Why a young person should play high school sports

There’s a thread on a volleyball board called Volleytalk about whether a top-level athlete should sit out her senior year to rest up, prepare for club season, and then college beyond that.  I read it and I’m rather saddened by it.  Any form of pressure on an athlete to give up a senior year or to give up multiple activities for the sake of one is wrong.

The logic for it is that the athlete’s body is wearing down from overuse and needs the rest.  With that, the other argument specifically noted is “You get better coaching in club than you do high school.”

Both of these are horrible, wrong arguments, and they are perpetrated by adults with a vested interest in making that decision (and any time you see adults with a ‘vested interest’, always think “$$$$$$”).

The first argument – the body is worn down from overuse, so she should sit out:

I don’t discount a volleyball player is worn out or suffering nagging injuries from overuse.  With that said, which is more likely to cause said overuse injuries? A: A season from August to November (no more than four months) with 36 matches (12/month), roughly 60 days of contact. B: A season from November to July including two regional one-day tournaments monthly (4-5 matches each), a couple of big two-day tournaments (8-10 matches), two Qualifiers (7-10 matches), and ‘nationals’, whether USAV or AAU (another 12-15 matches)?  That’s a nine month season with 50-65 matches and very few played on wood (most are played on sportcourt placed over concrete in warehouses or convention centers).

What’s the difference?  Ultimately it is the length of season.  Few clubs offer downtime during November-July.  Ask some and they’ll tell you directly that that’s not their responsibility or that high school IS downtime.  Yikes.  But–which is more likely to cause overuse injuries, a season of three months or one of seven months?  Common sense provides the answer.

The second argument is that club coaching is superior.  Again, where is the proof?  It is easy to name successful programs and equate recruited athletes with quality coaching, but–if a kid is that good, is it the coach who is adding value?  If you permit me to coach Kathryn Plummer, Mikaela Foecke, Jordan Poulter, and Micaya White, I’m pretty sure I’ll kick a great deal of butt…then again, so would my dead grandmother.  Their talent was well-developed long before they reached the 17-18u level (yet I bet you can’t name who coached them at the 12u-13u levels, huh?).  The metric used for determining excellence in club coaching is about where athletes go for college.  That’s not a great metric for determining coaching ability.

Don’t misread that.  I did not say club coaches suck or that high school coaches are superior.  I simply note that the assertion club coaches > HS coaches is a massive error.  For every poor HS coach, there is a poor club coach.  For every great club coach, there is a great HS coach.

With this noted, tearing down two arguments does not show why there’s a big positive to playing a senior year in high school.   (It’s always easier to tear down than to build, across all fields and discussions)

As a senior, you are, by tradition, given certain privileges.  Why not enjoy those?  If you’ve put the work in for three years, enjoy being a team leader, the respect of freshmen, and the ability to hear your name announced on Senior Night, walk out with family, and get some applause.

Seniors are leaders.  If you encourage the athlete to not play, you deprive her of a chance to practice leadership, her high school teammates of thjose budding leadership skills, and deprive the team of a player they were relying on this year for success.  Why not let that athlete be the star?  After all, you don’t see club reports in your local paper–but you absolutely see the photos and articles on the local star HS athletes and those will matter in 20-40-60 years.

The athlete likely has a different role to play on her HS team.  If she’s good enough that she’s got a scholarship locked up, she’s the star of her HS team.  With club, she’s one of many athletes of similar ability.  Every athlete deserves the opportunity if it arises to be a star.  Just as important, being ‘the star’ creates pressure which helps the athlete learn how to deal with responsibility, success, and failure.

While many make friends via club (which is awesome), high school teammates are fellow students who’ve known that senior for years.  These are friends of long-standing in many cases.

Tradition.

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Let’s reverse things.  What if the athlete said she was worn down and intended to skip her club season?  What would the reaction be?  Yup–the argument becomes that the athlete ‘needs’ to play, that if they skip the club seasons after soph or junior years, they’ll lose out on recruiting opportunities and their chance to play college ball will be forever gone (BS).  If the player decides to skip after her senior HS season, pressure is applied by the club coach that she’s letting down her college, that they’ll have to let the college coach know what she’s doing, etc.  Indeed, I’ve known club coaches who’ve called the college coach to apply pressure on the athlete. The big difference (as always)?  Depending on the club, maybe several thousands of dollars missing from the revenue stream (and club shouldn’t be expensive).

So what’s the ‘right’ answer?

Easy.  In terms of guidance, the question is always “What is in the best interests of the young person?”  Who’s best suited to make the decision?  The athlete herself, her parents.  Parents are always most interested in the best-interests of their children.  They make decisions, give advice with that in mind (the problem is when they are given incorrect or partial information). Parents may see the money involved in a scholarship, but I’ve never known one to put the child’s health second to that or to go against clear wishes of the player.

Leave kids alone. Let them make their own choices whether to play as a senior, whether to play club. As adults, we have had our opportunity to be 17 and explore the choices we seek out. Do this generation the courtesy of giving them the same opportunity.