Let’s break down this concept a little more and understand what is “too much sports” and what is “too much sport.”  Okay, let’s look at some scenarios for your 10 year old:

·         Basketball in the winter, baseball in the spring and summer, soccer in the fall, and does recreational swimming at various times throughout the year.  (This is good, lots of variety.  Year round activity of swimming is recreational.  Great balance….all good!)

Alright, so this is a good example of what to do.  The following is an example of TOO MUCH SPORTS:

·         30 Basketball games in the winter while playing on two hockey teams, baseball in spring through fall participating in 100 games and weekend tournaments all the time, travel soccer team that overlaps with both basketball and baseball 5-7 games a week. Oh yeah, swimming is more competitive now so there are meets 2x a month. (NOT GOOD, too much activity all the time.  Are switching sports to develop more athleticism but there it is non-stop)

Now that you know what is TOO MUCH SPORTS, let’s take a look at TOO MUCH SPORT:

·         Baseball in spring, summer, and fall (100+ games not including practices); private lessons in the winter for hitting, pitching, and defense; throwing and conditioning drills starting in January to prepare for late February weekend trips in Florida.  Also, a semi-competive soccer team and basketball with the church thrown in there.  Thinking about swimming but shoulder is too sore from throwing all the time.  (REALLY BAD, too much of the same thing all the time.  Throwing year round and participating in explosive baseball movements at all times is high risk for injury.  Switching to recreational versions of soccer and basketball could result in injury as athlete would have tendency to go “full speed” without developing necessary skills to perform sport well.)

Here is my challenge to you, take a look at the calendar.  I have stated this clearly before, if there is no blank spaces think perhaps there are TOO MUCH SPORTS, but if it is all the same thing year round there is a change your child is participating in TOO MUCH SPORT.