Paths to expertise in Portuguese national team athletes

The purpose of this study was to identify the quantity and typeof sporting activities undertaken by expert team sport athletes inthe earlier stages of the long-term athlete development. expertsin roller-hockey (n = 19), volleyball (n = 14), soccer (n = 42)and basketball (n = 37) provided detailed information about thesporting activities they undertook throughout their careers.results showed considerable variation between and withinsports; however, generally, athletes began participating in sportsbetween 6 and 10 years of age. the pattern of participation inspecific and non-specific (team, individual and combat) sportsfor each stage of involvement demonstrated an increase in thenumber of activities participated in until early adolescence. ourresults suggest that involvement in multiple sports during earlystages of development is an alternative to early specializationand add further evidence of the complexity of skill acquisitionin sport.