Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-11-2024
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Public Policy Leadership
First Advisor
Zachary Vereb
Second Advisor
Laura Prior
Third Advisor
Kris Brasher
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Whereas youth sports in the United States were once commonly funded by local or state park and recreation commissions, current commercialization trends within the industry have caused youth sports to become increasingly commodified. Now, youth sports use private pay-to-play, or “competitive” sports models. Attempting to maintain a competitive advantage over their peers and further their athletic pursuits in this context, more youth now seek to specialize in their respective sports. When youth specialize, they focus their participation on a single sport for most of the year, which interferes with their participation in other sports and activities. This thesis explores neglected ethical problems with youth specialization from the philosophical vantage of sports ethics. My thesis is that youth sports specialization, as it is currently practiced in the United States, is morally unacceptable. To make my case, I explore the physical, psychological, and social harms youth athletes commonly face when they specialize. I employ a pluralistic approach that relies on common ethical principles from bioethics and sports ethics to argue that specialization violates these principles. Lastly, I outline policy prescriptions aimed at making youth sports specialization more ethical in the future. More specifically, I look to international models to suggest means of reform, such as mental health screenings, financial assistance, and continuing education requirements for coaches and related authority figures. This thesis aims to motivate further research into the practical dimensions of these prescriptions so that they can be made more feasible and effective in an American context.
Recommended Citation
Bohannon, Caleb, "An Ethical Analysis of Sports Specialization and the Harms it Poses to Youth Athletes" (2024). Honors Theses. 3070.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3070
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