El discurso de tres entrenadores escolares sobre la iniciación y especialización del baloncesto

Objective: to identify the categories considered ideal for sports initiation, sports specialization and specialization in a field position in basketball. Methods: three semi-structured interviews were conducted with coaches, whose testimonies were analyzed based on the Content Analysis method. Results: from the coaches’ speeches and the interlocution among other authors, it was observed that there is no approach considered ideal among them for sports initiation, early sports specialization is a common concern among them and care should be taken to specialize the athlete in a position due to morphological, biodynamic and pedagogical factors; the coaches' opinion revealed that this specialization should occur between the under-16 and adult teams (categories). Conclusion: the coaches showed concern with aspects related to early specialization, with speeches aligned with the literature on the age group (category) to reduce involvement with other sports.