Should kids play more than one sport?

My daughter is way into volleyball and it consumes our lives. Club, school team, training camps, it’s never ending and sometimes I wonder if she would be better served getting into another sport as well as she grows (she is 13) she is starting to get burnt out but still loves volleyball. It seems so hard these days to have a kid who plays more than one sport at a competitive level.

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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. Should kids play more than one sport? - Mamas Uncut

Getting burnt out is normal as you get older and further into a sport… but I’m not sure adding a second sport is going to help that at all. If she wants to fully switch that’s one thing, but to add more to her plate when you’ve already stated this sport consumes so much time and energy, doesnt seem like a good idea. A second one would double the load. So let her decide if she wants to switch to something different or stay with volleyball.

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Let her choose. Talk to her about it. I don’t think adding to her plate is a good idea.

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Imo doing more is cause further “burn out”. Maybe she’s done with volleyball. It could be time to substitute for a new experience.

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My friend found a neighbor kid out door sobbing his heart out. She talked to him, he was over booked. Between school, music lessons, sports and foreign language class his parents booked him for, the kid had no time to himself. He felt like he wasn’t able to devote enough time to any of it because he was constantly going and was terrified of failing. No ten year old should be under that kind of pressure. One extra is all they should have.

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Let her decide. I was a cheerleader for years, all through school ,then played volleyball. During basketball boys played first then the girls , I would cheer for boys and played on the basketball team when the girls played. Just changed my uniform. Games were back to back.then during wrestling season I would cheer. I also played soccer for a little while. If she wants to try something different but still play volleyball , try to find sports that run different seasons. That helped me.

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So if she already get burnt out then no don’t put her into another sport :woman_facepalming::woman_facepalming:

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If she’s burnt out, why make her do another sport? Specially once hs really starts too that’ll be time consuming also. I wouldnt.

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I’d let her keep doing just volleyball. My younger sister did all her school years and got an amazing college scholarship and now is doing college volleyball. It’s not just a sport it’s a career path too. I’m sure even my sister had times where she got burnt out, but she still loved it. Don’t add another sport on her plate though

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If she gets burnt out playing the sport she loves why would any parent in their right mind want to add more to her plate smh :woman_facepalming:

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From a former D1 basketball player, to coach, to basketball mom of also a 13 year old. Keep volleyball her primary sport if she loves it. However, statistics have proven that multi sports athletes have a strong reduction of athletic injury. Let her try something new to get her body moving in different ways. She’ll feel better🙂

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Let her play volleyball and take off all the extra like club and camps. If she is getting burnt out then let her drop back a bit so she can clear her head and think about what she wants. I wouldn’t add any more though, not right now.

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Uh…. Leave her alone. Be glad she loves a sport at all. Why take time she could be training for the sport she loves and force her into one she doesn’t even care about because that’s what you want???

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My son did a sport every season for two years …:flushed:it was so busy and awful. He eventually decided what he liked . I think talk to your daughter about self care and lighting her load and talk about time management. Let her decide what she wants and needs she will be the one doing it not you.

I have always heard that it’s best for kids to play multiple sports instead of just focusing on one. With that being said I have 2 boys who play select/travel baseball. We ask them every fall and spring season what they want to play and they always choose baseball. I’m not one for forcing my kids to do anything so I let them chose and if they want to solely focus on baseball then that’s perfectly fine with me. :woman_shrugging:t3:

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You can’t do everything- best to focus on strengths. If she’s getting burnt out, scale down

It’s good for youth athletes to play multiple sports. Kids who play only one sport often use the same muscle groups over and over again, making them prone to injury. Playing other sports works multiple other muscle groups which helps to strengthen other parts of the body and in turn make the body stronger overall and prevent injury.

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She’s at the age now where it would be beneficial for her to remain focused on one primary skill.

If your time is already full with volleyball, where would you put another sport?

My son plays football and basketball but never at the same time. Flag football winter, basketball summer league and tackle football fall.

My 16yr old does club soccer, rec soccer, hip hop dance class, and soon to be school soccer. My 5yr old daughter does jazz dance and 5yr old son plays rec soccer. We are so busy its insane. But anything fir my babies

Wait. Is SHE burnt out, or are you? From the way this is written, it sounds like you might be. If she truly is burnt out, don’t add another sport to it without taking one of the current seasons she is doing already out of the equation. Also, it needs to be her choice, because there’s nothing worse from a coaching standpoint than a kid who doesn’t want to play, or one who doesn’t take the time necessary to learn the new sport, but their parent is forcing them to do it. Talk to her. Ask her if she needs to step back from club or the camps. Ask her if she is interested in trying a new sport, and go from there. But don’t add something without taking something off her plate. If she refuses to quit what she’s currently doing, then adding a new sport is a hard no.

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Ask her what what wants to do. Personally I think she is old enough to make that decision. If she wants to continue with just volleyball then let her. If she wants to completely switch let her. She knows what her body can handle by 13.

I am a nanny for a family with 3 kids. 12 girl, boys 7 & 5. They are all 3 in everything. Softball, baseball, basketball, soccer, football & volleyball. They love it. They are definitely way busier after work & every wknd than I would want to be. But they thrive in it & love it.

