Early sport specialisation, does it lead to long-term problems?

SPORT SPECIALISATION: FRIEND OR FOE? Sports participation is increasing in the USA (US population 313 million inhabitants) and in Icelandic (population 320 thousand inhabitants) adolescents, it is estimated that 35–45 million youth 6–18 years of age participate in some form of organised or recreational athletics. 2 However, sports specialisation including year-round sport-specific training, participation on multiple teams of the same sport and focused participation in a single sport is purported to be increasing in frequency in preadolescent children across the world. There are several factors that contribute to the desire of young athletes to specialise in a single sport including the pursuit of scholarships or professional contracts, being labelled as talented by parents or coaches, retailing industry and media reports. A 2006 New York Times article notes “A growing number of coaches, parents, and children believe that the best way to produce superior young athletes is to have them play only one sport from an early age, and to play it virtually year-round.” Despite this increase in global sports participation, physical fitness levels of children and adults are declining and more people around the globe are becoming obese and physically inactive. The efforts to specialise youth sports underlie the effects of reduced general opportunity for all children to participate in a diverse year-round sports season, and possibly leading to lost development of lifetime sports skills. These lost opportunities for ‘fun’ focused physical activity during youth likely contribute to deficits in current and long-term physical activity and health. Physical inactivity is a major factor in obesity and other comorbidities that are driving up healthcare costs. We hypothesise that sports specialisation in preadolescent children may lead to reduced overall comprehensive motor skill development, increased injury risk and therefore could contribute to reduced lifetime physical activity. Specialisation in a single sport was perceived to have begun in Eastern Europe with activities such as gymnastics, swimming, diving and figure skating. Most Olympic sports have selection processes that attempt to identify future champions and initiate specialised training-often before the prospect finishes elementary school. The relative success of these programmes has led to early talent identification and developmental programmes focusing on a single sport, globally. The glamour of a professional contract is too good to pass up and more athletes are turning professional at a younger age. Unfortunately, most athletes and their parents fail to realise that only 0.2–0.5% of USA high school athletes ever make it to the professional level.