When should my child specialize in one sport?

The framework says there are right and wrong times to specialize, and it depends on the sport. Specializing too early may limit a child's development and success at older ages; specializing too late may miss key developmental opportunities.

Except in early specialization sports (gymnastics, figure skating and diving), athletes should not over-specialize until their early teens. Before that they should take part in a wide range of sports and activities to build a high level of physical literacy and well-rounded sport skills.

The Learn to Train stage (boys from about 9, girls from about 8, to the onset of the adolescent growth spurt) says to build fundamental skills in a wide range of sports and activities and to avoid early over-specialization. Its activity summary shows the year split roughly equally across three sports. The framework also says systems and metrics should not push leaders and coaches to favour earlier and more intense specialization, particularly playing a single sport year-round.

Source: Sport for Life, Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity 3.0 (2019): https://sportforlife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Long-Term-Development-in-Sport-and-Physical-Activity-3.0.pdf