For as long as I can remember, my father told me stories of Gloucester High School Athletic glory days. He reminisced in talks of fall dominance on the defensive line, and how he was crowned NEC champion in shot put. “That’s how we did it back in the 90s,” he would tell me. “That’s how you were considered a real Fisherman.”
Sports have evolved since that time, from technological advancements to training techniques. While a majority of changes in the sports landscape work towards the benefit of athletes, an alarming trend has taken the industry by storm: sports specialization.
Sports specialization is defined as “intense, year-round training in a single sport with the exclusion of other sports,” which has been growing in popularity throughout the decades; thanks to the allure of college scholarships and a better chance at going pro. In a 2017 study, 45.2% of high school athletes and 67.7% of collegiate athletes reported that they specialize in a single sport. That number has been growing substantially throughout the following years.
Kids are pushed to pick one sport, training year-round with private coaches and travel teams. They’re told it’s the only way to make it big. But is it? More and more, we’re seeing that specializing too soon comes at a cost—one that leads to injuries, burnout, and the end of the youth sports industry as we know it.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) declares three “stages” of specialization, spanning from “low risk” to “high risk.” Athletes considered “high risk” will quit other sports for their “main sport”, play more than 8 months a year, and travel out-of-state for extra competitions.
Despite the fact that 88% of Division 1 athletes reported playing multiple sports when they were younger parents and their children tend to specialize in a single sport in hopes of being recruited. With the NCAA’s decision to begin limiting roster spots, athletes and their families often feel that dedicating themselves to a single sport from an early age is the best way to stand out to college recruiters.
Specialization allows athletes to refine their skills, gain extensive game experience, and participate in elite travel teams, showcases, and camps where they can be scouted. Additionally, many athletes view D1 scholarships as a pathway to professional opportunities, financial aid for education, and the prestige of playing at the highest collegiate level.
Perfecting a singular sport has other positive effects, such as having the chance to be a starter on an athlete’s respective high school team. Other sport-specific pathways and achievements can stem thanks to their specialization, including early recruitment, national showcases, and premiere competitions.
“I play club softball to broaden my social circle by connecting with players from other towns,” Freshman Addy Amero said. “I do it to improve my skills, with the goal of potentially playing at the collegiate level.”
Despite specialized athletes claiming they won’t be able to perform their best while playing another sport, there have been several star athletes who played multiple sports when they were younger. Earlier stars like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders are known for excelling in multiple sports during their professional careers. Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Cooper Dejean, and Tyreek Hill also played multiple sports in their formative years.
A recent NCAA study found that 88 percent of men’s Division I players and 83 percent of women’s Division I players were multisport athletes through their teens. Being a multisport athlete allows for diverse skill development, which can enhance overall athletic ability and reduce injury risk.
“Running track helps a lot with softball because it really helps my speed on the basepath[s] and [in] the outfield,” GHS Varsity Softball and Track Athlete Maddie Goodhue said. “It also increases my endurance and flexibility.”
Sports like Track and Field translate well into speed-heavy sports like baseball, softball, football, and soccer. In the last NFL Draft, 56% of the 1st round picks had done track in high school.
“Being a multisport athlete has many benefits, both mentally and physically,” Gloucester Track and Field Head Coach David Coleman. “Track and Field offers a means to train the body to be the best it can be athletically, improving form and function, while also providing the mental toughness that comes from competing as an individual.”
But how does this affect the youth sports industry? Wouldn’t an increase in sports participation lead to better results for both the athlete and their teams? The answer is more complicated than just black and white.
“[We’ve had problems with] keeping numbers up throughout all levels,” Rockets Youth Softball President and Cape Ann Youth Girls Fastpitch (CAYGF) Board Member Darryl Brown said.
Brown has worked with the Rockets Organization since the early 2000s, originally coaching football and basketball before both programs folded. He also coached flag football alongside track and field.
“A lot of my 2023 A-Team specialized in softball, whether it be their only sport or their main,” he continued. “I can’t complain since it led us to winning the championship. Their specialization was a big reason why we won. But that’s just the tip of the specialization iceberg. On the surface, the results are perfect. Both of my 8th-grade players played on the GHS Varsity team the next year. However, you don’t see what goes on behind it. That perfection just scratches the surface of the newfound obsession with sports specialization.”
In 2022, the youth sports industry was valued at $37.5 billion. This growth is driven by private coaches, club teams, and trainers who profit from promoting early specialization as essential for success. Families often invest heavily in year-round training, travel teams, and specialized coaching, believing it will enhance their children’s prospects for college scholarships or professional careers.
Travel teams, while offering a “higher level” of play, are often at the expense of families. A professionally-coached travel baseball team can cost upwards of $1000 for team fees only. That doesn’t account for equipment, travel, hotels, entry fees, and food. This places an extreme burden on families who want their children to get premier-level coaching.
