No matter how many sports a student participates in, there are always pros and cons. Multiple sport athletes, in certain opinions, either have a leg up on one-sport athletes or do not have a leg up.

Students run constantly, depending on their schedules. In an in-depth conversation with some students and a teacher, we discussed the average schedule of a student involved in at least one sport. An average time to wake up is 6 am and the average time to finally go to sleep is 10 pm. There are sixteen hours of time awake. Eight of those hours are spent in school. That leaves one hour to get ready after waking up and one hour to get ready for bed at night. One hour for homework, and one hour for free time. With that total coming out to twelve hours, that leaves a four-hour practice. Whether a student participates in one sport or multiple, this is basically the schedule for when the sport seasons roll around.

On the plus side of being a one-sport athlete, you have more time year round to be focused in school and yourself. But most one-sport athletes participate in extra-curricular activities that aren’t sports. Jami Hahn has played basketball since her freshman year. Hahn, as a one-sport athlete, when asked which was harder one sport or multiple replied, “I think to be a one sport athlete is harder because you are out of season, so it’s harder to stay in shape. Multiple sport athletes are always active because of the fact that they participate in more than one sport.”

Courtney Little Hoop has played softball and tennis since her freshman year. Little Hoop, as a multiple sport athlete, when asked which did she believe was harder answered, “I think multiple sports are harder because they are doing things more often like church, school, practice, and family. They are constantly going sometimes and you have to make decisions on what you want to do.”

When talking to both Little Hoop and Hahn, they discussed both the pros and cons of being in multiple sports and one sport. There are multiple advantages and disadvantages to being either.

Pros of being a one sport athlete include reasons such as only being focused on that one sport, or having an actual off season instead of a few weeks at a time. Being a one-sport athlete gives you healing time from an injury or protects you from having an injury throughout the sports a player participates in. With one sport season, there is more time to do other activities; some examples would include band, choir, speech, and academic decathlon. One major con of being a one-sport athlete is it is hard to stay in shape with only having one sport season. Not constantly having a practice to go to where they push you to be a better athlete and always in shape.

Pros of being a multiple sport athlete include being good at the sport that colleges recognize and consider giving scholarships. In a recent Ohio State survey, there were 42 football players that were recruited and played multiple sports. Five players that were recruited only played one sport. Playing more than one sport allows the athlete to stay in shape year round as well as a well-rounded player. With playing multiple sports, you travel to different players, meet new people, and make new friends. The teams that you play with become second families and the go to people when in need of something. Some cons of playing multiple sports would be the long practices. There are some coaches that have early morning practice or late night practice. These practice times do not allow for a player to have enough time to work on their homework or spend time with their family. From playing multiple sports, the player is already behind in schoolwork, due to the away games.

All athletes whether playing one sport or multiple, put in their best effort at school and practice. They strive to be their best and excel beyond limitations. Playing either one sport or multiple, there are many pros and cons and in the end. It is up to the player to decide if they want to push themselves and be well rounded or push themselves and be the best player that they can be in that one sport.