I was conversing with someone today about kids who specialize early vs. those who are multi-sports athletes. The conversation started because, in the chronicle today, there's a 14- to 15-year-old kid from the Bay Area kid named McKenna Whitham who signed a professional contract with Gotham FC (NWSL team). In the article, she said she had been playing since she was 4 years old and "training" since she was 6. We all know (or should know) what the studies say about specialization and how it can lead to burnout/injuries if they start at young ages, but yet we see the trend more and more in sports like basketball and soccer. Can you name the last multi-sport athlete who attended a power-5 conference out of high school? Should athletes specialize to get the ultimate prize of a scholarship?
Specialization vs. Multiple Sports Athlete
- Thread starter Norcal_Fan
- Start date
In my personal opinion I don't think it matters. I don't know about pros but when it comes to college I know of plenty of kids that played multi sports but ended playing one sport in college. I believe it is more to do with playing organized sports for too long. You can get burned out. I've seen plenty of player that played pop warner or AAU since being young nolonger play the sports in high school.
I assume you are thinking about off-season training and program design…
My answer is neither but rather break it down to the basics
Think about how you would train with
This program design in mind
My answer is neither but rather break it down to the basics
Think about how you would train with
This program design in mind
what if you are just better at 1 sport?
some families do not have the money to spend on year round sports for 3 differnt sports. especially if you have 3 kids all playing on 3 different levels in 3 sports year round? that is a lot
some families do not have the money to spend on year round sports for 3 differnt sports. especially if you have 3 kids all playing on 3 different levels in 3 sports year round? that is a lot
McKenna Woliczko plays softball and basketball.
Amanda Muse, who's at UCLA, played water polo and basketball.
It doesn't matter. The law of diminishing returns sets in -- not to mention the increased chance of injury doing the same thing over and over -- so taking a couple months a year to play a different sport definitely will not hurt an athlete's development.
Much of the specialization is driven by coaches and trainers who make their living working with teenagers. Their mantra is "Someone else is working on their crossover/spike/corner kick right now and you're not. So pay me a lot of money and you won't get left behind."
This speech, from my experience, is dead wrong, but parents don't know that and have no way to know it.
Amanda Muse, who's at UCLA, played water polo and basketball.
It doesn't matter. The law of diminishing returns sets in -- not to mention the increased chance of injury doing the same thing over and over -- so taking a couple months a year to play a different sport definitely will not hurt an athlete's development.
Much of the specialization is driven by coaches and trainers who make their living working with teenagers. Their mantra is "Someone else is working on their crossover/spike/corner kick right now and you're not. So pay me a lot of money and you won't get left behind."
This speech, from my experience, is dead wrong, but parents don't know that and have no way to know it.
I also see trainers and coaches telling kids and parents that Mary Sue is great and let
Them slide by….letting them eat terribly or not doing all the movement patterns correctly…yes taking money from parents
Week after week… and telling parents and kids they are going to get a Major D1 scholarship when the trainer knows this kid would have a hard time even making it onto a Juco team
Them slide by….letting them eat terribly or not doing all the movement patterns correctly…yes taking money from parents
Week after week… and telling parents and kids they are going to get a Major D1 scholarship when the trainer knows this kid would have a hard time even making it onto a Juco team
And there is Alec Blair at DLS who plays basketball and baseball, and has received offers in both. He doesn’t play AAU basketball, as it’s during prime baseball season, and yet has been the EBAL MVP in basketball for the last 2 seasons.
Haylee Nelson (Newark Memorial 2018) was an All-Mountian West Volleyball Player at San Jose State University, who played Volleyball (MVAL MVP), Basketball (MVAL MVP 2x, scored 2,018 points), and Softball (MVAL All-League shortstop) in high school. Haylee was also the Athlete of the Year and Scholar Athlete of the Year as a Senior.
She is currently playing professional volleyball in Sweden, and was recently inducted into the Newark Memorial "Ring of Honor" (Hall of Fame).
She is currently playing professional volleyball in Sweden, and was recently inducted into the Newark Memorial "Ring of Honor" (Hall of Fame).
Haylee Nelson was a great ball player. I would have loved to see her playing college hoops and she has opportunities. She chose where her heart was. Talented kid. Newark Memorial was tough during her run there.
