How Many Sports Should Kids Play and for How Long?
Striking the balance between sampling and specialisation throughout the youth sport journey
Authorities are quick to highlight the dangers of early specialisation for youth sports athletes, not least from an injury perspective. The experts emphasise the developmental benefits of sampling multiple sports and it is widely advocated that kids should participate in an array of sports for as long as possible. The rationale is that this will not only to provide the best opportunity to decide what sport is for them but will also ultimately better equip them to excel. Whilst this all sounds good in theory, translating it into practice on the ground has proven a more challenging proposition. It has been reported with some consternation that despite the consensus among the experts, parents of young performers in sports such as baseball and basketball still believe that specialising will help their kids’ prospects in the sport. Rather than blaming parents, this should prompt some introspection given the evident failure to communicate the message effectively and make a compelling argument. On a more practical level, those parents who are sold on the merits of sampling have not been provided with clear guidance on how to make this work.
First, the easy part: the benefits of sampling multiple sports and deferring the decision to commit to any one sport to the exclusion of others are well-supported. It is certainly true that a well-chosen selection of sports that encompass a range of fundamental skills is likely to develop more capable athletes who are also more resilient to injury. Exposure to a variety of sports is also likely to develop more proficient sportspeople through exposure to transferable technical skills and tactical aspects that prove to be an asset in whatever sport(s) they eventually settle on.
That said, the intuition that getting started early will improve a kid’s chances of success in a given sport is not entirely false. There is clear evidence that exposure at an early age is a factor for long-term success in certain sports (notably swimming) and we should not pretend otherwise. What we are rather arguing against is going all-in on a particular sport while the aspiring young athlete is still a child, as this will deny them the opportunity to participate in other sports. Aside from the developmental benefits of being exposed to an array of sports, it is also more prudent to keep kids’ options open.
‘Buffet not binge’ is a good adage as kids embark on the youth sports journey. In other words, the sporting commitments that kids enter into should permit the time and freedom to explore an array of other sports and activities.
When explained properly this all makes sense to most parents and young performers; however, what is less obvious is how best to actually go about doing it. Putting logistics and practical challenges aside for a moment, what constitutes the best combination of sports is a big question that is typically left unanswered.
Ideally, the selection of sports should aim to encompass the full assortment of fundamental motor skills. These include gymnastic, locomotor, aquatic, object control and manipulation, catching/intercepting (e.g. a ball or an opponent), throwing and striking skills. It helps a great deal to know which boxes we are seeking to tick and parents can use these categories to pick sports. Importantly, each of these categories offers a range of sports to choose from, allowing parents to take into account what their child might actually be interested in trying when making the selection!
Authorities typically overlook that participating in multiple sports poses real challenges. We do need to confront reality and concede that there are opportunity costs with the sampling approach. Participating in multiple sports means a busy schedule and less free time. This is true for everybody involved (notably parents), such that family life often ends up revolving around sporting commitments. Sacrifices will need to be made, as this will inevitably restrict travel and leave less time for non-sport related social activity.
Moreover, the logistics of participating in multiple sports are becoming more challenging even during the early years. The growing commercialisation of youth sport and the encroachment of ‘early-professionalisation’ into talent development pathways means that year-round participation is increasingly the norm in many sports at junior level. Whilst it is true that some kids feel pressured by coaches to invest all their energies in their chosen sport to the exclusion of others, more often it is simply that participating in a given sport places such excessive demands on their time that it is no longer feasible to continue participating in other sports. Kids who enjoy early success and become marked out as talented are especially likely to find themselves pushed or pulled into ever-growing practice and competition commitments, often involving greater travel.
What is also not acknowledged is that there are trade-offs that must be grappled with. Whilst it is likely to better serve them in the long run, both kids and parents need to understand that dividing their time between different sports throughout the year may mean they do not progress as fast as those kids who invest all their time and efforts in one particular sport. We should be up front about this to manage expectations. Prioritising steady but consistent progress over early competitive success does require parents and the young performers themselves to adopt a longer-term perspective and they are more likely to remain patient if they have faith that it will pay off in the long run. Building that trust requires us to be honest.
Equally there are trade-offs from a talent development perspective. Attending practices in multiple sports means kids have less time to engage in unstuctured play - which is actually an important and overlooked factor for long term success. Another major problem is that the push to continue participating in multiple sports makes it difficult to find time for dedicated physical preparation - which is likewise necessary to keep young athletes in one piece so that they can continue participating without enforced absences due to injury!
Ultimately, participating in multiple sports is only sustainable for so long. The constraints of time and resources (not least financial) mean that some choices will have to be made with respect to which sports to continue with. The pressures of competing priorities (not least schoolwork) become more prominent as kids get older. As young performers reach adolesence there is also a growing imperative to make room for physical preparation in the weekly schedule (this should be viewed as a non-negotiable for girls especially).
Inevitably, the crunch point will come at some point where it is no longer practicable to maintain participation in multiple sports given the competing demands on their time. What point in the youth sports journey this comes somewhat depends upon the sport(s) in question. Sports such as swimming and gymnastics are notoriously ‘early specialisation’ sports, in part due to the very high time demands involved. There are also some practical considerations that govern how long it is possible to participate in two or more sports. For instance, it is a far more viable proposition to pursue two main sports if the respective competition seasons do not overlap - for example, a summer sport and a winter sport.
Which brings us to the question: how long should we seek to defer the decision to commit to their chosen sport? We can accept that early specialisation is best avoided given the downsides and potential hazards, but surely this does not mean we should delay specialisation indefinitely? The best available evidence suggests that those who defer until they are 14 years of age fare better than those who specialise ‘early’ at the age of 12 or younger. Knowing this makes it all seem much more achievable!
Successfully deferring the decision to invest all their time and efforts in one sport prematurely effectively means opting out as necessary. For instance, this requires parents and the young performers themselves to resist the temptation or pressure to go all-in on participating year-round or engaging in leagues with excessive competition calendar or travel demands.
Whatever the age that a young athlete chooses to specialise, we should strive to ensure that kids are able to access the benefits associated with sampling multiple sports. Practices and training sessions should seek to incorporate the variety of activities that is necessary to develop the full repetoire of fundamental motor skills, rather than a narrow focus on sport-specific training. Young performers should similarly be encouraged to explore every opportunity to sample within their chosen sport, such as trying out different events, playing a range of positions, etc.