Specialization In Youth Sports

1017 Words3 Pages

With youth sport competition intensifying, kids are pressured to specialize and compete early on in one sport, but kids get tired of a single sport or a single position. As a result of this boredom early specialization is correlated with increased burnout and dropout in sport. (Sagas) Early specialization can also lead to less enjoyment, social isolation, and decreased participation in sport in adulthood. Physically, early specialization can lead to imbalances and a limited range of motor skills. (Sagas) This could be because athletes only adapt to their position and for the skills that apply to their age. For example, young basketball players shooting on high hoops have to shoot from their chest rather than using proper form.
The advantages …show more content…

Farrey writes on the snowballing effect that benefits early bloomers in sport. Early bloomers get an advantage over other youth players and then get selected for elite teams early on. These players get better coaching and are then called back to these elite teams to get more elite coaching and the cycle continues with more elite coaching and more playing for the same team. Even if late bloomers might be in a better position genetically later on, they will not have received the same coaching head start as the early bloomers. (Farrey 91) This creates for an environment where better nurturing has been given to athletes with less natural capability. Elite players, like those on US soccer teams, have ended up advantaged by the luck of their birthday and their genetics rather than genetics alone. There may be players with elite genetics that bloomed late and became discouraged. These player who were discriminated against might have made US professional teams more …show more content…

The author also explains how the structure of youth sport affects participation. By the time athletes get to high school, they often need to already be good enough to compete. If players are not good enough to compete by the time they get to high school, they cannot play on the one team at their own school. Unlike in the US, in many other countries athletes join clubs as kids and often play there for the rest of their lives. This means that everyone can have the opportunity to play and stay active. (Farrey 70) In the US, those who need to participate the most are excluded as a result of the limited space on high school

Open Document