The world of youth sport underwent many changes in recent years. For example, competition levels have increased, competitive seasons are longer, financial cost to participants is greater, and participants are more skilled than in the past. Among the recent changes is the trend toward earlier youth sport specialization. The present study addressed the critical question of whether or not sport specialization is necessary for future collegiate participation. Collegiate student-athletes were studied using a mixed method approach. The participants were male and female (N = 469) student-athletes from four New England colleges. Athletes were studied using the Youth Sport Participation Questionnaire and follow up interviews with representatives from the four institutions (n = 8). The data obtained from the quantitative items, open-ended survey items and the interviews were analyzed, triangulated, and summarized. The athletes reported demographics, sport participation ages, perceptions on specialization, and responses about their actual experiences. On average, athletes did not specialize in sport until high school (mean age = 15.47 years, sd = 3.49). Comparisons were made between participants using factorial ANOVAs based on gender, sport type and NCAA Division. There were two significant first order interactions between: (1) gender and sport type and (2) NCAA Division and sport type (p < .05). Specifically, both male and female athletes in individual sports specialized earlier than team sport participants. Individual sport participants in both NCAA Divisions I and III specialized earlier than team sport participants. Three main effects also existed for gender, NCAA Division and sport type (p < .05). Additionally, chi-square analyses were computed to analyze frequency of responses with regard to each likert-based item (p < .05). Athletes rated various effects of specialization and factors contributing to sport specialization. The majority of athletes surveyed (n = 64.6%) agreed that specialization is not necessary for collegiate participation. Further quantitative data, as well as, qualitative findings will be presented. Several themes were evident for each response type (proponents, neutrals, and critics). Overall, the majority of respondents were critical of specialization practices, suggesting multiple sport participation and year round involvement as alternatives. The athletes did not have to specialize in their respective sports prematurely in order to compete at the collegiate level. The perceptions and experiences of student-athletes were evidence that specializing in sport may not be necessary, despite the increased sense of competition in youth sports. Practical implications will be provided for coaches, educators, administrators, parents and youth sport enthusiasts. Keyword(s): athletics/sports, coaching, youth sports