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.
11-Player Finals to Return to Bally Sports Detroit, with Audio-Only on MHSAA Network
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
November 23, 2021
The Michigan High School Athletic Association 11-Player Football Finals will return this weekend to Bally Sports Detroit’s primary and PLUS channels, with streaming audio available at MHSAANetwork.com.
Following is a game-by-game TV schedule, including BSD channel and broadcasters:
FRIDAY (Nov. 26)
► Division 8 – 10 a.m. – Beal City (12-1) vs. Hudson (13-0) – BSD primary – Evan Stockton, analyst Rob Rubick, reporter Brooke Fletcher
► Division 2 – 1 p.m. – Traverse City Central (12-1) vs. Warren De La Salle Collegiate (12-0) – BSD PLUS – Stockton, Rubick and Fletcher
► Division 6 – 4:30 p.m. – Warren Michigan Collegiate (11-2) vs. Lansing Catholic (12-1) – BSD PLUS – Dan Dickerson, analyst Justin Cessante, reporter Dannie Rogers
► Division 4 – 7:30 p.m. – Hudsonville Unity Christian (13-0) vs. Chelsea (13-0) – BSD primary – Matt Shepard, analyst John Wangler, Rogers
SATURDAY (Nov. 27)
► Division 7 – 10 a.m. – Lawton (13-0) vs. Pewamo-Westphalia (13-0) – BSD primary – Matt Shepard, analyst Rob Rubick, reporter Brooke Fletcher
► Division 1 – 1 p.m. – Belleville (12-1) vs. Rochester Adams (13-0) – BSD primary – Shepard, Rubick and Fletcher
► Division 5 – 4:30 p.m. – Marine City (13-0) vs. Grand Rapids Catholic Central (13-0) – BSD PLUS – Dan Dickerson, analyst Justin Cessante, reporter Dannie Rogers
► Division 3 – 7:30 p.m. – DeWitt (12-1) vs. Detroit Martin Luther King (12-1) – BSD PLUS – Dickerson, Cessante and Rogers
All games will be available live on the Bally Sports app and streamed on the Bally Sports Detroit website. Viewing programming on the Bally Sports app may require authentication.
All eight championship games also will be available for listening from the MHSAA Network at MHSAANetwork.com. Joe Jason and Al Pscholka will provide play-by-play and analysis from the first two games both days, with Eric Vandefifer and Adam Schihl teaming up for the final two games both days.
Additionally, Bally Sports Detroit also will reair the Nov. 20 8-Player Football Finals on Thursday (Nov. 25) on the BSD primary channel. Adrian Lenawee Christian’s Division 1 win over Suttons Bay will reair at 7 p.m., followed by Powers North Central’s Division 2 win over Colon.