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This spring, we interviewed Dave Ellis, one of the country's foremost sports nutritionists. Now, Ellis is sharing with us a hot topic in youth sports: the dangers of early specialization. As a coach, I work with kids along the continuum. My own kids have been through the USA Hockey ranks on their way up. My oldest is going into college, my middle one is 14 and my youngest is 10, and I've been able to coach them and others along the way and so even though I get to work at the high end of sports, I get to experience the grass roots level through my own kids. There's a real grass-roots efforts afoot right now to de-emphasize early specialization and winning in sports and in turn focus on long-term athletic development and the process behind that as it's relevant to the stages of maturation. There's been a lot of great science out there for years from people who specialize in cognitive and physical development who've been watching athletes burn out at young ages when there was a greater genetic window there for them to perform longer. They've watched large pools of athletes yield very mediocre potential instead of high-end talent. As they backtrack on all those maladies, they've really come up with some realizations that youth sports across the spectrum need to get their heads on straight. One of the dilemmas any family with a young athlete faces the minute they leave the neighborhood YMCA youth league for a more competitive club team is the almost immediate vacuum to consume the young athletes time on a year-round basis. The lure of specialization from being a multi-sport athlete to a single sport athletes is typically fueled by the hope that your child will have a better shot at moving up the ladder from B to A teams and to starter status-and for the short term this may well be true. Any young athlete who is that engaged in one set of motor skills is going to sharpen them and, to some degree, improve performance. But therein lies the dilemma. Those who scout our Olympic talent pools and AA and AAA travel teams at a growing number of elite tournaments designed to showcase talent are seeing some negative outcomes associated with early specialization. Early bloomers typically have an advantage on these AAA teams, and while they dominate the domestic stage with their early maturity and specialization, they are not as competitive on the international stage once other competitors have matured. In fact there is evidence that the athlete who didn’t specialize early and was a little later in maturation might end up being the better athlete! Why you ask? That multi-sport athlete kept on developing motor skills and competitive vision that might have been more challenging in totality than the narrowed focus of the specialized athlete. These multi-sport athletes are hungry to compete as they approach their prime, and because many were late bloomers, they had to be smarter players to make up for their lack of size and strength. So when their bodies do catch up maturation-wise, they often times have a sharper set of skills, and the net result is an athlete who has the tools and the motivation to compete at an elite level versus the burn out early specialized athlete who often seems to have peaked too early and below their net potential. So don’t be surprised when you see national governing bodies of sport at the Olympic level moving initiatives down the competitive food chain that push an agenda for young athletes to mix it up at early ages with a variety of sports that are complementary in nature (somewhat metabolically close to demands) but different enough to demand adaptation to new motor skills and maybe--more importantly--get out of the same gym or rink and outside with a new group dynamic. It’s a refreshing change for everyone in the family, including the parents. A great example of just such an initiative is the Long Term Athletic Development plan that is being implemented by USA Hockey’s governing body (for more information, visit www.admkids.com). One of the architects of this program is USA Hockey’s Kenny Martel, who said: “As a national governing body, USA Hockey has the responsibility to provide the structure and guidance that will promote the health, safety and development of our children in the sport of ice hockey. Despite the good intentions of many people involved of in our sport, the system of development that has evolved in many ways has become contrary to our stated mission. With our American Development Model, USA Hockey is implementing a nationwide LTAD initiative to change the development culture in the sport of ice hockey.” For 28 years, Ellis, a registered dietitian and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, has worked with collegiate and professional teams across the country. He created his three-step Fueling Tactics system years before the government unveiled the food pyramid. His plan focuses on keeping athletes' immune systems up with plenty of produce and healthy oils, selecting fiber-rich starches and reducing fast-digesting sugars when inactive to provide more energy for training, and diversifying protein sources to promote quicker recoveries.  Ellis has worked with every sport imaginable, from collegiate and professional football and baseball to NASCAR, yachting, weightlifting and even ice skating. Ellis regularly authors columns for multiple publications, including Training & Conditioning and USA Hockey Magazine, and is also a Master Level V USA Hockey Certified Coach. He is often described as a “nutrition coach” because of his ability to motivate athletes to eat well. Were you involved in sports as a kid? Did you "specialize" early? If you have children, do they specialize in one sport or do they play several?  You will earn 5 SparkPoints
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I live outside of the city and around here they need to have kids be able to play multiple sports or they wouldn't have enough kids playing any sports! :) I also love that our rec programs focus on fundamentals. For example, football & volleyball are only about the fundamentals - no games - until they get to middle school. I love that is how they focus it! Our rule is that they can only be in one thing at a time and if they sign up for something, they have to fulfill the obligation. No quitting in the middle.
