Article Options

Where have all of the three-sport athletes gone?

By Pete Spitler, The Southern

Saturday, June 21, 2008 11:30 PM CDT

The specialization of American sports has claimed another victim - the three-sport athlete.

In an era where the business side of athletics is as important as the athletes themselves, fewer and fewer youths are participating in multiple activities in today's sports landscape.

"To be as good as you want to be you have to focus on one sport," said Pinckneyville's Kyle Cassity, who earned a basketball scholarship to Saint Louis University and was a fixture on the Panthers' Class 2A baseball team that finished third at the state tournament. "It's hard to get a scholarship when you're playing three sports."

With year-round tournament schedules in most major sports, an athlete's free time has dwindled considerably since specialization became prevalent in the mid-1980s.

"I think every sport is becoming so specialized because of the talent at the Division I level," Southern Illinois University softball coach Kerri Blaylock said. "In softball, you're playing all summer and all fall just trying to get a scholarship."

Three of Blaylock's players - Lauren Haas, Katie Schmidt and Katie Wagner - played three sports in high school. Haas played basketball and soccer in addition to softball, while Schmidt played volleyball and basketball while also starring on the diamond. Wagner participated in four sports at Mount Vernon - softball, track, cross country and basketball.

"I see both sides," Blaylock said. "I want to see that kid play in October and play in the summer against great competition. I enjoy seeing it because it helps me evaluate.

"But on the other side, I don't think these kids are kids anymore. The so-called business side of things is becoming more prominent."

A full-ride college scholarship is worth around $60,000. Throw in the tougher economic climate and college isn't as affordable as it once seemed. Many athletes have to work after-school jobs to earn money for their tuition.

"There's a lot of factors in it," Cassity said. "People are a lot busier. To do three sports, it takes up a lot of time."

And time is one of the things that always seems to be at the forefront of any discussion regarding multiple sports.

"Sometimes, as a younger kid, you get put into one sport and don't give another sport a chance," said Carterville coach Scott Burzynski, who coaches boys basketball and cross country for the Lions. "Smaller schools need kids to play all sports. We encourage kids to play multiple sports to help out all the programs."

The presence of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which sponsors competition from baton twirling to beach volleyball, in addition to the major sports, creates a competitive atmosphere for coaches looking to organize summer workouts for their players.

"With AAU, it seems so stressed," Burzynski said. "It didn't seem as stressed when I first started coaching than what it is now.

"And a lot of kids take that route."

Blaylock said kids tend to get more specialized the older they get, picking the one sport they think can get them a college scholarship.

"I gave up basketball my senior year," Blaylock said. "My coach told me, 'Kerri, you're not going to be a basketball player. You're going to be a bread-and-butter softball player and you don't want to screw up that choice.'"

Marion's Jessie Crabtree, who is bound for the University of Missouri on a soccer scholarship, said that cooperation between coaches can make playing multiple sports easier. Crabtree participated in soccer, basketball, track and cross country all four years at Marion High School. She was also part of the swim team for two years.

"The coaches here made it easy and they were pretty lenient about (playing multiple sports)," Crabtree said. "The only way it's difficult is if the coaches don't compromise with each other and mine definitely did."

Crabtree, who was named to the all-state team in soccer for the second straight year, said most of her teammates played only two sports.

"The friends that I've grown up with, most of them always did only two sports and didn't get involved with any others," Crabtree said. "They loved what they did and I loved what I did."

pete.spitler@thesouthern.com / 351-5073