At the end of Bradley’s 2013 little league baseball season, his manager asked me if Bradley wanted to play fall baseball. My answer was that Bradley plays football in the fall. It became a back and forth between us as the baseball coach was firm in his belief that Bradley should be focusing on one sport and that sport was baseball. The answer was no.

At the time, he was eight years old and there was no way that you could have convinced my wife and me that it was a good idea for a child that young to be specializing in one sport. It wasn’t just that people in the sports medicine field said it’s not good to focus on just one sport at such a young age, it's that my child liked to play multiple different sports throughout the year.

As the seasons change on the calendar, so do the sports seasons and in our house. The Football Development Model created by USA Football features “pillars of focus” and one of them is “Whole Person and Multi-Sport Development.” Within that pillar are the benefits of playing multiple sports. 

It’s not uncommon to see everyone from coaches to parents making kids focus and specialize in just one sport. But that never made any sense to me. If a child is eight, ten, or even twelve years old, he or she might like one sport over another, but still wants to participate in multiple sports at different times of the year. Plus, having a variety of sports means developing a variety of skills that can be utilized across each sport.

Sports doctors and physical therapists have stressed to me over the years that playing multiple sports allows a child to develop different muscles while also simply staying active at different times during the year.

Football is an amazing sport that teaches so many valuable lessons both on and off the field. There’s also something to be said about what the other sports have to offer. Both of my boys have their fair share of friendships that they’ve developed on the football field, both tackle and flag, but there are also relationships they’ve built in other sports like baseball, soccer, lacrosse and hockey.

Not everyone likes playing football. Not everyone likes playing baseball. I think you can tell when a child loves one sport over another, but it’s important to go through the experience of multiple sports until such time when it makes sense to specialize. From a health and growth standpoint, playing multiple sports is crucial, but it’s also essential from a social and way of life standpoint.

Both my sons understand the importance and the benefits of playing multiple sports throughout the year. Even more, they enjoy the variety it gives them.

It’s all part of an important pillar in the Football Development Model… there are many benefits to playing multiple sports even when you know you are in love with football. 

Peter is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network, FOX News Headlines 24/7 and WCBS 880 Radio in New York.  His son Bradley plays middle school football on Long Island and is a participant in the U.S. National Team program while his younger son Jared plays flag football.   Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets and the XFL’s New York Guardians when they’re not at a youth football field.