Welcome to April's Coaching and Sports section. This month, we take a look at a controversial topic in youth sports: early specialization. The trend in many youth sport programs is limiting sport participation to a single sport, year-round, with the goal of guiding the child to top levels of achievement in that sport. This is called specialization.

Researchers have been able to make cases both for and against early sport specialization. Much of the early research supporting early specialization comes from models developed in other achievement domains, such as music and cognitive-based activities like chess. Opponents of early specialization have examined its impacts from both skill development and psychosocial perspectives.

This section includes three position articles on early specialization written by kinesiology graduate students from California State University, Fresno, as well as a position statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and links to additional resources on this important topic.

I believe you will find this section informative and useful. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Nicole Kulikov-Hagobian
Coaching & Sports Section Editor

Recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2000*

	Children are encouraged to participate in sports at a level consistent with their abilities and interests. Pushing children beyond these limits is discouraged, as is specialization in a single sport before adolescence.
	Pediatricians should work with parents to ensure that the child athlete is being coached by persons who are knowledgeable about proper training techniques, equipment, and the unique physical, physiologic, and emotional characteristics of young competitors.
	In the absence of prospective markers of excessive physical stress, physicians and coaches should strive for early recognition and prevention and treatment of overuse injuries (tendonitis, apophysitis, stress fractures, "shin splints"). Child athletes should never be encouraged to "work through" such injuries. Treatment recommendations for overuse injuries that include only "rest," or cessation of the sport, are unlikely to be followed by the committed child athlete, and are unlikely to adequately address the risk of further injury.
	The conditions of child athletes involved in intense training should be monitored regularly by a pediatrician. Attention should be focused on serial measurements of body composition, weight and stature, cardiovascular findings, sexual maturation, and evidence of emotional stress. The pediatrician should be alert for signs and symptoms of overtraining, including decline in performance, weight loss, anorexia, and sleep disturbances.
	The intensely trained, specialized athlete needs ongoing assessment of nutritional intake, with particular attention to total calories, a balanced diet and intake of iron and calcium. Serial measurements of body weight are particularly important in ensuring the adequacy of caloric intake and early identification of pathologic eating behaviors.
	The child athlete, family, and coach should be educated by the pediatrician about the risks of heat injury and strategies for prevention.

*A statement of reaffirmation for this policy was published on May 1, 2006.

Early Specialization in American Football - by Tim Plumlee, California State University, Fresno (eelmulp@csufresno.edu)

Sport specialization continues to increase in all sports. The last twenty to thirty years has seen a rise in the number of athletes limiting their participation to one sport. A survey with more than 150 athletic directors reflected this trend - over 70 percent of those surveyed believed sport specialization is becoming more popular among student-athletes (Hedstrom & Gould, 2004).

Sport specialization is occurring for several reasons: 1) pressure from coaches, parents, and other athletes, 2) influences felt by the athlete including the media, environment, and college recruiters (Watts, 2002), and 3) athletes' desires to achieve excellence, participate in all-star games, compete in championship games, and receive college scholarships (Hedstrom & Gould, 2004).

American football, like all other sports, has been affected by sport specialization. It is difficult to determine when, and if, specialization would benefit athletes in this sport, due to the lack of research. However, by taking a look at overall physical, psychological, and psychophysiological dimensions within an athlete, an educated conclusion can be drawn.

Physically, athletes can experience both positive and negative affects from training year-round. Regular participation in strength-building activities, geared toward football for youth, will help create a stronger musculoskeletal system, increase bone mass, control weight, and improve motor skills. Additionally, moderate strength training combined with preparatory conditioning can reduce the risk of injury (Faigenbaum, 2001).

On the other hand, muscle overuse, overtraining, and injury may result with too much conditioning. Furthermore, an athlete cannot use transferable skills from other sports if they limit themselves to football. A good example is improving the balance and agility of a football player by participating in wrestling (Watts, 2002).

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS COLUMN

Psychologically, the athlete can improve self-efficacy and confidence, and decrease stress associated with trying to balance more than one sport during the year, particularly when these sports may overlap (Watts, 2002). Negative psychological consequences in sport specialization include burnout, role confusion, identity development hinged on success in football, and removal of the enjoyment and desire to play (Susan & Stewart, 2007).

