The document outlines a presentation on early sport specialization in children. It discusses the background on child specialization, importance of studying the topic, a critical evaluation of research findings, and practical applications and future research. The evaluation of research found that specializing too early can increase risks of burnout, injury and dropout. Most research recommends letting children sample sports during childhood for benefits later in life, rather than specializing too early before puberty.

1. Alissa Gosch
Friday 13th April, 2012
Sport Coaching Pedagogy Presentation 1

2. Outline of Presentation
• Background to child specialisation within sport
• Importance to study
• Critical evaluation of research
• Practical applications of research findings
• Future research required/gaps in research
• Conclusion
• Reference list 2

3. Background
• What is early specialisation? Implies a focus or involvement in one
particular sport[4], involving a number of deliberate activities, skills or
drills[6, 14]. All with a goal of improving a child’s skills throughout their
childhood years[6].
• Regular participation in sport provides many physical, psychological, social
benefits to children[2, 8, 9, 10].
• Issues arise. Drop out for various reasons, lose interest and others stop
because of injuries
• Some sports specialise from an early age, but there are associated risks in
doing this, as there are with specialising in any sport[12].
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4. Importance to Study
• A controversial topic. Cover some issues brought and the
benefits or risks a child takes by specialising in sport too
early.
• Proven that talent development involved with connecting
an athlete and a support system[10].
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5. Evaluation of Research
• Found that development in performance is dependent on the ability to
acquire knowledge, characteristics and/or skills[9] throughout three
distinct stage of life[10, 14].
• The early years or ‘romance phase.’ Child develops a love and passion,
receiving encouragement, participation in unstructured play to explore
and having fun as well as succeeding[10].
• The middle years or ‘precision phase.’ Focus on skill development or
technical ability[10}.
• The ‘integration phase.’ Child continually works leading coach and
dedicates time to develop optimal performance or skills. Sacrifice and
realisation process takes place
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6. • Phases take place over 15 - 20 years and each person moves through
phases progressively
• Mental abilities of the athletes doing this must also be advanced enough
to have these thought processes [9] and have ability to cope[12]
• Earlier specialisation started, faster and earlier burnout, have tendency to
get more injuries[3, 5, 10, 11, 12]. Other risks: overdependence and social
isolation[3, 12]. Reported children 10 years old, encouraged to specialise in
one sport, train all year round[5, 6, 11].
• Age of athletes attending and winning medals at the Olympic Games
getting younger, becoming general idea the younger an athlete specialises
the better[14].
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7. • Advocates of early specialisation believe time spent doing deliberate
practice distinguishes future experts from non-experts[5].
• Big concern other research done shows athletic ability can’t be properly
identified prior to the onset of puberty[4, 10].
• The International Society of Sport Psychologists (ISSP) position stand: “To
Sample or to Specialize,” that promotes sustained participation as well as
elite performance[4].
• Children sampling a range of sports have a tendency to continue sport
recreationally in their teen years[5].
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8. • Other studies found a negative relationship between early specialisation
and success later in careers. Seems the way to go: early exposure to a
range of sports and later intensify training to particular sport in mid to late
adolescence (appears optimal and critical time to specialise)[4].
• Number of studies mentioned the child specialising in sport, must have
motivation to want to learn, be disciplined and committed[1, 6, 7, 9].
• Question: how many children really know what sport they want to
explicitly succeed in for the rest of their lives?
? ? ? ?
Which sport to do??? 8

