An Analysis of Sports Specialization in NCAA Division I Collegiate Athletics

Background:Youth sports specialization has become more prevalent despite consequences such as increased injury rates and burnout. Young athletes, coaches, and parents continue to have misconceptions about the necessity of sports specialization, giving athletes the encouragement to focus on a single sport at a younger age.Purpose:To characterize the motivations for specialization and determine when elite athletes in various individual and team sports made the decision to specialize.Study Design:Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.Methods:A Likert-style survey was developed and distributed to athletes from two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I institutions. The survey’s Flesch-Kincaid grade level was 6.3. Statistical analysis was performed via the Student t test, where a P value less than .05 was considered significant.Results:A total of 303 athletes with a mean ± SD age of 19.9 ± 1.52 years across 19 sports were surveyed; 94.7% of specialized athletes had previously played ...