When comparing the research and findings, it is clear that sport specialization in football can be beneficial if not started too early. It appears that physically, psychologically, and psychophysiologically, athletes will be ready to specialize in football late in the high school years. The benefits of waiting until this time for athletes participating in other sports out weights the negative consequences of starting specialization too early. The athlete will still have two years remaining in high school to focus on one sport and achieve their desired goals.

A study which compares specializing in endurance sports (cycling, running), strength sports (weightlifting), and mixed sports (sport games) from ages 16-18 years gives insight into the psychophysiological factors of specialization in football. The results of this study concluded that each of the athletes in these three areas benefit from specialization differently.

The mixed-sport athlete, most like football, showed better performance across the board than the other two groups. Students in the mixed-sports group had medium brain efficiency (number of signals during five minutes), and functional flexibility of nervous processing was very high compared to the other groups. Additional findings included improvements in brain efficiency, memory, and attention, as well as an increase in the functional state of the central nervous system and an increase in sympathicotonic activity (Kazin & Varich, 2005).

If an athlete begins too early, they risk losing their enjoyment of participating in that sport, instead finding it monotonous. Personally, I believe that the end of sophomore year or beginning of junior year in high school would be the earliest an athlete would benefit most from specializing in football.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

By Sharon Betts, California State University, Fresno (sbetts@csufresno.edu)

Early specialization for youths in sports is becoming more and more popular. Specializing early, however, is not always the best choice for an athlete. Although there have been some outstanding athletes - Tiger Woods (golf) and the Williams sisters (tennis) - who have had success as a result of early specialization, the majority of athletes do not achieve the same level of success as these outstanding athletes. Specialization is defined as an athlete playing only one sport year around, or at least practicing year round. When an athlete should specialize depends on the sport. With soccer, for example, specialization should not take place until an athlete is in high school.

Specializing while still involved in youth sports can lead to problems for athletes later in life, which may hurt their athletic career. One such problem is that those who specialize at a young age are more likely to experience burnout before they reach their peak competitive age. Burnout can occur due to excessive pressure from parents, coaches, and even the players themselves.

In addition to burning out, young specialized athletes may develop more injuries than a multi-sport athlete. Multi-sport athletes may experience fewer injuries because they are using and training different muscles while learning new skills through their other sports, rather than continuously using the same muscles over and over all year long as specialized athletes do.

In addition, multi-sport athletes can become better well-rounded athletes. Each sport emphasizes different aspects of athletic skills such as balance, speed, agility, mental focus, reacting, and jumping. Well-rounded athletes will have a better chance at improving each of the skills listed previously, as well as other skills, therefore young athletes only benefit from participating in a plethora of sports. For instance, a soccer player can learn jumping skills in a sport such as volleyball, and then transfer their improved jumping skills over to soccer where they would be able to jump higher when attempting to head the ball, or be able to jump and react faster while in the goal.

Another problem that specialized athletes may face relates to their drive as a player. An athlete who specializes at a young age may begin to focus solely on winning, and measure their success as a player by their win/loss record. Athletes who remain in more than one sport are more likely to continue playing because they enjoy it, and hope to become better as an overall athlete. In addition, an athlete who plays because they enjoy a sport is usually less concerned with how many games they have won or lost. More importantly they are less likely to determine their value as a player on their win/loss record.

Diversification may enhance athletes' abilities in their primary sports. For instance, if a soccer player also runs cross-country, they would not necessarily have to specialize and play only soccer. The player could still train for cross-country and possibly run races every once in a while. Training for cross-country would only enhance the training for a soccer player, especially if they played midfield.

A large part of soccer is having enough endurance to be able to run throughout the entire length of the game. In essence, if a soccer player were also a cross-country runner, this diversification would only enhance the athlete's ability as a soccer player. As long as soccer was the player's primary sport they would still put in the time needed to perfect the skills specific to that sport.

As seen from the discussion above, early specialization is a complicated choice for soccer players, as well as most young athletes. Specialization can be harmful to an athlete's success, increasing the likely hood of injury and burnout.

On the converse, however, soccer players may benefit from being multi-sport athletes throughout their high school careers, which is the earliest soccer player should specialize. If the other sports emphasize abilities and skills that are critical to success in soccer, such as endurance with cross-country, then continued participation in multiple sports can actually improve the athlete's soccer abilities. All in all, sport specialization is an individual's own decision. For soccer players, however, it is not beneficial until they reach high school.

BIBLIOGRAPHY