Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2021, Sport Management

Sport specialization has become a growing trend in youth athletics, leading many athletes to stray away from competing in multiple sports and instead have a singular focus in one discipline. Research shows reasoning behind specialization include an early start, deliberate practice, pursuit of college athletic scholarships, and an increased skill-level. However, research also indicates that specialization can predispose athletes to a greater risk of physical injury, mental health issues, and has also led to the growth of youth sport business from both a commercial and family financial standpoint. Sport specialization can help an athlete improve skills in there chosen sport but in many cases it is more detrimental than advantageous to an athlete's career than an alternative path, such as sport sampling.

Committee: Jen Parsons (Advisor); Suanne Barthol (Committee Member); John Thistlethwaite (Committee Member) Subjects: Physical Education; Recreation; Sports Management; Sports Medicine

Master of Science in Exercise and Health Studies, Miami University, 2017, Exercise and Health Studies

The purpose of this study was to explore parents' perceptions of sport specialization within the samplings years of Cote's Developmental Model of Sport Participation (Cote, 1999). More specifically, this study explored how parents' perceptions of their perfectionism and parenting styles were related to views of sport specialization in the youth sport context. Participants in this study were comprised of 203 parents of youth sport athletes from the Mid-West. Youth sport athletes were sons or daughters between the ages of 6 and 12 years old participating in ice hockey, figure skating, or swimming. Parents participated in a one-time quantitative collection of data regarding their perceptions of sport specialization, levels of perfectionism, and parenting styles through in-person questionnaires at the beginning or early part of their child's sport season. After completion of the study, data was analyzed according to the study's guiding hypotheses utilizing the IMP SPSS-X software package.

Committee: Melissa Chase (Committee Chair); Robin Vealey (Committee Member); Thelma Horn (Committee Member) Subjects: Kinesiology

Master of Science, Miami University, 2015, Sport Studies

The purpose of this study was to explore interscholastic coaches' and athletes' perceptions of attendance-expectancy for scheduled off-season activities for athletes competing on male and female basketball teams, as well as how those expectations were related to their views of specialization in high school sports and athlete perception of burnout. Additionally, this study examined the level of congruency between coach and athlete perceptions regarding attendance expectations for team off-season activities, and compared these perceptions and their corresponding implications to recommendations for optimized talent development by Cote's Developmental Model of Sport Participation (Cote, Lidor, & Hackfort, 2009). Participants were separated into coach and athlete groups and completed a detailed measure of their perceptions of activity attendance during the eight-month off-season. Results indicated that coaches were likely to report off-season activities as more voluntary than the athlete participants, illuminating the incongruent nature of off-season activity perceptions between these two groups

Committee: Melissa Chase Dr. (Advisor); Thelma Horn Dr. (Committee Member); Robin Vealey Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Kinesiology

Masters in Education, Marietta College, 2008, Education

An emerging perception among high school athletes is the need to specialize in a single sport. This perception may have arisen from pressure to succeed in competition or the lure of a college scholarship. Sources influencing a student-athlete's single dimensional sport choice may include parents, coaches, or the athletes themselves. This researcher has witnessed in his role as a collegiate coach and experienced as a collegiate athlete the effects of sport specialization prior to entering college. While it is quite possible that a young athlete may initially experience huge gains over their competition that may gain favor with college recruiters, the potential for overuse injuries and psychological burnout also exist. This study explored the central phenomenon of why high school athletes choose to specialize in a single sport and examines the benefits and drawbacks to specialization. A mixed method research design will be used. This researcher interviewed student-athletes from Marietta College to measure the impact of single-dimensional sport choice. This study generated themes commonly associated with single-dimensional sport choice. Data was gathered during the 2007-2008 academic year.

