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What effect does early sport specialization have on future success in
sport and active living?
Kevin Strybosch
201525304
Presented to: David Legg
HPED 5400
December 1, 2014

Introduction
As someone who has played a variety of sports throughout my youth, it has always interested me
how the skills interact with each other. Other than the love of each individual sport, it seemed
like a good idea to play different sports in order stay in shape year round and learn general skills
that can be used each season. There are stats and trivial facts out there that are talked about
during sports broadcasts that talk about the sports past of individual stars. Many of the biggest
stars in North American professional sport played multiple sports before they chose to specialize
in one. Seeing as this concept of multiple sport athletes is very interesting to me, my study will
be covering aspects of sport specific skills and early sport specialization. I want to know what
effect early sport specialization has on future success in a particular sport. Does committing a
child to a certain sport early on in life really ensure that they will grow up to be a superstar?
Review of Literature
For any study it is important to look at what research has been done previously. That will
help you find information on what you should expect to happen in your study. Looking at
different themes found in articles, there are five that seem to be the most prominent. The first is
looking at how schools should utilize specific sports in physical education classes. Should there
be a focus placed on playing specific sports or general skill games and a focus on overall fitness?
The second theme is do specific skills transfer from one sport to another? The third theme takes
a look at what motivation does one have to play one sport vs. multiple sports? If a child gets
passionate about one sport at a young age will they want to explore other opportunities in sport?
The fourth theme looks at examples of pro athletes who used a multiple sport past to get where

they are today. And finally all of these themes bring us to the final question Does early sport
specialization mean future success in that sport?
With technology becoming so relevant in our society, it is getting harder and harder to get
kids to be active. Everyone is so consumed with computers, smartphones, video game consoles,
and tablets and add in the fast paced, hectic schedule parents have, it is hard to get kids out
playing sports. The one place where children can be active is at school. Physical education
classes are a great place to encourage active living. But in our school systems should we play
sports more than games? Does an individual sport really make a child grow up and want to
continue to be active? That is the entire goal of physical education classes, to have students be
active and continue to be active well after school is finished.
One article suggests that it may be a better idea to stick to general fitness and games as
opposed to sports. The study looks at two sports, football and basketball. “According to the
2011 National Sporting Goods Association participation survey, only 8.4% and 2.9% of people
seven years of age and older participate in basketball and football, respectively” (Anonymous,
2013). With such low numbers in participation it begs the question why teach the skills in
school? “The question depends on the context of a particular school or school district. If a
district began teaching basketball skills (e.g., dribbling) in the third grade, then the answer is yes,
basketball should not be taught at the high school level. Teaching basketball from third through
10th grade would mean eight years of instruction” (Anonymous, 2013). A student will usually
know pretty quickly if they enjoy a sport or not. Once they know the rules and understand basic
skills they can decide if they like to play and want to continue playing. So after learning a sport

(such as basketball) in elementary school, they will know if they like it or not by the time they
get into high school. So for this particular student, if they do not like playing basketball, P.E
classes will actually be a negative experience. Just one negative experience in sport can make
someone stop playing forever and stop being active.
For those who play a particular sport, P.E classes are a good spot to polish up those skills
during the season or in preparation for a season. Transferable skills can be acquired by
participating different activities. “For physical education and sports activities, especially in
small classes, dynamic games are a particularly effective means of driving that contribute fully to
the achievement of training objectives and provides practitioners rewarding and special
pleasures, engaging in enjoyable and sport, but at the same time forcing them to respect rules”
(Mihaila, Dobrescu, Marconi, Iancu, 2014). This article is once again questioning whether
schools should have dynamic games or traditional sports in physical education classes. “In order
to meet objectives, dynamic games should be chosen carefully so that they have in their
structure, sequence driving in conditions like sports games of competition” (Mihaila, Dobrescu,
Marconi, Iancu, 2014). The idea is not just to play games for the sake of playing games, but to
play games strategically to help with motor development. This research all suggests that schools
should focus more on playing games in gym class in order to build a base skill set as opposed to
focussing only on sports. The idea is that if students have basic skills, they will continue to be
active after school is finished.
There are a lot of intangible skills that can be a major factor in just about any sport.
Superstars in most sports are usually considered to be great all around athletes. This can likely
be attributed to learning basic skills at a young age and training to make them stronger when they

