DE4L: Multi-Sport Athletes

What Happened to the Multi-Sport Athlete? Rediscovering Competitive Excellence Through Experience??

The Disappearance of Competitive Spirit??

What happened to the multi-sport athlete? What happened to competing for the pride of the neighborhood school? Periodically, I wonder where the next Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, Brian Jordan, Dave Winfield, or Allen Iverson is hiding. Several colleagues and I discuss the disappearance of young people willing to compete at the highest level without prodding or poking.??

This loss feels personal because I lived the life of a multi-sport athlete. Football, basketball, and baseball demanded something different from me. Each one taught me a lesson I still carry today. I competed for more than myself when I walked those sidelines and courts. I competed for my family, my teammates, and my school. And the stands were packed—full of people who knew they weren't just watching a game; they were witnessing passion, grit, and pride in its rawest form.??

Today, I watch too many games where the silence in the bleachers is louder than any buzzer. I see athletes who are brands before they are competitors. I see single-sport athletes burning out before they ever reach their potential. And I can't help but ask:??

Where did the passion go???

Where did the multi-sport athletes go???

Can we ever get them back???

The Death of the Multi-Sport Athlete: A Personal Perspective??

I grew up knowing that sports seasons didn't overlap—they followed one another. Fall was for football. Winter was for basketball. Spring belonged to baseball. That wasn't just what I did—it was who I was. Each sport taught me something different:??

Football taught me toughness—how to get back up after a brutal hit.??

Basketball taught me composure—how to lead under pressure and execute in chaos.??

Baseball taught me patience—how to handle failure, stay mentally sharp, and seize the moment when opportunity comes.??

I didn't specialize—I competed. That competition made me a better athlete, a better teammate, and a better person.??

But today, the athletes who play multiple sports are an endangered species. What we see instead are:??

Single-Sport Specialization:?Athletes?are pushed?to play one sport year-round under the false promise that it will guarantee a scholarship.??

Travel Ball Overload:?With their heavy schedules and big price tags, club sports have made school teams a secondary option.??

Burnout and Injuries:?Overuse injuries from repetitive movements have skyrocketed, and many athletes quit before they ever reach their peak.??

The multi-sport athlete isn't extinct, but they are disappearing. And with them, we're losing something far more valuable—competitive excellence.??

The Illusion of Specialization: What We Get Wrong??

I've spent years mentoring young athletes and their parents, seeing the same misconceptions repeated incessantly. So, let's address them:??

Myth 1: Specializing Early Guarantees College Scholarships??

??As someone who has worked with college recruiters and athletic directors, let me tell you—most college coaches want multi-sport athletes. They value versatility, resilience, and leadership—qualities only competition across sports can produce.??

Myth 2: Travel Ball is the Only Path to Success??

??Travel teams have their place, but they've become more about transactions than development. Exposure is meaningless without excellence.??

Myth 3: More Reps = Better Results??

??It's not about more reps—it's about the right reps. The variety of skills developed through different sports builds a stronger, healthier, more adaptable athlete.??

I know this because I lived it. And I know this because I've coached it.??

The Lost Art of Competitive Excellence??

The greatest loss in this new era of specialization isn't just athletic—it's cultural. Competitive excellence—the ability to rise under pressure, adapt across arenas, and lead in every environment—is becoming rare.??

As a three-sport athlete, I learned that:??

Pressure is a Privilege: If you can handle a free throw with the game on the line, you can handle 4th and goal with the clock running down.??

Adaptability Wins Games: The footwork I mastered on the basketball court gave me an edge on the football field.??

Patience and Resilience Matter:?Baseball taught me that even the best hitters fail 7 out of 10 times. Like success at the plate, success in life requires persistence, mental toughness, and overcoming setbacks.??

Losing the multi-sport athlete means losing these qualities—not just in sports, but in life.??

The Death of School Spirit: Where Did the Passion Go???

This issue runs deeper than the athletes—it's about community. Every sport drew a crowd when I played—not just football or basketball—every sport. The community showed up because they knew the athletes weren't just playing for themselves but for their school, neighborhood, and pride.??

Today, I hear the silence of empty bleachers louder than anything else. I see highlight clips on social media, but no real highlights in the stands. The passion that once fueled school rivalries, homecoming games, and Friday night lights has been replaced by the cold transactions of exposure and recruitment.??

We turned sports into a pathway instead of a passion.??

We made every game about a scholarship and forgot that some things—like pride and competition—are worth playing for, no matter the outcome.??

