In the past decade, it has become a trend for parents to send their kids to specialized camps in hopes of them becoming professionals later. Ben Roethlisberger, however, isn’t convinced by the idea.
Advertisement
While an avid advocate for inculcating a love of sports in kids, the NFL legend has expressed his concerns about the growing trend of parents pushing their children toward specialization at an early age. He believes that they should allow their kids to freely explore various sports and choose the one they prefer to play.
“I mean, I’m a big believer in more sports, the better,” the former Steelers quarterback added (via Footbahlin).
Roethlisberger also cited his and his teammates’ experiences of playing multiple sports before ultimately choosing football.
“Most of my football teammates played multiple sports all the way through. Like I played basketball, I played volleyball, I played football. I played all these things growing up, and I just realized at some point that I wanted to play football.”
Roethlisberger feels that playing all three sports helped him improve individually, noting that there is a charm in “missing” one sport while pursuing another.
“Football, basketball, and baseball were the three main sports I played. I think each one made me better at the other one. Each one has some sort of an element that made me better at the other ones.”
“When I was playing basketball, it made me miss football and baseball. Then you go play baseball, and you’re like, ‘Man, I really miss basketball and football. It made you miss the other sport. If you’re playing one sport and that’s all you do, how does your heart grow far?” he continued.
Not so surprisingly, Roethlisberger has fostered this belief from his personal experiences.
Roethlisberger shares a story about an 11-year-old kid athlete
The former Super Bowl champion shared a story about parents he met who trained their son for professional golf and other sports from a very young age. One such kid, who was just 11, was sent to boarding school for better training, which baffled Roethlisberger.
“One of these kids who at 11 – he went to a board in school away from his family to live, so that he could just focus on golf school and golf at the school. So I mean at 11!”
He explained that after a few years as a preteen; the boy remains fully committed to golf, with little room to explore other interests. Therefore, Roethlisberger questioned if this kind of single-minded focus would deprive the child of exploring other sports to find the one he actually likes.
“And now he’s 13-14 years old… and it was like, ‘Does he want to play any other sports?'”
Roethlisberger’s candid thoughts clearly advocated for a more balanced approach to sports. While he is fully for parents letting their kids in sports, he emphasizes against early specialization. For the former Pittsburgh star, it’s about letting kids be kids and allowing them to grow into their passions naturally.
