Graduation of Multi-Sport Athletes

December 8, 2014

By David Smith
Boyne City athletic director

Editor’s Note: This is reprinted with permission from the Petoskey News-Review, which is publishing semi-regular columns written by athletic directors for the northwest region of the Lower Peninsula. Click for more sports coverage from the News-Review.

There are many important topics today that relate to high school sports. I was honored when asked to write a brief column about a current topic of my choice in the high sports world. This particular topic, student-athletes specializing in one sport, is something that is happening more and more.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why this is, but it often times seems to boil down to unrealistic expectations from several parties that an athlete is capable of being a legitimate college or higher-level athlete.

Don’t get me wrong, we have a plethora of outstanding athletes in Northern Michigan. The facts are, however, that about 98 out of 100 high school athletes never play collegiate sports of any kind at any level. Also, less than one percent of high school athletes receive a scholarship of any kind to a Division I school.

I don’t want to tell someone not to have that dream. In fact, I think that is an awesome dream to have. I had that goal growing up and was fortunate to be able to play a few different sports at a small Division III college. It helped me grow immensely as a person, and I’m very thankful for that experience. I just can’t emphasize enough how we need to all have realistic expectations for our student athletes, whether it’s the athletes themselves, or parents, coaches, administrators, etc.

I think one thing we can all do to help this is to emphasize the process more than the outcome. The funny thing is getting the process right and enjoying it almost always leads to positive outcomes. The process is where all the hard work is put in. The process is where good character is developed, and that’s one of the most important traits we can help young individuals develop.

Many high school athletes are also too busy and compete too much. The amount of young athletes competing year-round for sports is getting out of control. Sure, sometimes it works out and an athlete will really improve by doing this, but more often than not, they get burned out and when it’s actually that sport in-season, they are toast and go through the motions. I know from a coaching standpoint I want athletes hungry to compete every time out.

Being that busy also means very little time for athletes to improve their overall athleticism (stronger, faster, quicker, more explosive, better endurance, etc.). Skills take a back seat too because most athletes are just playing games and not focusing on skill work. I’d rather take an athlete who trains to become more athletic and works on skills for several months than one who plays AAU or something of that nature. I know that has its place for a very few individuals, but most young athletes need way more work on their athleticism and skills before being ready for something like AAU.

I get specializing in one sport if you are undoubtedly a Division I athlete that will likely play professionally. Or maybe it’s someone who goes to a big high school and they aren’t very talented so the only way they can play is to focus really hard on one sport. I get those occurrences. 

I would argue, however, that even the Division I-type individuals will nine times out of 10 benefit more from playing another sport because they aren’t going to work hard enough by themselves to make the gains. They would then also be refreshed and ready to get after it once the season arrives. With that, our schools up here will always have a hard time competing at the regional and state level if we don’t have all of our best athletes playing two or three sports. It blows me away how good some of our teams in the area could fare if this happened.

This column is not meant to be negative. It’s just some food for thought. I haven’t been at this very long, but it’s something I’ve seen happen more and more in the last 10 years. I’ve just always been a big fan of the multiple sport athlete and experienced first-hand how much a school can benefit when a group of talented athletes go through and they all play a minimum of two sports.

At the end of the day, we cannot forget what I’d consider the main purpose of athletics at this level. That is, to help young individuals leave our schools with experiences and life lessons that will help them as they pursue careers and go on with other facets of their lives.

Parents Master Art of Schedule Juggling

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

October 18, 2016

If it’s Tuesday, it must be volleyball — or is it soccer or maybe swimming?

Time to check the calendar, the phone app or the white board.

To keep up with two or more students involved in different sports in the same season, families have devised their own ways for keeping track of schedules.

The Carpenters, who have sons Matthew and Alex at Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, use several calendars, including a master schedule in the kitchen.

The Perkins, whose daughters Lauren and Audrey attend Mattawan High School, rely mostly on the phone app Cozi to keep schedules straight.

For the parents, it’s a question of logistics and juggling, which sometimes takes a lot of creativity.

“We have electronic calendars and paper calendars to look at every morning,” dad Tim Carpenter said. “We talk about who’s going where and who’s going to do what at the start of each day to figure it out.

“I keep a sports calendar to share with all the family so they can see the different things going on. If we are ever home at night without a game, it’s a strange feeling.”

Besides the composite kitchen calendar, “We also have our iPhone calendar so we both can see one another’s calendar at the same time,” mom Julie Carpenter said.

