Athletic Trainer’s Corner- March 2020

RAISING BETTER ATHLETES

            There has been an ongoing debating on whether or not young athletes should be playing one sport or multiple. If playing only one, the athlete is at higher risk of overuse injuries, but they will have a higher chance of becoming elite or professional. If they do multiple sports it could expose them to different injuries, but they can become an overall athlete. So, what is the best method for our kids?

            We don’t ever want them to be more at risk for injury and we want them to be able to go as far as they can in their main sport. Studies have shown that it is actually more harmful for your athlete to specialize early in a sport because it can hinder their overall development as an athlete.^1,2 Overuse injuries are painful and can last for a long time—rest is the best regimen but rarely is it truly done.² Early specialization can also hinder your athlete mentally in putting them more at risk of burnout or dropout.¹ Because of this, participating in various sports can be very beneficial in the growth of that athlete. It allows the adolescent and young athletes to strengthen different muscles, increase balance and motor skills, challenge the mind, and increase their fitness.¹ When your athlete advances in this way, it can actually reduce their risk of injury because the body is developing as a whole.²

            With this though, comes a challenge. If your child plays for a high-level club team, typically it is a year-round commitment. If you add playing on other sports teams within that year, you’ve got an exhausted child and family, which can hinder other areas in life. How can this be combated? Well, no matter what the sport is, there is always a time of “off-season.” This is when the team is not competing in league competitions and the practice schedule is either completely off or lighter. During this time your athlete can go and take time off from their club team and play for another sport’s team (i.e. school sports team). Communication with your child and their coaches can be a great way to help balance this out. Seattle United coaches are very understanding and focus on the athlete as a whole, not just as a soccer player. If the coach knows about their participation in other sports, they can help work with you during this off-season time.¹

However, what we have to be careful with is having our kids participate in multiple sports and not having any rest time. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, rest is very important in the development of your child as an athlete but also as a person. While every athlete is different, a good place to start for how much rest is necessary is allowing at least 2 days of rest per week.¹ This can be split up to one complete rest day and one recovery day, meaning your child would be able to perform light activity. Just make sure that there are no training sessions or games in any sport during these rest and recovery days!¹ The rest will help to reduce your child’s risk for injuries and also mitigate burnout.

            Worried your child will lose valuable training and skill development playing in a different sport? Most professional athletes have actually played various sports competitively before becoming pro and really credit the variety in helping them become more of an overall athlete.³ Athletes such as Abby Wambach, Michael Jordan, Megan Rapinoe, and Russell Wilson all played more than one sport in high school and/or in college. Some of them even went on to play professionally in their secondary sport! They attest to it not only decreasing the risk of burnout, but also there are skills that can actually overlap.³

            Recently, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, or the NATA, has come out with recommendations on how to balance sport specialization.¹ I have attached a link to this post if you would like to read more about these recommendations.

Seattle United’s Athletic Trainer

Jasmin Ayala, MS, ATC-L/R

References:

1. https://www.nata.org/sites/default/files/youth_sports_specialization_recommendations.pdf

2. https://natajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.4085/1062-6050-46.2.206

3. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/kyler-murray-the-latest-example-of-why-kids-should-play-multiple-sports/