Chadstroma
Footballguy
I think it is important to start with an understanding of age groups. The younger the child, the more harmful and less helpful I think specializing in one sport can do. I don't think that any child under 12 should ever be a one sport athlete. But what does that mean too? I mean, if a kid only likes basketball, plays basketball for a season and then maybe does a summer league too, I don't think that there is any harm in that. I would encourage them, still, to try other sports- again, specially under the 12 year age group. When I say specialize in one sport, what that means to me is that they are playing year round basically. In back to back leagues and constantly training on their own or with private coaches etc. They have very little in the way of time off from the sport. Now, for someone who wants to be competitive at the highest levels for a sport, that is something that is close to a must at a certain age, so I think the real question is when is that age appropriate.This is definitely a self fulfilling prophecy that may have already gone over the tipping point. While specializing on one sport is not required to be elite (elite athleticism is actually the requirement) it has become somewhat necessary for the lesser athletes to stay competitive at a young age. The problem is the specialization does lead to burn out and repetitive movement injuries but if you aren't doing it you are falling behind and if you aren't one of the best athletes for your age you are at a disadvantage. The sport matters as well. The article identifies rowing and I would guess that the intricacies of rowing mechanics/sport strategy aren't critical to develop from a very young age. It is more of a coordinating/strength sport that you can develop somewhat quickly as an older start.Specializing in 1 sport can be risky for young athletes, experts say
Experts say playing one sport alone is "not necessary" to reach an elite level.www.goodmorningamerica.com
It has become the norm because if you don't you do fall behind and unless you are one of the super athletically gifted athletes you will be at a disadvantage. This is the unfortunate byproduct of this trend. How much it affects you is also contingent on your area and how competitive/number of kids trying to play that sport are. Essentially, are you a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? That has just as much influence on the need for year round as almost everything else.
It would be nice if there was an overarching youth sports tzar that would limit the seasons to 3 months (four seasons for the year) so that kids can participate in more than one sport without falling far behind. It really will take the cooperation of youth coaches to not be selfish and require their players to play year round or "lose their spot". It needs to be more cooperative.
Another area that I think can change things a bit is the sport itself. One sport that I think is more natural to specialize in is gymnastics as the peek age is about 16. However, I don't think it is a coincidence that gymnastics has such a reputation for being a harsh, unforgiving and psychologically burdensome with high rates of anxiety, depression and chronic stress. On the other end of that spectrum is probably football where it seems consistently about 90% of the NFL draftees every year played two or more high school sports. Football simply is not a year round sport (though flag football as it becomes more popular and is all year round or can be, might bridge that gap). Track and field is a popular second sport as is basketball and I am sure as Lacrosse continues to gain popularity that will be a sport many will take up too in the football offseason. You mentioned rowing as that was mentioned in the article (which I think was just as a 'for example' case). Rowing is a very specific mechanical repetition that you do over and over. The whole point of being good is that each stroke is exactly the same and in synch with your fellow rowers. That repetitive nature and the stress put on those muscles, joints and overall body can easily lead to injury. The younger the athlete, the more I think it is harder for the body to hold up. As a different example, basketball has a full range of motion but it puts a lot of strain on the knees and ankles which can lead to injury.
Most of the kids I know 12U through my daughter and my son play multiple sports. There is one kid that I know from being in some basketball clinics with my son that specializes in basketball. It is not because of pressure from him Dad, I have talked to him, it is because the kid is basketball crazy. I mean, to the level that he gets in trouble because when he is supposed to be sleeping at 1am, he is under his bed sheets watching old Wilt Chamberlain games (that is an actual example his father gave me). His Dad supports him in his passion for basketball but we have spoken about him trying to get his son to try other sports and from my last conversation with him, no luck. My son is a better athlete but this kid is far superior basketball player. When they were pitted against each other, my son could hold his own but the other kid would win out as his ball handling and shooting skills (gained from a lot of practice) were just way better than my kid. They are both 10 year olds so who knows what will happen to my son and this other kid. My last conversation with the Dad, he was really worried about injury and burn out from specializing so much and really wanted to get him exposed to other sports.
I saw recently in swim, (this is a rough estimate of what I saw as I don't remember the specifics) out of the top 100 worldwide youth swimmers, only something like 3 will make it to the Olympics. My guess is the vast majority of those swimmers were one sport athletes that focused on swimming. So, why the fall off? If they are doing so well early and focused on swim, what happens for such a dramatic fall off? There are multiple studies out there around this subject. I have not seen one (if you know of one, I would love to see it) that suggests that one sport athletes have a clear advantage over multi sport athletes. The studies all seem to be in broad agreement that multi sport athletes will:
1. Tend to experience more long term success than their one sport counterparts.
2. Limit over use injuries compared to their one sport counterparts.
3. Suffer a much lower rate of burn out than their one sport counterparts.
Many professional athletes will say that they are much better athletes overall because they played multiple sports.
I believe firmly that for 12U athletes, being a one sport athlete is a disservice to the child in most cases. I think that many one sport athletes are being driven by their parents desire to have them achieve the most they can in whatever sport. Of course, these parents are not evil and are making choices that they think is best for their child. I think they see potential in their child (what parent doesn't?) and want them to fulfill that potential. And as you put it, with all these other kids specializing in this one sport, we have to as well or we will fall behind. I am a huge proponent of multi sports for younger ages and in my mind the question of one sport athlete is really about what is the appropriate age for that.