What Happened to the Multi-Sport Athlete???

So, for those of you who don't know this, my boyfriend Nicholas is a baseball coach at Cotter High School. It's a great opportunity for him and he very much enjoys it. I like to tag along to practices and game because it's fun to be involved and for the boys to know who I am. They all like to call me their "Den Mother." Haha. I guess I have to smile at that.

One thing I've started to notice though when I hear these boys talk, is while many of them play multiple high school sports, they basically are only committed to one sport. Today, while hanging out at the batting cages while some of the boys hit, Nicholas asked one of the boys if he had a basketball game tonight. The boy responded that he did, and it confused us. The bus had already left for the game, since JV and Varsity have to ride together. He looked at us and went "but baseball is more important." I sat there shocked. This boy came to the batting cages before heading to work for like an hour and then was going to drive to the game only shortly before it started. Like what!?!? How in the world does the coach allow this?

This kid literally made it so obvious that he only really cared about baseball and the other sports are just there to keep him in shape. Heck, last fall I asked a parent about their football team and their response was, "we're not a football school. Everyone is just here to keep busy until baseball." I just couldn't believe it. The fact that today's kids aren't really as well-rounded and as everyone thinks...

What happened to three-sport athletes? Like true three-sport athletes! The one that put his heart and soul into every sport, and coaches understood their needed to be balance. Today, if you aren't 150% dedicated to one sport, you'll never make it. Sport seasons overlap way too much today. I remember when I was in high school, if you had another sport during off-season for another, you had to choose. It was horrible. And if you didn't choose right, forget it, you were never making varsity. I grew up in a very big school though and it's the unfortunate culture of sports today. In the school like Cotter though? Not very big and should be the display of three-sport athletes. But no.

It's just sad. It made me look at Nicholas and told him that if one day he got to a school district that doesn't support multiple-sport athletes and he would fall into that trend, I would set him straight. A high school should not be a "football school" or "basketball school", etc. When I think of that, I think of Hopkins. They suck at practically every sport, but basketball. Of course, that's a whole other topic (*cough cough* recruitment*). lol. It shouldn't be happening in a community like Winona.

Cotter's football team....they sucked this year. Like...horrible! I think I'm starting to see why though. These kids aren't committed. They're hiring a new coach this year and Nicholas is hoping to get on the staff next season and we just have talks about how they need to get these kids back into the passion of football, because a couple years ago, Cotter had a good program. Nicholas played Cotter his senior year and almost got beat by them. So, I'm hoping they'll bring in a coach that will get these kids in the weight room and working hard to improve their team.

The culture of today that a student can only focus hardcore on one sport is ridiculous. I can understand if a student just only likes to play one sport, but the ones who play other sports but don't really care...you're not helping your team or your school.

What happened to the multi-sport athlete?....society that's what.