I get asked from parents if I think specialization is the way our youth are going to be able to succeed in sport. The short answer is no, not at all. For some reason there is a message being sent to parents that it is a necessity for your child to pick one sport by age 10 or 11 in order to succeed. It’s just not true and this myth needs to be talked about more.
So let’s poke some holes in this argument right away. On a local level the odds that your child plays a varsity sport all the way to their senior year are actually very little. I graduated with 425 students. Let’s say half of those are boys and half are girls. So we had about 212 boys in our class. My senior year we had 11 boys out for baseball with about 7 of them being starters. That’s only 5% of the boys from our school that even went out for baseball for 4 years in high school. It’s certainly not uncommon for smaller schools to have 1-2 seniors a year and some years 0.
So great your child played 4 years of a varsity sport and they want to look at playing at the collegiate level. Depending on what article you read, about 7% of student athletes will ever play play a sport in college and only about 2% of high school athletes ever play at the Division 1 level.
And the odds they become a professional athlete are incredible minimal. While kids and parents may have the goal of one day becoming a professional athlete, the reality is it’s probably not going to happen. And oh BY THE WAY, The vast majority of professional athletes participated in multiple sports.
So why do parents feel the need for their kid to pick one sport? To be honest, I believe parents are misinformed and are succumbing to a pressure that doesn’t really exist. If you remember nothing else from this article, remember this: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!!! I’ve had parents that say my kid is in love with this one sport and wants to dedicate all their time to it. That’s great because it’s the child’s decision. I would still encourage them to participate in other things but if there’s a fire there, keep that flame going! Where parents get it wrong is when they’re making the decision for the child or making their child make that decision. That is just wrong wrong wrong!!
My question to parents who have this thought or believe this message is simple, “What is the worst thing that could happen if your child plays multiple sports?” If your child enjoys multiple sports, let them play. It is borderline criminal to take a sport from a child just to try and maximize their talents in another. A child who is 10-13 years old most likely cannot make definitive decisions for their next 5 years of life and furthermore, their parents shouldn’t be making those decisions for them.
I’ve never once spoke with a high school, college, or professional athlete that regretted playing multiple sports. Outside of the delusional 30 something who thinks they could’ve played on the PGA Tour if they would’ve given it their all (me), nobody is looking back thinking they should’ve spent less time playing multiple sports.
Participation in athletics transcends getting into college or becoming a pro. The benefits youth receive from team work, dedication, commitment, determination, desire, and more will benefit them throughout their entire life. So is it necessary for a child to specialize? It’s very clear that not only is that not true, it could potentially be very detrimental. Encourage your kids to participate as much and as long as they can!
Thanks for reading!
Kyle Hanna
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