“It’s pretty much Monday through Saturday, some game or practice. Sunday it’s Mass, groceries and laundry.”

The Perkins use a phone organizer app called Cozi.

“We try to get all the schedules in there so everybody knows where everybody else is,” mom Valerie Perkins said. “I usually have a white board on the kitchen counter that I update weekly, and it kind of tracks who’s got what when. 

“The girls’ meets are on opposite days. Like Audrey will have something on Monday, Wednesday and Lauren has Tuesday and Thursday. Occasionally they both have Saturdays. Then we divide and conquer, for sure.”

With five children, the Carpenters try to split time evenly between all the activities.

Matthew, a senior, is Hackett’s soccer goalkeeper and Alex, a sophomore, plays junior varsity football. Oldest son, Josh, a sophomore at Michigan Tech, plays broom ball – and while his parents don’t travel to watch him play, the games are webcast during the winter.

The activities won’t end soon. Bennett, a sixth grader and Bethany, a third grader, both at St. Augustine in Kalamazoo, also are involved in sports.

The Carpenters try to attend all of their children’s games together, but sometimes that is not possible. 

In that case, “We usually base it on who’s closer,” Tim Carpenter said. “If there’s one game south near where I work in Portage (at MANN+HUMMEL), I’ll usually go to that.

“If Julie (who works at Borgess-ProMed Physician Pediatrics in Richland) has only seen one of Alex’s games and I’ve seen two, she’ll go to Alex’s. We try to keep it even.”

Both parents were introduced to new sports once their sons got involved.

“(Our sons) haven’t done tennis or golf,” Julie Carpenter said. “Soccer’s got more action and excitement; basketball is similar. Skiing was neat because it’s such a close-knit community. Cross country was fun because it was a very team environment.

“I had not seen cross country before, but when Josh started cross country it was really exciting because we thought ‘OK, how much can you get out of cross country as a spectator?’ It was pretty exciting for us just to run from spot to spot. They’re such a close-knit group of kids.”

Whether there are five children or two, as in the Perkins family, parents face the same dilemma: trying to juggle work, practices and events.

“We usually try to trade off so we get an even mix of seeing the girls,” said Valerie Perkins, who works at Bronson Urology in Kalamazoo. “Sometimes Rob’s schedule dictates that. Sometimes it’s who’s ever closest.”

Rob Perkins, who works at TRW in Mattawan, said sometimes there’s a glitch. 

“When they give us advance warning of what’s going on and it doesn’t change, then I can work around it,” he said. 

“The only time it gets frustrating is when something changes at the very last minute, or maybe it was always the same and the girls’ stories change at the last minute,” he added, laughing.

Neither parent was familiar with the sports their daughters chose.

“With dive, Lauren started in eighth grade, so it evolved from a summer camp and she really enjoyed it,” Rob Perkins said. “We kind of fell into Kyle Oberhill, who’s the diving coach for (Kalamazoo College) and he manages the facilities for Western (Michigan University).

“He’s just really easy-going. (Lauren) excelled in it right away. As a freshman, she broke the school record. That kind of kept her motivated to keep going.”

Oberhill also had a workshop for parents to explain the intricacies of competitive diving, and that helped. Audrey, meanwhile, took on another sport new to her parents when she started playing volleyball in seventh grade.

“We didn’t know much about it, but the important thing to know about it is she enjoys it,” her dad said.

Rob Perkins said it would be much easier if volleyball and dive were not in the same season, but there is an upside.

“I would say, generally speaking, being in sports certainly builds their self-confidence, keeps them occupied.”

Their mother said she can see a positive influence of sports on their girls.

“I think sports have definitely improved them,” she said. “They’ve learned how to become leaders and work as a team, and I really appreciate that.

“I can see it develop in both of them over the years. Both are captains of their teams.”

And both sets of athletes said it’s important to see their parents at their games.

“It gives me more confidence,” Alex Carpenter said, “and makes me feel good that they want to see me play.” 

Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Mattawan parents Rob and Valerie Perkins cheer on their daughter Lauren during a recent swimming & diving meet. (Middle top) The Carpenters, clockwise from top left: Tim, Julie, Alex and Matthew. (Middle) The Perkins daughters, Lauren (left) and Audrey. (Middle below) Matthew, the Hackett soccer goalkeeper, looks to pass after gathering up a loose ball. (Below) Lauren Perkins dives during a meet. (Lauren Perkins head shot by Becky Anderson Photography, all other photos by Pam Shebest.)