Take 'em to the museum!

 

You would think that by now I would have heard it all. After all, I’m old as dirt and have been around since helmets without facemasks. But I haven’t.  Heard it all, that is.

Just this week, the parent of a 10 year old told me about the coach (the sport and the genders will remain unnamed, to protect the innocent) that promised that if their child played for them and dedicated themselves to only that sport, that a college scholarship was guaranteed.

Wait a minute! Really? This coach actually said that? This parent wasn’t bragging or even asking for advice on that situation. They just wanted to know what they could do to prevent injuries over the next several years, until, I guess, that scholarship paper was signed.

My initial reaction was “you’re kidding” which quickly became “wait, what?” Am I hearing this correctly? Are you really serious?

In defense of this parent, I’m convinced they only wanted what was best for their child. I believe that was why they brought it up. At least, I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

My first answer is to get your kid a library card. There are about 1000 academic scholarships for every 1 athletic scholarship.  Your chances of securing a college scholarship are incredibly higher on the academic side than on the athletic side.

My next message, shouted loudly, is don’t let your kid specialize in one sport. Play everything. You’ve heard me on that one before, but let me quote a professional that is probably the world’s premier sports orthopedist.

Dr. Jim Andrews has said in many forums “specialization…means not only an increase in risk factors for traumatic injuries, but a sky-high increase in overuse injuries.”

Dr. Andrews literally invented the procedure most often used these days to repair a torn ACL, but as he approached his retirement from surgery (recently celebrated), he moved his focus to the challenges of youth sports, and particularly the dangers of playing only one sport. 

I can’t say it better than Dr. Andrews, so I’ll quote him here verbatim: “The culture of youth sports pretty much dominates parents’ thinking and coaches’ thinking. And it’s hard to crack into that culture to kind of get them to understand that sometimes, they’re doing more harm than good with the pressure they put on these young kids to specialize and play year-round and play two leagues at the same time.”

Keep in mind, this is the doctor for the superstars. Tiger Woods. Michael Jordan. He saved Drew Brees’ career. Yet his focus late in his career turned to the youngest athletes.

What is his general advice?  Let your child play multiple sports to physically develop properly. He points to a recent Super Bowl game where a survey revealed that 90% of the football players on the field played more than one sport in high school.

“All these kids need to be an athlete first,” Andrews has been quoted as saying. “But the coaches and the systems are telling the parents as you probably know that if your kid doesn’t sign up to play youth baseball year-round, they can’t play with the elite league.”

So my advice is let your kid grow up well rounded. Take them to the lake to ski. Climb mountains. Swim, paddle, and definitely play all the sports they have time for. And never forget that you are better off buying books and visiting museums than you are playing travel ball.