Let's Play 2 (or 3, or 4)
February 16, 2012
A few conversations I had at last week's Women In Sports Leadership conference further affirmed a point I've been making for years -- high school athletes, if they'd like, shouldn't hesitate to play multiple sports.
Doing so does not hurt, but might just help their chances at landing that prized college scholarship -- on top of adding another layer to the high school sports experience.
Reaffirming this for me last week was Michigan State softball coach Jacquie Joseph, who spoke on that subject at the WISL conference. She's heading into her 24th season as a head coach at the Division I college level -- so she's been around for some of the evolution of both high school sports specialization and college recruiting. Plus, she coaches a sport that sees its share of athletes playing just that one.
Later, I spoke with a high school coach who leads teams in three sports and also played one at the Division I college level. She's a believer in this as well.
Some of the things I've been told over the years about playing more than one sport:
- It allows an athlete to learn more skills and hone more parts of his or her athleticism.
- Using another range of movement further helps condition an athlete's body and make it more resistant to injury.
- It's hardly rare to see a college football coach watching a prospect's basketball game -- coaches like to see how athleticism transfers across sports, and sometimes will see something from an athlete playing basketball that he didn't show on the football field. (Football and basketball are used in this example, but the same applies to a number of similar situations.)
- Athletes get an opportunity to play whatever they'd like only this once (unless they turn out to be that rare college athlete who takes on more than one sport at that level).
These are hardly new arguments. But they are always worth repeating -- especially when the people frequently making them (college coaches) are the ones single-sport athletes often are trying to impress.
Blissfield Boys Surge, Then Sweep to Attain Bowling Royalty for 1st Time
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
February 27, 2026
TAYLOR – Plymouth Christian Academy had been consistent Friday at Skore Lanes, earning the top seed for match play, sweeping its first match and winning the first game of its Division 4 Quarterfinal.
Then the Eagles ran into a Blissfield team on a roll as well.
PCA did take a 2-1 lead in their Semifinal before Blissfield won the last two games – rolling a 246 in the match decider. The Royals then swept Riverview Gabriel Richard in the championship match to claim their first Finals team title in boys bowling.
Blissfield’s lineup of Cash Moore, Alex Kudlac, Preston Iffland, Jon Cheney and Matthew Anderson dominated the Final, winning 191-114, 219-157 and 214-137.
The Royals also had reached the Semifinals in Division 3 a year ago but were a few students short of remaining in that classification this year. Moving to Division 4 was somewhat of a disappointment after coming so close in the Division 3 bracket.
“We were kind of upset about it,’’ said Moore, the leadoff bowler in the Final. “We had made the final four a year ago. We adjusted. I thought we bowled well all day. I thought (Gabriel Richard) might have run out of gas.’’
Plymouth Christian capitalized on a 943 score in the second round of singles to claim the top spot in qualifying with a 3,360. Jonesville, which finished Division 4 runner-up the last two seasons and was seeking its first championship since 2014, was second in qualifying at 3,337 pins, and New Lothrop placed third at 3,316.
PCA advanced against Bay City All Saints (3-0) in the first round of the best-of-five Baker game match format. Blissfield had eliminated Burton Atherton (3-0) to advance.
Jonesville’s hope of finally reclaiming the title stayed alive with a victory over Traverse City Christian (3-1) to advance to the Semifinal against Riverview Gabriel Richard, which had eliminated New Lothrop (3-2). Gabriel Richard won 3-1 against Jonesville to advance to the Final.
“We just kept going,’’ said Blissfield’s Iffland. “We didn’t miss our spares. If we got down during the day we got back up. If someone was hot we just kept riding each other.
“This was awesome. Last year we came up just short (in Division 3). It was sweet that we got it this year.’’