started to get older and more serious about sport. Attributes such as speed, agility, strength, and
acceleration can be used in just about any sport. In this day and age we are seeing former
basketball players such as Jimmy Graham and Julius Thomas dominate in the NFL at the tight
end position. Both examples really use the techniques of “boxing out” and going up for
rebounds to catch passes and score touchdowns. So the questions of whether or not skills can be
transferred from sport to sport, of course they can.
There was a study done on basketball players to see how their general skills transfer into
their specific sport.
“The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between general
coordination, sport-specific coordination, and sport-specific fitness of 8- to 17-year-old male
basketball players. 312 males with training experience ranging from one year in the 8-year-old
cohort up to 10 years for the 17-year-olds performed basketball-specific fitness (20 m sprint,
Illinois, countermovement jump), general coordination (20 m run with three obstacles), semi-
basketball-specific coordination (20 m sprint dribbling two balls, countermovement jump with
arm swing) and basketball-specific coordination (Illinois ball dribbling) tests” (Kamandulis,
Venckunas, Masiulis, Matulaitis, Balciunas, Peters, Skurvydas, 2013)
This is an interesting study because it analyzes basketball players with quite a variety in
age and experience. Another thing to note about this research is that it is really quite recent
having been published in December 2013, therefore the information is likely relevant to today.
The results of the study showed that the general skills do indeed correlate with basketball
specific skills, but the age of the participant does matter.

“There were moderate to large correlations between the results of both general and
basketball- specific coordination with the results of most basketball-specific coordination tests in
all age groups. Correlations between general and basketball-specific coordination were large in
four age groups (11-14 yr., r = .52 to r = .76), moderate in five groups (8-10, 15 & 16 yr., r = .37
to r = .46), while not significant in the 17-year-olds” (Kamandulis, Venckunas, Masiulis,
Matulaitis, Balciunas, Peters, Skurvydas, 2013).
The results really do tell us a lot. I believe that the reason why 11-14 year olds had the
highest correlation was because they have a bit of a more mature body and have been practicing
these skills for a couple years. They haven’t quite mastered the skills yet so they still have to
rely on general skills. I think the 8-10 year old group was considered moderate because they
haven’t had time to really practice specific basketball skills, as most of the focus at that age is on
learning basic skills. The 15 & 16 year old groups were also considered to be moderate but I
believe it is for the completely opposite reason, they have already learned lots of basketball skills
and had time to practice so they are more dependent on that muscle memory. The same would
go for the 17 year olds who didn’t have any noted correlations between basketball skills and
general related skills. What we can infer from this study is that the best time to work on specific
sport skills and general skills is in the 11-14 age range.
For an athlete, there can be many reasons as to why they play a certain sport. The
motivation can be intrinsic, such as a love for the game, to meet goals, or just to get in better
shape. There can also be extrinsic factors such as a parent giving their son or daughter a toonie

for scoring a goal in a hockey game. But what makes an athlete want to play sports all year
round and what factors go into making an athlete want to quit a sport.
A study was done on why what motivates female athletes to play sports and what should
be done in order to maximize the number of females who play sports.
“With increasing numbers of females participating in sports and the benefits derived from
participation well-documented, it is essential for preservice and inservice coaches to recognize
the roles they play in encouraging or discouraging female athletes' continued participation in
sport. A recent study examined the participation experiences of 221 female athletes from a rural
high school” (Sherman, 2002)
With more women involved in sport, it is now more important than ever to find the right
coaches and personnel in order maximize female sports. A negative situation with a coach can
make any athlete want to give up or try a different sport. Looking at the study, it is not
surprising that the number one reason for the athletes playing was to have fun (Sherman, 2002).
As for quitting, most of the reasons are what one would expect. “Among those who discontinued
participation, the most common reasons for quitting a sport were injury (26%), time conflicts
(18%), and coaching issues (16%)” (Sherman, 2002). 16% seems like a surprisingly high
number of players who quit due to a coaching issue. Maybe the answer to lowering that number
is to introduce more female coaches into the sporting world.
There are numerous examples of players in professional sport who were stars in other
sports as young athletes. Names like Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Jackie
Robinson, and Bo Jackson are all very famous athletes who excelled in different sports (Chase,

