Title: “From Sampling to Specializing: Examining Youth Sport Trajectories”
Supervisory Committee: Dr. Shannon Bredin (Research Supervisor), Dr. Joseph Baker (York University), Dr. LeAnne Petherick (Faculty of Education), Dr. Darren Warburton (School of Kinesiology)
University Examiners: Dr. Alex Scott (Faculty of Medicine), Dr. Janet Jamieson (Faculty of Education)
External Examiners: Dr. Nick Holt (University of Alberta) and Professor Dany MacDonald (Univ PEI)
Chair: Dr. Deborah Butler (Faculty of Education)
Abstract:
Background: Youth sport development is often classified into specialized and diversified participation. Diversification is generally advocated before the age of 15 in youth sport development models. However, it has been proposed that there is a gradual shift occurring toward specialization in youth sport such that athletes may be training in a single sport at earlier ages to achieve elite performance. Purpose: The purpose of this collected work was to examine youth athlete development in the context of specialization and diversification in the Canadian province of British Columbia, whereby the analysis includes examining: 1) current content of sport-specific provincial Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) models; 2) self-reported developmental trajectories of youth sport participation in athletes between the ages of 7 and 18 years; 3) the opinions of youth ice hockey players on specialization-diversification, and reflection on their own developmental trajectories; and 4) the parental perceptions of the immediate and long-term impact on their youth athlete’s developmental trajectory during the first six months of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Methods: The research employed qualitative analysis of athlete developmental documents, online questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. Results: The results showed that provincial LTAD models generally promoted athlete diversification throughout the early stages of development; however, the proposed time requirements indicated by the documents may not make it feasible or sustainable for multisport activity. Within the province, it was also shown that parents of youth athletes from a range of sports are reporting multisport participation; however, this multisport participation is often demonstrated by participating in complementary seasonal sports during the traditionally defined off season of their primary sport. When examining athlete’s own opinions of specialization and diversification, results showed that ice hockey players recommended a diversified approach because of its benefits for physical, cognitive, affective, and motor/sport-specific skill development, as well as for social networking. Finally, irrespective of developmental trajectory, short and long-term impacts of COVID-19 increased with the age of athlete. Conclusion: The findings of this research suggest that the content of LTAD models resonates with youth athletes as a large proportion of athletes are attempting to participate in multiple sports throughout the year; however, it is also important to harmonize content and recommendations between provincial LTAD models to support the feasibility of multisport participation. Further, specialization-diversification is not dichotomous, wherein multisport participation may also be characterized by other factors such as seasonal specialization. Youth athletes today are also experiencing unprecedented levels of interruption to their development from the global pandemic, which also raises immediate and long-term concerns for youth athlete development. Understanding this impact is critical to safeguard the developmental trajectories of youth athletes.