Sport Management: Burnout and Early Specialization Every year there are a number of children who withdraw from participating in youth sports. While countless leave sports to pursue other interests, a significant number detest their experience in sport. From the intense practices to pressure-filled competitions, young athletes can feel a considerable amount of stress. If this stress remains for an extended period of time, children experience “burnout” and lose their desire to continue playing. There are two ways parents can avoid youth sports burnout for their children: making sure the children have a healthy balance in their lives and giving the children input into decisions. While sports require dedication in order to achieve a high level …show more content…
Sports specialization is an intense training in a single sport while excluding others (Jayanthi et al., 2013). In my opinion, athletes should not begin to specialize in one sport before adolescence. Rates of sports specialization appear to increase with age. Although numerous people would agree that the number of hours spent in practice and training generally positively correlates with the level of achievement in sports, specializing in sports at an early age can cause burnout which would ultimately be more detrimental than beneficial. Swimmers who specialized early spent less time on the national team and retired earlier than athletes who specialized later. They reported that the foremost reasons for leaving the sport were psychological fatigue, general health, and difficult loads (Barynina & Vaitsekhovskii, 1992). Rhythmic gymnasts, those who specialized earlier and spent more hours training from age 4 to 16 years, rated their health lower and experienced less fun (Law et al., 2007). Despite early specialization being beneficial to attain elite-level skill in a sport, intense training in a single sport and the exclusion of others should be delayed until adolescence to optimize success, while minimizing the potential for …show more content…
Neither my parents nor I had that desire for myself; therefore not one sport was more central than the other. Academic success stood as the most valuable compared to athletic success. That environment placed less pressure for me to train with greater intensity and focus when it came to competitive sports. Sports were extra-curricular activities as opposed to a full-time job and the pathway to the subsequent level. I absolutely benefitted from playing multiple sports throughout my youth. I have participated in soccer, basketball, football, track & field, wrestling, and even taekwondo. Competing in all these sports developed me into a better athlete and enhanced my fundamental movement skills that are necessary for all sports. In addition, it gave me multiple perspectives that I might not have had otherwise. This improved my ability to be a teammate and instilled in me a more competitive nature. Although different sports brought different demands, the growth of confidence remained the same. I never suffered from burnout during my youth, nor did I detest my experience. Ultimately, participating in multiple sports gave me time to decide where my passion lied and what I preferred to play. As a result, my participation in high school sports was limited to only football and
With that being said, I believe that early sport specialization is not the right choice for some children. A recent study of issues and concerns related to present-day school sports revealed that the coaches, athletic directors, school principals, parents of athletes, and also the athletes felt that there was a pressure to specialize in a single sport and to do so at an early age (“Journal of Physical Education,” n.d.). The pressure was said to come from parents, coaches, and the young athletes themselves (“Journal of Physical Education,” n.d.). Which seems to be very typical in today’s youth sport world. It is not uncommon for the parents and the children to observe how each other act towards a certain sport, how much encouragement they get, or how much they enjoy a single sport in general. The people who are connected to the school sports, including coaches, principals, athletic directors, etc. are not the only ones voicing their concerns (“Journal of Physical Education,” n.d.). “Journalists and sport scientists have also become worried that young athletes are becoming specialized too early and that this early sport specialization can lead to a number of undesirable effects. It is said that sport specialization in
Sports play a very important role in my life ever since I could walk. My interests in playing sports began at the age of three as my parents signed me up for soccer, flag football, basketball, and lacrosse. First grade started my competitive edge as I began to play for travel teams in various sport tournaments. This competitive edge transferred from the sports field to the classroom having teachers and coaches helping me be the best I can be. Sports have continually well-shaped and defined my character by teaching me how to accept a win from working hard, also how a loss is an opportunity to learn and fix mistakes.
