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QUESTION: Should Kids Play More Than One Sport?
“My daughter is way into volleyball and it consumes our lives. Club, school team, training camps, it’s never-ending and sometimes I wonder if she would be better served getting into another sport as well as she grows (she is 13) she is starting to get burnt out but still loves volleyball. It seems so hard these days to have a kid who plays more than one sport at a competitive level.”
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TOP ANSWERS (AS SELECTED BY MODERATOR):
The following top answers have been selected by a moderator from hundreds of responses to the original question.
“Getting burnt out is normal as you get older and further into a sport… but I’m not sure adding a second sport is going to help that at all. If she wants to fully switch that’s one thing, but to add more to her plate when you’ve already started this sport consumes so much time and energy, doesn’t seem like a good idea. A second one would double the load. So let her decide if she wants to switch to something different or stay with volleyball.”
“Let her decide. I was a cheerleader for years, all through school, then played volleyball. During basketball boys played first then the girls, I would cheer for boys and played on the basketball team when the girls played. Just changed my uniform. Games were back to back. then during wrestling season, I would cheer. I also played soccer for a little while. If she wants to try something different but still play volleyball, try to find sports that run different seasons. That helped me.”
“If she’s burnt out, why make her do another sport? Especially once he really starts too that’ll be time-consuming also. I wouldn’t.”
“I’d let her keep doing just volleyball. My younger sister did all her school years and got an amazing college scholarship and now is doing college volleyball. It’s not just a sport it’s a career path too. I’m sure even my sister had times where she got burnt out, but she still loved it. Don’t add another sport on her plate though.”
“From a former D1 basketball player to coach to basketball mom of also a 13-year-old. Keep volleyball her primary sport if she loves it. However, statistics have proven that multi-sports athletes have a strong reduction of athletic injury. Let her try something new to get her body moving in different ways. She’ll feel better.”
“Let her play volleyball and take off all the extra like club and camps. If she is getting burnt out then let her drop back a bit so she can clear her head and think about what she wants. I wouldn’t add anymore though, not right now.”
“Why take time she could be training for the sport she loves and force her into one she doesn’t even care about because that’s what you want???”
“I personally would only ask her what he wants to do and go with that.”
“From a former D1 basketball player to coach, to basketball mom of also a 13-year-old. Keep volleyball her primary sport if she loves it. However, statistics have proven that multi-sports athletes have a strong reduction of athletic injury. Let her try something new to get her body moving in different ways. She’ll feel better.”
“My friend found a neighbor kid outdoor sobbing his heart out. She talked to him, he was overbooked. Between school, music lessons, sports and foreign language class his parents booked him for, the kid had no time to himself. He felt like he wasn’t able to devote enough time to any of it because he was constantly going and was terrified of failing. No ten-year-old should be under that kind of pressure. One extra is all they should have.”
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Sara Vallone has been a writer and editor for the last four and a half years. A graduate of Ohio University, she enjoys celebrity news, sports, and articles that enhance people's lives.
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