How We Get It Back: Restoring Competitive Excellence??

As someone who lived this journey—as a multi-sport athlete and as a coach—I believe we can bring the multi-sport athlete back. But it won't happen by accident. It will happen through intentional leadership. Here's how:??

1. Champion Multi-Sport Participation—Loudly and Publicly??

Athletic Directors: Align practice schedules to allow participation across sports.??

Coaches: Stop treating other sports as competition—start celebrating them as collaboration.??

Parents: Stop chasing exposure. Start chasing excellence. Let your kids compete across every arena.??

2. Redefine Success: Prioritize Competitive Excellence Over Exposure??

Reward athletes for competing hard, not just for performing well.??

Celebrate multi-sport athletes publicly—make them the standard.??

Teach athletes to love the battle—not just the brand.??

3. Rebuild School Spirit—Make the Stands Matter Again??

Promote All Sports: Every sport deserves a crowd.??

Involve the Community: Bring alums back. Celebrate rivalries. Build traditions.??

Empower Students:?Let them own the spirit—student sections, pep rallies, and game-day energy.??

4. Develop Leaders, Not Just Athletes??

Multi-sport athletes become leaders because they know how to lead teams in different arenas.??

Teach them leadership means showing up—for their teammates, school, and community.??

What Sports Taught Me for Life??

I was a good athlete (better with every passing conversation about what it was like playing back in the day). But more than anything—I was a competitor. And what I learned?on?those fields, courts, and diamonds still guides my life:??

Football taught me that you get back up when life hits you hard. I learned that lesson the hard way—spinning off a tackle during a scrimmage and getting slobber-knocked into oblivion. Coach Carberry had said, "Keep your head on a swivel," a million times before that hit permanently etched the meaning of the cliché into my soul. Like life, football is about staying alert and ready for the hits you never see coming. Be on the lookout—there will always be people and problems looking to knock you off your path.??

Basketball taught me how to lead when the game gets tight. As a post player, I couldn't score without my teammates. My success was tied to their ability to break down defenders, hit their spots, and make the correct passes. Basketball taught me that achieving greatness—on the floor or in life—is a team effort. And once the ball was in my hands, it taught me something even more valuable: Sometimes, leadership means swinging it to someone else—not for a bailout, but for a better opportunity. Assist or bucket, individual glory or shared success—the goal was winning together.??

Baseball taught me that failure is part of the game and life. I learned that stepping into the batter's box wasn't just about swinging. It was about approach—the preparation, the confidence, and the willingness to keep swinging, even after a strikeout. The best hitters in the world fail seven out of ten times. Baseball taught me that in life, you keep stepping up to the plate because victory belongs to those who refuse to stop swinging.??

Now, as a coach, a leader, and a father, I carry these lessons into every arena I step into. Hunting excellence is easier preached from the perspective of an out-of-shape former athlete than it is executed (understood) by preteens, teenagers, and young adults—good experiences matter. My experience reminds me that life is not a solo mission.??

Understanding life is better together means more than teamwork on a scoreboard. It means diving headfirst—without hesitation—into the deep waters to save a kid drowning in the cesspool of selfishness. It means living and leading by a principle that grounds me daily:??

Transparency Time

My youngest son, Omri, is someone many consider a sports specialist. He plays baseball consistently. Omri is developing a nice swing and soft hands (glove). I grapple with Omri becoming a sports specialist because he enjoys playing (and working on) baseball. This past football season, Omri played football for his middle school team.?All the 7th-grade B-Bombers stand up!

Omri’s football experience began by prowling the locker rooms and sidelines while I coached. My wife and I discussed our response to his seemingly inevitable request to play football during Tahoe Talks and other long drives to and from work (or Omri’s soccer games). The little guy’s first athletic foray was on the pitch as a footballer. Yes, I used the correct terminology. He played several years of kid-competitive soccer before he was sized out by the gatekeepers staring at my physical frame like it determined Omri’s future athleticism.

I always laughed it off until it became obvious his sporting experience was going to be impacted by his physical strength and size. A poor pitch experience facilitated Omri's exit from a sport he truly enjoyed. The big lefty was soured by the constant scrutiny from referees, the ire of the opposing coaches, and parents willing to sacrifice Omri's development for their son's Ronaldo/Messi dreams.

Soccer games and practices sounded like: “Be nice, Omri.” “Don’t be so aggressive, Omri.” “Control your body, Omri.”

