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Mulitsport Athletes

Growing up in the thumb area, it’s not unusual to see multisport athletes. With our area being so rural, we have
to have multisport athletes in order to have enough players to sustain a team. What are the benefits of playing
multiple sports?
1) Multisport athletes are less likely to get injured than an athlete that specializes in one sport. Playing multiple
sports builds different muscles, where a single sport uses the same muscles and can get overused, causing injury.
2)Multisport athletes learn how to balance life better. One of the most important things I try to teach my athletes
while coaching is how to balance your sports, school, home and time for yourself. Learning this at a young age will
help the transition from high school to college and the years after college.
3)Multisport athletes will get a better all around experience by giving them exposure to different roles. A starting
quarterback will have a different experience being a bench player on the basketball team. It gives the athlete’s a
chance to broaden the experiences while playing sports.
4)Multisport athletes are less likely to get burnt out. When an athlete focuses on just one sport, they are more
likely going to get sick of it, increasing the likelihood of quitting.

Some statistics from the last NFL Draft showed that 30 of the 32 players selected in the first round were mul-
tisport athletes. Lots of college coaches have recently stated that they prefer multisport athletes when they are
recruiting. Urban Meyer, the head football coach for Ohio State University, only had 5 of his 47 recruits that special-
ized in football.

These are just a few of the benefits of being in multiple sports. As long as sports exist we will have the argument
of multisport athletes versus the specialization of one sport. Just like when investing your money, you shouldn’t
put all of your eggs into one basket. Get the experience of playing multiple sports and it will make you a better
athlete. You will be coached by different types of coaches and will have to learn to adapt to different coaching
styles. The reason that some athletes specialize in one sport is that they would like to play the sport in college. The
fact of the matter is that only about 7% of high school athletes will go on to play college sports. So, take advantage
of the fact that we don’t have to worry about tryouts and making cuts in our area. Play more than one sport and
you will become a better all around athlete.

By Jon Ligrow
Ligrow’s 24 Hour Fitness

Interview by Paige Wood

54 a• Sports Finest Magazine DEC 2017 sportsfinestMagzine.com 989 672 0799 kelly@sportsfinestmagazine.com