What sport to choose

You choose the sport that you enjoy playing the most

Allstar91,
Good questions and congratulations on your athletic accomplishments. I suggest you select a college prep course and work on improving your GPA before you get lulled into thinking athletics will carry you through college. Generally speaking football offers more scholarship money than baseball, but no college will pay for your education if you cannot be educated. Improve your academics and then YOU will be able to select the athletic sport from the college offers. Athletic options are good but if you are not academically eligible then you'll lose those options.
Fungo

Play them all until "they" say you can't.

I have a HJ easy State champ at home. He plays baseball!!

PM = Vidclip

My son swims and plays baseball. He was All-American in swimming and has numerous baseball honors. If you look hard enough a school may let you play both. My son has scholarship money from both teams. As a freshman he probably won't make D1 swimming nationals this year so there is not much overlap. If he makes nationals in mid March then the coaches will really have to make some decisions. If your son is ready to go with one sport then so be it. But, don't be afraid to ask about playing two sports.

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My son has scholarship money from both teams.

I learn something every day on the HSBBW. I didn't know you could get scholarship money from two different sports but then again how many players are talented enough to get athletic scholarships in more than one sport???
Fungo

I'm so excited to hear from Tom R! My son is a talented swimmer/ball player too. He has been told he "has to choose" and, though he swims varsity and has excellent year-round state times, he's been going with his first-love, baseball. How in the world did your son manage the hours and hours of swim workouts during the Spring, TR? I'd love to tell quill-son that he doesn't have to choose, and here's an example of someone who does both...

Tom r, quillgirl,
Do your Boy's have any trouble with Throwing after Swimming.
I'm just wondering.
I alway's heard that swimming and baseball don't mix.
But I think it would be good for arm strength??
EH

One of the D1s we visited this year has their pitchers and catchers swim 3x a week during the off season as part of training to keep them flexible and develop long/lean muscle, and strengthen rotator cuff muscles. This made so much sense to me, as I've seen how it enhances my son's upper body strength, flexibility, and core strength. He's a sprinter so there is work on quick bursts, and they do dry-land training as well, especially leg work which is helpful for him as a catcher.

Yes, there can be shoulder problems if technique is poor in swim strokes like fly and back, but that's true of any sport or workout, including baseball. I think swimming has been a nice compliment to baseball because it is primarily a late fall/winter sport in HS, and the workouts are intense. Hey, you'll never meet an overweight competitive swimmer! I've even seen 10 year olds with well defined 6 packs.

That's the biggest problem: staying in top competitive swimming condition requires 2-3 hours of pool time most every day, and the hours just aren't there during spring ball season.

My son played baseball 3 seasons and swam Sept thru March. He swam with the club team Sept - Nov while the girls teams were competing. Then swam with the HS team during the season. Fall ball was weekends only so it didn't interfere with swimming. From Thanksgiving to New Years no baseball then we went to an indoor facility 1 day/week to get the arm and eye back up to speed. No arm problems. As Quillgirl stated poor technique usually leads to injuries. The same as in baseball. Yes it does take a very good athlete to do more than one sport. My son took up swimming after he gave up football. He wanted to stay in shape during the baseball "off season". He was a baseball PUMA Pre-season All American. In Swimming his times made him a Swimming All-American. My bet is that come the Baseball preseason he will be in the best cardio AND general good condition of any player on his D1 team.

Worry about your GPA first or you won't have any scholarship offers anywhere.

Coaches are not going to waste scholarship money on players that will be academically ineligible. Get your grades up as quick as you can. They are much more important than any athletic ability.

Most college coaches want commitment to their program. I can't see a good coach allowing one of his players to play more than one sport. It is not about fitting it into your schedule and even how talented you are in more than one sport. Most ball players are. Baseball is about commitment from each and every player.

Your question is can you get a scholarship for baseball. Yes, same as football, but there are fewer scholarships for baseball players, and many are partial or split among various players.

With your background, a high or higher GPA will open many college doors.

