At a school like Ottawa we encouraged kids to play as many sports as they could. I think it is good for a student-athlete to use different muscles during the year. For example if you are a pitcher I think you are asking for issues when you pitch for 9+ months during a year.
In order to make this work coaches need to work together to make sure they are doing what is best for the athlete. The coaches need to have a Weightroom plan that the student will be able to do year round. They also need to have a plan in the summer so the student doesn't have to make choices as to what sport they will be going to. At Ottawa we do girls basketball in June and Volleyball in July which seems to work well with our athletes. We try to do boys basketball in June and on field football in July.
When it comes to open gyms we would allow lower level athletes who are not playing varsity to participate. We would also allow certain varsity kids to do individual workouts such as a pitching getting throws in and hitting in the cage. We don't allow them to do any scrimmaging. If a school wants to make it work it can be done. Well rounded athletes are good for the school and athlete!
Having spent the majority of my coaching career at a small school, I am a major proponent of multi-sport student/athletes.
At small schools, multi-sport athletes are a necessary element to both overall athletic program success and the success of each specific sport. In addition, I believe that playing two or more sports is also beneficial to the athletes themselves, as it develops their overall versatility and skill set.
I have thought about and discussed the issue of multi-sportism vs. specialization many times over the years, and have arrived at the opinion that specialization, club ball, AAU, travel ball etc., tend to be a detriment to high school sports and high school athletes in general.
To address Coach Massey’s question about what coaches can do to help multi-sport athletes to thrive:
1. Encourage athletes to play multiple sports. (Some coaches, unfortunately, are very territorial and don’t push kids to participate in different avocations.)
2. Establish a non-sport-specific strength/conditioning/speed training program for all athletes. Many schools are doing this to maximize the athleticism of their student/athletes.
3. Communicate with coaches in other sports to avoid scheduling conflicts as much as possible. When overlapping schedules occur, it is very important that the coaches work together for the benefit of the athletes.
4. Make sure that summer schedules are set up in a way that the kids are not totally overburdened. (We always tried to do boys/girls basketball in June & football/volleyball in July, recognizing the fact that the student athletes playing baseball/softball were going all summer long anyway.)
My dad was a basketball coach, then an AD. He felt strongly it was better for athletes to play multiple sports. He presented a pin to each athlete who played three sports all four years of HS. Savanna later created an award in his name to recognize multi-sport athletes.
Mentally and socially is valuable to play different sports. I played football, basketball, and track in HS. The football experience because of the physical nature and because of number/variety of teammates was a good experience. And then an athlete playing a team sport and then also an individual sport, you learn different lessons.
While I think there is a value in multi-sport participation, I don’t think anyone should ever pressure a student to play a sport. A coach or a parent can encourage them and share why they think it would be valuable, but leave it alone then.
One an athlete is in-season with a sport, that needs to be their focus. But playing one sport can never be an excuse for not doing work needed in another sport. Years ago, a male athlete who played golf and basketball, said he could not play in a summer league in the evening because he would be too tired from playing 36 holes of golf during the day. Basketball players need to find time to shoot, football players to lift, and baseball players to hit in their off-seasons.
On a high school level, in-season coaches MUST be getting those athletes in the weight room. The idea,”We’re in-season, we will lift light so we don’t mess up their shot,” that cannot fly. Athletes must lift hard in-season too.
Administrators should look at each program as far as how many of the athletes in a sport play only that sport, and how many do multiple sports. Administrators. Should publish those numbers for all varsity level sports. Then the tough conversation with coaches- 1) What are you doing that may discourage them from other sports?
2) Why aren’t kids going out for certain sports?
I have had experience with basketball players every year who played other sports. With basketball being a winter sport, we had players busy in the fall with football, cross country, golf, and soccer. We also had players who would transition right after our season into baseball, track, and tennis. And obviously, we shared athletes in the summer all of the time with these other sports. I never had a problem with guys playing other sports, and was willing to work with them.
I also have a perspective as a parent. My daughter Haley only played volleyball after junior high, but that was by choice. She enjoyed being committed to specializing in volleyball and ended up earning a Division II scholarship. However, when she was growing she also tried basketball, tennis, track, and some golf.
Our two boys were different and each played three sports. Trey played football, basketball, and baseball. There were days in the summer where he would have something in all three sports. It kept him busy, but he was all for it. Colton played golf, basketball, and baseball. He also was able to play basketball and golf at Carthage until it just got to be too much after two years. It is interesting to talk to each of them about their experiences. Trey played basketball at Platteville, but always said how much he missed football. And Colton says how much he missed playing baseball. I have always felt that was healthy, and it makes me feel good that they had the opportunity to play sports they loved to play.
With both of the boys, and other multi-sport athletes, I believe it helped them develop as competitors and all-around athletes because of the experiences in each sport in three ways. (1) Each sport puts players in different situations that help develop a variety of skills. A couple of examples would be football making them more aggressive and reacting quickly, while golf teaches concentration and the pressure of having to rely on yourself. Other sports have specific examples as well. (2) I think the more situations players have to be a part of a team and work with teammates is beneficial. Playing in other sports also puts them in pressure situations and makes them better competitors in big moments. (3) Playing other sports means they will play for other coaches. Going through a season with another coach and being exposed to different coachings styles helps them grow.
Finally, coaches within a school should work together to share athletes and not make them feel like they are in the middle. I have been fortunate, so I really don't understand how coaches get territorial with their athletes and pressure them into choosing between sports. However, I have heard of those situations. We had a 2018 player who wasn't going to play three sports his senior year because he was so committed and wasn't going to be able to make everything in the summer for all three sports. Once the football coach and I talked to him about how he could miss some of our activities, he felt much better and told each of us after he graduated how much he appreciated it, and sticking it out was the best decision he could ever make. Another issue we would deal with was having fall sport athletes who would want to get into open gyms or early season practices if their season was extended and overlapped. We would never let them participate in anything live while they were in season, but we would let them come in and shoot as long as their fall sport coach didn't mind.
