NFHS Hall of Famers: Multi-Sport Experience Makes Major Difference
By
The NFHS Voice
National Federation of State High School Associations
July 28, 2026
The theory that athletes in high school need to specialize in one sport in an out-of-school program to progress to the next level was not the theme from the five athletes inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame last month in Salt Lake City, Utah.
At a press conference preceding the 43rd Hall of Fame induction ceremony, five former extraordinary high school athletes – all of whom later excelled at the college, professional and for a few Olympic levels – delivered resounding messages about the importance of playing multiple sports within school-based programs.
Joe Carter, who was a four-sport standout in football, basketball, baseball and track at Millwood High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, long before his stellar pro baseball career, said he might never have been a successful pro baseball player without his multiple sport career at Millwood.
“If I had played baseball all year long, I wouldn’t have been a professional baseball player because I would have burned out,” Carter said. “Coaches will tell you that if you don’t come out for football in the spring instead of playing another sport, you will be passed up. This is not the case because if you’re good they will find you. I will take an athlete who played two or three sports over an athlete who just played one sport because those guys know how to take advantage of a situation and know how to adjust.”
Jordan Larson, a three-sport participant at Logan View High School in Hooper, Nebraska, before settling into volleyball and leading the University of Nebraska to an NCAA championship and playing in four consecutive Olympics, also pointed to multiple sports as a reason for success.
“I can’t emphasize it enough – playing multiple sports helped me personally,” Larson said. “It helped me adapt and adjust as I got older. I can’t recommend it enough from a young age.
“Playing multiple sports helped shape me health-wise from a longevity standpoint. There’s something to be said for the mind. If you’re on the grind in the same sport, burnout will come.”
Another volleyball standout in the 2026 class was Alisha Glass Childress, who also played basketball at Leland (Michigan) High School and who would later lead Penn State University to three consecutive NCAA volleyball titles and team with Larson on the U.S. squad at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
“Playing for your high school team is so important – it’s such a different experience,” Childress said. “Being in the same program for four years and getting to know the athletes you’re with, I felt like it was family.
“High school was a beautiful time and the beginning of a love affair with sports. I fell in love with the sport of volleyball but also tried a lot of different sports. I played basketball as well. For me, high school is when you start to have an understanding of yourself – reflecting on who you want to be or what you want to achieve.
“The life lessons you learn along the way are so important. The majority of the athletes on our team did not continue on to play past high school. The life lessons you learn as a high school athlete – being a leader, accountability, goal-setting – carry with you the rest of your life.”
Patrick Willis was one of Tennessee’s top two-way football players at Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central High School who also played basketball and baseball before his hall of fame football career with the San Francisco 49ers.
“Coming from a small town with two red lights, I would say the most fun I had growing up was playing sports,” Willis said. “Life can throw a lot of things at you, and to be able to adjust is amazing. In sports, we’re able to learn these things – the discipline, the toughness, the perseverance. I wanted to be a representative that anything is possible, and it’s not just the ones from the big cities or towns, but ones from small towns also.”
Another proponent of playing multiple sports was Krissy Wendell Pohl, the most dominant player in girls ice hockey in Minnesota history and the national record-holder in goals scored in a season who went to a stellar career at the University of Minnesota and won a silver medal at the 2002 Olympics. In addition to her excellence in ice hockey, Wendell Pohl also played tennis, baseball and softball.
“It was so special for me to be able to play multiple sports,” said Wendell Pohl. “For me, playing baseball, softball and hockey, you had different groups of friends, different roles on different teams, and all of that had an impact and you don’t realize it until later.
“High school is the purest form of sport. What you learn in high school, as you’re learning and growing and developing, those things stay with you. The people who impact you in high school – you will never forget that.”
We urge coaches today to take the message from these five outstanding athletes about playing multiple sports to heart and make that option available to athletes in their schools.
These vital programs help to shape young student-athletes into successful parents, citizens and leaders of our nation for years to come.
Speakers Bureau Helps Generate Conversation
December 30, 2019
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
As student mental health climbs the list of health and safety concerns, the MHSAA and state associations across the country are taking measures to provide resources and guidance aimed to keep school sports an enjoyable and valuable experience.
In sports, coaches and athletes learn to expect the unexpected. It’s the nature of competition; constructing gameplans tailored to utilize team strengths and expose opponents’ weaknesses. Often times this entails doing things that opponents won’t expect. Participants then learn and prepare for the next time; it’s one of the ways athletics prepares participants for life, as educational leaders often preach.
Today’s ever-changing culture recently threw such a curveball at the young people who populate our hallways and playing surfaces, calling for statewide associations and organizations to shift focuses and prepare for a new opponent while attempting to keep school sports one of the best means to a healthy adolescent lifestyle.
“I was at the NCAA summer meeting in 2017, discussing health and safety issues and the topic of concussions came up, as it often does. I assumed that concussions was the No. 1 health and safety issue,” said MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl. “I was quickly corrected that it’s student mental health; that knocked me back.”
