Why Do Coaches Like Multi-Sports Athletes?

Stack.com shares five top reasons why college coaches prefer recruiting multi-sports athletes:

• Multi-sports athletes suffer from fewer injuries.  Part of the reasoning could be the findings of a 2017 study presented at the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine's annual meeting.  The study found that high school athletes with a "high specialization classification" had an 85-percent higher incidence of lower extremity injuries than high school athletes with a "low specialization classification." Essentially, athletes who specialized were found to be at a much higher risk of lower extremity injury than athletes who play and train in multiple sports.
• Multi-sports players are more coachable.  The assumption is that if an athlete has experienced varying coaching styles, they have stronger listening and observational skills that they may have acquired from working with different coaches.   "Adapting how you recognize and receive feedback is critical to continuous athlete development. Every coach is like a book: We'll like some more than others, but all offer something they can teach us."
• Coaches love athletes that are always competing whether or not they are the top athlete in that sport.  Coaches like to see an athlete have the ability to place value on their competitive spirit over their personal statistics.
• Multi-sports athletes tend to be more flexible about transitioning into different positions.  Their multi-sport experience makes them more skilled at picking up new skills.
• Multi-sports athletes have a higher ceiling to maximize their potential.  "If you develop yourself as an athlete during middle school and high school, coaches at the college level can refine your technique, improve your performance and raise your level of play. But if you focus on mastering the technique of a single sport during your formative years at the sacrifice of building overall athleticism, developing that versatile athleticism later in life is much tougher."

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For more details:  5 Reasons College Coaches Love to Recruit Multi-Sport Athletes

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