I honestly don’t think so. I watched a kid I worked with get injured frequently and burnt out.

My Daughter is 12 and going into 7th grade. She has made cheer & volleyball and will tryout for softball also. It’s not easy and some weeks she has something going on everyday but she loves it.

Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. Should kids play more than one sport? - Mamas Uncut

I have a daughter that does 3 sports. It’s exhausting but it keeps her active and focused on school and her athletics….not boys, not parties, not drugs. If she wants to play, I say let them play. If my daughter decided to drop a sport I would also support her in that decision. Her grades are stellar so I let her make choices about what she does in her free time. Sports are 6 days a week here so no free time for shenanigans.

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Things are different now from when I was younger, but even in high school I played 3 sports (one was cheerleading, but that was honestly more physical than my track practices).

If she loves volleyball but maybe wants to try something else, sign her up. Taking a break for one season won’t put her back. It may even make her better. Training for a different sport works the body and the brain.

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Yes. They should play more then one sport. Playing only one leads to more injuries because they’re only training for certain motions. If they play more then one, even if it’s just for fun, they’ll train for a wider range of motions leading to less injuries.
Even having some sort of physical job would be beneficial.

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We do one sport per season during the school year because school gets more demanding as they get older and family time is just as important as school and sports! Plus we have 3 kids so to balance it all fairly each gets 1 extracurricular per season. With that being said they do choose different sports different seasons! So they still get a variety! I think to each their own there is no wrong or right answer it’s what works for your child and family. I know my sister and nephews do 2 leagues at a time and travel etc and love it but we just can’t manage that on top of working full time, managing our household, etc. :grinning: we also believe when you commit to a sport for a season you should be all in and not miss practices or games bc another sport they’re involved with has an overlapping practice/game. We don’t really think it’s fair to the team/coaches to have them missing intermittently bc they’re in too much at one time. But again that’s just our opinion!

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Definitely, my boys 9 & 13 just finished travel baseball and are rolling right into football then will play local basketball while starting up travel ball again mid January. Many don’t understand but as long as they are having fun and getting something out of it this momma will try to make it happen…

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Kids should play whatever sports they want to. Keep em busy.

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I have 3 sons who play football, wrestle and tae kwon do

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If they can keep grades up Yes keep them busy

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I’m a older momma… I’m a grandma :heart: A Little advise to u young mommas… The more you keep your child busy… The less they will get into trouble… They won’t have time.

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If she loves volleyball and only wants to play volleyball then let her, if she decides she wants to try another one for a season and likes it, let her. You can’t and shouldn’t force a kid to do those activities, if they want to encourage it but if not then let it go. I think sports are generally good for multiple reasons but not all kids are into more than one or even any at all. I don’t like the try out stuff and coaches favoring some over others in younger grades either, it discourages kids from actually enjoying the sport and getting better at it. I was in soccer and the coach broke rules for a couple of other girls that he thought were better and had me sitting out the whole game while everyone else got to play at least a little bit, he made me hand out water, which our school literally had a program for kids to sign up to do and I was on the soccer team, not that program. I quit, there was no point in trying anymore to me if I was left out while following all the rules for people who couldn’t be bothered to, my mom tried to force me to stick with it but he continued to show favoritism so I just skipped practice until I wasn’t made to go anymore. Got in trouble for it, never tried another sport. This was in 6th grade, it shouldn’t be about “skill” until you’re on a varsity team and actually have time to learn. At young ages like middle school and early high school the kids who’s parents had money to sign them up for junior teams are the only ones who have any experience and it’s not fair at all. :woman_shrugging:t2: Let her do what she wants to do and has fun doing or it will just make her miserable.

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If shes burnt out i wouldn’t put her in another sport as well… Let it be her choice what she does rather thats stay with what she’s doing or go to a new sport or add a sport or even back off the sport a little…

I’d say she’s old enough to make her own decision tbh about a competitive sport

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My daughter has been playing club volleyball for 3 years now and some days I don’t know how we manage even one club sport. While my daughter hasn’t expressed interest in playing another sport, I know for us we wouldn’t be able to do it. My hat’s off to those who are able to balance more than one!

We have tried to do more then one, but the schedule would never work. Our daughter just stays with the competitive sport she loves, we sign her up for extra training if the weeks aren’t that crazy. But it’s all soccer now

maybe try finding a sport that is in a different school semester? that way she could play different sports but not have to worry about multiple sports at the same time.

Why do you say should? They “should” or should not play whatever sport they wish not what their parents’ want.

If she still loves volleyball, the burnout is not from volleyball, it is from the amount of it she plays. Adding another sport does not help, it compounds the problem. How about dialing it back a bit? Unless she is planning on trying to get a scholarship for it, there is no need to do all the camps, clubs, school teams, travel teams…pick one, ,maybe two and give her a break! What is her opinion?

I feel alot of this is because the parents want it more than the kids do! Parents like to live vicariously through their children! I never “forced” my kids in ANY sport but rather let them decide how they wanted to spend their time. Let kids be kids is what i say.

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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. Should kids play more than one sport? - Mamas Uncut