It's exciting to watch our children excel at the sports they love. Working hard toward a personal best or perfecting a specific technique are critical to success, but let’s also remember that playing multiple sports can be tremendously beneficial in the long run – and a lot of fun for our kids.
Branching out from just one sport offers youth athletes both physical and mental benefits, from enhancing current skills to learning to appreciate the new skills required by a different sport.
Liberty Mutual Insurance Responsible Sports sat down with U.S. Ski Team standout Drew Duffy to get his thoughts on playing multiple sports.
In our exclusive TAKE 5 interview, Drew told us that growing up, he played “several” sports, and took a particular liking to soccer and lacrosse. Drew said that those two sports helped improve his overall physical fitness, as well as his quickness – and also aided greatly with his mental training.
“These other sports definitely helped with my mental game,” said Drew. “Lacrosse and soccer are a lot longer than a ski race, obviously, and they take a lot more mental toughness.”
Drew also shared his story of how, when and why he decided to specialize in skiing and ski racing in this exclusive interview.
“I decided to stop playing soccer early on in high school,” said Drew. “My senior year, I decided not to play lacrosse, because I had to train for the tryout camp in Park City and Mammoth, and after that, I made the U.S. Development Team. I missed not playing lacrosse, but I’m glad that I committed to my dream of making the U.S. Ski Team.”
To read the full TAKE 5 interview with Drew, visit ResponsibleSports.com. And come back next month for another exclusive TAKE 5 interview!
At Liberty Mutual Insurance, we constantly look for ways to celebrate the countless acts of responsibility shown by people every day. We created Responsible Sports, powered by Positive Coaching Alliance, as part of this belief to help ensure that our kids experience the best that sports have to offer in environments that promote and display responsibility. We believe kids can learn valuable life lessons when coaches and parents come together to support winning on and off the hill.
©2014 Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
