The neighbor of a college basketball coach asked him what sport his kid should specialize in. His response? “He’s 10 years old. He should specialize in being a kid.”

Have you felt pressure to choose one sport for your child? Does it seem like that’s the only way they will earn a spot on their high school team? Or is someone suggesting that your child has the potential to be a college athlete? (Someone who will be happy to train your child, for a fee of course.)

When the youth sports system began introducing kids to games at an earlier age, the idea that they should specialize in a sport soon followed. I can see how that could appeal to parents—one set of equipment, one sport to learn about and follow, even if it was year-round. One culture. One group of like-minded folks. Watching your child dedicate themselves to one thing.

But the costs to a child’s physical and mental well-being can be great. For starters a child can feel a great deal of pressure to choose a sport and stick with it when they understand how much time and money their parents are investing. Most kids don’t want to disappoint their parents. But specializing in one sport limits a child’s experience with different kinds of games, coaches and teammates—experiences that teach them to work with a variety of people.

Without a change in mental focus to another game or another activity, kids can grow tired of a sport before they are old enough to develop the physical skills to play it. Or, worse, they may love the sport but because they start early and play often, they develop overuse injuries and spend more time in rehab than on the field or court. 

But what about a college scholarship?

Kids have been specializing long enough for researchers to study the outcomes. Even if a child has a favorite sport, even if they truly have the potential to play at the college level, they are more likely to get there by playing a variety of sports and taking breaks.

While most of the youth athletes in his studies believe that specializing makes them a better player and will lead to a college career, Dr. David Bell, a professor in the University of Wisconsin Department of Kinesiology and Director of the Wisconsin Injury in Sport Laboratory, found that the majority of Division I athletes did not specialize, even at the high school level.

Bell’s research aligns with an earlier study by Dr. Neeru Jayanthi, the Director of Sports Medicine Research and Education at Emory Healthcare and his team of researchers. They both uncovered some sobering statistics:

• In 2016 Bell and his team found that 36% of high school athletes who specialized were two to three times more likely to suffer a hip or knee injury.

• In a study of 1200 athletes (average age 13) Jayanthi’s team found that kids who specialized were at 125% more risk for serious overuse injuries—injuries to bone and cartilage or ligaments.

These studies are highlighted in this ESPN article—a story prompted by concerns of the NBA because of the skyrocketing serious injuries that keep their players off the court.

But forget the NBA—Jayanthi points out, “Kids are broken by the time they get to college.”

Dr. Darin Padua has studied sports-related injuries for over 15 years in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of North Carolina. He compares the wear on players bodies to that of a car. When kids play an NBA-like schedule of up to 100 games a year, they put on more miles at an earlier age. By the time they get to the NBA, their bodies are not as strong as they look. 

Rewriting the game plan for youth sports

For some people, the supposed benefits of specializing are easier to believe than the benefits of enjoying a variety of activities. There are those who make a lot of money by encouraging specialization, but when older players are out with injuries instead of playing, the success of both college and NBA teams is at stake. Enough so that the effects of specialization led the NBA and USA Basketball to provide guidelines for youth basketball in 2016:

• Delay specialization in basketball until 14 or older

• Limit high-density scheduling based on age-appropriate guidelines

• Ensure rest from organized basketball at least one day a week and extended time away each year

The research of Bell and his team at the Wisconsin Injury in Sports Lab at UW-Madison led to recommendations to keep kids healthy and in the game. These infographics are easy to share with coaches and parents. They highlight how much time is appropriate for kids to spend in sport each season and overall.

This message isn’t new. The National Athletic Trainers Association has been running campaigns for years. The most recent, At Your Own Risk, promotes the idea that kids who stay healthy by playing a variety of sports will play sports longer.

And a new campaign out of Canada encourages kids to Change it Up and play a variety of sports to improve skill development and to avoid burnout and injury.

More voices, from credible sports organizations and athletes will help, but change will happen faster—and kids will stay healthier—when coaches and organizers of youth sports encourage the changes. And when more parents encourage their kids to explore a range of sports and activities.

Parents should be proud to say that their child specializes in being a kid.

Learn more 

Research

• Wisconsin Injury in Sports Lab

• University of Carolina at Chapel Hill Motion Science Institute

• Dr. Darin Padua’s research

• Dr. Neeru Jayanthi’s research

Article

Part 1 - ESPN

‘These Kids are Ticking Time Bombs’: The Threat of Youth Basketball

Part 2 – ESPN

Under the knife: Exposing America’s youth basketball crisis

 Campaigns

• Change it Up - Play More Sports Active For Life

• National Athletic Trainers Association – At Your Own Risk