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: 2/23/24
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 23, 2024
1. BOYS BASKETBALL Saginaw Heritage doubled up Flint Powers Catholic to clinch a share of the Saginaw Valley League title for the second time in program history – Saginaw News
2. BOYS BASKETBALL Baldwin clinched the West Michigan D League title with a 57-45 win over Pentwater – Big Rapids Pioneer
3. GIRLS BASKETBALL Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central defeated Jefferson 52-41 to clinch a share of the Huron League title, then ended up with the championship outright as Flat Rock edged co-leader Riverview 46-45 – Monroe News
4. BOYS BASKETBALL Harbor Light Christian downed Mackinaw City 71-32 to claim the Northern Lakes Conference title for the first time since 2011 – Traverse City Record-Eagle
5. BOYS BASKETBALL Dearborn Edsel Ford and Brownstown Woodhaven are co-champions of the Downriver League after Edsel’s 48-32 win – Southgate News-Herald
6. BOYS BASKETBALL Whitehall finished a perfect regular season and West Michigan Conference Lakes title run with a 75-57 victory over Muskegon Oakridge – Muskegon Chronicle
7. BOYS BASKETBALL Saginaw Nouvel clinched a repeat Tri-Valley Conference White title with an 81-40 victory over Michigan Lutheran Seminary – WJRT
8. GIRLS BASKETBALL Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard defeated Detroit Renaissance 54-39 to claim the Operation Friendship meeting of league champions – MLIVE-Detroit
9. BOYS BASKETBALL Bay City All Saints finished perfect in the North Central Thumb League Stripes, defeating Carsonville-Port Sanilac – Bay City Times
10. BOWLING Holton and Ravenna’s boys and girls teams advanced to Division 4 Finals, Ravenna finishing first and Holton second for girls and with the order reversed for the boys Regional – Local Sports Journal
Also of note …
BOYS BASKETBALL The Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan announced its Mr. Basketball Award finalists – Detroit Free Press
BOYS BASKETBALL Greg Lawson II became Davison’s all-time leading scorer as his team defeated Saginaw Arthur Hill 68-57 – Mid-Michigan Now
BOYS BASKETBALL Traverse City Central downed Alpena 71-49, but Alpena’s Tucker Bright reached 1,000 career points – Alpena News
HOCKEY No. 2 Marquette defeated Escanaba 7-1 in a Division 3 Regional, giving Marquette coach Doug Garrow his 200th win – Upper Michigan’s Source
GIRLS BASKETBALL Portage Central completed an outright championship run in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference with a 46-36 win over second-place Stevensville Lakeshore – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
BOYS BASKETBALL Portage Central also finished an outright SMAC run on the boys side with a 58-33 win over Lakeshore – Kalamazoo Gazette