Sport Diversity - The Application Behind The Theory

By Brian Grasso

Multilateral development is a theory which urges young athletes to participate in several sports over their childhood and adolescent periods prior to specializing in one. The basis is that varied athletic stimulus will serve to broaden the youngsters' 'warehouse' or 'portfolio' of general athletic ability and develop a thorough or expansive base on which to build and eventually specialize. While the concepts are well known and the research citing success far reaching, it is still not an embraced reality within North American youth sports.

By examining elite athletics, you can most certainly see the impact that multilateral development can have -

• Michael Jordan - played baseball and football as a youth

• Dave Winfield - a multi-sport phenomenon drafted by the NBA in addition to MLB

• Gary Roberts - an esteemed NHL veteran, played lacrosse at a high level as a youth

• Kurt Browning - 4-time world figure skating champion was an avid hockey and baseball player

While these are just a few examples, the reality is that elite athletics is dominated by individuals who participated in more than one sport as kids. By no means am I suggesting that excelling in more than one sport is important, but actively participating in a variety of athletic endeavors as you grow physiologically and psychologically is key. These realities extend beyond just developing good athletic ability. In fact, one of the problems I've encountered and often explained to parents and coaches in youth training seminars is that there is more than just a physical burn-out associated with specialized sporting endeavors.

The obvious key is that specialization will result in a decreased amount of overall athletic ability which will inevitably become a hindrance as young athletes mature.  In my experience, the athletes with the most diverse athletic history are often better equipped to learn and develop skills at the higher ends of a given sport once specialization has been determined.  Above and beyond that however, there is also a mental stimulation component to athletic development.  If baseball is a 12 month sport, for example, at what point does a 9 year old begin to lose interest?

To answer that question, just think about the average 9 year olds attention span in general. That's not to say that your 9 year old isn't truly enjoying every second of playing baseball throughout the year, but inevitably, he will be 'enjoying' the game and 'focusing' on it more at certain points and less at others - that's the nature of being a kid. It's in these down times that bad and lazy habits can be developed. Keeping a youngster truly energized and excited about playing and learning new skills is a key component to athletic development that is very often overlooked.

Another overlooked feature of why multilateral development remains the best option for young people is the tactical aspects associated with sport. Even if your son engages in numerous other informal modes of athletic stimulus, he is only being truly challenged with the tactics and game speed of baseball. Baseball is a notoriously slow game, especially at the youth level. Developing optimal 'quick-wittedness' and 'game smarts' may best be done via participation is several sports. My point here is that the arguments either for or against multilateral development are typically waged on the physical spectrum. In reality, the successful development of a young athlete is also heavily influenced by items such as mental and emotional perspicacity and tactical (sporting) smarts.

Developmental strategies work.

Brian Grasso is considered one of the premier experts on youth athletic development in the world. Over the past decade, Brian has held several highly esteemed positions in the youth sporting industry. He served as a Conditioning Coach and later Director of Football Development for the well-regarded High Performance Specialists in Toronto and also spent two years as Director of Conditioning for SportScience International. Additionally, Brian served as Director of Operations for the International Sport Performance Center in Crystal Lake, Illinois. He is also former Director of Athlete Development for The Sports Academy Northwest. Brian founded and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer for the International Youth Conditioning Association, which is an educational entity certifying Trainers and Coaches as Youth Conditioning Specialists (YCS) worldwide.

A well-known, respected and outspoken leader in the youth athletic development industry, Brian has written feature articles for sport training magazines throughout North America including Men's Fitness, Men's Health, SportingKid, American Track & Field and Personal Fitness Professional. Brian also contributes to the monthly British sport training publication, Successful Coaching.