Adolescent Athletes and Sport Specialization: A survey study of the determining factors in sport specialization in adolescent athletes
Date of Award
Summer 5-14-2024
Document Type
Non Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Coaching and Athletic Administration
Department
Kinesiology
Abstract
Abstract
My professional industry experience took place at Hill-Murray School. This is a Catholic middle school and high school that houses around 1000 total students in grades 6-12. During the experience I worked under the supervision of the school’s head athletic director, John Pohl. I served largely as middle school athletic director, but helped with high school athletics as needed. Being this was my first experience working in athletic administration, there were a number of goals I had in mind including leadership enhancement, facilities management, budget management, and professional ethics. Additionally, the research portion of the project centered around the negative effects of sport specialization and the determining factors of sport specialization. The reason for this topic is that our school has a high number of athletes that strictly play one sport. Once data was collected, we could use this data to attempt to deter athletes from specializing at Hill-Murray. . The experience allowed me to meet my goals of leadership enhancement, facilities management, budget management, and professional ethics to prepare myself to be a full time athletic director.