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Benefits to clubs easy to see
By Bill Knust
If an athlete’s goal is to obtain a college scholarship, or even to play at the collegiate level, club sports are a fantastic means of doing so. They provide visibility for athletes to college coaches of all sports.
In soccer, they have specific “college search” tournaments where teams get together just to play in front of different college coaches. You will not get that kind of attention at the high school level unless you are playing in the state tournament, and only a grand total of 20 teams in both boys and girls soccer get that chance.
Club sports also provide a great opportunity for the athlete who may not get a great deal of playing time at the high school level to be seen as well. Sometimes, an athlete is stuck behind someone better, but that does not mean said athlete could not play at the NAIA or Division III level.
Another one of the benefits of club sports is a foundation for building the fundamentals of that athlete’s respective sport, and then extra training outside of the high school season when that athlete get older.
However, one of the biggest downfalls I see in club sports is the extremes to which they are taken they are taken. Club sports are a great thing, but sometimes that great thing can go bad when intentions get out of whack.
It seems now that if you aren’t playing certain sports year-round, the common thought is that you are falling behind, and sometimes you jeopardize your spot on the club if you want to do another sport in addition to the one you already participate in.
Sometimes, the best thing for athletes is to take a break from a sport to clear the mind. If they participate in another sport, it gives them a chance to focus on something else for a while. They do not have to deal with the pressure of their club sport year around.
In my opinion, an athlete should not feel pressure to participate only in a sport like baseball, soccer, volleyball, softball or whatever they want to excel in.
It seems athletes like recent Oak Park High graduate Jordan Owen are becoming the exception to the rule these days. Owen will be heading to the University of Tennessee-Martin in the fall on a baseball scholarship, but Owen will also be punting for the football team in the fall.
Former Winnetonka athlete Sam Sissom was a three-sport star in high school, and also played football and baseball at Washburn University.
One of my favorite parts of my job is watching athletes excel at whatever sport they play. It is particularly fun to watch them adjust from sport to sport. Sadly, that is becoming less and less common. I guess the best part of that is that other kids are getting the opportunity to step in and fill roles they would not have been able to in the past.
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In soccer, they have specific “college search” tournaments where teams get together just to play in front of different college coaches. You will not get that kind of attention at the high school level unless you are playing in the state tournament, and only a grand total of 20 teams in both boys and girls soccer get that chance.
Club sports also provide a great opportunity for the athlete who may not get a great deal of playing time at the high school level to be seen as well. Sometimes, an athlete is stuck behind someone better, but that does not mean said athlete could not play at the NAIA or Division III level.
Another one of the benefits of club sports is a foundation for building the fundamentals of that athlete’s respective sport, and then extra training outside of the high school season when that athlete get older.
However, one of the biggest downfalls I see in club sports is the extremes to which they are taken they are taken. Club sports are a great thing, but sometimes that great thing can go bad when intentions get out of whack.
It seems now that if you aren’t playing certain sports year-round, the common thought is that you are falling behind, and sometimes you jeopardize your spot on the club if you want to do another sport in addition to the one you already participate in.
Sometimes, the best thing for athletes is to take a break from a sport to clear the mind. If they participate in another sport, it gives them a chance to focus on something else for a while. They do not have to deal with the pressure of their club sport year around.
In my opinion, an athlete should not feel pressure to participate only in a sport like baseball, soccer, volleyball, softball or whatever they want to excel in.
It seems athletes like recent Oak Park High graduate Jordan Owen are becoming the exception to the rule these days. Owen will be heading to the University of Tennessee-Martin in the fall on a baseball scholarship, but Owen will also be punting for the football team in the fall.
Former Winnetonka athlete Sam Sissom was a three-sport star in high school, and also played football and baseball at Washburn University.
One of my favorite parts of my job is watching athletes excel at whatever sport they play. It is particularly fun to watch them adjust from sport to sport. Sadly, that is becoming less and less common. I guess the best part of that is that other kids are getting the opportunity to step in and fill roles they would not have been able to in the past.