How about just above average athletes who made themselves good or very good
And worked their way into D1 scholarships…
Want to hear more about those athletes
And worked their way into D1 scholarships…
Want to hear more about those athletes
As I said above average athletes
My point as you said was that people were using good or very good athletes as
Examples
My point is above average athletes need
To go back the basics in the off season
and work on the basic building blocks
My point as you said was that people were using good or very good athletes as
Examples
My point is above average athletes need
To go back the basics in the off season
and work on the basic building blocks
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All I know is seeing guys like Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, Brian Jordan, Tony Gonzalez, and Antonio Gates left me in awe with the amount of skill and athleticism they had to be able to perform at a high level on two different sports. Incredible.
An average athlete isn't going to get a college scholarship, so it's about enjoying the process. For some, playing one sport year round is more fun than playing a couple sports.
But injuries are always an issue and my sense is that those who focus on one sport has a somewhat greater chance of injury due to constantly repeating the same motions.
But injuries are always an issue and my sense is that those who focus on one sport has a somewhat greater chance of injury due to constantly repeating the same motions.
Above average is still good compared to
Regular in coming frosh… if an above average athlete works on the right things in the right way they can work their way into a scholarship at a Mid major…
So a 6’ 2” above average athlete that
Works to become a good athlete cannot
Get a scholarship… I call BS
Regular in coming frosh… if an above average athlete works on the right things in the right way they can work their way into a scholarship at a Mid major…
So a 6’ 2” above average athlete that
Works to become a good athlete cannot
Get a scholarship… I call BS
that is why i say it is better to get good at one thing which takes year round work.. than to be average at 3 sports.
but with so many scholarships alone for basketball... plenty of average athletes get scholarships. girls can average 8 points a game and play D1
Like I said one sport but take time in
Summer away from the rock and work on
Foundation fundamentals
Not with the immediately eligibility from the transfer portal rule. I don't believe you guys understand. The path now is JC, DII and then you can get experience and transfer to DI from there. It's not as easy for players to get DI scholarships out of highschool any longer. I see plenty of kids that would be DI before the portal and extra COVID year having to go JC or DII.
it isnt easy, but it aint as hard for girls as boys. just on numbers alone. where every girl transfers up, someone has to take that spot.
Can you give us a couple of average female athletes' names averaging 8 points per game that have received D1 scholarships? I can't seem to find any.
average athletically is all relative. no true measurement... however i did find 6 players from schools from new york to california.. i was on a roll until the IT dept messaged me asking why i am looking up womens basketball rosters of wagner university...
i did notice most schools do not put averages and only put scored over 1000 points. i then looked at the mens rosters and they surely put the averages there. i wont put the young ladies names out there but check out rosters in the maac, summitt, big west and wcc
I can anticipate the answer which I agree
With….if you average 8 pts a game at Etiwanda, Sierra Canyon or Mitty you could work your way onto a D1 scholarship…
Especially if stay in really good shape,
Eat right, keep your body fat down, work on
Fundamentals, work on speed, power, acceleration, Force… explosiveness…
Much of this during the off season…
With….if you average 8 pts a game at Etiwanda, Sierra Canyon or Mitty you could work your way onto a D1 scholarship…
Especially if stay in really good shape,
Eat right, keep your body fat down, work on
Fundamentals, work on speed, power, acceleration, Force… explosiveness…
Much of this during the off season…
It's the same as boys and girls hoops as well as football. Not sure about Baseball at all. When players at the lower D1 schools portal up(high level D1) they are either getting players from other D1 schools, some DII and some Jucos to replace them. It's not a high level of high school girls going to straight DI. The path has changed. Even college coaches are saying that to the kids they are recruiting. The common theme was "we are waiting to see what we get out of the portal. Would you consider a PWO?"
I'm not making this stuff up. Talk to any one connected to college sports and they will tell you this. Talk to college coaches themselves and they will tell you this. When they changed the rule back to where college kids could transfer with no consequence and be eligible immediately it has really hurt high school recruiting. Coaches are under severe pressure to "Win Now" and they will gamble on a player that has already played college before a high school player. It's true. There is no debate to this. I speak to college coaches, high school coaches and AAU coaches. Girls are still getting scholarships out of high school but not nearly as much.
The portal is real. When i was looking at rosters there is a player from nor cal who is on her 4th university.
How about NIL? Is that story about Page
Bueckers real…NIL with Bose worth $6B!!!!!!
Is this real no wonder she stayed in school another year
Bueckers real…NIL with Bose worth $6B!!!!!!
Is this real no wonder she stayed in school another year
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Though the path has changed, the number of scholarships is precisely the same. And in fact, with the COVID year eligibility expiring, the number of spots will increase.
