The S Word
How a rising NFL star reminds us that we need to talk about the perils of the S word in youth sports.
Houston Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud has a unique pregame ritual. In the macro, Stroud showcases the beauty of playing multiple sports. In the micro, Stroud is extracting ingredients from those various sports knowing they’ve helped him become a complete quarterback. Yes, Stroud works plenty on his throwing motion in a quest to perfect accuracy and timing. But he also takes baseball swings with a golf club, rotating sides, and shoots a regulation basketball to a trainer.
Stroud is the latest example in an endless list of mutlisport success stories. It’s a simple formula: The more sports played, the better and more dynamic athlete. Different muscles activated. Different planes of movement. Different cultures. Different competitive arenas. Different skills. Different cadences.
“I’d never draft a QB who didn’t play another sport growing up.,” Stroud told The Athletic earlier this year.
Stroud was a varsity basketball star while being recruited for football, in addition to the multitude of other sports he played as a kid. Drafted no. 2 overall, he is having a sensational rookie year and has quickly morphed into one of the NFL’s must-watch stars. Through his savvy ability to read defenses, smart decision-making, effortless throwing motion, and toughness amid chaos, Stroud led the Texans to an improbable wild-card win over the Browns and will now face the top-seeded Ravens in this weekend’s divisional round. He is already a complete quarterback but more so a complete athlete.
We haven’t talked enough about fighting specialization on Good Game. Part of that is because it’s an oft-discussed topic in youth sports. Part of it seems so obvious, like of course a kid shouldn’t specialize if they don’t want, particularly at a younger age. Yet the youth sports overlords with their stronghold over our better judgement and wallets have made it a debate in some circles. As if programs and coaches that make a 10-year-old feel like their sport should trump everything deserves validity. They don’t care that you might miss one of four practices a week because you’re going to a different sports practice that might not only make you better at the original sport, but less susceptible to injury. Or gasp, you just need a night to catch up on homework. We are family. This is everything. I’m sorry but when you’re paying to play instead of the inverse it is not. That doesn’t mean honoring a commitment and hard work toward any particular sport, be it high-level or not, isn’t important. But the organizations that try to straitjacket kids who are still very much in development (like they haven’t even hit puberty) into specializing is heartbreaking and usually not in the kid’s best interest.
Some kids truly fall in love with only one sport at a young age and can’t get enough. Good for them. But there’s a reason the term athlete exists and we don’t just refer to kids as “the swimmer” or the “the baseball player.” Just like kids are students and not historians even if history is their best subject for now. The beauty of a childhood is that it’s all about development and discovery until they hit the real world. Stripping a young athlete of the autonomy to see what’s out there because their volleyball club mandates year-round practices is brutal.
Along with hefty costs, the pressure to specialize is the biggest stressor for both athlete and parent involved in youth sports. My family has certainly felt that. Sure, my older son would theoretically love to play sports in college but specializing in baseball, basketball or soccer at age 12 isn’t the magic formula. It’s a recipe for burnout and long-term injuries.
Bottom line is if an athlete is destined to be a basketball star, they will become a basketball star. The formula starts with genetics (i.e. natural talent) and continues with passion (i.e. a burning desire to practice outside of practice). It doesn’t matter whether they were traveling for tournaments year-round at age 9 or just played hoops after school with their friends.
The long-term benefits of playing multiple sports apply to all athletes, not just the elite. Navigating different sport cultures. Setting goals in various arenas. Pushing themselves. These are the life lessons that gets tossed aside in professionalized world of youth sports.
In a perfect world, and yes, I realize this is extremely utopian, there would be youth sports organizations rooted in the business of the multisport athlete. Imagine a megaplex that set up a program for, say, a hockey/soccer player. It would involve a rink and some turf. Weeks would rotate. Say the competitive level would include two hockey practices, one soccer practice and one optional speed, agility and conditioning training in Week A. Week B would consist of 2 soccer practices, one hockey practice and that optional training. At the rec level the mutlitipsort athlete would have one practice per sport per work. Then the coaches would form a master schedule to ensure these mutlitsport athletes could make all their games. This model could apply to many sport combos. All it takes is a visionary and some money. If only there were some youth sports gurus swimming in extra revenue.
The benefits of playing multiple sports are clear, shout-it-from-the-rooftop stuff. Except in youth sports, the message too often goes unsaid. If C.J. Stroud’s pregame example isn’t inspiration enough, here are a number of known voices who are saying no to the S word. Given how many kids are pushed to specialize in hopes of getting on the right track for a college scholarship, let’s start there.