2011). These athletes are all either in the Hall of Fame or have been considered to be inducted
into the hall of fame for their most famous sport. But it is likely that they would have never been
the same athletes that they were without the other sports that they played.
Another athlete, who is one of the best examples of a superstar with a multiple sport
background, is Superbowl champion Russell Wilson. “Wilson was drafted in the fourth round by
the Rockies in 2010, spending the summer playing second base with the Class A TriCity Dust
Devils. He went back to school in the fall as NCSU's starting quarterback, throwing for a career-
high 3,563 yards with 28 touchdowns” (Walker, 2011). Out of university, the guy really had any
opportunity he could have dreamt of. It is really astonishing what Wilson has been able to
accomplish as an athlete. He was also selected in the Rule 5 MLB draft by the Texas Rangers
and attended their spring training in 2014 (Axisa, 2013). Along with his impressive sports
resume, Wilson also graduated from NC State with a Bachelor Degree in Communications
(Walker, 2011). It just goes to show that many athletes have been stars in multiple sports before
really specializing in one.
What do NCAA recruiters look for when trying to identify the athlete to take their
program to next level? Well a study was done looking at what softball coaches look for in their
athletes. “Ten NCAA Division I coaches from male and female sports other than softball listed
the following as essential elements of success: a positive attitude, motivation, competitiveness,
coachability, and willingness to improve athletic skills” (Kavekar, Ford, 2010). Along with a
solid mental game, the article continues on to tell us that the coaches are looking for
“multidimensional and dynamic talent” (Kavekar, Ford, 2010).

All of this information brings us to the final question; does early sport specialization
mean that an athlete will have success in that sport in the future? A lot of the information
presented suggests that it is not beneficial to place your child in one sport and hope they go pro
in it. In my personal opinion I believe that youth should experience different sports to see what
they are good at before they choose which one to specialize in. However, it looks as though the
trend may be going in the opposite direction. “Year-round training in a single sport beginning at
a relatively young age is increasingly common among youth. Contributing factors include
perceptions of Eastern European sport programs, a parent's desire to give his or her child an
edge, labeling youth as talented at an early age, pursuit of scholarships and professional
contracts” (Malina, 2010). As well as “early talent identification” I have noticed that in Canada
there has been a surface of more and more parents putting their children in spring hockey instead
of a different spring sport like soccer or baseball. These other sports will help further develop
their child in different skills other than the ones that are just used in hockey.
This topic of early sport specialization is a topic that is of great interest to me. I have
narrowed it down into different themes which seem to answer a lot of my questions about the
issue. The trends are: What role do schools play in physical activity and education? Do specific
skills transfer from one sport to another? What motivation does an athlete have to play one sport
vs. multiple sports? And examples of athletes who have used a multiple sport background to
forge their way in superstardom in one specific sport. All of these themes have helped guide me
to a strong base of information that will help with my research study.
Methodology
There were a couple different ways that I considered to gather information for my
research study. The question I am looking at is what effect early sport specialization has on

future success in sport. The best way for me to get valuable information on this subject would be
doing in depth interviews with athletes who have played multiple sports in the past.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe I would have the time to find enough athletes and set up
interviews with all of them in order to get enough useful information that I can use for my study.
For the interview process, I would want to interview preferably 15 athletes or so and no fewer
than 10. The information gathered from this number of athletes would be enough to make give
me valid and quality results. With the time constraints it would not be possible for me to, first of
all, find these athletes, and second of all set up time for interviews.
Taking everything into consideration, I have decided that the best way to do my research
for this project would be through a survey. This seems like the easiest and most efficient way to
gather the data that is needed. The best means of distributing this questionnaire would be
through an online service such as Survey Monkey. My goal was to create the survey and post
the link to my Facebook and Twitter accounts asking people to complete it. I had originally
planned to hand out this survey to the football team that I coach. Unfortunately due to the fact
that all players were under the age of 18, this was not possible. The results may have also been
skewed if I had asked the entire football team. Through Survey Monkey, I feel like I will gather
quality responses that I can include in my presentation. One big part of the survey that I want to
incorporate is that I don’t want it to take longer than five minutes to complete. Most people will
not spend more time than that on a survey anyways. The only issue with having a short survey is
that can be hard to really get quality results, but I feel like I have asked the right questions in
order to complete me research study.
The biggest limitation that I can see for this project is definitely a time constraint. For
my idea, it would be very ideal to watch how athletes develop over a 5-10 year period.

Obviously, I do not have that amount of time. Another constraint that will hinder this study will
be that I do not have any money to contribute to my research. There is no one investing anything
into this project so that will limit the results I will get. Although it may be controversial, money
can also be used to bribe people to complete a survey. Using Facebook to distribute my survey
gives me the opportunity to reach over 500 people, which is a great advantage to me. The
limitation involved with this though is that most of my Facebook friends are around the same age
as me and I will not be able to have a wide variety of demographics. The final thing that may
limit my research is that I do not know how many people will actually respond to the survey.
The survey can be really easy and take little time to respond to but a lot of people still will not
take the time out of their day to complete it. My ideal number of surveys completed would be a
minimum of 20 so I can analyze at least some variety of responses.
The questionnaire looks like this:
Please State Your Age:
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+
Gender:
M F
What is the number of sports you would have considered to specialize in throughout your life?
0 1 2 3 4 5+