Committee: William Bauer (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Physical Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Kinesiology

Youth sport is massive industry that is constantly growing and evolving. One of the more prominent aspects of the current sport environment is attention to athletic prowess and competitive success at a young age. In the pursuit of elite development, many young athletes opt to intensively play a single sport from a young age, known as early sport specialization. While there are positives to early specialization in terms of skills development, research from sport scholars and medical practitioners has reached a growing consensus that considerable physical, psychological, and sociological risk factors accompany sport specialization. As such, organizations such as the International Olympic Committee and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine have released statements with sport participation recommendations, but there is often a lack of adherence to these recommendations (McLeod et al., 2010) or they go unnoticed (Bell et al., 2020; Post et al., 2020). Such a disconnect between scholarly messaging and what is happening in practice demonstrates a research-practice gap. This is phenomenon is not specific to sport specialization, instead, research-practice gaps are lamented across a variety of fields. Evidence-based practice and implementation science are two approaches that work to combat these disconnects and bridge the gap. This study draws on concepts from evidence-based practice and implementation science to assess sport specialization recommendations. A scoping review of early sport specialization and diversification literature was conducted and analyzed using the i-PARIHS framework which posits that successful implementation of an innovation is predicated upon the interactions of recipients, context, and facilitation. In total, 37 articles were extracted from the review search. Findings indicated that sport specialization recommendations are produced from a variety of fields, but physical education and sport medicine were the most prominent. Articl (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Leeann Lower-Hoppe (Advisor); Brian Turner (Committee Member); Catherine Quatman-Yates (Committee Member); Sue Sutherland (Committee Member) Subjects: Kinesiology; Sports Management

Master of Science in Allied Health (MSAH), Otterbein University, 2016, Health and Sport Sciences

There are an increasing number of opportunities for today's youth to participate in year-round sport organizations that promote early sport specialization before the age of fifteen. Early sport specialization is linked to a higher rate of overuse injury of frequently used muscle groups. The physical, mental, and psychological demands of early sport specialization increase likelihood of burnout and cessation of sport participation. Early sport generalization allows physiological and psychological rest and recovery in youth athletes that lead to decreased injury rates and less burnout with more individuals continuing to participate in competitive sports throughout the collegiate years. The purpose of this research was to determine what effect, if any, early sport specialization in youth has on rate of overuse injury and burnout in NCAA Division III athletes at a small, private University. A 12-question, retrospective, written survey classified each participant as an early sport specialist or early sport generalist and gathered information on frequency of overuse injury and development of burnout during the high school and college competitive sport years. Statistical analysis indicated early sport generalists were more likely to participate in competitive collegiate athletics at the NCAA Division III Institution analyzed in this study (71.8%). Early sport specialists were more likely to experience burnout (P = 0.088) and may be more likely to develop overuse injury during the high school years (P = 0.254) but not the college years (P=0.385). It is unknown if early sport specialists are more likely to develop a greater number of overuse injuries throughout their competitive sport career than early sport generalists. Young athletes are encouraged to participate in multiple competitive sports but the results of this research were not statistically significant and further research needs to be done to support these conclusions.

Committee: Kim Fischer Ph.D. (Advisor); Paul Longenecker Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Sciences; Higher Education

Master of Science in Allied Health (MSAH), Otterbein University, 2016, Health and Sport Sciences

There are an increasing number of opportunities for today's youth to participate in year-round sport organizations that promote early sport specialization before the age of fifteen. Early sport specialization is linked to a higher rate of overuse injury of frequently used muscle groups. The physical, mental, and psychological demands of early sport specialization increase likelihood of burnout and cessation of sport participation. Early sport generalization allows physiological and psychological rest and recovery in youth athletes that lead to decreased injury rates and less burnout with more individuals continuing to participate in competitive sports throughout the collegiate years. The purpose of this research was to determine what effect, if any, early sport specialization in youth has on rate of overuse injury and burnout in NCAA Division III athletes at a small, private University. A 12-question, retrospective, written survey classified each participant as an early sport specialist or early sport generalist and gathered information on frequency of overuse injury and development of burnout during the high school and college competitive sport years. Statistical analysis indicated early sport generalists were more likely to participate in competitive collegiate athletics at the NCAA Division III Institution analyzed in this study (71.8%). Early sport specialists were more likely to experience burnout (P = 0.088) and may be more likely to develop overuse injury during the high school years (P = 0.254) but not the college years (P=0.385). It is unknown if early sport specialists are more likely to develop a greater number of overuse injuries throughout their competitive sport career than early sport generalists. Young athletes are encouraged to participate in multiple competitive sports but the results of this research were not statistically significant and further research needs to be done to support these conclusions.

Committee: Kim Fischer Dr. (Advisor); Paul Longenecker Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Health; Health Sciences; Recreation