So Your Son Wants to Play Sports, Huh?

So Your Son Wants to Play Sports, Huh?

So you've got a boy that is young enough to still listen to dad and values your opinions. And he asks you which sport, or sports, would be best for him. OK, I realize this is a fantasy scenario already for a lot of families. Sadly, far too many frustrated "former athletes" push their children into sports they wish THEY had done better in or continued playing (even if Junior is all of 110 lbs soaking wet in the 10th grade - you insist he could be the next Dick Butkus). These slightly demented dads then live vicariously through their kid's exploits on the field, diamond or court. BUT, if you will indulge my fantasy for a few more minutes we can get to a real answer for those level headed parents that truly want what's best for their children.

Baseball teaches multiple layers of strategy and doesn't absolutely demand your child have a body carved out of granite. In fact, let's be honest. If you're a true sports guru, you can all name at least a half dozen great former major leaguers that probably were responsible for the closings of countless "All You Can Eat" buffets across the country. So give baseball the nod for potential inclusiveness. It also teaches the value of teamwork, sacrifice, executing fundamentals, perseverance, patience, and due to the fact there are so many games, the value of a long-term perspective is introduced (i.e., you lost today, but you're likely to have another game in a few days, so forget about today's game and go get 'em next time).

Physically, baseball does demand good hand eye coordination but falls a distant third (behind basketball and football) in terms of building the child's cardiovascular development. Severity of injuries, or lack thereof, is a big plus for kids looking for an athletic outlet. One of the worst things that can happen - getting "beaned" - is usually mitigated to a great degree by the mandatory batter's helmets the kids are required to wear. It is my experience that 95% of those players that are hit in the head by a pitch are completely unfazed due to the strength of the thick shell exterior and absorbency of the hard foam interior padding. And the other primary source of serious injury - getting struck by a batted ball - is a concern, but it is being addressed at the source. Aluminum bat manufacturers have been forced to reduce the "firepower" of their product by changing their designs to a less potent offensive weapon. The bats had become increasingly lighter and simultaneously more capable of actually serving as a multiplier of the ball's speed leaving the bat. Thus an increase in "line drive" type injuries, especially in the college ranks. So what about the rest of the "Big Three?" How do they stack up in comparison?

Football has long been credited with being a tremendous "builder of character." But is this true? When played correctly it certainly emphasizes sacrifice, teamwork, crucial demand for execution, and mental toughness to do what you must in the face of open hostility. For these reasons, I agree with conventional wisdom on the relationship between "football and character building."

Physically, football is both its best advocate and worst antagonist. The overall physical development of the total body through the sport is unsurpassed among the Big Three, with pronounced muscle development, and to a lesser degree cardiovascular expansion due to the rigors that come with the territory. However, injuries are just as much a part of the landscape of the gridiron as are pylons and goalposts. Even if your son is large for his age he is not immune to injury at any point or at any level. The odds are naturally worse for the smaller boys. Position plays a major role in the injury issue, with kickers, holders and long snappers being least likely to incur major damage. But there are very few of these positions to go around.everyone else are largely on the front line of attack. The most devastating piece of the football injury puzzle is the neurological element. Sports medicine specialists have equated the head trauma received to football players' heads to that of a person that puts on a helmet and runs full speed into their garage door. Then repeats this 35 times a day for every day the football player practices or participates in a game. Additional verification of this sad story are the studies that show empirical data that reveal former pro football players have a shorter life expectancy than someone else their age, all other factors considered equal. There is a price to be paid for all that pounding your head takes for years on end. And that price, we've found out, is paid in terms of years.

Finally there's basketball. For sheer activity basketball is tough to beat. There are so many possessions in basketball that the potential for action is nearly limitless. However, there has been a movement away from the teamwork concepts that were the hallmark of the game in years previous. The current age of hoop stars have much greater one-on-one skills but seem to be clueless if forced into a disciplined half court set. For many of today's players basic concepts like "setting a pick" or "boxing out" are alien terminology. Nevertheless, basketball still requires some "goal" perspectives - even if the habit is to throw a pass to the team's star and simply become spectators, watching him do his thing to bring success to the team. It also teaches the value of quick decision making, understanding "score/time left" philosophy/strategy, and similar to football - but not quite as pronounced - is the need for mental toughness in the face of open, in your face, hostility. Similar to baseball, a hoops season has a lot of games on the schedule - usually comprised of games played at least twice a week. And as such, you typically can avoid the apocalyptic emphasis on each game that you have in football.

Injuries on the hardwood are relatively minor compared to the other sports, with no known cases where a player lost life or limb from actually taking part of a game. Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis both died on the court from heart conditions that were not related in any way to the game itself. As for physical development, the cardiovascular element of the game is superb. The average play in football lasts 4 seconds. Baseball is punctuated by countless opportunities to just stand around during a given game, conference on the mound, new pitcher comes in from the dugout, unlimited timeouts, idle time between pitches, etc.; but basketball is a ruthless dictator when it comes to your heart and lungs. And we need to come to grips with the fact this "Nintendo" generation is generally out of shape and under toned enough as it is. We need a dictator forcing us to exercise more. In fact, we ALL need this kind of dictator. You can think of basketball as the dictator of cardiovascular development.

So in the final analysis what's the call?

In a nutshell, it really depends on your child. What are his physical and mental strengths and weaknesses? What sport does he seem drawn to? What is the caliber of the coaches and administration of the leagues in your area? These questions must be answered before you can answer the question of which sport would be best. In fact, after an honest assessment, the answer may be none of the above.

Fortunately, I only have a daughter so from a personal angle the question is moot. But if all else were generally equal, it would be hard to pass up on basketball (for health reasons) and baseball (for mental reasons). Football is a grand game. It stirs passions that lie dormant during the remainder of the year. It was my first love and still my favorite sport, but there are costs associated with all that character your son should develop. Be advised and help him to choose wisely.