Oh sis, do I have some feelings on this...
First, let me give you some perspective.
I was recrouted by more than 100 schools, and earned a full Division 1 scholarship from a small town in Canada, to a Big East school in the U.S.
My husband is also from Canada, and had his choice of big hockey schools to go to. He chose the same school I did (which is why we met ;) and also went there on a full scholarship, with pro options afterwards.
And while times have DEFINITELY changed, I'd like to think that we know what it takes to to get to a high level in sports. So here's what we talk about a lot in our house, as we raise 3 little (but not so little) athletes with big goals: 1. The fire has to come from THEM. Want to play more hockey? Cool! Go find some buddies, and take shots. Go to the ODR. Put on your Marsblades and go for a summer skate. Look up shinny times at the rec centre and ask us to drive you. We only let our kids play hockey during the regular, winter hockey season. If they are still hungry for more hockey, they have EVERY opportunity to find it, and that's exactly the point - they. must. find. it. Our 15 year old watches hockey, goes out back and takes shots, gathers his buddies and goes to stick + puck... and his friends who are in scheduled hockey programs winter, spring, and summer? they don't want anymore hockey. They have lost the hunger. And having been there and done that - even if a young athlete earns the scholarship, or gets offered that contract, if the fire doesn't come from within them, they won't have a fruitful career. They MUST be the carrier of the fire. 2. Athleticism. If a kiddo only plays one sport, all year round, they aren't becoming an athlete - they are becoming a soccer player. A baseball player. A hockey player. Do you know what college coaches look for? A well-rounded athlete. A hockey player who takes his hand off his stick and catches the high puck. A lacrosse player who truly sees the floor and the play unfolding. True athleticism comes from playing more than one sport. From riding bikes and building skateboard ramps, and waterskiing in the summer, and climbing trees.
Put them in more than one sport, and it will benefit them in the long run.
3. Injury prevention. EVERY study out there shows that playing more than one sport will help your athlete to develop in a healthy, well-rounded way. Single-sport athletes are infititely more susceptable to overuse injuries, so find a sport that can compliment your kiddo both in seasons, and the sport itself. Hockey and Lacrosse go SO well together. Opposite seasons, skating vs. running, seeing the play unfold... Gymnastics is an incredible way to develop strength, agility and body awareness.
School sports - let them play them! Joining the basketball or badminton team will be SO good for them!
4. Keeping their world BIG. When your young athlete grows up playing just one sport, that becomes his/her identity. The more sports, volunteer activities, or clubs your athlete participates in, the bigger and more well-rounded his/her identity will be. Let me put it this way: Their athletic career WILL end. And when it does, what do they have to fall back on? Are they more than Billy Bob the Football player? Are they also the kid who volunteered, cut lawns to build a small business, participated in cross country and learned to love running? Or are they JUST Billy Bob the football player? I know firsthand that being defined by ONE sport becomes HARD when that sport ends. So start them young, and keep their world as big as possible!
All that to say... I'm a HARD yes on offseasons. Movers and shakers are going to move and shake - but put new, different things in front of them so they can shake different sports, friends, muscles, skills, and worlds!
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