Who wants to deal with that? It wasn’t just Omri playing against other kids—he was playing against a narrative that said his size and strength were problems. Baseball, it is!

Why Baseball? The Unexpected Path to Passion??

Baseball wasn't the original plan—it wasn't even a plan. But sometimes, the best journeys begin with an unexpected detour.??

I've?always appreciated baseball, but my love for the game deepened when it became more than just something I watched—it became something I shared. Baseball was never forced upon Omri. It was introduced as a way to spend time together, a stress reliever, and—unbeknownst to either of us at the time—a doorway to something bigger.??

The batting cages were my coping mechanism, a place to clear my mind, take some hacks, and let the crack of the bat do the talking. Omri watched for a while, probably trying to decide if what I was doing looked as fun as I made it seem. Eventually, curiosity won. He picked up a bat, stepped into the cage, and got to work.??

He started on the right side, just like Dad. Swing—miss. Again—miss. The frustration was setting in. I told him to switch to the left side. New angle, same result. He hacked at the ball, wild and determined, but the only thing getting hit was air.??

Then, it happened.??

Contact. A clean, crisp connection. One solid hit changed everything. Omri's eyes widened. His stance steadied. He swung again–another connection. He swung again. Miss. Again. Contact.??

The rhythm of the struggle began to set in. The game wasn't about instant success—it was about pursuing it.??

And that's why I love baseball.??

It doesn't promise success every time. It doesn't offer participation trophies for showing up. It doesn't guarantee fairness. Instead, it demands discipline. It forces patience. It teaches resilience.??

Baseball will humble you and lift you in the same inning. It will show breathtaking views of struggle, success, grit, and glory.??

Omri didn't pick baseball—it found him in the process of learning how to handle failure.??

And if that's not a metaphor for life, I don't know what is.??

The Reality of Specialization vs. Exploration??

Watching Omri develop as a baseball player, I wrestle with my stance on specialization. He truly enjoys the game. He wants to put in the work. But I also know the dangers of putting all your competitive energy into a single pursuit too soon.??

I've seen too many athletes burn out. I've watched gifted young players fall out of love with the game they once adored. I've had conversations with college coaches who prefer multi-sport athletes because they know what it means to compete—not just train.??

And yet, I also know that pushing a young athlete into another sport just for "balance"?can have the opposite effect. If a kid loves the grind of one sport, who am I to demand that they split their time elsewhere???

So, I do what I have always done—I encourage competition. I make sure Omri understands that greatness is not a one-lane road.??

And that's why, despite baseball being his primary focus, he also suited up for his middle school football team this year. He took the field with the 7th-grade B-Bombers, bringing everything he's learned from other sports into a new challenge.??

It's not about forcing multi-sport participation.?It's?about allowing kids to explore, push their limits, and develop confidence from knowing they can compete anywhere, at any time, in any sport.??

The real question isn't whether Omri becomes a baseball or football player, a stop-motion creator, or something else entirely.??

The real question is: Will he learn to embrace the challenge, attack the moment, and compete with everything he has???

That's the only answer that matters.??

And as long as he keeps stepping into the box—whether in baseball, football, or life—I'll be there to remind him:??

Keep swinging.??

The Paradigm of Playing for Something Bigger??

This is why I fight for the return of the multi-sport athlete—because?it was never just about playing every sport.?It was about playing for something bigger than yourself.??

That's the paradigm that drives my leadership—one rooted in Philippians 2:3-4:??

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your interests but each of you to the interests of the others."??

This scripture isn't just a verse—it's a mandate for leadership. It is the launch point for my leadership flight. It reminds me that the most meaningful victories come not from what we achieve alone but from how we elevate others in the pursuit of excellence.??

It is the humility of the assist in basketball.??

It is the resilience of the swing in baseball.??

It is the awareness to keep your head on a swivel in football—because someone else might need you to block for them, not just score for yourself.??

So, what happened to the multi-sport athlete???

They didn't vanish. We stopped cultivating the arenas where they could thrive.??

But here's the truth—it's not too late.??

We can bring them back, reignite school pride, and restore the passion that built every legend we admire.??

The next Bo Jackson is out there. So is the next Deion Sanders.?So is the next Akiba McKinney. ?

But it's up to us to create the space, the culture, and the standard for them to show up.??

And when they do—when they compete with everything they've got—will we be there to cheer them on???

I want that passion back. For our kids. For our schools. For our communities.??

Let's get it back.??

Let's demand excellence.??

Every sport. Every season. Every arena.??

The time to compete is now.??

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