Sports Specialization vs Diversification

O ver the past 40 years or so, there has been a significant change in the direction of amateur sports in the United States. Way back when, participating in several sports (baseball, basketball, football, or track) was the goal of many high school athletes. If you could letter in 3, especially before your senior year in high school, that was quite impressive. Those who achieved this goal in their sophomore or yet freshman years were the top of the class. High school sports were the pinnacle for most, with a few going on to college careers. There were no travel teams, and there were limited opportunities outside of high school sports except for summer leagues. Almost nobody thought of quitting the team prematurely, unless they were injured. I can't recall a single case of " burnout " back in high school. Nowadays, more and more athletes choose to specialize in 1 sport even before high school, hoping to achieve elite status. Many of today's amateur athletes bypass school-sponsored programs altogether in favor of advanced, often year-round Amateur Athletic Union competition—especially in basketball. Some even leave home as teenagers to live in distant cities with sponsoring families to compete on highly competitive teams, such as USA Hockey. When kids commit or are committed to sports specialization, they enter a different arena where decisions are made by adults, not them. The goal of sports specialization at an early age is to optimize the opportunities to develop athletic skills in 1 sport to enhance the chances of competing at the next level. Having fun and developing lifelong interests in athletic activities doesn't appear to be a goal of many, if not most, specialization programs. While there is no doubt that structured athletic practice time plays an important role in athlete development, the question becomes at what age and at what cost? Fifty years ago, opportunities for sports specialization were few and far between. Sure, there were the kids who really only liked 1 sport to the exclusion of others, but that was usually the athlete's choice, not that of the parents or coaches. We had a lot more unstructured time to play ball. Summer days were spent at the local park from morning until the street lights came on; all you had to do was ride your bike to the park and pickup games would ensue. There were no parents or coaches to …