Off season question

As a high school baseball coach in Southern California who has a son it saddens me to see kids giving up second sports. The majority of athletes will not be good enough or have the desire to go to the next level so why not enjoy your youth while you are still young. I do not feel an athlete should ever specialize unless that player has no other desire to play another sport or there are offers on the table from the pro or college ranks.

I don't believe a kid should give up second and third sports as a freshman or a sophomore. When he gets to junior year and realizes extra work in one of the sports may make a difference towards the college path, then it's time to make decisions.

My son is a soph playing three sports (at least two varsity). He played s****r and fall ball at the same time. When fall ball ended this past weekend I asked him if he wanted to take some pitching lessons. He said he has three weeks to fine tune his basketball game before practice starts.

High School is the last opportunity they will have to play mutliple sports. Have him stick with it so long as he's having fun. My son has a great tradition of multi sports athletes, and we think the various sports give a "break" from the routine of one sport year round, and prevents burn out. Plus the pitchers really need to rest their arms.

By the way, Track is a great second sport, assuming he's working on quickness and speed, both of which are very important for the next level.

Thanks for those quick responses. I wasn't sure how track would/could affect baseball in the spring. As I said I think he may also workout with the team in the winter months. He's actually been a 1 sport kid for many years, Track would be a new sport for him. He does play other sports with his friends, just not on any organized team. Indoor Track would be with the HS, he wants to do it to help with baseball. Yes, it would be something different too. Any other input would be appreciated!

My son is in his Soph. year and played basketball last year and will also play it again this year. He saw no major negative effects, other than he did get a slightly slower start than some of the other kids who were in the program during the winter. He is a pitcher, so we had to work in a throwing program while he was playing basketball, which took some additional juggling (and time) on his part.

On the plus side the conditioning is better than what he gets from the 6th period baseball, and I would assume the same for your son, at least if he is doing sprinting, or high jump or other ballistic part of track. Long distance running might have a slight detriment, but again I would think very minor. (if he is able to hit the weight room he should be able to build body mass and offset any body mass loss) Like RJM said; encourage him to play multiple sports if this is what he wants it will keep him busy and allow him to expand his horizons in many ways. Once he gets to his Jr season then re-evaluate his objectives. SSmom has it perfect “play both sports until the competition convinces you otherwise”

Good Luck!

I say definitely run track. Not only is it fun but it will improve your baseball game. Last fall I went to a camp and my sixty time was like 7.6 or something and I decided to run indoor track. I ran the 4x400 and 500. My sixty time is now a 6.9. Not to mention how much fun I had with the team at the meets where we stayed in hotels.

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Originally posted by BaseballGr8:
Thanks for those quick responses. I wasn't sure how track would/could affect baseball in the spring. As I said I think he may also workout with the team in the winter months. He's actually been a 1 sport kid for many years, Track would be a new sport for him. He does play other sports with his friends, just not on any organized team. Indoor Track would be with the HS, he wants to do it to help with baseball. Yes, it would be something different too. Any other input would be appreciated!

After my daughter grew so rapidly she became a spaz I sent her to speed and agility camp to help her softball. She enjoyed it so much she quit basketball for indoor track. Gawd! Are track meets boring! It did make her faster for softball. She was also offered a track scholarship.

Track can be very helpful as Seth said in increasing speed, starts, leg strength and jumping ability. For three years my oldest son has competed in 5 events(long jump, triple jump, open quarter, 200 meters, and mile relay) while playing baseball at the same time. The youngest is now doing the same thing. As soon as track practice was over,it is off to baseball practice. This of course is in the spring. Oldest son went to regional in all five track events and still was all district and 3rd team all state in baseball so it is possible to do multiple sportseven at the same time if coaches work together. It ought to be a great thing to do winter track in the off season as this will enjoyable for the competition and great preparation for baseball in the spring.