high School athletes should play multiple sports to reduce the challenges associated with sport specialization

high School athletes should play multiple sports to reduce the challenges associated with sport specialization

Participating in sports is a vital element in the life of students while in high school. Sports occur outside the class but supplement or reinforce learning activities in the same way. Sporting activities allow the students to refresh their minds after busy academic sessions. Sports provide high school students with a lot of essential and interesting experiences outside the class. They facilitate the recognition of the talents and strengths of the students outside academics. Also, sports are critical since they allow the students to develop good organization and time management skills as they are required to balance their time between sports and academics. Sporting activities give the students the chance to create a good relationship with people from the different groups participating in sports. Some high school students have sport specialization whereby they only participate in one sport while other athletes participate in various sports in their high school life. Sport specialization is associated with multiple challenges in the lives of participating high school students. It leads to overuse injuries in the ankles, knees, feet, and hips, which reduce the athletic career of the students. Also, sport specialization increases the incidence of burnout, which makes it hard for students to remain active in sports in their adulthood. This paper proposes that high School athletes should play multiple sports to reduce the challenges associated with sport specialization.

High school athletes who participate in a single sport have greater incidences of injuries that are related to games. High school students who have been involved in the early specialization of sports have more cases of injuries. The most common injuries in students who play one sport are knee, feet, hips, and ankle injuries. According to Confino et al. (2019), participating in a single sports overuse and strain a single muscle which leads to injury. Therefore, taking part in multiple sports will reduce the chances of high school athletes developing these types of injuries. A research by Buckley et al. (2017) compares specialization in one sport by professional athletes, collegiate, and high schools to the period and rate of specialization. The results of the study indicate that young players have higher incidences of injuries related to sports. Teachers and other stakeholders should support multiple sports in high school to reduce these injuries. The article also confirms that there is a significant increase in the sports specialization of the high school students at an early. The substantial increase in sport specialization will mean that more students will be exposed to the danger of getting injuries related to sports. Encouraging students to participate in more than one sport will help in solving this issue.

Participating in multiple sports will reduce burnouts among high school students. High school students who participate in more than one sports have higher chances of continuing with the sporting activities over a long time in their life. The athletes who participate in a single sport face burnout, which makes it hard for them to remain active in that sport in their adulthood. The burnout in the students who participate in single sport reduces the sporting career of these individuals. A study by Confino et al. (2019) enlightens individuals on the advantages of participating in various sports as a way of preventing injuries and burnouts. The study works on the hypothesis that high school athletes who participate in more than one sport have fewer injuries and longer careers. The findings of the study indicate that the high school athletes who participate in single sports have more injuries and shorter careers than those who participate in various sports. The high school students who take part in multiple sports can get different experiences from various sports, which reduces burnout. As a result, they will be able to engage in sporting activities for an extended period.

High school students are influenced to participate in one sport due to the misconceptions about its importance. The athletes in high schools get incorrect ideas and opinions that single sport has many benefits related to it. For example, such incorrect ideas may come from the teachers and parents, which may influence the decision of high school athletes to join a single sport. In reality, these ideas are not true since single sport among the high school athletes is related to various shortcomings, including burnouts and injuries of the participants. An article by Swindell et al. (2019) aimed at determining the motivating factors that make the high school students take part in a single sport. The article works on the hypothesis that misconceptions that are associated with the necessities of sport specialization of students in their early life influence their decisions. The study concludes that collegiate and professional goals act as the motivating factor of sport specialization among the high school athletes. Therefore, high school students should get the appropriate motivation to avoid sports specialization and take part in various sports.

However, there is a counter idea of the challenges related to sport specialization among high school athletes. The idea criticizes the point that sport specialization has adverse impacts on high school athletes. On the contrary, the idea suggests that sport specialization has various advantages to high school students. Sports specialization can allow the high school athletes to create strong skills in that particular sport, which will lead to competent professionals in the coming days. A study by Schneider et al. (2017) claims that athletes can get various advantages from sports specialization. The article concludes that proper preparation and sport specialization can have a significant reduction in burnouts and injuries of the high school athletes. The single sport will reduce burnout in the sense that the athletes will have a positive attitude towards that particular sport, which will allow them to have a long career. Injuries will reduce because continuous participation in a single sport will lead to the proper development of the muscles.

Conclusion

Sports are an essential part of the students while in high school. Some high school students have sport specialization whereby they only participate in a single sport while others participate in various sports in their high school life. Single sport is associated with multiple challenges on the athletes. Participating in various sports will help the athletes avoid the problems related to sport specialization. Various sports will help students avoid burnouts and injuries. Misconceptions about the importance of sport specialization influence the athletes’ decision to participate in a single sport.

References

Buckley et al. (2017). Early single-sport specialization: a survey of 3090 high school, collegiate, and professional athletes. Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 5(7), 2325967117703944. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2325967117703944

Confino et al. (2019).Early sports specialization is associated with upper extremity injuries in throwers, and fewer games played in major league baseball. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 7(7), 2325967119861101. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2325967119861101

Schneider et al. (2017). Early Sports Specialization: An International Perspective. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 16(6), 439-442. Retrieved from http://eprints.brighton.ac.uk/17591/1/Early%20Sports%20Specialization_FIMS_FINAL_clean.pdf

Swindell et al. (2019). An analysis of sports specialization in NCAA Division I collegiate athletics. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 7(1):232596711882117. Retrieved from https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/eds/detail?vid=5&sid= 44d15743 -212f-492d-97f6-71c0624023b2%40 sissionmgr4006&bdataJnNpdGU9Z WRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=30729145&db=mdc