Does this happen often in high school sports ?

[studlyduck]

A kid who's best natural talent is probably baseball. Never plays in high school (heart not in it and loves to work out in the weight room in the spring for his main sport love, football). An All State football player. Same kid, a talented basketball prospect, decides to give that up as a junior to wrestle for the first time ever. Became a State Qualifier his first season wrestling ever. Point is, wouldn't it be interesting if the actual best players could play everything available? It would change the way some seasons would turn out for some teams. I know this happens in the girls sports too.

 

[Anders4]

Kids can play 2 sports in the same season but they have to declare 1 as their primary sport.

Basketball/Wresting IMO is impossible. The commitment level of each sport requires too much time to play both. I've seen kids try, and it never works out.

Track/Baseball is doable.

Football/Soccer is pretty difficult but possible.

 

[studlyduck]

Kids can play 2 sports in the same season but they have to declare 1 as their primary sport.

Basketball/Wresting IMO is impossible. The commitment level of each sport requires too much time to play both. I've seen kids try, and it never works out.

Track/Baseball is doable.

Football/Soccer is pretty difficult but possible.

Could a kid compete in basketball after the wrestling season is over? Like for the districts and possibly beyond. What's the deal on practices required?

 

[freezeoption]

practices count for both, can be done, tough, I had a kid wrestle for me that did basketball, only went to tourneys,

 

[hangmanbobbyjaggers]

Kid at Versailles gave up basketball (was very good) his last year and went on to win state wrestling championship...

 

[Anders4]

Could a kid compete in basketball after the wrestling season is over? Like for the districts and possibly beyond. What's the deal on practices required?

I think it depends on the school? Sometimes they count as both, sometimes they want 14 practices in both. Had basically the same situation you described happen this year (at the lower levels) and our AD wanted him to get actual BBall practices but he wanted to start 1/4 of the way through the season. It was a weird situation.

The real problem you run into is parents. The wrestler who might be your best basketball player is going to take somebody's spot. Even though the 6th man and a starter might get the same amount of time, it's not the same thing in their eyes. Sometimes it's not worth the headache.

 

[dclouds11]

I think it depends on the school? Sometimes they count as both, sometimes they want 14 practices in both. Had basically the same situation you described happen this year (at the lower levels) and our AD wanted him to get actual BBall practices but he wanted to start 1/4 of the way through the season. It was a weird situation.

The real problem you run into is parents. The wrestler who might be your best basketball player is going to take somebody's spot. Even though the 6th man and a starter might get the same amount of time, it's not the same thing in their eyes. Sometimes it's not worth the headache.

Parents ruining youth sports! Is this a new concept, just kidding, it is sarcasm. Who cares what the parents think, high school coaches job is too win games.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

A kid who's best natural talent is probably baseball. Never plays in high school (heart not in it and loves to work out in the weight room in the spring for his main sport love, football). An All State football player. Same kid, a talented basketball prospect, decides to give that up as a junior to wrestle for the first time ever. Became a State Qualifier his first season wrestling ever. Point is, wouldn't it be interesting if the actual best players could play everything available? It would change the way some seasons would turn out for some teams. I know this happens in the girls sports too.

Life is full of decisions. Better to be committed in one (per season, not a proponent of "specializing" if a student-athlete wants to play multiples), than stretched thin in two. JMO though. As a basketball coach, I'd never be in favor of a student-athlete missing half our practices to compete in something else (whether it be the school play or another sport). Probably a bit different for team sports than individual sports though. I can see where it wouldn't be an issue in golf/tennis/wrestling.

 

[BoosterBosko]

Life is full of decisions. Better to be committed in one (per season, not a proponent of "specializing" if a student-athlete wants to play multiples), than stretched thin in two. JMO though. As a basketball coach, I'd never be in favor of a student-athlete missing half our practices to compete in something else (whether it be the school play or another sport). Probably a bit different for team sports than individual sports though. I can see where it wouldn't be an issue in golf/tennis/wrestling.

I would be more interested in how many practices one must have before being allowed to compete on the competitive food eating team! Now that is a team worth competing on! My high school doesn't have the best teams these days. Football was good, but went downhill quickly.

 

[Anders4]

Parents ruining youth sports! Is this a new concept, just kidding, it is sarcasm. Who cares what the parents think, high school coaches job is too win games.

When that parent is on the school board or an administrator it can change things.

 

[dclouds11]

When that parent is on the school board or an administrator it can change things.

I agree with you, I am saying parents continue to ruin sports! Especially if they are the School Board member, AD, Coach, etc. Some quality kid usually gets cut for coaches kid to be on team!!

 

[Eagles_Ball]

When that parent is on the school board or an administrator it can change things.

Blasphemy. Those folks always have the best interest of the entire student body and school in mind. They never, ever serve personal agendas.

 

[Graphic Edge Guy]

Interesting discussion in this thread...I am a big proponent of well-rounded athletes who play multiple sports....many studies have shown that year-round training for just a single sport has both physical and psychological "burn-out" reprecusssions. Year round baseball is the worst IMO because the body (especially arm & shoulder) needs a break from the same repetitive movements and some "cross-training" in another sport can really be helpful.

In talking to one of my former players who is now a college coach...he tells me that most college football recruiters MUCH PREFER multiple sport athletes over those who specialize...he says they tend to be more athletic overall, more competitive, and have a higher ceiling for improvement.

At my last gig in Iowa...we had kids who did both football & cross-country at the same time if you can believe that. Football was their primary sport...but they ran XC workouts a couple of mornings a week...went football practices after school (except for the conference and home invitational)...played football on Friday nights...and got up and ran XC most Saturday mornings. A couple of kids were really good at both.

One thing a lot of the Junior Highs did up there was to have "split seasons for MS basketball and wrestling. MS Basketball season was early and finished about Jan. 10th...then MS wrestling went from then until Late Feb/Early March. Boys' could and were encouraged to try both...and see which sport they liked best.

A great athlete can usually excel in almost any sport...and I think it's healthy for them to try them all and participate in multiple sports through out HS.

That being said...doing two sports at once during a given season is tough...it requires a lot of dedication on the part of the athlete and a whole lot of cooperation between all the Coaches. For it to work...one sport does have to be declared as primary...but even the HC of the primary sport needs to make a few sacrafices of the kid's time as well to make it viable and worthwhile.

A good case in point...I honestly think Michael Jordan retired from basketball the first time just because he basically got "bored." He was a great athlete who could have played any sport...his "break" to try MLB baseball for that time that he did probably re-kindled his love and desire for basketball.

 

[dclouds11]

Blasphemy. Those folks always have the best interest of the entire student body and school in mind. They never, ever serve personal agendas.

If I could like this a million times I would! Best sarcasm of the day!!!!