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Is the three-sport athlete gone?

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    Is the three-sport athlete gone?

    My kids are a bit younger.....so I don't have first hand experience with club teams in the U15-U18 ages. My daughter made a U12 Premier team, and intends to figure out how to mix in basketball with the schedule. She also plays Lacrosse, but I don't see how she can add this to the schedule in Spring.

    However, once she gets into High School, I would like to see her play all three sports.....particularly basketball as she is very strong in this sport, and really enjoys it.

    I am curious about those girls that play Premier soccer during the high school years......are they also playing a aifferent winter or spring high school sport?.....or do their club soccer teams frown on them playing other sports during these seasons?

    #2
    Of course they'll frown upon it. Premier club coaches are interested only in their own sport. So I wouldn't sweat what they frown upon. As long as your daughter makes the team, and makes the commitment to practices and games, then it really shouldn't be that big of a deal what she does with her free time. They might frown upon it, but you are a paying customer and if she's good enough to play, and demonstrates commitment through practice and games, then it shouldn't be an issue. Lots of girls play high school lacrosse and still do premier soccer. Lots of girls do high school basketball and still do premier soccer. Why wouldn't you be able to do all three - other than your own personal reasons.

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      #3
      Gone

      The answer is yes, the 3 sport athlete is gone. Because everyone specializes in a particular sport, a child who is not constantly playing the same sport will eventually fall behind the development of those who do. The child playing soccer year-round will (with God-given athleticism being equal) be better than the one who plays soccer along with 1 or 2 other sports. Colleges are now trying to identify student-athletes as young as 7th grade that they can recruit to their programs. As a high school and middle school coach I recently had a D-1 coach call me to see if we had any middle school soccer players that he needed to be aware of.

      Comment


        #4
        Certainly there is a growing percentage of parents, particularly those that link playing sports to college acceptance or college sports money, that the kids should specialize. And this is probably influencing the number of three-sport athletes. But sports is also a bigger commitment at the high school level than it used to be, so its tough to play 3 sports.

        However, certainly there is no reason a player couldn't do three. My daughter is certainly good enough at three sports to make the teams in high school next year. I know that the majority of her friends are planning to do two sports - either a basketball / soccer or field hockey / soccer or lacrosse / soccer combination. So I don't see it as that much of a stretch to add a third sport unless your also obsessing about whether a D1 college coach is gonna be making phone calls to your high school. Also, depending on the high school, some sports can be very competitive in terms of even making the team even when you have specialized. Boys baseball at some schools can be very much like that when over 200 show up at tryouts.

        But it sounds like you have a couple years to go before you have to worry too much about this stuff anyway. If your daughter is like mine, she'll change a lot in the next two years. By the time she enters high school, you may find the question is one that does not even matter anymore.

        Comment


          #5
          I would suggest Google rather than a single-sport forum like this for such a question.

          This forum is mostly parents or coaches so this forum is not going to give you the athletes perspective - which is pretty much the only perspective that matters right (cause it's their sports experience, and not ours).

          Here's a few Googled articles. Tons more available if you do the search.

          One-sport athletes: A losing proposition for kids
          USA Today – 2004
          http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion...22-welsh_x.htm

          Not easy being a three-sport athlete at a large high school
          In the age of specialization, it takes a unique individual to be successful ... It also requires having a deaf ear.
          Pittsburgh Post gazette – 2010
          http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10129/1056805-364.stm

          A Dying Breed: Three-sport high school athletes In an era of specialization, some athletes stand out in multiple sports
          Seattle PI – 2009
          http://www.seattlepi.com/news/articl...es-1299574.php

          3-sport athletes key as always for Muncy
          Williamsport Sun Gazette - 2011
          http://www.sungazette.com/page/conte...id/565107.html

          Multi-sport athletes are rare but still exist
          Three of them star at Tesoro High, and a handful of others play at least two sports at a high level at schools across the Southland.
          LA Times – 2009
          http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan...p-sondheimer23

          Eight valedictorians, 13 three-sport athletes top 2011 FHSAA Academic All-State Team
          Florida High School Athletic Association - 2011-07-07
          http://www.fhsaa.org/news/2011/0426

          Coginchaug's Tommy Ryan Excelling as a Three-Sport Scholar-Athlete
          Middletown Press – 2011
          http://www.middletownpress.com/artic...4660228189.txt

          Comment


            #6
            Plenty of 3 sport athletes still around. But most of them do not play premier soccer. Pretty hard to play a spring HS sport (except maybe track) and also play premier. Some high schools, such as Darien, actually prohibit their lax players playing club soccer in the spring, so premier is not really an option.

            Comment


              #7
              July 10th New Haven Register just had their selections for the 2011 All-Area Girl's Lacrosse Team. They named 1 coach and 15 girls. Almost half the girls played 3 sports in high school. Another 4 or 5 played 2 sports. Only 2 played lacrosse only.

              Many of them are going to play lacrosse in college (so the paper states). A few of the girls plan on playing 2 sports in college.

              Doesn't appear that any of them played Premier Soccer - but doesn't look like the three sport athletete is extinct yet either.

              The Register does these kinds of All Area selections for every sport, so it would be interesting to see whether the pattern of multi-sport playing applies to soccer players too.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                July 10th New Haven Register just had their selections for the 2011 All-Area Girl's Lacrosse Team. They named 1 coach and 15 girls. Almost half the girls played 3 sports in high school. Another 4 or 5 played 2 sports. Only 2 played lacrosse only.

                Many of them are going to play lacrosse in college (so the paper states). A few of the girls plan on playing 2 sports in college.

                Doesn't appear that any of them played Premier Soccer - but doesn't look like the three sport athletete is extinct yet either.

                The Register does these kinds of All Area selections for every sport, so it would be interesting to see whether the pattern of multi-sport playing applies to soccer players too.
                ---ok, so girls lacrosse is how you would judge if 3 sports athletes still exist...really

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  ---ok, so girls lacrosse is how you would judge if 3 sports athletes still exist...really
                  I think he/she was only using the Lacrosse selection team as their example. They specifically stated that half the lacrosse girls played three sports.

                  I see a separate string on this site where club soccer teams are trending towards mandating players shun their high school team to play with the club team. If this is true....it's a foregone conclusion that they will also mandate that their players don't play alternate winter/spring sports.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Plenty of 3 sport athletes. Just not too many who play premier soccer. Premier soccer is primarily for those who want to be just a one sport athlete or at most two (a HS winter sport is doable but a HS spring sport generally isn't). Lax is a common spring sport for HS soccer players who don't play premier -- both require speed, endurance and aggressiveness.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I was a 3 sport athlete in HS and college and hope to see more like me in the future.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        I was a 3 sport athlete in HS and college and hope to see more like me in the future.
                        You would only be considered a 2 sport athlete today since butt sniffing is no longer a recognized sport. Sorry champ.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          You would only be considered a 2 sport athlete today since butt sniffing is no longer a recognized sport. Sorry champ.
                          Ha Ha. Good one

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            You would only be considered a 2 sport athlete today since butt sniffing is no longer a recognized sport. Sorry champ.
                            Why is it no longer recognized as there are so many professionals coaching within the CIAC today?

                            Comment

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