Sport specialization by children athletes appears to be a widespread and growing phenomenon. Many children are training and competing in only one sport during the entire year. Alarm regarding this trend surfaced in the literature during the 1980s (Hill, 1987; Gillies, 1986; Relic, 1986; Yaffe, 1982). The last ten years has seen a proliferation of interest in youth sports (Cahill & Pearl, 1993 and DeKnop, Engtrom, Skirstad, & Weiss, 1996), bringing more scientific analysis to bear upon youth sports participation. As topics such as motivation (e.g., Weiss 1993), self-perception (e.g., Weiss & Ebbeck, 1995), and anxiety and stress (Gould, 1993) have been explored more fully, it has become even more apparent that there are significant dangers in this trend towards sport specialization by children athletes, as well as practical methods of addressing this problem.

A main reason for the rise in sport specialization by children athletes is the increasing commercialization of sport (Stewart, 1987). Concepts such as skill democracy have been abandoned and replaced with an emphasis on winning at all costs. The model of professional sports is the norm for growing numbers of youth sports programs. Professional coaches are utilized whose long-term survival often depends on winning and developing athletes with high skill levels. Additionally, these professional coaches/trainers have an economic incentive to prolong the season or time spent working with these children athletes. In conjunction with this issue is the growing competition between sports for young athletes (DeKnop, Engtrom, Skirstad, & Weiss, 1996). Coaches and administrators (who are also increasingly paid for their services) benefit by attracting children to their off-season training camps and tournaments. If athletes want to stay competitive, they often feel compelled to attend these events at the exclusion of other sports.

Parents also play a significant role in the increasing specialization by children athletes. Most parents have a variety of extrinsic motivations for encouraging their children to participate in sports. For instance, parents feel an important goal of sports involvement is the development of social discipline. In a Japanese survey 69% of the responding parents said they also expect mental and physical development, while only 39% stressed the intrinsic motivation of enjoyment as being important (Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture 1993). Parents want what they feel is the best for their children and quickly see that sports specialization seems to lead to greater skill development, being selected to top teams, and winning. Many parents also see that sport specialization can help their children become professional athletes or win scholarships and/or entrance to better colleges (Cornwell, 1987). Additionally, many parents develop social bonds with other parents, as they begin spending the entire year going to matches and tournaments with other parents. They gain a sense of prestige and self-worth as their children gain greater athletic success. Parents living their dreams through their children’s athletic successes have become increasingly common.

Obviously sports participation has many positive consequences for children. Unfortunately, analysis of participation trends indicates that there has been a steady decrease in sports participation from ages 15-18 (DeKnop, Engtrom, Skirstad, & Weiss, 1996, p. 9); many of the reasons for this decline can be directly linked to the rise in sport specialization by children athletes. Apparently there are negative consequences for many children athletes specializing in one sport. A workshop dealing with intensive training and participation in youth sports held by the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine in 1990(Cahill & Pearl, 1993, p. 10) identified a number of major areas in which these negative consequences have become increasingly apparent.

The psychological stress of sport specialization is often so high and prolonged that the children athletes become "burned out" and withdraw from sports (Gould and Petlichkoff, 1988a). Symptoms include loss of fun and enjoyment (Scanlan and Lewthwaite, 1984), poor performance (Gould, 1993), and health problems such as loss of sleep (Skubic, 1955). Chronic stress appears to be directly related to the increase of sport specialization by children athletes, as coaches and parents focusing on winning rather than the needs of children (DeKnop, Engtrom, Skirstad, & Weiss, 1996, p. 96). Emphasis in practice is on winning and not on enjoyment, which has been demonstrated to lead to increase in stress. Excessive time demands including long practices, matches, and tournaments, are also contributing related factors.

While sport has long been recognized as having the potential to build children’s self-esteem, many children specializing in one sport are being adversely affected in this regard. Children with "fragile" egos are at special risk in the one sport system in which winning is emphasized combined with extremely high expectations regarding personal performance (Cahill & Pearl, 1993, p. 15). The narrowing "funnel" process in which teams become more competitive and selective as the child ages is particularly dangerous to self-esteem as children get less playing time and may eventually be cut.

Grupe (1985) discussed a number of other concerns about youth involvement with high performance sport. He noted that these young athletes are not permitted to be children. They are not allowed to focus on the fun and joy of sport; serious purpose rules. He also notes that these young athletes specializing in one sport are often denied social contacts and experiences. Their world is very narrow, becoming focused on their sport to the exclusion of other sports and influences. Their family life is also typically disrupted in their quest for one sport perfection. Excessive physical stress in one sport can also lead to "overuse" injuries (Smith, Smoll, & Ptacek, 1990). They also may experience impaired intellectual development. Academics often become secondary concerns and top athletes are given preferential treatment in school, allowing them to avoid academic standards their peers must meet. A related issue is the belief that many of these young athletes’ moral development may be retarded (Cahill & Pearl, 1993, p. 11). These children are exposed to a variety of unsportsmanlike behaviors in an atmosphere in which winning is overemphasized. Behaviors such as cheating, verbally abusing opponents and officials, and deliberately injuring opponents are becoming increasingly common. The problems of increasing numbers of college and professional athletes who are involved in serious criminal behavior (i.e., illegal gambling and drug activities, and violent crime) may be long-range consequences of this arrested moral development.

While sport specialization by children athletes is by no means new, the increasing popularity of this phenomenon is disturbing. There are a number of practical methods of both countering and/or mitigating this trend, including:

• publicize pitfalls of specialization to athletes, parents, coaches, and administrators;
• provide open door activities through public recreation organizations and schools;
• promote the value of multiple sport training even for elite athletes, stressing the physical, mental and emotional benefits of participating in a variety of sports;
• initiate fair play campaigns in which sportsmanship and skill democracy are promoted;
• provide forums for youth sports associations, school leaders, public recreation officials, and researchers to meet and discuss this issue;
• conduct additional studies regarding sport specialization by children athletes.

While this problem is a reflection of and has links to problems in society as a whole, and is one that will easily be remedied, young athletes in conjunction with their parents should be more fully informed regarding the decision to specialize in one sport.