ABSTRACT

The examination of youth sport specialization and athlete participation pathways have been sustained lines of inquiry among multiple branches of the sport sciences. The common consensus in scholarly and practical circles indicates that intensive specialization – particularly at an early age – is a maladaptive pattern of participation that presents risks to an athlete’s physical and psychosocial development. Despite these words of caution, a considerable proportion of athletes continue to engage in specialized participation in contemporary sport settings. To better address this disconnect, this article argues for a reconceptualization of the lens by which sport specialization is studied to better understand the participation pathway process: Specifically, use of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological Person-Process-Context-Time (PPCT) Model. The major tenets and assumptions of this framework are first overviewed in a broad sense, leading into a specific critique and analysis of the sport specialization literature as applied to this model. Finally, three guiding recommendations for encompassing a more ecological, practical approach to examining this phenomenon in future research are offered.

摘要

青年体育专业化和运动员参与途径的检查一直是体育科学多个分支的持续调查线。学术界和实践界的普遍共识表明，强化专业化——尤其是在幼年时期——是一种适应不良的参与模式，会给运动员的身体和社会心理发展带来风险。尽管有这些警告，仍有相当一部分运动员继续专业参与当代体育运动。为了更好地解决这种脱节，本文主张重新概念化研究运动专业化的镜头，以更好地理解参与途径过程：具体而言，使用 Bronfenbrenner 的生态人-过程-上下文-时间 (PPCT) 模型。该框架的主要原则和假设首先在广义上进行了概述，从而对应用于该模型的体育专业化文献进行了具体的批评和分析。最后，提出了三项指导性建议，以在未来的研究中采用更生态、更实用的方法来检查这种现象。