I think you knew what you were going to hear with regards to your GPA so I won't pile on. One thing to think about also if you hope to play football and baseball. While playing one or the other, you will most likely miss your fall baseball workouts/season and your spring football workouts. Coaches on either side will tell you they won't hold that against an athlete, but, I don't knooooow.

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While playing one or the other, you will most likely miss your fall baseball workouts/season and your spring football workouts. Coaches on either side will tell you they won't hold that against an athlete, but, I don't knooooow.

I'm not sure either. My son is also debating this issue. Was told by a few friends at a particular JUCO who are football players that their coach does indeeed encourage them to be two sport athletes. I was pretty suprised to hear that. I would have thought the opposite for various reasons.

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I was pretty suprised to hear that. I would have thought the opposite for various reasons.

I haven't met a college coach who wouul say that. HS is one thing college is another. The coaches I have met want total dedication. Even the other teammates could be ticked by a guy who dosen't have to commit 100% to BB. Guy shows up after FB and expects to play ahead of a guy who worked his butt off for a chance to play. You want problems you'll have them if you allow that to happen.

Bobblehead, no disrespect and as devil's advocate, it may be possible in some cases depending on the school and its program, and understandings met between coaches who agree to work together to get an athlete they both want.

Kids who play two sports certainly ARE working out--maybe even more than those in a single sport. These athletes aren't laying around doing nothing and expecting to play. Don't assume they are expecting to play ahead of another unless they truly deserve that spot--bottom line, just better than all others. And what if they do end up being the better player afterall and deserve to play ahead of a single sport player? What if they, in fact, do double workouts rather than one? I see how swimmers could do both. I imagine weight training and dry-land training would overlap and could be counted for both sports, and then it would be a matter of pool work on top of whatever the ball coach has planned, with the biggest possibility for conflict during the early spring start up as swimming finishes. The liklihood of injury would be increased, especially for high impact sports like football.

I view duel-sport kids as an athlete agreeing to have NO LIFE at all outside of sports. Every moment would be consumed with study, training and competition with nearly zero down time. Collegiate duel-sport athletes are rare birds, I expect, but it obviously isn't impossible and just might work if expectations and obligations are clearly defined.

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Collegiate duel-sport athletes are rare birds

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Collegiate duel-sport athletes are rare birds,

I understand your points but they are rare because most coaches won't allow it. Most college BB players are talented in more than one sport but realize they have to commit to one. My son is a top basket ball player who played at the provincial championship level. He committed to BB after HS because he owed it to the coach to be at every practice etc. He had this same commitment all through HS to his elite team.
I have a LHP friend who is having a problem with his coach over classes interfering with his BB schedule next spring. The coach is trying to get the college to change the class schedule to accomodate the BB schedule. His coach would nevr permit anything to interfer with his BB program and you could imagine what he would say if he wanted to play a second sport. I have known his coach for many years and he would dump a BB player he was recruiting regardless of how good he was if he asked to play another sport as well. Yes injury is one of the issues but dedication is the big one.

I think it's also rare because most kids are really better on the collegiate level at one sport over another and end up getting better offers for their strength over their weaker one. Also, it is probably exceedingly rare to find one D1 school that has two programs in need of the same kid. Swimmers aren't usually utility "player"--most are better at one stroke and distance over others. You have to find a school that needs your particular talent. But then football might not need your position. Baseball might not need your position, etc. To have everything fall into place perfectly is amazing.

Yeah, I truly understand the commitment issue. It's a delicate balance that is akin to dating more than one sweetie at the same time. There is a huge risk of someone getting their feelings hurt. But assuming everyone understands each other and can work things out, why not? If it doesn't pan out, then either the coaches or the athlete have to make a choice. This is a rare situation, and not one most kids are going to find themselves facing.

Allstar91;

Do you remember Kirk Gibson? He played baseball and football at Michigan State.

Our College World Series MSU team, we had all three QB. Earl Morrall, Tom Yewcic and John Matsock. Earl later played in the NFL and Tom played both MLB and the NFL. MSU also visited the Rose Bowl the same year.

