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By: Dr. Ryan Miller, CMAA - Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School (NJ)
Evidence provided by the NFHS shows that in 2018-2019, 7.9 million high school students participated in high school athletics. The COVID-19 pandemic nullified national data from 2019-2021 for high school sports; however, in 2021-2022, 7.6 million students participated and in 2022-2023 participation rose to 7.8 million. Within New Jersey, the total participation for high school athletics fluctuated from 281,058 in 2018-2019, to 264,139 in 2021-2022, and as of 2022-2023 the total participation levels increased to 272,159. While the pandemic had an impact on participation, the rate of participation is trending upward over the past two years and is expected to continue. The rate of single, double, or triple sport participation is not included within the participation surveys. Single sport participation, whether rising or falling, is based upon a variety of factors. Chief among these factors is the size of the high school. Larger high schools have more students vying for a roster position in comparison to smaller schools. For example, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School had 128 male athletes vying for a maximum of 75 roster spaces in boys soccer, while a local Union County high school had 65 male athletes vying for the same maximum roster spots in boys soccer. Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School has 1,553 students compared to Union County's 657 total students. Given that both high schools offer the same number of sports, the single sport participation is higher at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in large part to the volume of students attempting to participate. Furthermore, students who do not earn a roster spot are often found participating in cross country, track, or tennis, sports without try-outs and roster decisions. In an effort to continually increase participation and limit the process of single sport specialization, parents must receive further education. One of the concerns found within my research was that parents tend to make sports decisions by third or fourth grade; often specializing through travel sport participation in one sport long before the child has even reached puberty. These decisions are often based on discussions with other parents, influence from travel program owners or coaches, and parental desire to see their child succeed in a sport of their choosing. Within the high school system, student athletes' families have already made decisions long before freshman year of high school, which means an athletic administrator who wants to create a change must create an educational program for third and fourth grade parents within their community. According to most research, adult learners, our parents, need a reason to learn and need to be active within that learning. Thus, creating an education plan for adults cannot follow the often-used large group presentation style that might be typical for schools. The recommendation is to create an active-moving small group discussion with field experts connected to the community. Field experts should have experience as a medical doctor, orthopedist, athletic trainer, coach, high school guidance counselor, or athletic administrator. The guidance counselor, coach, and athletic administrator are assumed to be connected; however, selection must be determined based on these experts holding a positive reputation within the community. Many high schools have a single athletic trainer; therefore, the leader must ensure that the athletic trainer understands their role within the discussion and is equally excited to participate. The largest challenge in gathering the experts is the selection of the medical doctor and/or orthopedist. These experts must be willing to meet with parents, share and teach, and must be proximate to the high school. Furthermore, the doctor and/or orthopedist cannot utilize this session as a method to promote their own practice or as a client seeking activity. Once the round table of field experts is selected and accepts the invitation to participate, the researcher should meet with the group to ensure they have knowledge of each other and ensure each field expert understands their role. The basic role of each field expert is to share their stories, expertise, and knowledge regarding their experiences with pediatric and adolescent athletes and athletics. Each field expert should be provided with sample leading questions to help generate thought and provide context for the research. If a college athletic director or college admissions counselor are available, their role would be to explain what traits and activities are most desired by colleges. Invite parents to the active small group discussion and utilize a space that is large enough to hold the attending group. The space should allow for small groups of up to 10 to have discussions and not interrupt the other groups. Upon entry, each attendee can be given an index card with number 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. These cards station the parents for their round of the discussion and should be purposefully designed to separate attendees arriving for the same student. The rationale for the separation of attendees is to provide multiple viewpoints for any family. Once the attendees are welcomed by the leader, position them throughout the cafeteria for the first round of discussions. Each expert provides 8-10 minutes to lead their group and 5-7 minutes for individual attendee questions. Attendees rotate to the next expert at the direction of the leader and move in a clockwise direction. Close the session with a final round of questions and leave time for individual attendees to seek out any field expert they choose. When this event was conducted at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, the field experts agreed that the format was outstanding. There are continued concerns about single sport specialization, and parents have a variety of perspectives. One expert noted, "I think that the smaller group and having kind of just, each individual from their perspective or subspecialty was helpful because not just was (I) able to speak to each individual person and kind of connect with them. But also from their perspective, they were able to focus on just the portion of the subject that was pertinent to that group. I think that was helpful and maybe helped streamline their thought process." The athletic trainer noted, "I feel like they were not informed on my position specifically in the chain of sports related injury. That we were there as a resource." According to the high school coach, one parent claimed, "If I don't train, if I go do something, I had one parent talk about how their son was either in second or third grade, this past year they ended up missing, canceling, a family vacation in the summer because they had travel baseball." The parent further noted that they felt they needed to be in travel baseball to make the high school team. The counselor used a swimming example for the parents that explained to the parents that swimming year-round for multiple clubs and the high school is still only considered one activity for a college resume. Finally, the medical professionals indicated that some of the parents were aware of overuse injuries yet were not taking the steps to prevent the injuries. Attendees related similar responses when asked about their view of the event. The most common themes present from the interviewed participants are best categorized as small group presentations, multiple sport vs. single sport participation, and parental education regarding sports. One parent noted, "It exceeded my expectations. But going into it initially, I was questioning and this is gonna be interesting. Set up. But it exceeded my expectations for this mere fact that it was a small group, it allowed for that more personal, felt like a one-on-one almost, we were allowed to ask questions and engage." Another parent indicated, "Playing multiple sports provides a healthier child while a single sport kid can have more injuries." Parents continued to reiterate that one of the most important concepts that came forth from this small group discussion was the need for either multiple sport participation or at least a season of rest. An additional parent indicated, "The meeting was great for me, I already do this with my kids, but the meeting gave me more confidence in our choices." Participation rates are rising throughout New Jersey and the United States amid a growing crisis of rising rates of single sport specialization. In larger high schools, this may provide more variety of athletes in programs while in smaller schools, programs may be losing sports and/or levels. Establishing a relationship with elementary school parents can have a positive effect on educating parents about sport specialization while generating a strong connection between these families and the athletic department. This style of presentation has a positive level of intimacy that can build positive rapport with the community and provide expert level education for families. Complete research and analysis are available through "I Don't Know What I Don't Know: An Action Research Study Regarding the Impact of Youth Travel/Club Sports on High School Athletic Participation," ISBN # 979-8-3819-7660-1, or by contacting Dr. Ryan D. Miller, CMAA.
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I Know More About Single Sports, Now What? [NIAAA]
