Paris
Footballguy
Our son has been a three sport athlete and is now in junior high. He has been very good at football and baseball, but his best sport has been basketball. Given the way sports have become, all sports tend to overlap and run into each other, which makes scheduling a nightmare. For either football or baseball, his upside would be high school starter, maybe getting limited consideration to play beyond high school. His interest in both these sports is probably 6 out of 10.
He has had the most success basketball, which is his favorite of the three sports. The last two years he played 12 months a year. He has already been evaluated by private high schools, prep schools, and college coaches. These same people have indicated if he concentrated on basketball, he would be a shoo in for a college scholarship. We have encouraged and supported basketball the most, even getting him involved with a former pro as a trainer and coach.
He was recently asked to play on an elite out of state team with really good, best in New England competition. They want him to "play up" at least one grade level, possibly two. However, it would be incredibly difficult to continue to play football and basketball out of state given that both are 5 day a week commitments.
My wife doesn't think it is appropriate to concentrate on one sport in junior high. Her perspective is the more sports someone plays, the more well rounded they become and the time to start playing fewer sports would be high school. Her vote would be for him to continue to play all three sports. She has no problem limiting his upside in basketball to play the other sports. She also doesn't want to pour even more money into basketball (which admittedly is pretty expensive) and is concerned too much basketball might burn him out.
I indicated my view that you have to take the opportunities when they present themselves, and he would be in a much better position to excel in basketball in high school and beyond by committing to basketball. Given that we have had current high school , prep school, and college coaches and multiple former pro players telling us he is a scholarship level basketball player, I felt we should continue to nurture that. Our son's opinion was that he had no problem giving up football to play more basketball. He plays basketball all the time and is always eager to play, so there are no signs of burn out even though he has essentially played 24 months without a break.
I don't know if there is a right or wrong answer, but what have others experienced with kids that play multiple sports? Keep them all? Pare them down? Concentrate on one? And at what age did things change?
He has had the most success basketball, which is his favorite of the three sports. The last two years he played 12 months a year. He has already been evaluated by private high schools, prep schools, and college coaches. These same people have indicated if he concentrated on basketball, he would be a shoo in for a college scholarship. We have encouraged and supported basketball the most, even getting him involved with a former pro as a trainer and coach.
He was recently asked to play on an elite out of state team with really good, best in New England competition. They want him to "play up" at least one grade level, possibly two. However, it would be incredibly difficult to continue to play football and basketball out of state given that both are 5 day a week commitments.
My wife doesn't think it is appropriate to concentrate on one sport in junior high. Her perspective is the more sports someone plays, the more well rounded they become and the time to start playing fewer sports would be high school. Her vote would be for him to continue to play all three sports. She has no problem limiting his upside in basketball to play the other sports. She also doesn't want to pour even more money into basketball (which admittedly is pretty expensive) and is concerned too much basketball might burn him out.
I indicated my view that you have to take the opportunities when they present themselves, and he would be in a much better position to excel in basketball in high school and beyond by committing to basketball. Given that we have had current high school , prep school, and college coaches and multiple former pro players telling us he is a scholarship level basketball player, I felt we should continue to nurture that. Our son's opinion was that he had no problem giving up football to play more basketball. He plays basketball all the time and is always eager to play, so there are no signs of burn out even though he has essentially played 24 months without a break.
I don't know if there is a right or wrong answer, but what have others experienced with kids that play multiple sports? Keep them all? Pare them down? Concentrate on one? And at what age did things change?
around here we have 10 year olds and younger who play basketball year round. My 11 yo likes playing but won't do it year-round, so he's at a disadvantage already. Even my 9 yo son who took a year off soccer and wants to play this fall is at a major disadvantage compared to the kids who have played since they were 3 and play most of the year. We don't live in an inner city, but if your kid isn't playing before kindergarten, he'll have a challenge when he does. Not that it can't be overcome, but it's an uphill battle.
