Ryan is joined by Dr. Lenny Wiersma from California State University, Fullerton’s Department of Kinesiology for a conversation about sport specialization.
Sport specialization can be a divisive topic in the United States. On one side people feel like it’s the best route towards becoming an elite athlete or being able to play in University and on the other they feel like playing multiple sports allow for a more well-rounded athlete and ultimately more successful at one sport. The truth is that it’s not so simple as to say kids should play one sport or multiple, a lot of consideration has to go into those conversations. I sat down with Professor Wiersma to talk about the benefits and drawbacks of both specialization and diversification and talked about some of the barriers that our youth development systems have created that make the conversation even more difficult.
Check out some of the resources that Dr. Wiersma mentions in the episode below:
Read the episode blog post.
Guest Info
Lenny Wiersma, PhD
Dr. Lenny Wiersma is a Professor of Sport Psychology in the Department of Kinesiology at California State University, Fullerton, where he has taught since 2001. He is the Director of the Performance Psychology Lab at CSUF and has conducted research and/or worked with a variety of extreme sport athletes including big-wave surfers, ultramarathon runners and cyclists, Crossfit Games athletes, and UFC fighters. He is currently on the staff of UCLA Men’s and Women’s Water Polo teams as a sport psychology consultant as well as USA Swimming’s National Team, specializing in Open Water. He serves on the editorial board of The Sport Psychologist, is a former Associate Editor for Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, and was the Co-Director of the Center for the Advancement of Responsible Youth Sport at CSUF from 2001-2014. He received his masters and doctorate degrees in Sport Psychology from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts and his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. In his spare time he engages in outdoor pursuits with his yellow lab (Maverick), enjoys photography, surfing, and backpacking, and is a long-time volunteer in the Child Life department at CHOC Children’s Hospital of Orange County.