Nick Saban, Alabama Football Head Coach from 2007-2023 and winner of 7 National Championships
I hate it when guys specialize in one thing early on and just do it year round. Sooner or later, you’re going to get burned out. Whether it’s been a tennis player or golfer and not doing anything else. I always ask, ‘What other sports do you play?’ I used to ask that question when people would rush to the door when [Saban’s daughter] Christian was a teenager in high school. They used to rush to the door when the doorbell rang because if I answered the door, the first thing I’d say is, ‘What do you play?’ I want to know if the guy was a competitor or not.
Janine Tucker, Former John Hopkins Women’s Lacrosse Head Coach and winningest coach in school history
Of the recruits we see, one of the first questions I ask is, 'Do you play basketball?' If they do, they understand angles, footwork and how to get low on defense. Those are critical skill sets for basketball players that are engrained in their heads. We also love soccer players, because they can run all day. Those skill sets translate into our game. There's pressure for kids to specialize in lacrosse. I see it backfiring. Often it's the parents who want to their kids to specialize. That's dicey. A lot of these lacrosse recruits are on teams that go 20-0. If you play soccer and are on a .500 team, you learn to manage tough losses and pick yourself back up. That's an invaluable experience as you grow.
Tony Gonzalez, NFL Hall of Fame Tight End
I have four kids. The best thing they can do is play. I was a skateboarder and learned a lot of my balance from it. Surfing, volleyball on the beach. All different sports backgrounds makes you a better athlete. Collectively, they all feed off each other.
James Andrews, Noted Sports Orthopedic Surgeon
We look at the risk factors for injury in youth sports, and two things come to mind. One is specialization and the other is professionalism. … Professionalism means they are having kids train like they are professional athletes at a young age. And they’re doing that thinking it will get them up the ladder for a college scholarship or perhaps become a professional athlete. What they’re doing with that heavy training at a young age is taking away the possibility of them going up the ladder because of overuse injuries. Kids are more vulnerable for injury than older athletes. You can’t train them that hard.
Steph Curry, NBA Superstar, 4x NBA Champion
My experience was great because my parents exposed me to as many different sports as they could growing up. Around 8 or 9, I was playing football, baseball, and basketball. My experience playing different sports is that it taught me a little more about myself, each sport. Because I knew I was better at basketball, I loved to play baseball - my dad played a little growing up too - and football was something my friends did so I wanted to try it with them. Knowing I wasn’t as good at baseball or football, it challenged me to gain that confidence, gain that work ethic to get better. Go through some mistakes, fail a couple of times, get knocked down, work on your toughness … I don’t think I’d have the confidence and personality as an athlete that I have now without having played multiple sports.
Gary Hall Jr., Former Olympic Swimmer, winner of 5 Gold Medals
I played multiple sports up through my senior year in high school, I actually went out for the track team my senior year in high school, and loved it. I did the high jump and long jump. I think that ability to play other sports made me a better swimmer. The reason why I was able to go out for the track team was because I had already earned a college scholarship at that point, in swimming. I figured now is the best time to try other sports before I focused more on swimming in college. As a college swimmer, though, I still incorporated other activities and sports into my training.
Jim Schlossnagle, Head Baseball Coach Texas Christian University
If your child is TRULY interested in playing another sport, & the only baseball they play was in the spring for their high school team and in the summer for their select or local American Legion team, they will get seen. I promise you people will see them.
Deion Sanders, NFL Hall of Fame Defensive Back
I think kids should do what they’re gifted to do. And I don’t think God says, ‘hey man, you’re just gifted to play baseball.’ That would be like an entrepreneur saying the only thing you can do is sell a Big Mac. You can’t sell fries. I think kids should be all they can be, do all they can do. Because statistics have shown when a kid is engaged in multiple sports that normally your GPA tends to maintain itself.
Tom House, Renowned MLB Pitching Coach
As [pitching] velocity increases, the pressure to specialize and protect your arm increases. Ask any college or pro pitcher what their biggest regrets are and it’s usually quitting other sports and becoming a pitcher only. Play everything as long as you can.
There are thousands of others where these came from but you get the drift. It’s up to us to push back.
I strongly believe this! My kids live and play multiple sports but it gets harder every year (ages 14 and 12). There is always one coach, sometimes two, upset with us for missing a practice for another sport. And the older they get, kids feel that pressure, too. We’re pushing back but it’s tough.