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.
Performance of the Week: Macomb Lutheran North's Lauren Timpf
October 27, 2023
Lauren Timpf ♦ Macomb Lutheran North
Senior ♦ Golf
Timpf closed her high school career over the weekend as one of the most accomplished champions in MHSAA golf history. She carded a final-round 5-under-par 67 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University on Saturday to finish with a two-round 141 and win the Lower Peninsula Division 3 individual championship by eight strokes. The championship was Timpf's third at a Final, as she and Ann Arbor Greenhills junior Mia Melendez (who won the LPD4 title over the weekend) joined just six others in Lower Peninsula girls golf history to finish as a Finals medalist three times.
The 67 tied for the second-lowest 18-hole score at a girls MHSAA Final, all classes and divisions included, and was just a stroke behind Timpf's Finals-record 66 from the first round of the 2021 LPD3 championship tournament at Michigan State University's Forest Akers West. The 141 tied for the eighth-lowest 36-hole score on the all-class/division Finals list (on which Timpf's 2021 score of 139 remains tied for third). She will continue next season at Purdue.
@mhsaasports ⛳️POW: Lauren Timpf #golf #champion #macomblutherannorth #letsgo #part1 #highschoolsports #tiktalk #interview #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA
@mhsaasports ⛳️POW: Lauren Timpf #tiktalk #questiontime #part2 #coffee #topgunmaverick #heart #jordanspieth #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA
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Past 2023-24 Honorees
Oct. 20: Alena Li, Okemos golf - Report
Oct. 13: Seth Norder, Grand Haven cross country - Report
Oct. 5: Paige Anderson, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer golf - Report
Sept. 29: MacKenzie Bisballe, Lake City volleyball - Report
Sept. 22: Jhace Massey, Gladwin football - Report
Sept. 15: Kaylee Draper, Sturgis swimming - Report
Sept. 8: Owen Jackson, Traverse City St. Francis tennis - Report
Sept. 1: Rachel Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country - Report
PHOTO Lauren Timpf putts during the first round of the 2023 Lower Peninsula Division 3 Girls Golf Final. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)