Bay Area World Series

Below is a blurb that I found in a Cubs article and it dives right in to a subject I feel strongly about... the TOO EARLY specialization of athletes into one sport... in particular, baseball players.  I live in a baseball crazed city in the North Bay, and as a little league coach the last few years I am seeing some kids play baseball year round and at the same time, quitting other sports they once played.  I am talking about 9-11 year old kids playing baseball year round and quitting hoops, soccer, etc. 

Here is what Cubs manager Joe Maddon had to say about it in that article... oh, before I get to that, when I was with the Braves our scouting director (Roy Clark, one of the best who has ever held that job) told the area scouts... "Go find us some multi-sport ATHLETES!" 

STOP SPECIALIZING!

Cubs manager Joe Maddon was impressed to learn that outfielder Dexter Fowler once had been recruited to play basketball at Harvard.  This set him off on a rant denouncing specialization in youth sports.

"I love cross-pollination when it comes to athletes, guys who did not just play baseball.  They've been around a different set of coaches and styles and ways to get in shape.  I love that.

That's why I hate this specialization of kids when the're playing on these travel squads when they are 12, 13, 14 years old, only dedicated to one thing, traveling all the time, paying an exorbitant amount of money to play baseball with hopes they're going to become a professional baseball player." Maddon added, "I think that's crazy.  Thank you."

Now this is back to me talking...

I voice my concerns about this to parents, many of whom are friends of mine and here is a common response... "but he just loves baseball and he doesn't want to play other sports."  To that I scoff.  

It is NOT a kid's job to dictate his life and activities.  It is the parents' job to raise well-rounded kids when it comes to sports activities.  The kids will stay healthier in their sport of choice, they will develop more athleticism and coachability and humility with teammates.  They will also STAY hungry for their sport of choice when that sport is taken away for a few months.  They will look forward to it each season and when they are 14 they won't say, "Mom, Dad... I'm tired of playing baseball, I've been doing it non-stop since I was 8... I just want to hang with my friends."   

Not only do kids stop playing because they get burnt out on the single sport, their physical development in that one sport can also stall because they play it all year round and are not developing overall athleticism.  

Yes, those kids develop a strong level of baseball skill, but they are over-using their shoulders, and the rest of their body that is primarily used in that sport.  Skill can be developed with repetition but physical talent is developed by multi-sport activity.  These early age single sport kids are limiting their ceiling by playing that one sport year round.  Then when they are 14, if they aren't burned out, they look around and realize they are no longer the standout.  They see other kids at their level and many kids passing them up, kids who have played multiple sports.  Those "other kids" are better athletes who can be coached and developed by a higher level of coaching than that of dads of 9-12 year old little leaguers.  Then not only can burn out set in... but also discouragement can too.  

Who would want that for their child?  Parents with lack of foresight are creating those scenarios and they don't realize it.  Parents who are stuck in the NOW of their 9-10 year old kid's athletic achievements are limiting the future of the very kids they love so much, in the very sport they love to watch their kids play.

Of course a good young player likes baseball, especially if he isn't as good at basketball or soccer or something else.  Very few kids are standouts in all the sports and that is part of the bigger picture.  Be a star in one sport, learn to fill a role in another sport, enjoy just simply playing another one, enjoy current and new friendships.

But please, let them play multiple sports. And at the very least, don't let these young kids play baseball 9+ months of the year.  I didn't even get into the parents who allow their kids to play with a travel team DURING their Little League season... Ugh.  Very disheartening.