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.
Kearsley Girls Erase Last Year's Early Exit with 9th Title in 11 Seasons
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2024
WATERFORD — It might seem impossible that a team with eight MHSAA Finals titles over a span of 10 years would ever enter anything hungry for redemption.
But that was the case for Flint Kearsley’s girls bowling team going into the Division 2 Final on Friday at Century Bowl.
Last year, the Hornets suffered a disappointment they weren’t used to feeling, getting knocked out in the Quarterfinal round after earning the No. 1 seed during the qualifying block.
That defeat was way more on the minds of Kearsley all offseason, rather than the previous eight state titles.
“That was a debacle,” first-year Kearsley head coach Jeff Vanier said.
But that failure last year was long forgotten when this year’s competition was over, as Kearsley reclaimed its throne by beating Bay City John Glenn in the championship match, 3-1.
This was the first year of a new format in the knockout stage where the team that won three out of five Baker games was declared the winner. The previous format awarded the team with the most pins following two Baker games and a regular game.
John Glenn won the first game of the Final, 177-152, but Kearsley stormed back winning the second game 173-143, the third game 235-134 and the fourth game 165-122 to clinch its ninth title in 11 years.
The most pivotal moment for Kearsley might have come in a Quarterfinal match against Sturgis. Kearsley lost the first game (171-159) and won the second (179-145) before both teams struggled in the third game.
The Hornets ended up prevailing, 128-124, rallying after anchor bowler Ava Boggs struck out in the final frame.
“That gave us a 2-1 lead, and we went on from there,” Vanier said.
Kearsley finished off Sturgis in the fourth game, 210-165, and then recorded a three-game sweep of New Boston Huron to advance to the Final.
John Glenn was No. 1 out of the qualifying block before earning a five-game win over Marshall in the Quarterfinals and a four-game triumph over Tecumseh in the Semifinals.
“We made a lot of spares today, but when we got to the final match, we weren’t making spares,” John Glenn head coach Andy Gwizdala said. “During the Baker matches earlier in the day, we averaged 184, which means we made spares. We were consistent and made spares. That’s what we came here to do. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish it in the Final.”
Still, there was a lot for John Glenn to feel good about.
The Bobcats avenged losses from the Quarterfinal round of the tournament each of the last two years and don’t graduate any bowlers as they look ahead to 2024-25.
“We hope to be back next year,” Gwizdala said.