Study: Single-Sport Athletes Injured More
November 3, 2016
A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and funded by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Foundation revealed that high school athletes who specialize in a single sport sustain lower-extremity injuries at significantly higher rates than athletes who do not specialize in one sport.
The study was conducted throughout the 2015-16 school year at 29 high schools in Wisconsin involving more than 1,500 student-athletes equally divided between male and female participants. The schools involved in the study represented a mixture of rural (14), suburban (12) and urban (3) areas, and enrollments were equally diverse with 10 small schools (less than 500 students), 10 medium schools (501-1,000 students) and nine large schools (more than 1,000 students).
Athletes who specialized in one sport were twice as likely to report previously sustaining a lower-extremity injury while participating in sports (46%) than athletes who did not specialize (24%). In addition, specialized athletes sustained 60 percent more new lower-extremity injuries during the study than athletes who did not specialize. Lower-extremity injuries were defined as any acute, gradual, recurrent or repetitive-use injury to the lower musculoskeletal system.
“While we have long believed that sport specialization by high school athletes leads to an increased risk of overuse injury, this study confirms those beliefs about the potential risks of sport specialization,” said Bob Gardner, NFHS executive director. “Coaches, parents and student-athletes need to be aware of the injury risks involved with an overemphasis in a single sport.”
Among those who reported previously sustaining a lower-extremity injury, the areas of the body injured most often were the ankle (43%) and knee (23%). The most common types of previous injuries were ligament sprains (51%) and muscle/tendon strains (20%).
New injuries during the year-long study occurred most often to the ankle (34%), knee (25%) and upper leg (13%), with the most common injuries being ligament sprains (41%), muscle/tendon strains (25%) and tendonitis (20%).
In addition, specialized athletes were twice as likely to sustain a gradual onset/repetitive-use injury than athletes who did not specialize, and those who specialized were more likely to sustain an injury even when controlling for gender, grade, previous injury status and sport.
Thirty-four (34) percent of the student-athletes involved in the Wisconsin study specialized in one sport, with females (41%) more likely to specialize than males (28%). Soccer had the highest level of specialization for both males (45%) and females (49%). After soccer, the rate of specialization for females was highest for softball (45%), volleyball (43%) and basketball (37%). The top specialization sports for males after soccer were basketball (37%), tennis (33%) and wrestling (29%).
The study, which was directed by Timothy McGuine, Ph.D., ATC, of the University of Wisconsin, also documented the effects of concurrent sport participation (participating in an interscholastic sport while simultaneously participating in an out-of-school club sport), which indicated further risk of athletes sustaining lower-extremity injuries.
Almost 50 percent of the student-athletes involved in the survey indicated they participated on a club team outside the school setting, and 15 percent of those individuals did so while simultaneously competing in a different sport within the school. Seventeen (17) percent of the student-athletes indicated that they took part in 60 or more primary sport competitions (school and club) in a single year. Among those student-athletes in this group who sustained new lower-extremity injuries during the year, 27 percent were athletes who specialized in one sport.
The student-athletes involved in the study were deemed “specialized” if they answered “yes” to at least four of the following six questions: 1) Do you train more than 75 percent of the time in your primary sport?; 2) Do you train to improve skill and miss time with friends as a result?; 3) Have you quit another sport to focus on one sport?; 4) Do you consider your primary sport more important than your other sports?; 5) Do you regularly travel out of state for your primary sport?; 6) Do you train more than eight months a year in your primary sport?
Although some sports (field hockey, lacrosse) are not offered in Wisconsin and were not included in the study, the study concluded that since specialization increased the risk of lower-extremity injuries in sports involved in the survey it would also likely increase the risk of injuries in sports that were not a part of the study.
Gordon to Receive MHSAA Hampton Award for Championing Unified Sports
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 11, 2026
As athletic director at Novi High School a decade ago, Brian Gordon helped Michigan become a national leader in growing Special Olympics Unified Sports for students with intellectual disabilities. Nearly three years after retiring from school administration, he remains an impassioned advocate helping schools all over the state add these inclusive programs to their athletic offerings.
To recognize his pioneering and now continuing work in expanding these opportunities across the state, Gordon has been selected as the recipient of this year’s Nate Hampton Champion of Progress in Athletics Award by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
The Hampton Award was created by the MHSAA’s Representative Council to honor Nate Hampton, who retired in 2021 after serving in education and educational athletics for 50 years, including the last 32 as an MHSAA assistant director. Honorees have championed the promotion and advancement of opportunities for women, minorities and other underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, while serving as an administrator, coach, official, educator or school sports leader in Michigan.
