When Lewis-Palmer football coach and P.E. teacher Dustin Tupper was in high school he played football, wrestled and ran track. He wasn’t the only one. Playing just one sport was relatively unheard of, and the three-sport athlete reigned supreme. Now it is nearing extinction.
As athletes begin to focus on a single sport at a young age, problems emerge. According to a new study by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, while not the only problem, this is one of the biggest issues facing youth athletes today. Playing one sport for multiple seasons can lead to over-activity, injury, lack of rest, and even burnout.
The problems associated with specialization are nothing new, and high school athletic departments have been battling them for years.
“We noticed an issue just as a school and a culture that your three-sport athlete was dying there,” Tupper said. “Our school came up with a white letter for three-sport lettermen because we do believe it’s healthy to switch sports. If you play year-round, you are likely to get hurt.”
Tupper said there are only a handful of kids at Lewis-Palmer who play three sports, and the school hopes that increased recognition for three-sport athletes will help their numbers grow.
Convincing kids, and their parents, that playing multiple sports is beneficial is much easier said than done.
In the era of AAU and club sports, young athletes are encouraged to pick a sport, and stick to it in order to earn college scholarships.
“Less than 3 percent receive a college scholarship,” Tupper said. “Collegiate athletics are awesome. I played collegiate. But the odds are stacked against them.”
Harrison athletic director Dave Hogan said parents tend to be the hardest sell. Some of them believe playing too many sports can lead to injury, when in fact, playing too much of one sport is far worse.
“Parents fear that kids will get hurt, or won’t play at the next level and will risk getting a scholarship,” he said. “They don’t realize that specialization is even more risky in terms of injury.”
Like Lewis-Palmer, Harrison tries to encourage the three-sport athlete. Every year, the school awards college scholarship money to a senior who has played three sports for four years.
Specialization not only impacts young athletes physically, but mentally as well.
“I wish there wasn’t so much focus on sport specific,” Hogan said. “When they put so much into one sport and something happens to where they don’t reach the level they want, young athletes don’t handle that well. It can be much harder on them emotionally.”
This is where the changing culture of high school athletics is most damaging, he says. It focuses only on athletic achievement and not on the whole person.
“Nutrition, mind, body and spirit need to all be the focus,” he said. “Along with being a good teammate. Those are all forgotten components of this.”
Achievement is always going to be at the core of athletics, but the fun element is being drained from them, and now it’s all business.
“A seriousness is healthy, but there is a tipping point,” Tupper said. “(As a coach) my goal is to win games, and nobody likes losing. We are trying to win games, but at the same time I want to do that without sacrificing the well-being of the kids.”
