By Kate Leavell, US Lacrosse Blog, July 27, 2016
You’re hearing it. The message is getting through to parents – Multi-sport athletes get recruited more than specialized athletes. Multi-sport athletes get injured less. Multi-sport is the way to go. Ooh, that athlete we love was also was a multi-sport athlete! But what does that mean and why? What if my kid only likes one sport? Do I force them to play something they don’t want to play? I don’t have time to add more sports to our calendar. The coach wants us to play all year. They aren’t good enough to make the team on any other sports, so then what?
All valid concerns being echoed through the youth sports community as we try to do right by our kids and weed out the good advice from the bad. So let’s take a step back and look at the WHY of multi-sport participation.
- There are skills in other sports that can add benefit and contribute to a kid’s main or favorite sport. For example, basketball players bring help-side defense, offensive motion and picks to the lacrosse field for a better understanding of the game. Track brings sprint speed and power. Cross country brings endurance. Soccer brings field spacing and strategy, gymnastics brings balance, control and strength.
- Overuse injuries occur when a child repeats the same motions over and over. Different sports use different muscle groups, muscle fibers and planes of motion, allowing for healing time and development of all muscle groups when you change it up.