YBCA

Post edited 7:53 pm – October 4, 2009 by admin

This summer, Chula Vista Little League won the Little League World Series, and the biography for winning pitcher Kiko Garcia said that he also played club soccer and basketball.

In the semi-finals of the United States’ bracket, Chula Vista defeated Warner Robins Little League from Georgia; ESPN showed the Warner Robins players preparing for their game by practicing their football plays, as football season had started in Georgia.

Throughout the tournament, ESPN’s baseball analysts praised the players’ fundamentals – especially the slick fielding of the San Antonio team and the professional hitting approach of Chula Vista – yet these players play multiple sports.

Many parents, however, rush their child into one sport. In youth basketball, many parents and coaches believe that players must specialize early just to make a high school team. However, most research contradicts these beliefs, and most sports scientists and doctors disagree with early specialization, which is playing one sport year-round to the exclusion of others at an early age, typically before the onset of puberty.

The arguments in favor of early specialization are:

• To give less naturally talented players an advantage to catch up to their peers.
• To develop better sport-specific skills.
• To concentrate solely on one activity in an effort to excel.
• To create a competitive advantage against those who do not play year-round.

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Rio Ruiz, quarterback and shortstop from Bishop Amat HS. A “can't miss” baseball prospect, he won't give up football:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/…..7477.story

Not everyone in baseball think teenagers should focus on one sport. Former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame standout Mike Stanton heard the same doubts when he was playing football, basketball and baseball in high school. He has turned out just fine, emerging as a rookie of the year candidate for the Florida Marlins this season as a 20-year-old.

Eddie Bane, director of scouting for the Angels, said he encourages kids to play multiple sports because it helps develop character and a variety of skills.