These travel teams also affect smaller sports teams, such as inter-city teams. CAYGF has experienced this problem in past years, as student-athletes chose to play for their club team exclusively.
“I think overall it has made sports a little better because it is making kids work harder,” Brown said. “But keeping a youth organization going is harder because you are dealing with factors [of] specialization, money issues, burnout, etc.”
High school programs have been affected by specialization too. Schools with higher athletic participation and competition tend to see more specialized athletes compared to smaller schools.
In Gloucester High School, around half of the student-athletes specialize in a sport. The largest problem the GHS athletics community faces is lower participation levels across their teams.
“The biggest impact is how many levels of play we offer,” Gloucester High School Athletic Director Bryan Lafata said. “We don’t offer as many sub-varsity teams as we used to, and we start to have more middle schoolers required to move up to fill out rosters. Many [NEC] schools have less sub-varsity teams to compete, so it makes schedules difficult. Many schools either use middle schoolers to fill rosters or sometimes schools have to join other high schools to fill out teams.”
Fishermen sports teams such as Track and Field (winter and spring), swim, and cross country combine with local schools to host teams. Despite attempts by athletes to bring the cross country program back to Gloucester, they haven’t been able to get enough runners.
“Gloucester has always been a running town,” GHS Track and Manchester cross country runner Grace Castellucci said. “We’re known for our running and going to Nationals with really good runners. Right now, there’s no program. That makes a lot of current runners and alumni disappointed.”
Problems regarding specialization don’t only affect programs. They affect the specialized athletes themselves.
Burnout is one of the biggest downsides of sports specialization, forcing many athletes to step away from the game entirely. Over 45% of specialized youth athletes quit due to burnout, a number that continues to rise as year-round training becomes the norm. The constant pressure to perform, paired with little to no time off, drains athletes both physically and mentally. Instead of fostering long-term athletic careers, specialization is driving young athletes out of sports altogether.
The most prevalent issue that’s been happening among specialized athletes is the rise of injuries. The most common are overuse injuries, characterized by numbness, weakness, and pain in the affected area. This can be detrimental to an athlete’s career, as these “on-and-off” injuries could lead to more serious injuries, like ACL tears.
“I tend to see more sport-specific injuries in athletes who play one sport especially if they play that same sport as a club outside of GHS,” GHS Athletic Trainer Jason Mason said. “From a medical perspective, it’s the mental burnout and overuse injuries that play a large role in why I would not specialize in a sport, especially at a young age.”
While injuries can happen in every sport, sport-specific injuries from overuse remain a large problem throughout the specialization realm. A reported 50% of middle school and high school sports injuries stem from overuse.
Mason cites that playing multiple sports helps athletes “prevent[] mental burnout” as they provide “less chance[s] of overuse injuries.”
Sports have also been cited as a large contributor to students’ mental health problems. 60% of high school athletes experience stress and anxiety surrounding their athletic performance. These will lead to an increased risk of depression, isolation, and anxiety.
“We find that multisport athletes are more willing to try different things,” Lafata said. “Specialized athletes have their routine and comfort level, and generally don’t leave that as much as a multisport athlete would.”
Athletes who play multiple sports have fewer chances of injury and burnout, alongside having a higher sports IQ and increased abilities for skill transferring.
“All [of my] sports are intertwined in some way,” Olivia Madruga, who is a 3-sport Varsity and 2-time All-Conference athlete, said. At Gloucester High School, Madruga plays field hockey, basketball, and softball. She has also played travel softball for the majority of her career. However, Madruga cites a balanced athletic agenda has helped her throughout her time in the sports industry.
“Playing field hockey has helped me become faster and helped my ability to play-make on the basketball court because I have to be able to look up the field as I control the ball. Playing softball has made my hand-eye coordination better in both field hockey and basketball. Basketball helps to keep me mentally tough which is important in all sports. I am also a lot stronger because of basketball which helps me to throw harder in softball and shoot harder in field hockey.”
Sports organizations around the country have been working against the rise of specialization. The National Football Leauge, alongside other major organizations, has periodically released statements against specialization.
The NFHS also released a statement, stating that they “stress that 4 parents/guardians and coaches should avoid the temptation of encouraging early sports specialization in the false hope of achieving success at the high school varsity level and beyond.”
While chances at increased skill and the allure of scholarships enlighten many athletes, the cons may outweigh the pros. The fall of youth sports leagues around the nation continues to plague the industry, further depleting chances for widespread participation. Personal problems such as burnout, injuries, and mental health challenges can destroy someone’s chances of playing at a higher level.
Sports are an outlet for fun and physical activity, but the competitive nature of specialization is destroying the sports landscape as we know it.