Gordon will receive the Hampton Award during the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) annual conference, March 13-16 in Traverse City.
“To me, (Unified Sports) is absolutely the purest form of sport – what you’re supposed to get out of participating in athletics. Kids that participate in this program get every bit of that – teamwork, camaraderie, adversity, how to win, how to lose, being part of something bigger than yourself. It was, to me, just so impactful,” Gordon said. “The whole idea of more kids being involved in their athletic program, where they have the opportunity to play in front of their parents, being members of an athletic department at their school, to me was just incredible. … And the life lessons that kids learn, families learn, you can’t even measure them.
“It’s just a great, positive experience – for everyone.”
Gordon began his professional career in educational athletics in 1990 as a physical education and health teacher for Royal Oak Schools, and moved into his first athletic director/assistant principal role at Royal Oak in 2010. He left to become the director of athletic and physical education at Novi High School in 2012, retired from Novi at the end of the 2020-21 school year but then returned to Royal Oak as athletic director the following fall for two more years.
Unified Sports pair students with and without intellectual disabilities as teammates for training and competition. While at Novi, Gordon and Brighton athletic director John Thompson were inspired to bring Unified Sports not only to their schools, but to the Kensington Lakes Activities Association as a whole – and during the 2015-16 school year their schools were joined by Northville, Howell and Hartland in offering Unified teams, with the total soon growing to 13 KLAA schools. The KLAA, at Novi, hosted the first league tournament in the nation for Unified Sports teams – playing 21 basketball games during the inaugural event.
Also following his Novi retirement in 2021, Gordon became a liaison for Special Olympics of Michigan and Unified Sports. He meets with school administrators to promote Unified Sports and help districts build programs, and estimates there are more than 600 elementary, middle and high school Unified Sports teams across the state – with more than 100 high schools playing as part of leagues.
Current Unified offerings in Michigan include basketball, soccer and bocce, with track & field to be introduced this spring. Unified athletes have opportunities to play not just as part of leagues, but during special events like school-day assembly games and at venues like Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
“Brian Gordon has spent more than 35 years promoting school sports and the athletes they serve, and who better to advocate for Unified Sports than someone who has dedicated his career to championing kids and creating opportunities for them to excel,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “The MHSAA and the state’s school sports community have long benefitted from Brian’s positive approach and tremendous energy, and he’s poured all of himself into building bridges for Unified Sports in communities all over Michigan.”
In addition to his Special Olympics efforts, Gordon has served as a mentor for the MHSAA’s AD Connection Program since its creation at the start of the 2023-24 school year, working with first-year athletic directors as they transition to that role.
He’s also taught at the elementary and middle school levels, and supervised physical education and served as a health advisory chairperson at the district level. Including a season while still a college student, he has coached baseball, football, basketball and track & field from the junior high to varsity levels, including a stint as Royal Oak Kimball and Royal Oak High varsity baseball coach from 1995-2010. He was inducted into the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021.
Gordon was selected for the MIAAA’s Jack Johnson Distinguished Service Award in 2021 and received an MHSAA Allen W. Bush Award in 2019 for his essential but often “behind-the-scenes” contributions to school sports. Previously, Gordon also was named Oakland County Athletic Director of the Year for 2018-19 by the Oakland County Athletic Directors Association, served as the OCADA president in 2014-15 and on its board from 2010-16, and also served as vice president of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association and president of the Kensington Conference. He has been a member of the MIAAA since 2008 and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) since 2010, and was named a Regional Athletic Director of the Year by the MIAAA in 2018.
“Being a recipient of the Nate Hampton Award – Nate has made such a difference in educational athletics in our state for so long, that it’s truly an honor to represent him in this award,” Gordon said. “I’m really proud of the fact that we’ve been able to make a difference in the state, just like he did, with Unified Sports.”
Gordon graduated from Clawson High School in 1985 and earned his bachelor’s degree at Central Michigan University – where he also played baseball – and master’s in sports administration and school leadership from Wayne State University. He earned his certified athletic administrator (CAA) designation from the NIAAA.
Prioritizing education and students has been a family focus for the Gordons; Brian’s wife Jill Gordon also is a retired teacher. They have two children – daughter McKenzie Ribbing and son Zachary Gordon, and retirement has allowed for more time with both as well as son-in-law Mike Ribbing and granddaughter Isabel.
The first Nate Hampton Champion of Progress in Athletics Award was presented in 2024.
Past recipients
2024 – Nicole Carter, Novi
2025 – Arnetta Thompson, Wyoming
(Photos courtesy of Brian Gordon.)