The days of quality coaches battling to get kids to do one sport year-round seem to be coming to an end. The best coaches in high school and college sports from coast to coast understand the value of multi-sport athletes and take the time to speak to its value every chance that they get.
While coaches seem to get it, convincing parents the values of being involved in multiple sports hasn't been nearly as easy.
That brings me to a quote from TCU baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle that went viral recently.
Schlossnagle, who has been at TCU since 2004 after a successful run at UNLV, has built one of the premier baseball programs in the country, winning nearly 70% of his games with 624 wins to his name with the Horned Frogs and nine first-place finishes in the Mountain West and Big 12. His coaching resume also includes five appearances in the College World Series.
Schlossnagle had the following to share about multi-sport athletes, and high school football players in particular.
"I would much rather have a baseball player that is involved in other sports in high school, particularly football, because it prepares them for college baseball. You can always find a way to take some time on your own to prepare for baseball."
Coach Schlossnagle goes on to explain why he'd prefer for baseball players play football in the fall rather than be on a travel baseball team where wins and losses don't matter.
"Playing football in the fall in my opinion is better than practicing in these fall or winter baseball games that have nothing riding on them. Football players understand the value of practice and repetition. The ratio of practice to games is higher and baseball players don't understand that. Time away from baseball is a good thing."
Below is the full quote, which originally came from an interview done with X&O Labs for the 21 Hour Coach Special Report.
