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: 11/17/21
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 17, 2021
1. VOLLEYBALL No. 9 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart advanced to the Semifinals for the first time with a sweep of No. 5 Traverse City Christian – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
2. VOLLEYBALL No. 3 Battle Creek St. Philip went five sets to get past top-ranked Adrian Lenawee Christian in a Division 4 Quarterfinal – Battle Creek Enquirer
3. VOLLEYBALL No. 2 Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central came back after losing the first set to defeat No. 3 Pewamo-Westphalia in four in Division 3 – Monroe News
4. VOLLEYBALL Indian River Inland Lakes will make its first Semifinal appearance after defeating Ironwood in Division 4 – Cheboygan Daily Tribune
5. VOLLEYBALL No. 2 Hudsonville finished a season sweep of No. 4 Rockford with a four-set win in Division 1 – FOX 17
6. VOLLEYBALL No. 5 North Branch will return to the Division 2 Semifinals after a sweep of No. 8 Cadillac – Flint Journal
7. VOLLEYBALL Honorable mention McBain held on 15-10 in the fifth set to defeat No. 6 Calumet in a Division 3 Quarterfinal – Cadillac News
8. VOLLEYBALL Allen Park Inter-City Baptist came back after losing the first set to defeat No. 7 Ubly in four in Division 4 – Southgate News-Herald
9. VOLLEYBALL No. 3 Ann Arbor Skyline is headed back to the Semifinals for the second time in three seasons thanks to a 3-1 win over No. 7 Northville in Division 1 – Ann Arbor News
10. VOLLEYBALL With its top hitter back from injury, top-ranked Pontiac Notre Dame Prep advanced in Division 2 with a sweep of No. 4 Detroit Country Day – Detroit News
Also of note …
VOLLEYBALL Three-time reigning Division 2 champ and current No. 2 Grand Rapids Christian moved to within two more wins of a fourth title with a sweep of honorable mention Niles – Grand Rapids Press
VOLLEYBALL Top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Marian also will be returning to Kellogg Arena after a sweep of honorable mention Davison in Division 1 – Oakland Press
VOLLEYBALL Top-ranked Muskegon Western Michigan Christian advanced in Division 3 with a win over Watervliet – Grand Haven Tribune
VOLLEYBALL No. 10 Macomb Dakota advanced to the Division 1 Semifinals with a sweep of Dearborn Divine Child – Macomb Daily
VOLLEYBALL No. 9 Reese will be making its first Semifinal appearance since 2010 after defeating Royal Oak Shrine Catholic 3-1 in Division 3 – WJRT
VOLLEYBALL No. 3 Lake Odessa Lakewood will return to the Division 2 Semifinals after a sweep of Onsted – Lansing State Journal