What we're seeing, it appears, is that athletes must prove themselves at the college level before they get a D-1 scholarship. This means that scholarship athletes will be older, and less likely to get four full years on scholarship. But there is still the same exact pool of scholarships available.
For the very elite athletes, nothing much will change, but for the player will pluses and minuses, the proof will have to come at the JC or D2 level (and the D2 will have some money attached, as that pool of scholarship funding hasn't changed either). It's more a meritocracy now, as production will be valued more highly than potential.
What we're seeing, it appears, is that athletes must prove themselves at the college level before they get a D-1 scholarship. This means that scholarship athletes will be older, and less likely to get four full years on scholarship. But there is still the same exact pool of scholarships available.
For the very elite athletes, nothing much will change, but for the player will pluses and minuses, the proof will have to come at the JC or D2 level (and the D2 will have some money attached, as that pool of scholarship funding hasn't changed either). It's more a meritocracy now, as production will be valued more highly than potential.
This thread is incredibly interesting. Has there been a statistical drop off of full scholarships this year for HS female basketball players from the top 50 teams in the state? That would be an interesting statistic to dig up. IF so, what can be attributed to the COVID hangover vs. the structural changes due to portal rules?
And in the end, does playing 2 years at Division 2 Cal State XYZ then transferring to Division 1 University of ABC for athletic reasons align with fast approaching career goals? This is the important question for 99.99% of female athletes. And that 0.01% of outliers were not the ones scrapping for D2 scholarships or JUCO plans to start with. I just don't see the prestige bump up in Divisions being a carrot for most female athletes once the chase for the holy grail D1 scholarship during HS is over. Am I wrong?
And as for multi-sport athletes.....
The more sports you play - the better athlete you end up being. The transferable skills, development of other movements in space, and rest from repetitive movements is invaluable.
And in the end, does playing 2 years at Division 2 Cal State XYZ then transferring to Division 1 University of ABC for athletic reasons align with fast approaching career goals? This is the important question for 99.99% of female athletes. And that 0.01% of outliers were not the ones scrapping for D2 scholarships or JUCO plans to start with. I just don't see the prestige bump up in Divisions being a carrot for most female athletes once the chase for the holy grail D1 scholarship during HS is over. Am I wrong?
And as for multi-sport athletes.....
The more sports you play - the better athlete you end up being. The transferable skills, development of other movements in space, and rest from repetitive movements is invaluable.
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So let's say it costs $50,000 a year to go to college. A good high school player with no professional expectations gets a D2 partial for $10,000. She stays there two years and spends $80,000. (Of course she could live at home and cut costs, etc., but in general ...)
A good high school player with no professional expectations goes to a JC for two years and pays almost nothing.
Now the D-1 scholarship kicks in, so the last two years are free.
In the first case, the savings are $120,000.
In the second, the savings are $200,000.
That seems like plenty of motivation to me.
A good high school player with no professional expectations goes to a JC for two years and pays almost nothing.
Now the D-1 scholarship kicks in, so the last two years are free.
In the first case, the savings are $120,000.
In the second, the savings are $200,000.
That seems like plenty of motivation to me.
you may be a better athlete, but will you be the better basketball, baseball, football, volleyball, soccer player?
Interesting math.... but I checked 8 D1 rosters from the Pac-12 and Mountain West today and only found one D2 transfer so far. I did find USC has 3 Ivy League grad students though.... that is interesting. Not exactly an exhaustive search, but I haven't been able to find that trend.....
Yesterday I watched the DII semis maybe
One or two players on each of the four
Teams that looked like they could start
On any of the 16 teams in the DI sweet 16
Therefore the DII to DI pipeline looks
Shaky to me
Sorry if I'm misreading this, but that would seem like a solid pipeline. That means 4-8 players from the semis who could start for a sweet 16 team. Likely add a few more players from teams who didn't make the final four if these evaluations are correct.
Comparing it to Sweet sixteen actually proves my point. There are 356 Women's division I basketballs and only 16 teams out of 356 made the sweet 16. What about the other 340 division 1 basketball programs? If you have 1 or 2 D2 players that out of 4 that could start on a sweet 16 team that is excellent. There are 313 D2 NCAA teams. That's actually a solid pipeline when you extrapolate the data.
I see a few D2 players in the semis who Are D1 Major ready not a bunch…
My favorite D2 player especially in tonights
Final was that guard on Minn St… problem is she is like 5’ 4” if that
My favorite D2 player especially in tonights
Final was that guard on Minn St… problem is she is like 5’ 4” if that