More specifically, children are also increasingly pressured--again, usually by parents and coaches--to specialize in one sport and to play it year-round, often on several different teams (Perry). Now, if sports specialization is such a great idea, then why are kids being “pressured”? As stated before, sports specialization can result in severe injury or even retirement from sports all together. Evidently, parents would not want to risk their athlete’s entire athletic career just because of an overuse injury. Knowing this, a diversity in sports activities is the solution to the problem. Additionally, a specialization in sports can lead to the young athlete not experiencing a sport that he or she may truly enjoy in their life. If a parent already makes a child decide on a sport to play, how will the child know if that is the sport they truly want to participate in? As the child ages, they could realize that the sport they play now is not one that they love anymore, so they could just quit. Deciding at such a young age is not only a hasty decision, but also a terrible one. Finally, this specialization can also create social problems. If a child is already so competitively involved in a sport, then their social lives and relationships with friends are at risk. The clear choice here is to let the child live a normal life by allowing them to make friends and play, rather than taking over their lives with competitive
I’ve always been the type of person that truly enjoys athletics and have participated in nearly all sports offered to me. I started playing sports in elementary with club softball and basketball. As I entered my middle and high school years I was able to add the school sanctioned sports to my list of activities. This afforded me the opportunity of competing in volleyball, basketball, golf, track and softball. The camaraderie and life lessons of sports seemed invaluable to me.
The following essay explores the factors that have an impact on the development of individuals to promote long term involvement in sport and physical activity by reviewing a range of literature and sporting frameworks. It has been said that positive developmental outcomes have been experienced in young people who are actively engaged in sport. (Fraser-Thomas et al 2005) The factors that influence this positive development can have an impact on whether young people remain involved in sport long term.
In order to become the best at a sport, some parents have their child specialize in one sport so they will become the best. While this is one way of thinking about how to have a child excel at a sport, it is not beneficial. It can cause injuries and children may not enjoy the sport as much as they use to. While specialization in youth sports could help them be the best, it will actually have a negative effect on their health and well-being in the future.
The early maturity of physical development in children can be broken into two categories: early advancement of motor skills and precocious puberty. A child’s fine and gross motor skills can become fine tuned because of the growing popularity of youth athletics and physical health programs. The United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals states that “sport has the natural ability to draw on, develop, and showcase individual strengths and capacities.” It also mentions that sports enhance physical growth and development while simultaneously enhancing psychosocial health and development (“Sport for Development”). Programs like S.M.A.R.T., Sports Management, Academics, and ...
These days, there is too much pressure on children who participate in organized sports because of the unnecessary parental involvement they experience. A growing concern amongst those involved in youth sports is that certain aspects of parental involvement become detrimental to the development and experiences of young athletes. Early emphasis on winning, making money, and the disruption of education can exceedingly affect ones desire to further participate in a sport later on in his/her life.
According to the people collecting data at the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University, “Kids who participate in organized sports do better in school, have better interpersonal skills, are more team oriented, and are generally healthier” (Chen 1). In consequence, sports can help kids have a better life because the things you learn in sports can help you in school and if you do well in school, you can get a good job. In the end, I think the lessons learned through sports are more important than the stress kids may face while playing a competitive sport. The stress adolescents may have to face in a sport can teach them how to deal with more stressful things in real life, so the stress isn’t so bad
Also, choosing a single sport and quitting all the others can result in a premature withdrawal, because the athletes can face a decrease in motivation, since that the sport can become less interesting or enjoyable. The intrinsic motivation related to the enjoyment the activities is seen like an important factor to maintaining participation and goal achievement in adolescents. So, as many adolescent athletes need to specialize in a single sport because of collegiate scholarships, they become highly skilled but also the pressure and stress increase, once that they are facing the sport as something different, not just as an enjoyable and funny activity but something that they need put responsibility into it, as a job, for example. (Myer et al,
If the child feels like they are burning out on the sport or are being pressured too much, they could also talk to the parents or coaches and actually communicate how they feel and how the pressure is affecting
Physical activity and fitness is a very important aspect of life. In most cases, people are happier, have better self – esteems, and are more successful when they are healthy. By virtue of that scenario, there is no better time to develop a healthy life style than childhood. It is easy for parents to get their children on the right track by introducing them to sports at a young age.
Specialization in Sport: An Overview of Some Unanswered Questions. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 7, 390-393.
Over 70% of kids in the United States quit competitive sports by age 13 annually because of the pressure competitive sports bring. Many people debate over the topic that competitive sports are beneficial to kids. Organized team sports, although played by many, can cause harm to children at a young age. By playing competitive sports many kids are exposed to the pressure, whether it be from coaches, parents, or even other players. Many adolescents feel large amounts of pressure from competitive sports which can affect them physically and psychologically.
The main goals behind Sport Education are to help students become knowledgeable about different sports and activities to the point where they can participate in these outside of the classroom to stay active. Also it teaches execution and strategies and encourages competitiveness. It is important for kids to be competitive because they will have to be in life and it will teach the importance of winning and losing the right way. “Sports offer kids a great chance to work cooperatively toward a common goal. And working coope...