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: 3/2/26
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 2, 2026
1. WRESTLING Detroit Catholic Central, Lowell, Dundee and Hudson extended their championship streaks at the MHSAA Team Finals, and Tigers coach Scott Marry became the winningest wrestling coach in state history during the Semifinals – MHSAA.com
2. BOWLING The Durand boys won their first Finals championship in any sport, Flint Kearsley swept girls and boys titles, and Milan, Ravenna and Caledonia’s girls and Dearborn Unified and Blissfield’s boys also won team titles, with six singles champions also clinching – MHSAA.com Girls | Boys
3. ICE HOCKEY No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central scored the lone goal at 5:14 to play in defeating top-ranked Howell in their Division 1 Quarterfinal – Oakland Press
4. ICE HOCKEY No. 5 Caledonia advanced to the Semifinals for the first time with a 4-3 Quarterfinal win over Muskegon Mona Shores in Division 2 – Grand Rapids Press
5. BOYS BASKETBALL Fruitport defeated Spring Lake 58-46 in Division 2 to clinch its first District championship in boys basketball since 1938 – MuskegonSports.com
6. COMPETITIVE CHEER Rochester High emerged as Regional champion from arguably the state’s strongest, with Adams, Stoney Creek and Macomb L’Anse Creuse North also qualifying in Division 1 at Troy Athens – Oakland Press
7. BOYS BASKETBALL Rockford downed Muskegon 83-70 to claim a Division 1 District title – Grand Rapids Press
8. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Lower Peninsula Division 1 honorable mention Holland West Ottawa won the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red championship meet by a point ahead of Grand Haven and four ahead of Rockford, and LPD3 No. 2 Holland Christian edged top-ranked Spring Lake in the O-K Lakeshore – Holland Sentinel
9. BOYS BASKETBALL Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian clinched its first District title in boys hoops with a 61-55 win over Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian – Petoskey News-Review
10. ICE HOCKEY Detroit U-D Jesuit avenged a regular-season loss with a 4-3 overtime win over No. 8 Trenton in Division 2 – Southgate News-Herald
Also of note …
BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING LPD1 top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer won the Southeastern Conference Red championship meet, followed by No. 4 Saline and LPD2 No. 4 Dexter – Ann Arbor News
BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Essexville Garber finished first at the Independent Swim Conference championship meet – Alpena News
BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Fenton claimed the Flint Metro League championship meet title – Owosso Argus-Press
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE A 24-school Southeastern Conference will debut in 2027-28 and include 12 schools from the current Kensington Lakes Activities Association – Chelsea Sun Times News