Why Your athlete should play multiple Sports

By Trevor Jones MS, CSCS

Athletes who specialize in one sport too early are leaving a ton of athletic development on the table. Too often, I see young athletes playing just one sport year-round. While it may seem like the fast track to success, this approach can actually lead to burnout and overuse injuries down the road.

I’m here to say: every athlete should play at least one other sport alongside their main sport. In this blog, I’ll share my thoughts on why that’s so important.

Multi-Sport Athletes Become Better Athletes

Playing multiple sports helps develop athletic qualities your main sport might not address. Let’s say swimming is your primary sport, but you also play basketball. Basketball builds explosive power, endurance, coordination, and agility—qualities that can directly translate into becoming a better swimmer.

Even if you're not great at a second sport, that's okay. You’re still developing skills and abilities that will help you in the long run. I tell athletes all the time: it’s not about being the best at every sport—it’s about becoming the best athlete you can be.

Growing up, I played basketball alongside baseball. For the longest time, I thought I was going to the NBA. Then genetics said, “Just kidding—you’re only going to grow to 5'9,” and we all know height plays a big role in basketball today. But if I had put all my eggs in one basket early on, I may have never earned a scholarship to UCM. Playing multiple sports kept me healthy, competitive, and versatile.

Early Specialization Comes with Risk

Specializing too early increases the risk of overuse injuries. Playing one sport year-round, with no real time off, puts repetitive stress on the same muscle groups and movement patterns. That stress adds up fast.

Taking time away from your main sport allows the body to recover and gives you a chance to build new movement skills and athletic traits that carry over when you return. It also gives you the opportunity to meet new teammates, build relationships, and experience different team dynamics.

Research supports this. Studies show that athletes who specialize early are more prone to injuries and burnout. They may improve faster in the short term, but that doesn’t always mean long-term success. Most experts recommend waiting until around age 15 or 16 to begin sport-specific specialization. That gives you time to build a strong, broad foundation that sets the stage for future performance.

You hear it all the time from athletes playing in the Super Bowl or other pro sports events—they often grew up playing multiple sports. I’m not saying that playing multiple sports will automatically make you a pro. But I do believe it gives you a much better chance of reaching your full potential.

In Conclusion

Early specialization might seem like the shortcut to success, but in most cases, it leads to long-term setbacks. Multi-sport athletes develop broader athletic skills, stay healthier, and have more fun playing.

So if you're a young athlete—or a parent of one—don’t rush the process. Explore. Compete. Try new things. Becoming a great athlete first is what sets the foundation for greatness later.

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