A Comparison of Team Sport Volume Surveyed Between High School and Club Sport Coaches

Abstract

Background: Club sport participation is increasingly common among high school athletes. Sport participation characteristics may vary widely between the high school and club sport settings. However, there have been no large-scale comparisons of sport participation volume between high school and club teams from similar sports. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to compare the sport participation characteristics of high school and high school–aged club teams. We hypothesized that club team athletes would participate in more months per year and hours per week and would take more overnight trips than high school athletes and that club team coaches would be less likely to track their athletes’ sport volume than high school coaches. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: A total of 769 coaches (266 female; 34.6%) from 3 sports (basketball, volleyball, soccer) completed an anonymous online questionnaire regarding their team’s sport volume and their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding sport specialization. Coaches were eligible to participate if they had served as the head or assistant coach of a high school sport team or high school–aged club sport team in the past 12 months. Results: Overall, 64.6% (n = 497) were coaches of a high school team, and 35.4% (n = 272) were coaches of a club team with high school–aged athletes. Club coaches’ teams played more months out of the year and took more overnight trips for competitions than high school coaches’ teams but participated in fewer hours per week of practices or competitions during their season. There were no differences between club and high school coaches in tracking their athletes’ sport volume, with most coaches in both settings reporting that they do not track the amount of time that their athletes participate in other sports. Conclusion: Significant differences in sport participation volume exist between the teams of high school and club coaches.

Early Sport Specialization

“…Tennis, swimming and diving, and fencing had the youngest mean ages of specialization (11.6, 12.4, and 12.8 years, respectively), while lacrosse, football, and field hockey had the oldest mean ages (17.2, 17.2, and 16.8 years). While not directly examining early sport specialization prior to the age of 12 years, a study of 343 NCAA Division-I athletes reported similar results, with 16.9% (58) of 343 athletes who reported specializing in their sport by their freshman year of high school 39 . The most common reasons cited for specializing were personal interest, potential scholarship opportunities, and skill level.…”

“…Therefore, individual coaches can adhere to the Pitch Smart pitch volume guidelines for all of the players on their team, while those players still accumulate excessive pitching volume overall because of their participation on multiple teams and in talent showcases 57 . Similarly, coaches from other sports have reported that while they monitor the sport volume of the athletes on their team, they do not have an effective method for tracking their athletes’ participation on other teams 58 . The rise of club sport teams, in which participants pay fees in order to participate on the team and in exclusive tournaments or showcases, has introduced a substantial financial conflict of interest that encourages year-round sport participation and increased sport participation volume 45 .…”