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Oh, and my daughter is 6, and she doesn't play any organized sports yet, but she is very active and I plan to put her in soccer next year (she told me she really wants to play - and I'm convinced she'll be a rock star soccer player. hee hee) Report
Did you "specialize" early? No, I did not specialize in tennis. I took lessons from age 10 because it was fun and I liked it. Those lessons got me on the tennis team in high school, and competing in high school got me on the tennis team in college as a freshman. However, I quit after first term in college, because I wasn't able to keep up with my studies, and that was more important to me than playing tennis.
If you have children, do they specialize in one sport or do they play several? I have four children. The oldest (now 18) played soccer from age 7 through 13; she then switched to Kung-fu for 2 years. In high school, she prefered participating in clubs (German club, Museum club, etc.) rather than organized sports. The next younger daughter (now 14) tried dance and soccer, but didn't care for either. She did DDR (Dance, Dance, Revolution) club, Newspaper club, Student Council, Chorus, and participated in the school plays in middle school instead. Now in high school, she is active in other clubs, but not organized sports. The youngest 2 are twins - boy and a girl - almost 13. They are in middle school. The boy has been in soccer since age 5, and really loves it. We are trying to convince him to try cross-country (track) in the spring, as he is quite the runner, and we think it will be a great cross-training for his soccer. He is in organized soccer, but non-competitive (Parks & Rec). He'll have the opportunity next year (Seventh grade) to try out for the middle school soccer team, but unfortunately not many boys make the team, and if a boy doesn't make the middle school team, it's not likely he'll make the high school team. Luckily, our Rec teams play through age 19, so no matter what, he'll be able to play soccer through high school. His twin sister tried dance, then soccer, but really didn't come into her own until she joined Girl Scouts. She loves the social aspect of the Scouts, and though it is not an organized sport, she has done several camp-outs and hikes, as well as participated in a dog-training lesson. The Scouts are pretty active! My hubby and I don't push the kids to organized sports, but we would support the child if one wanted to really make a career of it. Report
My son started playing sports when he was 5, starting with t-ball. He played baseball, football, basketball, soccer, and ran track all through his school years. Granted, he was better at football and basketball because of his size, but he was good at all sports that he played. He loved sports and would never have played just one! When you see how small the percentage of kids who end up playing professional sports for a living really is, why not let them be kids and participate in whatever sport they want or the parents can afford? It's not always about winning, but learning too. Report
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And some programs are good, it varies.
I think everyone, kids and adults, should cross train, even if their primary interest is in one thing only. Report
Now as an adult, he can join a softball team, golf with his dad, or play pickup basketball with friends--and enjoy it! This is a gift that will last a lifetime. Report
Parents really have to stay alert to what is going on at practice and games and make sure that it's still the best for their child and the goals they want to accomplish.. it's okay to take a break.. check out other teams and breath once in a while instead of being a weekend slave to the fields.. GOALS CAN CHANGE!
Remember parents have to pay for it. and take them to all the games and practices. Parents are incharge and should keep an open communitcation with the coaches and let them know how things are going. Report
My son, always bigger that most children his age, and an excellent athlete, played football, baseball, discus and shotput throwing, and practiced martial arts.
When he cracked a vertabrae during a high school football game, he quit sports and became a terrific drummer. Now, he gives his two daughters acces to many sports and activities. Report
My situation may be unique, but the lack of ventilation and poor upkeep of the pool I swam in through high school ended up giving a number of my teammates exercised-induced asthma and me chemically induced bronchitis. Coaches who thought we were trying to get out of finishing sets by asking to go outside to try to breathe freely didn't help either. I can't get near chlorine now without my lungs tightening and I now have permanent damage that has reduced my lung capacity.
I still love to swim and my love for swimming made it take that much longer to quit before I truly damaged myself. But I do wish I'd been a more well-rounded athlete, regardless. We did do weight training, some running, and other dryland exercises to supplement our swimming yardage, but it wasn't enough to truly give us year-round swimmers the benefits of not being specialized. Report
Today, I officiate high school football. Every once in a while I will do a youth football game. At the youth level, I am surprised by the large percentage of rabid parents and nasty coaches. No wonder kids get burned-out on sports at an early age.
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