What is the number of different sports that you are currently participating in? (Recreationally or
competitively)
0 1 2 3 4 5+
Do you think that the skills that you have learned in one sport have affected your performance in
another sport?
Yes No
Do you think that an athlete is more likely to go pro if they focus on one sport, or multiple sports
during their youth?
Single Sport Multiple Sports
Has your previous experience in sport encouraged you to stay active?
Yes No
Overall, would you say that your experience participating in sport has been positive?
Yes it has been positive
No it has been negative
It has been neither positive nor negative
Results
The final results for my survey are as follows:
 31 total responses
 10 females and 21 males
 29 between the ages of 18-24, one between the ages of 25-34, and one between the ages
of 55-64

What is the number of sports you would consider to have specialized in throughout
your life?
 Specializing in 0 sports: 6 respondents
 Specializing in 1 sport: 4 respondents
 Specializing in 4 sports: 1 respondent
 Specializing in 5+ sports: 2 respondents
 1 respondent skipped the question
How many sports are you currently participating in? (Recreationally or competitively)
 Participating in 0 sports: 4 respondents
 Participating in 1 sport: 12 respondents
 Participating in 4 sports: 1 respondent
 Participating in 5+ sports: 1 respondent
Do you think that the skills you have learned in one sport have improved your
performance in another sport?
 30 responded with “yes”
 1 responded with “no”
Do you think an athlete is more likely to go pro if they focus on one sport, or multiple
sports during their youth?
 14 responded with one sport
 17 responded with multiple sports
Has your previous experience in sport encouraged you to stay active?
 29 responded with “yes”
 2 responded with “no”
Overall, would you say that your experience participating in sport has been positive?
 30 responded with “yes it has been positive”
 1 responded with “no it has been negative”

Discussion
Based on the results that I received from my online survey, there is strong evidence to
conclude that those who were active as a child continue to be active when they get older. With
the decreasing number of children who are consistently active, these results show how important
it is to get children involved as early as possible. When we are trying to keep people healthy and
active for life, it starts at a young age with positive experiences in sport.
Out of the 31 responses to my survey, 24 people said that they had specialized in at least one
sport. This tells me that I had athletic people who are passionate about their sports and therefore
can give me quality results. There is a fairly high level of sports knowledge from the individuals
who have responded to my survey. It also tells me that I will have some results from a different
perspective with the six people who said they had never specialized in a single sport.
One of the most surprising results in my survey was to the question “how many sports are
you currently playing?” Only four of the respondents said that they were not currently playing
any sports. This is a surprising number to me because it seems as though a lot of people will quit
playing sports after high school or after they can longer reach a higher point. One theory I have
as to why 27 respondents said they were currently playing sports is because those are the types of
people that I am the most associated with. Most of the friends on my Facebook who would
complete my survey are all people who I have previously played sports with at some point. It is
encouraging to see that 87% of the respondents are still participating in sports.
An astounding 30 out of 31 respondents had agreed with the statement that they have learned
skills in one sport that have improved their performance in another sport. It is safe to say that
attributes such as speed, agility, and strength can be used in pretty much any sport. But it is

interesting to see that pretty much everyone believes that have used the same skills in multiple
sports. For example, a wide receiver in football can use a “box out” technique from basketball to
gain an advantage over a defender when making a catch. The question asked was fairly straight
forward, so it would have been nice to ask respondents to comment on which skills they were
alluding to.
The closest number of responses came from the question asking whether an athlete is
more likely to go pro if they focus on one sport or multiple sports. 14 people believed that an
athlete should focus on one sport, and the other 17 believed they should play multiple sports.
What this tells me is that there is no definitive answer to this question. Many professional
athletes have played a certain sport for their entire life and others have played a variety. It really
depends on the individual, whether or not they can focus on one sport and not get burnt out.
Adversely, an athlete who focusses on multiple sports could not choose one to specialize in until
it’s too late. So it can be a very delicate decision for any athlete who is working to become a
professional.
Not surprisingly, 94% of people said that their previous experience in sport has
encouraged them to continue to be active. If an athlete is exposed to sports and activity at an
early age, they will likely continue this because it is a part of their lifestyle. The responses may
have been swayed like this because once again most of the people I am associated with have
been active for basically their entire lives.
Only one person out of the 31 said that their overall experience in sport has been
negative. It is really important that youth have a positive experience with sport so it will
encourage them to be active when they are older. Just one negative experience can turn a child