The problem we have all dealt with in recent years is having to deal with the outside "coaches" who don't have a loyalty to schools and pressure athletes into missing their high school games or even quitting in order to chase scholarships that most times don't even pan out!! But this has already gotten longer than I expected, so I will stop on that note.
Mike Tracey- Alleman, UTHS
At Alleman we encouraged multiple sport participation. Our enrollment lent itself to non-specialization of sports. In my role as head football coach and athletic director, l spoke to our parents at team meetings with an important message: if any coach told their child to just play their one sport they happened to be coaching, then that coach was selfish and didn’t care about your child. The coach was selfish and only cared about themselves.
We also made every effort to accommodate kids who needed to attend open gyms, etc. We wanted to do as much as possible to give kids/parents a chance to not fall behind in sports that were not in season during the football season.
We encouraged our basketball coaches to have a shoot around for their players who were on the football roster. No scrimmaging or live play was allowed.
We all had to understand that whatever sport was in season took priority. It was not “open season “ to play any sport at any time.
Jeff Parsons- Wethersfield, Fulton Coach Parsons is looking at an interesting issue of athletes who want to play two sports during one season…
Lots go into being a dual sport athlete in the spring. Being a dual sport athlete is not for everyone. The athlete has to be committed, disciplined and very motivated. Students must also find time to practice their trade on their own. Dual sport athletes participate in more contests and less practices due to contests.
They have to find time to work on their trade. Most importantly, the student-athlete has to focus on their grades. With busy dual sport seasons, usually the first thing to fall is academics. The student must focus and work hard not to let that happen.
Communication is the key to success. The student-athlete must communicate what the month/week/day looks like as early as the previous week and as late as Sunday of the next week. Coaches must also put their personal feelings behind them and do what is best for the student athlete. Coaches must also communicate with the Student-Athlete, as well as the parents. Coaches must also communicate with each other incase there is a conference or state series contest that may or may not affect the student athletes schedule.
At Fulton we have a dual sport contract. The student athlete must meet with the athletic director to confirm their intent. The dual sport paperwork must be signed by the athletes parents.
Mark Massey- ClintonSpecialization: most importantly, first it should be a decision if a high school athlete chooses to specialize. Way more athletes specialize than go on to star in college.
Many factors enter in. Does the athlete enjoy each of the sports? Is there a conflict with a coach of a particular sport? What is the age of the athlete? 7th or 8th grade specialization is probably a bad idea. It might be somewhat natural for an athlete not to participate in a full menu of activities.
Also an outstanding athlete in a particular sport may not feel it’s a good use of their time in an uncompetitive sport at the school.
In situations that I’ve observed multi sport athletes doing the best, the coaches communicate, and the athletic director has clear policies.
Way too many coaches worry about a player’s ‘favorite sport.’ I think it’s much more important that players just learn to compete & help a team in the sport they’re involved in.
Bob Anderson- Williamsfield
i think we as coaches should inform kids who are 3 sport athletes that they need to get alot of rest and take care of their bodies. Not only will they be 3 sport athletes, they will be attending open gyms for other sports during whatever sport they are out for. That's just the way it is. We are all trying to get ahead. but some of my main advice would be, if they are wanting to play a sport in college, that's the sport they better put their extra time in. just like myself. I wanted to play college basketball and I played, baseball and ran track but any extra time I had I was shooting the basketball.
I think one thing we can look at on the positive side of being a 3 sport athlete is they got far less time to get into the trouble. We as coaches know there are lots of ways to get in trouble in this world today.
Bob Anderson- Williamsfield HS
Bob is retired as boys basketball coach at Williamsfield. At a school of only 89 students, in 45 years, his teams won 732 games along with numerous tourney and conference championships. His 1997 team made it to the Elite 8.
Mike Cooper- Ottawa HS
Mike is the retired Athletic Director at Ottawa HS. He was varsity girls basketball coach for 22 years, as well as sophomore football coach for many years. He was inducted in the the IBCA HOF.
Tim Engebretson- United HS
He was varsity head football coach for many years at United HS. He also has coached basketball at different levels. His 2005 team won the Illinois State Title, and Tim is in the Illinois Football Coaches' HOF as well as the United HOF.
Greg King- Sterling HS
In his head coaching career at Sterling, his football teams went 78-28, and had 10 straight play-off appearances and 5 conference titles. In addition to his success as a football coach, he was inducted in the Illinois Athletic Director's Association HOF.
Mark Massey- Clinton HS
Mark was the head volleyball coach at Clinton for 38 years. His teams won 818 games, and twice took second in State. He is in the Iowa Volleyball HOF and Clinton HS HOF.
Thom Sigel- Rock Falls/Rock Island HS
Thom coached basketball for 32 years. His teams won 502 games, and he has the distinction of winning the State Title at both Rock Falls and Rock Island. Thom is in the IBCA HOF.
Mike Tracey- Alleman, UTHS, Moline HS
Mike coached football at Alleman, UT, and Moline for over 20 years. He is considered the premier football coach in WB6 history. His teams won 140 games, and twice finished second in State. Mike is in the Alleman HS HOF and the Illinois Football HOF. He was also selected Illinois AD of the Year.
Greg Bennett- Lewistown
Greg coached many sports at Lewistown. He had teams go to State in girls basketball and football. He is in the Illinois Football HOF as well as being in the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame. He is know for his commitment as a coach and his high energy level.
Jeff Parsons- Wethersfeild, Fulton
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