Early sport specialization has become a phenomenon that everyone wants to join. Although there are pros to focusing on one sport at a young age, there are many cons that can come along with early sport specialization.
VIS Experts Holly Thorpe, PhD, and Amy West, PhD, help us understand the social pressures of early sport specialization. They offer practical tips on how to tackle sports from a young age so that we can have longevity and happiness in sport.
Youth Sports Culture
As the world of youth sports has evolved over the past few decades, early specialization has become something that feels necessary to succeed in your sport. And while this aspect of youth culture has success stories, it also has a lot of young athletes who find themselves tired of their sport early in their career. “What we hear less about are the many thousands of children who burnout early, or who are forced out of sport due to overuse injuries, because they were encouraged to specialize in only one sport too young,” Thorpe says. “Talent at 10 is very different from success at 20.”
More often than not, children don't need extreme sport specialization and hours of practice. They need “a blend of experiences, drills and activities where fun, freedom, and exploration of skills are at the forefront,” Thorpe adds. “Too often, parents try to live vicariously through their children, and they put too much pressure on their children to compete and win. If children feel that their parents' love is contingent on their sporting successes, this can be very detrimental to their mental health and wellbeing.”
Social Consequences
Sports offer opportunities for young children to learn vital social skills, like communication, team work, cooperation, and emotional intelligence. But, when young athletes specialize in sports too early, we see some negative impacts. “When too much pressure is placed on children to win, they might miss out on the important social skills—friendships, teamwork, cooperation—that well organized sports can foster,” Thorpe says.
Physical Consequences
Early specialization also comes with physical risks for young children. “By focusing exclusively on one skill set and types of movements, younger athletes are more likely to suffer overuse injuries,” West says. “As a sports medicine doctor, I am now seeing injuries in children and teenagers that we used to see only in adult athletes.”
Parents and coaches can help break the cycle of early sport specialization so children can grow and develop their bodies in healthy ways. “Certain types of overuse injuries can damage or stress growth plates, which can lead to problems later in life,” West tells us. Understanding and managing the strain that extreme sport specialization places on a growing body is just one step in increasing the longevity of young athletes.
Mental Consequences
Burnout is a real issue, especially for young girls in sport. Young girls even drop out of sport at two times the rate young boys do. Early sport specialization may be a contributing factor in that. “Research has consistently shown us that specializing too early in one sport can negatively impact children's enjoyment of the sport, which can then lead to burnout and other negative mental wellbeing effects,” Thorpe says.
Children, especially young girls, should enjoy sports and want to continue to play them for as long as they can. Finding ways to make sporting environments more fun is key to keeping girls in sport. “Don't neglect mental health,” West says. “Children who specialize early are more likely to experience burnout and give up playing their sport, which is the exact opposite of what their parents and coaches want.”
“Never play one sport all year. Take a break, try different things, play games for fun, cross train in addition to sports specific training.”
Guidelines for Healthy Sport Participation
How can we make sure that we’re building healthy relationships with sports at a young age? New Zealand sets a great example for us.
New Zealand’s “Balance is Better” program is designed to educate coaches and parents about the importance of children having access to a range of sporting opportunities. “Sport New Zealand recommends that sport specialization should be delayed until after age 12, preferably later. They suggest that training and competition should be limited to 16 hours per week for under-18s, or based on age for under-16s,” Thorpe tells us. These guidelines are in place to protect young athletes and ensure they are building healthy long-term relationships with sport.
Fostering Broad Sport Exploration
If we want youth athletes to continue playing and enjoying sports, we have to find effective ways to keep them in sport. This means tackling early sport specialization head on.
“For the adults around young athletes, whether this be parents or coaches, we need to consider what 'success' for our children in sport might mean to us,” Thorpe says. “The more fun, enjoyment, and skill development they can have as children, the more likely they will go on to have positive, successful and healthy relationships with sport into and well beyond their teenage years.”
West reminds young athletes not to “play one sport all year. Take a break, try different things, play games for fun, cross train in addition to sports specific training.” These are the things that can help young athletes stay happy playing sports, while remaining healthy.
Playing sports can be one of the greatest experiences for a young child, but sport specialization can damage a young child’s athletic career. Sports are meant to be fun, especially at a young age, so let’s harness that and encourage young children to play with their heart. Winning isn’t everything, but being happy in our sport is!