away from sport for life. I believe that so many of my respondents are continuing to play sports
and be active because they have had a positive experience with sport overall.
Conclusion
What effect does early sport specialization have on future success and active living in sport?
This study was done in order to give me a better understanding of that question. There have
been a number of different themes explored throughout this study. One looked at how the school
systems approached physical education and sport. Another looked at in the review of literature
and the survey explored the idea of skills transferring from sport to sport to improve
performance. What kind of motivation an athlete has to compete in one sport as opposed to
multiple sports and if that will that be beneficial. There was a look at some examples of
professional athletes who have played multiple sports in order to reach the highest pinnacle. All
of these themes help give a better understanding of whether or not early sport specialization
helps promote active living and success.
An eight question survey was completed on the website Survey Monkey and distributed
through Facebook receiving 31 replies. There were no huge surprises with the responses to this
survey as I kind of had an idea what they would look like before distribution. The answers may
have been a bit skewed due to the type of people I am friends with on Facebook. Most have
athletic backgrounds and continue to be passionate about sports today. The questions on the
survey were aimed at finding out how people have previously engaged in sport and if that has
affected them at all in their current lives. Based on the results it seems that is someone played
sports when they were young, they have continued to be active into their early 20s.

So to answer the main question: What effect does early sport specialization have on future
success and active living in sport? I don’t think it comes down to how many sports that an
athlete plays. It is really more dependent on the experiences that an athlete has when playing
those sports that will determine their success. As long as they have a positive experience in
sport, they will want to continue to play, whether that means they will be going professional or
being active for life.

References
Anonymous. (2013). Should traditional sports such as football and basketball be excluded from
high school physical education to make room for more lifelong physical activities? Journal of
Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 84(2), 59-62. Retrieved October 4, 2014, from
http://library.mtroyal.ca:2090/docview/1419745596?pq-origsite=summon
Amber, K., & Sally, F. (2010). Investigation of RecruitingCriteria of Leading NCAA Division I
Softball Coaches. Sport Journal, 13(2), 1-1. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from
http://library.mtroyal.ca:2097/ehost/detail/detail?sid=39e18acb-2477-412a-af76-
52e2c4893420@sessionmgr111&vid=0&hid=109&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVybCxjb29r
aWUsdWlkJnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ
Axisa, M. (2013, December 1). Rangers select Seahawks QB Russell Wilson in Rule 5 draft.
Retrieved October 10, 2014, from http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-
baseball/24373078/rangers-select-seahawks-qb-russell-wilson-in-rule-5-draft
Chase, C. (2011, March 29). Top 10 Multi-Sport Athletes. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
Kamandulis, S., Venckunas, T., Masiulis, N., Matuatis, K., Balciunis, M., Peters, D., &
Skurvydas, A. (2013). RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENERAL AND SPECIFIC
COORDINATION IN 8- TO 17-YEAR-OLD MALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS. Perceptual &
Motor Skills, 117(3), 821-821. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from
http://library.mtroyal.ca:2097/ehost/detail/detail?sid=15498e5e-eb9c-47d8-8524-
686a2052f1fe@sessionmgr115&vid=0&hid=118&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVybCxjb29ra
WUsdWlkJnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ
Malina, R. (2010). Early Sport Specialization: Roots, Effectiveness, Risks. Current Sports
Medicine Reports (American College of Sports Medicine), 9(6), 364-372. Retrieved October 10,
2014, from http://library.mtroyal.ca:2097/ehost/detail/detail?sid=3201f740-7727-4552-9928-
adfe431e4059@sessionmgr110&vid=0&hid=109&bdata=J
Mihaila, I., Dobrescu, T., Marconi, G., & Iancu, A. (2014). Development of Sports Specific
Skills by Using Dynamic Games. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 2090-2093.
Retrieved October 4, 2014, from http://ac.els-cdn.com/S1877042814005424/1-s2.0-
S1877042814005424-main.pdf?_tid=05b32c66-4c0f-11e4-8e84-
00000aacb35f&acdnat=1412458993_537e7aef88d59da00b04c008b015c749

Sherman, N. (2002). Why female athletes quit: Implications for coach education. Journal of
Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 73(2), 8-8. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from
http://library.mtroyal.ca:2090/docview/215760826?pq-origsite=summon
Walker, M. (2011). Three-Way Threat. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 28(6), 15-15.
Retrieved October 10, 2014, from http://library.mtroyal.ca:2090/docview/865367351?pq-
origsite=summon

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