Doubling the Pressure?

Last Friday night I was sitting here in the office, helping Bruce put the 10 o'clock show together as the Catch It Kansas staffers came trickling in from their respective tournaments they were covering. Mike Mendez made a comment about feeling bad for one kid because the weather was really messing up his state tournament stuff. I forget what sports the kid played (I also forget his name off the top of my head but I figure it's better to forget it than call him out in this blog) but because of the weather two of his regional tournaments would fall on the same day.

That got me thinking this weekend. When I was in high school we were only allowed to play one sport per season. I played volleyball in the fall, soccer in the winter and then trained for soccer in the spring and volleyball in the summer. I didn't ever want to be a cheerleader but even if I wanted to I could not have done that at my school because cheerleading was a fall and winter sport which would have conflicted with soccer and volleyball. Not that I was upset I couldn't be a cheerleader it just irked me that my school wouldn't give me the opportunity. Now I think I'm finally understanding why.

High school is tough as it is for kids, especially when they become juniors and seniors. How can playing two sports in the same season be helpful at all? Sports themselves teach leadership and time management but how can you be an effective leader and balance your time at all when you've got two different commitments?

I was stretched as it was in high school, especially my senior year. I was senior class president, in National Honors Society, a Spanish tutor and captain of the soccer team (and a lot more odds and ends mixed in there too). Not to mention I was taking visits to colleges, applying to colleges and trying to take some time to be a normal teenager! I can't imagine trying to tack on another sport that would take up tons of my very precious high school time.

We make a big deal out of education now for college athletes. You hear a lot about the NCAA giving 'grades' to universities depending on how many athletes they graduate in a year. I have to wonder how well some of these same-season dual-sport kids do in school and in life. I would be so burned out if I was them, and these kids are way too young to be even close to getting burned out.

Is there anyone out there who feels like kids should only be allowed to play one sport per season? I must say I used to feel the opposite but now, I'm all for it. It's funny what adult rules you look back on an realize how right they are.