I am sure many people will agree that there are a lot of benefits from letting your son or daughter participate in multiple sports. Developing numerous motor skills, meeting new friends and learning valuable social skills along the way. But what if your child develops a liking or excels in one particular sport, would it be wise to drop those other sports to focus on that one sport at an early age?
If you asked me that question 10 years ago I would probably have given an emphatic yes! But after leaving an environment that selected young male players from as young as 5/6 years old to join an elite program specialising in a specific sport to spend 5 years in the USA my view has changed significantly since my return to the UK.
sport specific too early
Since returning back to the UK and running coaching programs and providing CPD for premier league academies and football associations I was alarmed at the lack certain motor skills missing from so called elite players that was in such abundance in USA.
In the USA I tried to convince parents and players that if they wanted to become as good as they can be in one particular sport (soccer) they should stop all the other sport and commit entirely to a soccer program. They did not listen thank god! although they did commit more time to the program they never deserted those other sports.
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