One such reason for the ever decreasing number of high school aged kids playing more than one sport is that parents are investing their money, and their kid’s time in working only on one sport so that they may play said sport in college. Why do parents do this? Most often it is simply because they just want their kid to be happy and are happy to see their kid playing the sport they love. In high school sports today, there is an all time high in the amount of media coverage following these young athletes. There are websites dedicated to showing highlights, webpages made by the players to show off stats, all this done so coaches can easily access these players. There are countless club teams across sports such as soccer, hockey, baseball, and basketball that all offer kids a chance to get noticed by college coaches. These programs sell a pedigree that will give kids a chance to play college sports. Money is the cause of this great push to have kids specialize in one sport in order to play this sport in college. The money trail can be followed through the media, the sports academies, big money tournaments.
I. Media
a. Countless recruiting websites, hudl, perfect game, maxpreps, etc.
b. ESPN 300, 247 Sports
c. Local Media/ high school coaches
II. Sports Academies
a. Paid coaches/ private lessons
b. Indoor Facilities all year round
c. Connections to college coaches/ private showcases
III. Big Money Tournaments
a. Showcase Venues
b. Access to college coaches
c. ESPN Wide World of Sports tournament