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.
Today in the MHSAA: 11/20/24
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 20, 2024
1. VOLLEYBALL No. 2 Detroit Country Day will play in its first Semifinal after coming back to defeat No. 4 North Branch 3-2 in a Division 2 Quarterfinal – Hometown Life
2. VOLLEYBALL No. 8 St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake earned its first Semifinal trip with a five-set win over No. 10 Concord in Division 4 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
3. VOLLEYBALL Honorable mention Essexville Garber earned its first trip to the Semifinals with a sweep of honorable mention Fruitport in Division 2 – Bay City Times
4. VOLLEYBALL Unranked Hancock moved on to the Division 4 Semifinals with a sweep of Atlanta – Upper Michigan’s Source
5. VOLLEYBALL No. 3 Battle Creek Harper Creek earned a trip just down the road with a Division 2 Quarterfinal win over No. 6 Grand Rapids South Christian in four sets – Battle Creek Enquirer
6. VOLLEYBALL No. 7 Tecumseh will play in its first Semifinal since 2011 after defeating Dearborn Divine Child in four sets in Division 2 – Adrian Daily Telegram
7. VOLLEYBALL No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Marian advanced in Division 1 with a four-set win over No. 7 Utica Eisenhower – Oakland Press
8. VOLLEYBALL No. 2 Northville is headed to Kellogg Arena for the third-straight season after sweeping honorable mention Temperance Bedford – MLIVE-Detroit
9. VOLLEYBALL Top-ranked Clarkston Everest Collegiate continued its Division 4 repeat pursuit with a sweep of No. 9 Ubly – Oakland Press
10. VOLLEYBALL No. 3 Kalamazoo Christian won a repeat Division 3 Quarterfinal matchup, sweeping honorable mention Pewamo-Westphalia – Kalamazoo Gazette
Also of note …
VOLLEYBALL No. 5 Cass City earned a trip to the Division 3 Semifinals with a sweep of Saginaw Valley Lutheran – Saginaw News
VOLLEYBALL Honorable mention Fenton swept Battle Creek Lakeview to advance in Division 1 – WNEM
VOLLEYBALL No. 6 Traverse City St. Francis is headed back to Battle Creek after a 3-1 win over honorable mention Roscommon – Up North Live
VOLLEYBALL No. 6 Rockford advanced in Division 1 with a sweep of honorable mention Traverse City Central – MI Sports Now
VOLLEYBALL No. 2 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart earned a return in Division 4, sweeping Traverse City Christian – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
VOLLEYBALL Top-ranked Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central swept honorable mention Hanover-Horton to advance in Division 3 – Monroe News