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: 5/24/21
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 24, 2021
1. Track & Field: Northville’s boys won their first Regional title since 1968, topping a 15-team field in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric
2. Girls Tennis: No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Marian was the champ and No. 5 Birmingham Groves runner-up at their Lower Peninsula Division 2 Regional – Oakland Press
3. Track & Field: Carson City Crystal’s No. 3-ranked boys won their first Regional championship, in LPD4 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
4. Track & Field: Petoskey’s girls edged Freeland’s by 1.5 points for the Regional win in LPD2 thanks to a seventh place in the final event – Petoskey News-Review
5. Girls Soccer: Division 2 No. 16 Dearborn Divine Child downed Farmington Hills Mercy 3-2 in the Detroit Catholic League Bishop championship game to clinch its first league title in this sport – Southgate News-Herald
6. Track & Field: Oak Park’s girls edged Detroit Renaissance by 20 points to win their LPD1 Regional – Oakland Press
7. Track & Field: Macomb Dakota swept LPD1 Regional titles, with Clinton Township Chippewa Valley freshman Shamar Heard the talk of the meet. Dakota’s girls are ranked No. 5 and the boys are No. 6 – Macomb Daily
8. Girls Soccer: Armada avenged its lone league defeat with a 7-2 win over Division 3 No. 20 Algonac to secure the Blue Water Area Conference title – Macomb Daily
9. Boys Tennis: West Iron County edged Negaunee by a point to win the Kingsford Invitational, which featured the top teams in the Upper Peninsula – Marquette Mining Journal
10. Boys Golf: LPD1 No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central shot a two-round 620 to win the Katke Classic, with LPD3 No. 1 Hanover-Horton placing second – Big Rapids News
Also of note …
Boys Golf: LPD4 No. 4 Charlevoix wrapped up the Lake Michigan Conference title shooting a 312 – Petoskey News-Review
Boys Lacrosse: Ryan Stadelmaier set the MHSAA single-game record with 16 assists as part of Midland/Dow’s 22-1 win over Linden in a Division 1 Regional opener – Midland Daily News
Baseball: Division 4 No. 14 Muskegon Catholic Central clinched a share of the Lakes 8 Conference title with a 6-1 win over Muskegon Orchard View – Local Sports Journal
Girls Soccer: Schoolcraft’s Hannah Thompson set the single-season state goals record this spring. But the most incredible story tells of how she has saved her mother’s life twice – Kalamazoo Gazette