Jack of All Trades: Benefit of Being a Multi-sport Athlete

Youth athletics are becoming more competitive. With multiple leagues becoming available at various times of the year for every sport, early sport specialization is a common practice for youth seeking to play in collegiate or professional sports. However, this practice may be detrimental to your child’s health.

Risks of Early Sport Specialization

Youth athletes who specialize in one specific sport in early adolescents demonstrate a higher likelihood of injury, miss more time for similar injuries, and show a higher recurrence of injury compared to multi-sport athletes. Most injuries that are associated with early sport specialization are overuse injuries such as stress fractures, tendonitis, muscle strains and ligament sprains. These injuries are the result of repetitive motions performed in large volumes paired with inadequate recovery time due to specialized training, this combination is known as overtraining.

In addition to the physical risks associated with early sport specialization, there are also  psychological risks as well. Overtraining can lead to burnout which can result in a decreased desire to participate in sports. These psychological symptoms can be magnified by parental pressure. Both physical and psychological factors may be what cause individuals who specialize in a young age have a shorter career compared to their counterparts.

Benefits of multi-sport athletes

Athletes that participate in multiple sports through adolescents and high school show a significance decrease in injury rate. I believe this is due to each sport having different demands on the body which requires different functional movement patterns which helps allows to athlete to efficiently react to unfamiliar situations during practice or competition that would otherwise cause injuries. Furthermore, I believe that playing multiple sports results in becoming a better overall athlete.

In 2015 there were 322 athletes invited to the National Football League Scouting Combine, 87% of those invited were multiple sport athletes in high school. In 2018,  71% D1 football players, 87% female D1 runners, and 91% of male D1 runners were multiple sport athletes. Lastly, in the 2018 draft of National Football league 29 of the 32 first round pics were multiple sport athletes.

Conclusion

I would recommend parents encourage their kids to play multiple sports and delay sport specialization to decrease their overall risk of injury in future athletics, maintain psychological health by avoiding burnout, and may be the key to achieving elite level success in many sports.

References

Brenner JS; American Academy of Pediatrics, Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness. Overuse injuries, overtraining, and burnout in child and adolescent athletes. Pediatrics. 2007;119(6):1242–1245. Reaffirmed June 2014. Accessed February 11, 2020.

Duffek, J. A Few Surprises in the Data Behind Single-Sport and Multiple Sport Athletes. USA Today Highschool Website. https://usatodayhss.com/2017/a-few-surprises-in-the-data-behind-single-sport-and-multisport-athletes. March, 2017. Accessed February 12, 2020.

Early sports specialization tied to increased injury rates in college athletes. American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine website. ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 March 2019. Accessed February 11, 2020.

Multiple Sport Athletes v Single Sport Athletes. The Center Foundation Website. https://www.centerfoundation.org/2019/04/25/multi-sport-vs-single-sport-athletes/. Accessed February 12, 2020.

Rugg, C., Kadoor, A., Feeley, B.T., Pandya, N.K. The Effects of Playing Multiple High School Sports on National Basketball Association Players' Propensity for Injury and Athletic Performance. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2018 Feb;46(2):402-408. Accessed February 12, 2020.

Spilber, B. Tracking Football Finds 88% of 2018 NFL Draft Picks Were Multiple Sport Athletes in High School. Tracking Football Website. https://www.trackingfootball.com/blog/tracking-football-finds-88-2018-nfl-draft-picks-multiple-sport-athletes-high-school/. April 2018. Accessed February 12, 2020.