Clement 1

Haylie Clement
Mr. Hackney
English 101 Rhetoric
8 October 2014
Specialization
Society is extremely competitive with sports. In order to succeed, it is almost crucial to
join a travel or club team as a child in order to increase their level of performance. Majority will
spend time and money in pursuing one sport. This choice of specialization, however, is not as
beneficial as one may think. In a New York Times article, Sports Should Be Childs Play by
David Epstein, the author uses statistics and imagery in order to argue that specializing in a sport
at a young age is dangerous and counterproductive.
Statistics, such as the amount of injuries to a child, amplifies the dangers of focusing on
one specific activity at a young age. In a research study at Loyola University in Chicago, the
author found dangerous results in specialization. Epstein states that kids in the study who were
highly specialized had a 36 percent increased risk of suffering a serious overuse injury. In other
words, the children who specialized were overworking their bodies so much in one sport, that
they had a greater risk for injury. When kids are focused in on one activity, the skills are
repeated and redundant. The most known injuries have been stress fractures, torn cartilages, and
sprained ankles. The safety of adolescents needs to be taken into account due to the amount of
injuries and surgeries done at such young age.
Although these dangers are important, statistics from college athletes show specializing at
a young age is also counterproductive. Those who choose to focus on one particular sport early,
are less a scholarship for sports in college. For example, a research study at U.C.L.A. presented

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in Epsteins argument stated that those who had full scholarships specialized on average at age
15.4, whereas U.C.L.A. undergrads who played sports in high school, but did not make the
intercollegiate level, specialized at 14.2. To further explain, those who are playing sports at the
collegiate level did not focus on one sport until later in their athletic career. Specializing early is
counterproductive because kids will not be able to build on their strengths and weaknesses the
same as they would in multiple sport skills.
Imagery of playing different sports to help master skills, illustrates the
counterproductivity of specializing at a young age. A child that is involved in more than just one
specific sports are able to gain skills whereas those in one activity are limited to only their own
game. The author visualizes the games of field hockey and basketball. Even though the two
sports are not alike, Epstein suggests that kids who play multiple attacking sports, like
basketball or field hockey, transfer learned motor and anticipatory skills the unconscious
ability to read bodies and game situations to other sports. With this, kids would take less
time to master the sport they ultimately choose due to the high skill level taken from different
sports. The more involved one is, the more productive one will be at gaining insight and skills.
In Sports Should Be Childs Play, David Epstein utilizes statistics and imagery to
successfully prove specialization in sports at a young age is not productive and dangerous. Stats
such as the amount of surgeries from the body being overworked are a dangerous aspect of
specializing. On the other hand, statistics of success rates and imagery of skills provide evidence
that a narrow focus is not as beneficial. Children should be participating in more than one sport
to build up their athleticism and skill level. With this, they are able to achieve in one sport at
their full potential when it matters, instead of peaking at their greatest early.

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Works Cited
Epstein, David. "Sports Should Be Child's Play." New York Times. The New York Times
Company, n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.

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