Early Sport Specialization in Youth Athletics:
How to Balance Sport Advancement While Limiting Injury Risk

AOSSM's STOP (Sports Trauma and Overuse Prevention) Sports Injuries is proud to announce the “Early Sport Specialization in Youth Athletics: How to Balance Sport Advancement While Limiting Injury Risk” webinar. Moderator, Patrick S. Buckley, MD and speakers Catherine Logan, MD, MSPT, Mininder Kocher, MD, MPH, and Ken Fine, MD examine the growing trend of early youth single sport specialization.

Many parents, coaches, and athletes believe that the path to elite level success in their sport is to focus on that sport at the exclusion of other sports at a young age. Certainly, youth sport participation is beneficial to the physical and mental health of the athlete. However, as providers, we often see the result of over sport specialization in the form of overuse injuries and youth burnout. In this webinar we examine the evidence pertaining to single sport specialization, discuss alternative approaches to youth sport participation, and provide the audience with strategies to discuss this topic in the office with your patients.

Faculty and topics:

• Moderator: Patrick S. Buckley, MD
• Catherine Logan, MD, MSPT: “Early Sport Specialization in 2021: Definition, Epidemiology, landscape of Current Youth Athletics”
• Mininder Kocher, MD, MPH: “Early Sports Specialization’s Connection to Injury Risk and Future Sport Advancement”
• Ken Fine, MD:  “Finding the Balance: How I Discuss Early Sport Specialization in the Office”
  
  

At the conclusion of this webinar, the learner will be able to:

1. Understand the challenge of single sport specialization, the definition of an over specialized athlete, and introduce the topic of sport sampling.
2. Review the evidence pertaining to single sport specialization, the link to injury risk, and data pertaining to sport advancement following specialization.
3. Discuss alternative ways to encourage sport advancement and involvement while limiting injury risk.
4. Discuss tips for facilitating a conversation with your patients and families surrounding this topic to both encourage healthy sport participation but also ensure a realization of the risks of over-specialization at a young age.