Keeping balance in a crazy high school sports calendar

So you think you're very busy as a high school athlete.

So you think you're having trouble negotiating the nonstop sports calendar.

So you feel you're having extreme difficulty maintaining a proper sense of balance.

That all may be true, but I want you to hear today about a young man named Matt Koepke of Independence, Mo.

You might not feel quite so overwhelmed in your high school life.

We all know three-sport athletes are dwindling in high school.

They may never become extinct, not as long as smaller schools exist and numbers force multiple participation, but there's an obvious trend toward specialization.

The demands of sports and scholarship mania are such that many kids feel obligated to concentrate on one, maybe two activities.

Parents worry that their kids will miss out on competitive experiences, scholarships and other advantages if they do not specialize in one sport early on.

That's why you need to hear the story of Matt Koepke. He has brought new meaning to the term three-sport athlete.

Koepke is a senior at Truman High School in Independence, and although he's not a great athlete, he's certainly a busy one.

So what's the big deal, you say, about this kid being a three-sport athlete? It does still happen.

I'm glad you asked.

Koepke participates in three sports in one season!

He's just now wrapping up a fall in which he has participated in varsity football, cross country and soccer.

Candace Buckner, high school sports columnist for the Kansas City Star, caught up with Koepke for one recent 21-hour period.

"Friday afternoon, he practiced with his soccer teammates from 2-4 p.m.," Buckner writes. "Later that night, he donned the oversized pads and jersey to kick an extra point and field goal and handle the kickoffs. And this morning (Saturday) he is scheduled to run cross country at districts.

"Keeping up with Buckner is tiring," she adds in her story. "He speaks like he's always out of breath, but that's because the only time he can chat is after some practice. Every day there's something. He can't always practice with his cross-country team, so after soccer drills Koepke will be the last one in the darkened stadium jogging around the track."

Koepke knows he's not an outstanding athlete, just a very busy one. He won't make all-conference as a defender in soccer, kicker in football or the team's No. 3 runner in cross country.

He's also not very big at a slim 150 pounds, prompting his grandfather to joke that the football team issued him No. 1 because that's the only number that would fit on his back.

But he does it because the school's rules say he can and he loves sports.

"If I'm not doing some sport, I'd go crazy," Koepke says. "If I go a week without doing some physical activity, it just bugs me big time.

"I may not be the best player, but I push myself and I'm dedicated. I think that's the best thing for me and has gotten me this far."

Are there any Matt Koepkes in our area?

I know you can look around your high school's halls and find athletes you feel could handle three sports in one season -- and do very well.

The wild card in the fall obviously is the soccer/football kicker combination. We've seen that before.

It also makes sense that a soccer player would be a decent runner and could make the transition to cross country for at least the weekend invites. Soccer players certainly should be in good condition.

What about the parents? It's tough enough keeping up with your child's one sport in a single season.

How do you handle three sports at basically the same time?

What gets priority in any schedule conflicts?

"We're following him around; he's killing us," Koepke's mother, Deb, joked to columnist Buckner. "I keep telling him we just have to make it to Nov. 15."

That officially marks the end of Koepke's fall season.

Only six more days.

I hope he takes some time off and doesn't try a winter of basketball, wrestling and swimming.