Student Athletes: Multiple Sports or Specialization "Different Teammates & Coaches" Part III of III

3.  Different Teammates and Coaches:  one of the problems with specialization is that athletically gifted kids can end up in a social and athletic bubble – they see the same teammates and the same coaches year-round.    This creates a very narrow view of how to interact with teammates, classmates, teachers and coaches (or co-workers and bosses down the road). 

Playing multiple sports allows the student-athlete to learn how to effectively adapt, work, collaborate and problem solve with different personalities.  And that might be the best reason of all to play multiple sports.

Student-Athletes: Multiple Sports or Specialization "If and When" Part II of III

     2.  Different Roles:  only a few players are naturally gifted to be the star athlete in every sport they try out for growing up.  But for the most part, student-athletes may excel in some sports and then struggle in others; and that’s a good thing.  Playing multiple sports teaches the student-athlete to learn different roles and expectations.  In the fall, they might be the star running back.  But come basketball season, they are the 12^th man on the bench. 

Different abilities, different roles, different expectations.  Michael Jordan was a fair basketball player.  But could Jordan hit a curve ball?  Maybe in a slow pitch rec league based on his .202  batting  average for the Birmingham Barons.

Student-Athletes: Multiple Sports or Specialization - "If and When" Part I of III

Student-Athletes:  Multiple Sports or Specialization “if and when…”

We wouldn’t ask a talented violinist to pick up the oboe in the winter and pursue the musical stylings of the tuba in the spring, would we?  Maybe Prince taught himself to play 20 plus instruments but that’s why he is…Prince.  Should we expect the same in youth sports? There are good arguments for both sides.

A big question for sports parents is “if and when” to allow their student-athlete to specialize in one sport or if it’s best to play multiple sports year-round – football in fall, basketball in the winter and track in the spring.  Looking at two extreme examples - Todd Marinovich started training to become an NFL quarterback at the age of 3.  On the other hand, Payton Manning didn’t play tackle football until the ripe old age of 7^th grade.  And things turned out alright for Payton.

It’s interesting what USA Swimming has to say.  Usually, with individual Olympic sports like swimming, gymnastics and skating, we hear about young kids packing up their stuffed animals and moving across the country to live and train with select coaches.  The kids who start these hyper-competitive sports at 10-12 years old, are well, old and behind the curve to reach the highest pinnacle of their sport.  But even USA Swimming “generally” suggests the following schedule for student-athletes:

Ages 6-10:           Initiation to sports
Ages 11-14:         Skill formation in different sports
Ages 15-18:         Begin specialization
Age 19 +:             High Performance specialization

Not sure there is a “correct” answer to the question of specialization vs. multiple sports but the above schedule makes sense for most situations considering how rare it is to reach the college and professional ranks in any sport.  And youth sports, for most families and young athletes, are about learning life skills that extend well beyond the field. 

So here are three, admittedly, one-sided reasons to consider multiple sports over specialization in youth sports:

1.   Different Pressure:  let’s take basketball vs. golf.  In basketball, there’s constant movement and adjustments to the clock, score, substitutions, presses and zone defenses, foul trouble, and changing momentum.  Basketball requires the student-athlete to make split second decisions and learn to cope with constant changes, and most of those variables are outside the athlete's control.

In golf, on the other hand, over an 18-hole tournament, there’s maybe a grand total of 3 minutes of actual swinging the golf club.  And unlike basketball, in golf a player may deal with an excruciating long 3-5 minute stretch to get their head straight before facing a critical 5-foot putt.  That requires a different skill set than hoops.  In golf, the athlete is up in his/her head for 98% of the competition.   That’s a very different kind of pressure and mental toolset required compared to basketball.  So maybe an advantage of playing multiple sports is the exposure it provides to facing and overcoming a variety of pressure situations.

Time Management for Busy Football Parents: How Jack Dorsey Runs Twitter & Square

A day-by-day guide to Jack Dorsey's 80-hour workweek - Nov. 13, 2011

Jenni Hogan's Podcast Interview with NFL Agent Leigh Steinberg

Great interview by Jenni Hogan of Leigh Steinberg.  Leigh openly reflects on reaching the top of his profession, followed by a well-documented fall due to substance abuse, and his climb back up the hill. 

http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=577&a=9966735&p=1077&n=The Jenni Hogan Show

NCAA Football Recruiting: The Players, The Scorecard "Boosters" Part V

Buddy Garrity:  “You can’t fake boosterism, Eric.  It comes from the heart.  That’s the beauty of it.”  Friday Night Lights 

Alumni & Boosters:  whatever I said about agents, well, double that for boosters.  Inducements are illegal. Money, cars, gifts, family housing, hell, a free taco lunch to talk about your son’s athletic future is off the table when it comes to boosters and the recruiting of prospective student-athletes.  And pretty much every program has a “Buddy Garrity” somewhere close by. 

Under NCAA bylaws, boosters are prohibited from recruiting high school athletes both before and after a National Letter of Intent is signed.  And any recruiting violation by a booster is attributed to the school. 

And the NCAA bylaws are unforgiving - under § 13.02.14.1, once an individual or entity is classified as a university’s “representative of athletic interests,” aka “booster,” they are considered a booster for life!  There is no coming back from boosterville.  Stay away from boosterville.

So that’s about it.  Those are the main players at the recruiting table:  mom, coaches, current players, academic counselors and compliance departments, agents and boosters. 

Study up.  Don’t be the sucker at the table.

NCAA Football Recruiting: The Players, The Scorecard - "Agents" Part IV

“Help me, help you.”  Jerry Maguire, 1996

“Agents”:  if there one absolute in the recruiting game it is this – stay away from agents trying to build a relationship with your student-athlete.  There is no faster way to destroying amateur eligibility and putting a black mark on your name and reputation than accepting representation, promises of future representation, or benefits from an agent to a student-athlete or family.  And with the immediacy and reach of social media any interaction by a student-athlete or family with an agent will get noticed. 

The NCAA bylaws prohibit this student-athlete/agent relationship under § 12.3.1.1 and .2.  This includes both written and verbal arrangements and both present and casual promises of future representation after your son has completed his amateur eligibility in that sport.