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dolara, I didn't say they should commit to a single sport at 14U. I said that's the age at which most do make a decision on what year-round commitments to make. There's a fit out there for any schedule, but merely ignoring the off season practices of one team (I'm not addressing this to dolara, just in general) is not fair.
I know of a girl who played on a highly competitive travel team, and played AAU basketball, which also has a high level of commitment. She was one of the better players on the travel team, and had a good relationship with the coach. Up to 14U, the coach allowed her to even miss tournaments for basketball commitments. Everything was fine - until the other parents expressed their feelings that it wasn't fair, and they threatened to leave, and the coach had to make a decision. As much as I know the girl and her family are great people, doing the best they could, I agree it wasn't fair to the rest of team.
And I see plenty of athletes who letter in multiple sports (they don't all commit to a year-round team out of school for every sport), but I'm dismayed at the level at which high school coaches discourage multiple sport play, and "unofficially" ask for a near year-round commitment. I'm guessing that will get worse (but not for me as we're nearly out).
I know of a girl who played on a highly competitive travel team, and played AAU basketball, which also has a high level of commitment. She was one of the better players on the travel team, and had a good relationship with the coach. Up to 14U, the coach allowed her to even miss tournaments for basketball commitments. Everything was fine - until the other parents expressed their feelings that it wasn't fair, and they threatened to leave, and the coach had to make a decision. As much as I know the girl and her family are great people, doing the best they could, I agree it wasn't fair to the rest of team.
And I see plenty of athletes who letter in multiple sports (they don't all commit to a year-round team out of school for every sport), but I'm dismayed at the level at which high school coaches discourage multiple sport play, and "unofficially" ask for a near year-round commitment. I'm guessing that will get worse (but not for me as we're nearly out).