You've seen it before: the 10-year-old who plays travel baseball year-round, shows up to practice with an ice pack on their elbow, and tells you they "have to" skip their friend's birthday party because of a tournament three states away.
Meanwhile, you're wondering: Is this normal? Should my kid be doing this too? Are we falling behind if we're not specializing?
Here's the truth: your kid doesn't need to pick one sport and go all-in at age 9. In fact, they probably shouldn't.
What the Data Actually Says (Without Getting Boring About It)
Here's a stat that might surprise you: 88% of NCAA Division I athletes played 2-3 sports growing up, and 70% didn't specialize until after age 12. These are the kids who made it to the highest level of college athletics, and they got there by playing everything—not by focusing on one thing from the time they could walk.
So when someone tells you that your 8-year-old needs to choose between soccer and basketball, you can smile and ignore them.
Three Reasons Multi-Sport Athletes Win (On and Off the Field)
1. It Keeps the Fun Alive
Kids play sports for three reasons: hanging out with friends, enjoying the game itself, and the thrill of competition. The moment sports stop being fun is the moment kids start looking for the exit.
Burnout doesn't happen because kids aren't good enough or don't work hard enough. It happens because the joy gets sucked out of it. When you're doing the same drills, seeing the same people, and playing the same sport 12 months a year, even the thing you love starts to feel like a chore.
Switching between sports gives kids a mental and emotional reset. It lets them develop new skills in a different environment, discover what they love about different games, and remember that sports are supposed to be enjoyable. Plus, they get to be the "new kid" who's still figuring things out—which takes the pressure off being perfect all the time.
2. It Protects Their Bodies
Overuse injuries are exactly what they sound like: damage that happens when you repeat the same movements over and over without giving your body a break. And they're increasingly common in youth sports because kids are playing one sport year-round.
The fix? Take time off. Not sit-on-the-couch time off, but do-something-different time off. When your kid switches from basketball to soccer, they're using their muscles in different ways, working different angles, and giving overworked body parts time to recover.
Think of it like cross-training for adults. Runners don't just run—they swim, bike, and lift weights to stay healthy and avoid injury. Kids need the same variety, but we've somehow convinced ourselves that specialization equals success.
It doesn't. It equals ice packs and physical therapy appointments.
3. It Builds Better Athletes
Playing multiple sports doesn't just make kids healthier—it makes them better at every sport they play. Skills transfer between sports in ways that might surprise you.
Take Ray Lewis, the Hall of Fame NFL linebacker. He didn't just play football growing up—he wrestled. Wrestling taught him leverage, balance, and how to use his body to control an opponent. Watch him make a tackle and you're watching wrestling technique applied to football.
Or look at Steve Nash and Jason Kidd, two of the greatest passers in NBA history. Both played soccer growing up, and both credit it with helping them see the court better and make smarter plays. Soccer taught them how to move without the ball, how to anticipate where teammates would be, and how to use angles—all of which made them elite basketball players.
The skills your kid learns in one sport will show up in another. Footwork from soccer helps in basketball. Hand-eye coordination from baseball helps in tennis. The mental toughness from wrestling helps everywhere.
When you let kids play multiple sports, you're not diluting their talent—you're building a well-rounded athlete who can move, think, and compete in different ways.
What This Actually Looks Like
So what does being a multi-sport athlete look like practically?
For younger kids (under 12): Let them try everything. Soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, baseball or lacrosse in the spring. They don't need to be great at all of them. They just need to be moving, learning, and having fun.
For older kids (12+): They can start gravitating toward the sports they love most, but they should still play at least two. If they're serious about one sport, use the off-season to play something different—not to do more of the same sport with a different team.
The hardest part: Saying no to the travel coach who tells you that if your kid isn't playing year-round, they'll fall behind. Most of the time, that's not true. And even when it is, the tradeoff—burned out kids with chronic injuries—isn't worth it.
The Bottom Line
Youth sports are supposed to develop a love for the game, not prepare kids for the pros at age 10. Playing multiple sports keeps kids healthy, happy, and engaged. It builds better athletes and better people.
So before you commit to year-round anything, ask yourself: Is this what my kid wants, or is this what I think they need to stay competitive? Because most of the time, what they actually need is to play more games, not the same game over and over again.
Let them play soccer and basketball. Let them try lacrosse even though they've never picked up a stick. Let them be kids who love sports—not athletes who used to love sports until it became a job.
That's how you raise a kid who plays all the way through high school and beyond. Not by doing more of one thing, but by doing a lot of different things well.
Kimberly Pope is the President of Signature Growth Services, with oversight of multiple business units, all helping get 10M new kids playing sports by 2030. Previously, she spent 15 years as COO of Wilson, a Talent Solutions company for some of the most admired brands in the world.
Sports has been a major factor in shaping Kim's journey. She was an NCAA Division I field hockey player at Appalachian State University, where she learned early that confidence isn't optional—it's essential. That lesson in sports shaped her career and now shapes how she mentors young adults and parents her young daughter through competitive sports.
A SIA Global Power 150 Women in Staffing honoree, Tampa Bay Business Journal Businesswoman of the Year, and published author in Together We Rise & Rising with Courage, Kim is dedicated to empowering women to break barriers and helping young athletes build the confidence and resilience that youth sports are meant to develop.
