Why Sport Specialization is Not Beneficial at an Early Age

Sport specialization is a controversial issue. With the success of athletes such as Tiger Woods or LeBron James, many feel that the only way to emulate these athletes is to specialize early in one sport. As a youth I remember playing a variety of sports, from basketball, baseball/softball, football, gymnastics/dance, and even martial arts. However, this trend that was once widespread and is now a rarity due to overspecialization of youth athletes. With the growth of elite club and travel teams more and more parents are being pressured to commit their child to one sport year round. Youth athletes should be allowed to leave their options open and try as many sports as possible to find out which sport they will excel at as they get older. Yet many parents and coaches incorrectly assume that by specializing will allow their athlete to develop their skills to a higher degree and be able to find greater success in that sport. However, this can actually hurt a young athlete's chance of future success for many reasons.

· Many sports develop different physical skills. Athletes gain the opportunity to learn transferable skills such as balance and agility from football that can be transferred to many other sports.

· Many different sports develop different mental skills. Different game strategies and self-discipline generates a variety of experiences that can be applied to different sports and life.

· Having a variety of coaches throughout youth sport can provide an extensive range of strategies, fundamentals and performance tips.

· Playing more than one sport can prevent mental and physical burnout, decrease injuries and the thinking that a sport is work instead of fun.

· When an athlete participates in one sport for too long, overuse injuries often occur due to stressing of the same joints, muscles and bones.