The last few days I have received calls from parents asking me on my thoughts of kids specializing in a particular sport from an early age.
My stance is simple: playing multiple sports for a prolonged period of time benefits the child, mentally and physically.
Specialization leads to burn-out and lack of creativity. Playing soccer improves your footwork for basketball; playing tennis makes you a more adept baseball player.
The other part of the equation is that sports are supposed to be fun. The relationships that kids can make over time by playing with multiple teams can be valuable later in life (i.e. Job networking). Case in point: my first job out of college was working for my former club soccer coach. It was a relationship that was built over several years as a player-coach dynamic.
So I say "play as many sports for as long as you can." One day, you will have to retire and become a spectator. Enjoy the journey.
2 comments:
I agree. How do parents really know at such a young age if this is the sport for their child. The child should be able to participate in multiple sports in order to decide which sport suits them the best. They might choose to play basketball even though they are better at soccer. It shouldn't matter. It should be for the love of the game and that love should come from the child and not the parents.
I agree with Billy that cross training help one-sport athletes as well (ok, if they are cross training they are not one-sport athletes). My son decided to be a one-sport athlete very young--soccer was his passion. However, when he got in high school he took up club Rugby and the affects were amazing. He improved his performance on the soccer field tremendously from the work he did on the Rugby field. He is tougher, more mentally focused and stronger. Who knew? I was worried about him getting hurt and missing time on the soccer field, but instead he has developed into a more complete athlete that is able to compete at a higher level.
Robert E.
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