True-Sport-Report

The first phase is the “sampling years” or
the “romance phase” (ages 6 to 13), during
which children can explore different sports,
learn to love one or more of them, and
achieve some level of success. The second
phase, ages 13 to 15, involves greater
specialization, when the child focuses
more on skills and technical mastery. The
final phase is the “integrative” or “investment”
phase, when the athlete focuses
more intently on performance excellence.
Gould et al. 100 found that parental practices
also develop across these phases and that
among professional tennis players an early
emphasis by parents on fun and enjoyment
and few early expectations of a professional
career were critical.
Without the opportunity to experience
those early phases of sport, with fun and
variety, children are less likely to be motivated
to pursue the 10 years or 10,000
hours of deliberate practice that could lead
them to a “career” in sport. 101 Gould and
Carlson 102 have argued that when parents
“professionalize” children’s sport at early
ages, they deny the opportunity for their
child to love sport for its intrinsic value.
Postman 103 and Suransky 104 write that
singular pursuit of a sport at an early age
can actually have serious psychosocial and
emotional consequences, resulting in the
erosion or disappearance of childhood.
Many sport psychologists believe that the
fact that children are being denied the
opportunity for informal play at sport
denies them the opportunity to learn
problem solving and perseverance—traits
that provide intrinsic rewards. 105 Instead,
children are being forced into professional
models of sport at an early age, where the
focus is on winning and trophies, rather
than on the child’s physical and moral
development.
Wiersma 106 estimates that 98 percent
of athletes who specialize at an early age
will never reach the highest level of the
sport. Early specialization also increases
the likelihood of burnout and withdrawal
from sport. 106 Studies have shown that
there is actually little relationship between
early specialization and later achievement
in a given sport. 107,108 Several researchers
recommend that children avoid sport
specialization before adolescence and
instead participate in less intense and
more diverse activities. 109,110 Rowland
describes overly specialized young athletes
as socially handcuffed. 109 Gould 110 suggests
that even giving such focused children
more autonomy and decisionmaking
opportunities can help ease the strain of
specialization by lessening their feelings
of powerlessness.
Another rising concern is year-round
training in one sport. As early as 1989, 70
percent of high school athletic directors
participating in a survey believed that
specialization was increasing. 111 Pressure
to train year round comes from coaches,
parents, and college recruiters or can
result from societal reward for specialization.
The truth is that specialization at the
appropriate developmental stage can pay
off on the field or in the arena. Hill and
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