Men (and Women) For All Seasons

Clubs are uniquely positioned to champion a return to multi-sport participation.

by Joe Barks (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
May 2008
 

If you have, or recently had, kids who were pretty good athletes as they became of high-school age, you’ve probably been subjected to the growing debate over what’s better—having them quickly specialize in their best sport, to maximize their chances of playing it longer and at the highest possible level (i.e., get a college scholarship), or encouraging them to stay with as many sports as they want to for as long as they can, even if it means they might not get quite as good at any one game or activity.

This debate can get pretty intensive, with coaches now putting a lot of pressure on kids, and their parents, to play the same sport year-round or “risk losing out” (of not only scholarships, but roster spots on the high school teams).

Proponents of multi-sport participation, meanwhile, extol the long-term benefits of learning and improving the different skills and abilities that you develop in each sport, not to mention the greater variety of fun and wider range of experiences to be had.

It’s all a big departure from what my generation experienced with high-school sports, when the same group of guys (or girls) tended to move from one season’s sport to the next. After the last football game on a Friday, we all showed up the following Monday for basketball. Three months later,  we all moved to baseball. And in the summer, we just played whatever pickup sport suited our mood—the high-school coaches were all too busy with their summer jobs.

I hate to sound old-school, but I’m glad I had the opportunity to learn, play and enjoy so many sports for so long, and I really think that’s the better way to go. So I was very pleased to see an idea that was sent in recently to our new Idea Exchange (see pg. 64) by Jeana McLean of the Old Town Club in Winston-Salem, N.C.

For the past five years, Jeana says, her club has held a Junior Sports Triathlon, comprised of golf, tennis and swimming. We’ll provide you with more details about how Old Town executes this great idea in an upcoming issue. But in describing the Triathlon to us, Jeana said, “It is a contest open to all members’ kids that’s based solely on participation, not skill, and really encourages kids to try different sports—because in order to win, they must participate in all three.”

After hearing about this, it occurred to me that clubs and resorts are uniquely positioned to champion a revival of a movement back to multi-sport participation, and not just for kids. The same sort of event could appeal just as strongly to adult men and women, I’m sure.

You have all the needed facilities, staff and participants, literally in your backyard, to have a whole series of events along these lines that would quickly become popular and unique regular features of club life. Just don’t let the high school coaches get wind of it.