It would not be an uncommon reaction, given the amount of information, media coverage and programs designed to recognize and reduce concussion incidents in recent years.
All the while, anxiety, depression and stress had been creeping into the picture beneath the surface. Such disorders are much more difficult to detect, as there are few visible symptoms when compared to sprains, fatigue, head injuries and other physical ailments.
“I became interested and began to research the topic. The more I read, the more concerned I became,” Uyl said. “The MHSAA, with a great deal of help and cooperation from our school leaders, has done a tremendous job educating and providing resources for health-related issues such as heat management, concussion reporting and practice policies, and now we have a new challenge.”
Fortunately, as has often been the case, there are knowledgeable and qualified people throughout Michigan’s roster of educational leaders who are willing to assist.
As word spread regarding the student mental health initiative, the MHSAA was able to establish a Mental Health Speakers Bureau composed of several experienced individuals willing to assist (see below).
“Our speakers bureau really grew by word of mouth,” Uyl said. “A school would bring in a speaker, or a league would invite a speaker, and once we were connected with them, then those people would share names and it grew from there.”
The resources range from former professional athletes, to behavioral specialists, to current MHSAA coaches.
Dave Ingles, basketball coach at Kent City, is one such individual. His credibility comes from first-hand experience.
“I privately struggled with deep depression for six years,” Ingles said. “Be alert. Talk to your athletes and students and actually listen to what they are saying. I always used the phrase, ‘I’m fine;’ that is not an acceptable answer to me anymore when I hear it.”
The National Institute of Mental Health reveals that most mental health conditions begin around the time children are transitioning from middle school to high school. The more people trained to identify symptoms and behavior, the better the chance to reduce or reverse some of the following numbers:
• 50% of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14
• 37% of students with a mental health condition age 14 or older drop out of school
• 20% of students ages 13-18 live with a mental health condition
• 11% of youth have a mood disorder and 8% have an anxiety disorder
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death for ages 10-24
Non-visible ailments always have been most difficult to detect, and today’s proliferation of technology – from streaming to social media – can serve to further mask symptoms.
“The more kids spend time with their devices, staring at their screens, isolation can be quick to take hold,” Uyl said. “Everything is instant. It used to be if our friends didn’t invite us somewhere, we didn’t worry about it; we probably wouldn’t find out for a couple days and had already moved on. Today, in about 10 minutes, there’s a picture on Instagram or Snapchat and kids instantly know, ‘I’m not included.’ Isolation leads to depression and anxiety, and in the worst cases can even lead to suicide.”
That message might sound familiar. Segments of the 2019-20 MHSAA online rules meetings include Uyl emphasizing student mental health and a video clip produced by benice.org promoting a mental health action plan endorsed by four of the state’s most recognized collegiate coaches.
It’s all part of the plan to promote awareness and generate conversation surrounding this serious health and safety issue during 2019-20 and beyond.
“We’re not going to try to do this all by ourselves,” Uyl said. “There are plenty of experts in the field, and we’re going to utilize their knowledge. We’ll build relationships and align ourselves with these people to provide a foundation. We need to become a resource center for our membership.”
In addition to the rules meetings messages, the MHSAA also partnered with the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals Student Mental Health Summit on Oct. 8 in Lansing. This event – sold out within weeks of posting – invited principals, counselors, student leadership advisers and student leaders to come together to discuss and seek solutions for student mental health concerns impacting schools. The MHSAA lined up Eric Hipple, one of its speaker bureau members, who delivered a keynote, “Depression and Suicidal Awareness.”
Student mental health was among topics during the MHSAA Update and AD In-Service tour around the state this fall as well. The meeting at Comstock Park on Sept. 30 included a presentation from the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan to introduce the be nice® action plan and encourage schools to take advantage of that and other resources the group has to offer.
The rise of mental health as one of the more prominent medical concerns nationally has occurred, as Ingles sees it, “because more people are talking about it now.”
Leaders like Ingles and those in numerous organizations have begun to assist the MHSAA in identifying and treating cases in our schools.
MHSAA Mental Health Speakers Bureau
Below is a list of individuals and organizations partnering with the MHSAA to assist in promoting mental well-being for students around the state. The MHSAA encourages school personnel to reach out to any of these experienced leaders in the field for programming in your buildings and districts.
• Christy Buck, Executive Director – Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan - be nice.® [email protected]
• Brooke Buys, Mental & Behavioral Health Specialist – BLND Health [email protected]
• Eric Hipple, former Detroit Lions quarterback [email protected]
• Dave Ingles, Basketball Coach & Speaker – Kent City High School [email protected]
• Cat Lanting, Program Coordinator – Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan - be nice.® [email protected]
• Halle Wangler, former University of Michigan basketball player [email protected]
PHOTO: Brooke Buys, a mental and behavioral health specialist and founder of BLND Health, speaks with students. (Photo courtesy of BLND Health.)