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: 5/25/22
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 25, 2022
1. SOFTBALL Kaitlyn Pallozzi threw a no-hitter as Division 1 No. 6 Farmington Hills Mercy defeated Riverview Gabriel Richard 7-0 in the Detroit Catholic League Bishop championship game – Detroit News
2. TRACK & FIELD/BOYS GOLF Hunter Jones set three school records in leading Benzie Central’s boys – No. 5 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – to the Northwest Conference league meet title; the Kingsley girls also were meet champions, and LPD1 No. 2 Traverse City Central clinched the Big North Conference boys golf title – Traverse City Record-Eagle
3. SOFTBALL Division 3 No. 7 Schoolcraft swept Division 4 No. 10 Kalamazoo Christian to clinch the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship – WWMT
4. BASEBALL Division 1 top-ranked Orchard Lake St. Mary’s went ahead in the sixth inning on the way to defeating Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 2-1 in the Catholic League Bishop final – Oakland Press
5. BASEBALL Division 4 No. 16 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian scored the winning run in the seventh inning to get past Ludington 6-5 and claim the Lakes 8 Conference title – MuskegonSports.com
6. BOYS GOLF LPD4 No. 14 Hudson repeated as Lenawee County Athletic Association champion with a win at the league tournament – Adrian Daily Telegram
7. BASEBALL Reed City defeated and tied Fremont to lock up the Central State Activities Association Gold title – Big Rapids Pioneer
8. BOYS GOLF LPD2 No. 3 Chelsea shot a 308 to win the Southeastern Conference White Tournament – Chelsea Sun Times News
9. SOFTBALL Division 2 No. 6 Frankenmuth secured a repeat Tri-Valley Conference 8 title with a sweep of Alma – Saginaw News
10. BASEBALL Coldwater swept Jackson Lumen Christi to secure the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference title – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Also of note …
BOYS GOLF Quincy finished second at the Big 8 Conference Tournament to earn a shared league title with Jonesville – Coldwater Daily Reporter
TRACK & FIELD The LPD3 No. 6 Onsted and Adrian Madison girls teams were among league champions crowned from the southeastern Lower Peninsula – Adrian Daily Telegram
BASEBALL Division 1 No. 18 Traverse City Central earned a share of the Big North Conference title with a sweep of Cadillac – MI Sports Now
TRACK & FIELD McBain’s girls clinched the Highland Conference title with a league meet win, with the boys championship still to be decided – Cadillac News
TRACK & FIELD The Midland Dow and Gladwin girls and LPD2 No. 7 Flint Powers Catholic and LPD3 top-ranked Clare boys earned league meet titles – Midland Daily News
TRACK & FIELD Saugatuck’s boys earned a Southwestern Athletic Conference league meet win – Holland Sentinel