9. Practical Applications
1. Commitment to one sport brings a child into a complex world
regulated by adults. Setting that facilitates manipulation in a range of
areas from socialisation, to dietary, and commercialisation. Let
children sample a range of sports to reap the benefits later on in
life[12].
2. Most important thing is what’s best for the needs/wants of the child?
[14]
3. Instead of having a parent choose sport a child is to specialise in, let
them sample sports and make decision themselves when they are
ready.
• PARTICIPATION in sport not specialisation is the way to go!
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10. Further Research
• More studies are needed to understand appropriate amount of training
without causing dropout, overtraining, injury and/or burnout. Study would
need to be both gender based (as each sex has different reason for
participating in sport), as well as be sport specific[4].
• Youth Olympics good place to start? Looking at the intricacies of youth
sport performance with main goal to help and protect the child athlete.
Study educates coaches in suitable strategies promoting skill
development, encouraging sport commitment and participation[4].
• Little research done on best way to train children, how much, how often
and the intensity of training, as well as appropriate modification of
competition formats.
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11. Conclusion
• Early sport specialisation not recommended for children until onset
of puberty (usually around 12 or 13) as their bodies have not
started to fully develop. Nor are they necessarily in the head space
to pick up and be able to perform intricacies detrimental to sports
success
• Let children sample a range of sports during childhood in order for
them to reap the benefits later on in life
• Specialising in sports too early could lead to psychological issues[3,
13], overdependence and physical issues such a burnout with
possibility of discouraging children from participating in sport later
on
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12. Take Home Thought
Have you or someone you know, either
knowingly or unknowingly, specialised in a
sport as a child?
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13. References
[1] Baker, J., Cobley, S., & Fraser-Thomas, J., 2009, ‘What do we know about early sport
specialization? Not much!’, High Ability Studies, vol. 20, no 1, pp. 77-89.
[2] Bergeron, M.F., 2010, ‘The young athlete: Challenges of growth, development, and society’,
Current Sports Medicine Reports (American College Of Sports Medicine), vol. 9, no 6, pp.
356-358.
[3] Callender, S., 2010, ‘The early specialization of youth in sports’, Athletic Training & Sports
Health Care: The Journal For The Practicing Clinician, vol. 2, no 6, pp. 255-257.
[4] Capranica, L., & Millard-Stafford, M., 2011, ‘Youth sport specialization: How to manage
competition and training?’, International Journal Of Sports Physiology & Performance, vol. 6,
no 4, pp. 572-579.
[5] Coté, J., Horton, S., MacDonald, D., & Wilkes, S., 2009, ‘The benefits of sampling sports
during childhood’, Physical & Health Education Journal, vol. 74, no 4, pp. 6-11.
[6] Côté, J., Lidor, R., & Hackfort, D., 2009, ‘ISSP position stand: To sample or to specialize?
Seven postulates about youth sport activities that lead to continued participation and elite
performance’, International Journal Of Sport & Exercise Psychology, vol. 7, no 1, pp. 7-17.
[7] Duda, J.L., 1987, ‘Toward a developmental theory of children's motivation in sport’,
Journal Of Sport Psychology, vol. 9, no 2, pp. 130-145. 13

14. [8] Fraser-Thomas, J., Cote, J., & Deakin, J., 2008, ‘Examining adolescent sport dropout
and prolonged engagement from a developmental perspective’, Journal Of Applied
Sport Psychology, vol. 20, no 3, pp. 318-333.
[9] KARPOWICZ, K., & STRZELCZYK, R., 2010, ‘Characteristics of motor abilities of young
athletes of selected sports during sports training’, Studies In Physical Culture &
Tourism, vol. 17, no 1, pp. 33-40.
[10] Gould, D., & Carson, S., 2004, ‘Fun and Games?’, Youth Studies Australia, vol. 23, no 1,
pp. 19-26.
[11] Hill, G.M., 1993, ‘Youth sport participation of professional baseball players’, Sociology
Of Sport Journal, vol. 10, no 1, pp. 107-114.
[12] Malina, R.M., 2010, ‘Early sport specialization: Roots, effectiveness, risks’, Current
Sports Medicine Reports (American College Of Sports Medicine), vol. 9, no 6, pp. 364-
371.
[13] Petlichkoff, L.M., 1992, ‘Youth sport participation and withdrawal: Is it simply a
matter of fun?’, Pediatric Exercise Science, vol. 4, no 2, pp. 105-110.
[14] Wiersma, L.D., 2000, ‘Risks and benefits of youth sport specialization: Perspectives
and recommendations’, Pediatric Exercise Science, vol. 12, no 1, pp. 13-22.
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