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: 2/6/23
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 7, 2023
1. WRESTLING Gaylord ran its Big North Conference championship streak to 16 seasons – Petoskey News-Review
2. GYMNASTICS Rockford won the 17-team Canton Invitational, which annually draws the majority of Finals contenders – Twitter
3. HOCKEY Division 1 No. 5 Hartland handed Division 2 No. 1 Byron Center a 6-3 loss at the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League Showcase; Byron Center was the last undefeated team left in Michigan after Division 3 No. 1 Houghton and Division 1 top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central also lost earlier in the weekend at the MIHL Showcase – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
4. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Fraser won its first Macomb County Invitational in 20 years, ending a three-season title run by Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 5 Macomb Dakota – Macomb Daily
5. WRESTLING Royal Oak claimed the Oakland Activities Association White title after winning the Blue the previous two seasons – Oakland Press
6. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING LPD2 top-ranked Birmingham Groves edged No. 4 Seaholm to win the Oakland County Championship meet – Oakland Press
7. WRESTLING Division 3 No. 3 Algonac edged No. 5 Richmond to finish first at the Blue Water Area Conference Tournament – Macomb Daily
8. WRESTLING Clare repeated as Jack Pine Conference champion after winning the league title for the first time last year – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
9. WRESTLING Iron Mountain finished a repeat championship in the Mid-Peninsula Conference – Iron Mountain Daily News
10. WRESTLNG Wyandotte Roosevelt and Gibraltar Carlson shared the Downriver League title for the second-straight season – Southgate News-Herald
Also of note …
WRESTLING St. Clair in the Blue, New Haven in the Silver, Grosse Pointe South in the Gold, Division 1 No. 4 Macomb Dakota in the Red and Utica in the White won Macomb Area Conference tournament titles – Macomb Daily
BOYS BASKETBALL Port Huron clinched a share of the MAC Silver title with a 56-42 win over St. Clair Shores Lakeview – Macomb Daily
BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING LPD3 No. 7 Dundee repeated as champion at the Monroe County Championship – Monroe News
WRESTLING Muskegon Reeths-Puffer claimed the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green championship – Local Sports Journal
BOYS BASKETBALL North Farmington handed Muskegon its first loss, 68-55 at Aquinas College – MLIVE-Detroit
WRESTLING Stevensville Lakeshore locked up the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference title – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium