Early sport specialization in men's lacrosse: a survey of 158 professional lacrosse athletes

Abstract

<h2>ABSTRACT</h2> <i>Introduction</i>: Across all youth sports, the trend of single sport specialization continues at a concerning pace and often at an increasingly younger age. <i>Objectives</i>: To determine the prevalence of youth single sport specialization among current professional lacrosse athletes. <i>Methods</i>: An online survey was distributed to each athlete of a men's professional lacrosse league. Athletes were asked if they specialized to play lacrosse at the exclusion of other sports. We analyzed the rate and age of early sport specialization, reasons for specialization, and the athlete's perceptions pertaining to this topic. <i>Results</i>: A total of 158 out of 164 athletes completed the survey, for a response rate of 96.3%. Less than one-third, (48/158 = 30.4%) of men's professional lacrosse athletes specialized to play lacrosse at the exclusion of other sports during their childhood/ adolescence. Of the athletes that did specialize, they did so at an average age of 16.5 ± 1.58 years old. Only 2.5% of professional lacrosse athletes specialized prior to the age of 13, with the majority (88.6%) of athletes classifying themselves as "multi-sport" athletes during high school. 96.8% of professional lacrosse athletes would not recommend single sport specialization to their own children. <i>Conclusion</i>: For the professional lacrosse athletes studied, single sport specialization was not necessary to achieve elite status in their sport. The majority of current professional lacrosse athletes were multi-sport athletes in high school. This study adds to the growing body of literature challenging the trend of single sport specialization among current youth athletes.