Recently, there has been a decline in the amount of sports a high school athlete participates in. More and more athletes have decided to focus on one sport, instead of exploring multiple activities.
William Myatt, who has been teaching at the school for a while, has a unique perspective on the situation. He stated,
“When I started teaching in 1990, everybody did everything. The first time we did Kiss Me Kate, Petruchio was played by a starting lineman, who was also in choir… Then, as the years progressed, we’ve gotten larger, and people have become more specialized.” It’s gotten to the point that “if I’m not in season swimming, I’m club swimming,” said Myatt.
Many of these one sport athletes choose one sport because they want to maximize their athletic success. Senior Jacob McCredie said, “After freshman year I realized that I had a lot of potential so I decided to focus on swimming to accomplish as much as I could.”
In addition to focus all of their energy on one sport, single sport athletes also gain the respect of teammates and coaches. Sophomore Sam McGrath states, “The people that do off-season workouts are the people that are truly committed. It’s obvious because they are the ones that are putting in the work without a coach forcing them. They are taking time out of their day to train for an event or season that is a year away. They are the ones that are taking their talent and perfecting it so they can perform at their best.”
Both of these reasons are very valid. Senior Noah Streeter stated, “As a tri sport athlete I’ve always had the disadvantage of not having an off season. Most of the varsity guys I know run for cross country year round or swim year round to get to where they are.” The few athletes who play several sports are thereby at a significant disadvantage.
This is incredibly important as offseason workouts can increase an athlete’s proficiency, which could allow them to earn a varsity letter or more playing time. Furthermore, this increases an athlete’s chances to earn scholarship money.
However, this comes at a cost. Myatt said, “This [the specialization of athletes] has kind of splintered the environment a bit.” Swimmers tend to be friends with other swimmers, and basketball players tend to be friends with other basketball players. Through this, Pleasant Valley has become more like a collection of small groups, rather than a homogenized community.