This year, we traveled in December to Australia with a running back, who played in the California State High School Championship Football game December 16th and played baseball in Perth, Western Australia four days later.

"Play both sports until the competition convinces you otherwise".

Bob Williams

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Play both sports until the competition convinces you otherwise".

Ya know,..thats simple, straight up, good advice IMO! I'm liken it!!!

I've spoken with a D2 coach who said that 2 of his players play both baseball and football, which I plan on doing.

I was wondering which D2 school that was ?

I know there was a guy at Notre Dane and I am sure there are some others but I would be interested to check out his playing time etc.

The first time home, my college hockey-playing son made a point to steal his younger brother's catcher's equipment.

Now, he did reasonably well his first semester at a D-III school (2.6), and he has received a preliminary go-ahead to try it. But his second semester figures to be harder than his first. He'll have about a month after the second semester to decide.

It takes some pretty special classroom/study skills to play two sports in college, any college. I don't know what my son is going to do.

But either way, my college baseball-playing son is jealous.

Atleast at a D111 the coach doesn't risk his BB money on a guy who gets racked up in hockey.
A smart coach is going to concentrate on a guy who will commit 100% to his program. There are4 lots of great ball players looking for a place to play. If I were a coach and a recruit asked if he could play a second sport I would just say "NEXT".

The fact is for every case of a kid playing two sports in college there are literally thousands of kids who do not. You may start out playing two but the odds are you will not finish playing two. I played football in college because that was the sport that I got the money in. I could have tried to do both but the there was no way I would have had the time to do both. The time demands on a college athlete are ridiculous. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to just go to class study and then make all of the sport related functions especially in the off season. You better be one heck of a stud to think you can miss the off season in a college program and then play over the guys that dont. Ive seen guys that tried to do both that ended up sitting the pine in both. The demands on a high school athlete are nothing compared to the demands on a college athlete. It can be done. But the fact you can name the ones that have tells you how rare it is. Being talented enough to do it is not the question. There are alot of kids talented enough to play two sports in college.

An '05 grad from my son's high-school was a two-sport stud (football and baseball) getting looks from numerous major DI schools, but none would let him play both sports. Ultimately, he obtained a full scholarship to play football at a mid-major DI where he's permitted to play baseball, too. Unfortunately, as a freshman in the fall of 2005, he suffered a football-related knee injury and didn't recover enough to see much playing time for the baseball team the following spring.

Only YOU know what YOU want (and may be capable of), but the big scholarship $$ seems to be in football...just check out the front page of this site and click on "NCAA SCHOLARSHIPS BY SPORT."

Yes the big money is in football or basketball. But our kids play baseball. If you have a 2nd sport that you like and keeps you in shape, keep playing. If it starts to conflict, then you must make a choice. Until then have fun. Remember, that is why you are playing...you can dream of the scholarship and the pros but enjoy whatever level you are now playing at.

Here in NY we can't play outdoors most years. The fields are unplayable from Thanksgiving until mid-March. If you want to stay in shape then you find an off season sport or spends thousands at an indoor baseball facility. In any case I repeat "Have Fun".

BobbleheadDoll,
Stanford has a lengthy list of top 2 sport athletes who competed in football/baseball. John Elway, Joe Borchard, Chad Hutchinson are some and each was pretty top level in each sport. This year, Toby Gerhart is that guy. Had a pretty good freshman football season on a not so very good team. Has a chance to start on the baseball team according to a recent interview with Coach "9."
While it is not easy, it can be done in sports that do not overlap. I think a coaching staff can block or impede the opportunity if they want but Stanford has been very good with it and so have the players.
I am not sure it will happen but I have read that DeSean Jackson intends to play baseball this Spring at Cal. He could be the most explosive football player in America and some say he is equally good in baseball. He is not on the roster yet, though.
I think it would be quite hard in swimming/baseball just because you miss the first 8-12 weeks of baseball season that overlaps with swimming. Our son had an invitation to try both. Used swimming for offseason conditioning but did not compete in both.