Playing basketball is fun for children and help them grow and develop into well-rounded adults. However, experts in sports discourage specializing in one sport for young children. Playing multiple sports including basketball help children to develop new skills and make new friends. Taking multiple sports doesn’t make children fall behind in their studies. Multiple sports help build the foundation for future sports.
Scientific studies have shown that specializing in a sport early on doesn’t help in the production of the elite-level performance. Experimenting with multiple sports in childhood gives young athletes the chance to find the sport that fits them the best. Some of the key benefits of sport sampling include:
- Taking part in sports for a prolonged time.
- More fun and positive experiences in childhood.
- It enables healthy psychological, physical, and social development.
- It enables the transfer of skills acquired from multiple sports to the sport they choose to specialize in later.
Studies have shown that early specialization in a single sport including basketball may negatively affect elite performance in the long-term. Most world-class elite basketball players delayed specializing in a single sport until they were 16 years old and above.
Basketball is a great game loved by millions of people in the U.S and around the world. When the youth play basketball, it helps them foster peer relationships, develop healthy self-esteem, leadership qualities, and physical health. However, having children specialize in the sport early on is not a good idea. Athletes that attain a higher level of achievement are more likely to have played several sports at a young age compared to those with mediocre levels of achievements.
