on a collision at the plate. It was as much collision as he would have experienced on the football field. Then he had shoulder seperation surgery when he fell on his shoulder rehabbing his knee. He started the baseball season at DH three weeks after tossing away the sling. He missed his senior year of s0ccer.

quote:

Originally posted by CBMDad:
I agree with all that. My only point is a player can be better at a particular sport if he/she works on it 24/7 365.

Dancing??? YIKES

There's a point of diminishing returns on training.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:

quote:

Originally posted by CBMDad:
I agree with all that. My only point is a player can be better at a particular sport if he/she works on it 24/7 365.

Dancing??? YIKES

There's a point of diminishing returns on training.

Totally off topic, but have you ever posted on different baseball message boards under the screen name of "TG" Just wondering.

Hi everyone:

I think there is a misconception...my son does plays baseball year round...he played last spring, attended the incoming freshman summer camp, attended the high school camps at university of Washington and Florida state university as a 13 year old in the 9-12 grade group and then played tournaments during the fall during football season...it's now march 3 and he has been practicing for 3 months prepping for spring ball...the only ball he didn't play was fall baseball for the school because that was not allowed...heck he used to run off the football field after games in the fall to meet me at the parking lot to make it to baseball on time...used to go to baseball in his football gear

quote:

Originally posted by CBMDad:
I agree with all that. My only point is a player can be better at a particular sport if he/she works on it 24/7 365.

Dancing??? YIKES

What do you think of Christopher Walken as an actor?