Numerous times a week, Maggie Kassenbrock unloads her glove and bat.

Twice for travel team softball practices, once for her weekly conditioning session, another for hitting and pitching lessons, and then there are the weekend tournaments.

And that’s just her fall schedule.

Since Kassenbrock, a sophomore at Bishop Chatard, was in the fifth grade, she has played softball at an elite level. Now she plays year-round for two teams (high school and Indiana Shockwaves), occasionally subbing for other teams in the area if she has a free weekend.

“It’s not like I don’t have off time. I do. It’s just like two months and then I still will go to the gym or run,” said Chatard’s starting pitcher.

She’s not alone in her one-sport heavy calendar.

Younger and younger athletes are becoming one-sport athletes, or specializing, as a way to get ahead in the sport of their choice. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine defines sports specialization as “intensive, year-round training in a single sport at the exclusion of other sports.”

The reasoning: to reach the highest level, to be elite. In that quest to be the best, young athletes, parents and coaches are faced with the same questions: At what age do you specialize? What is too much? Will this set them apart?

Jeff Kontor and his wife had to juggle these questions when it came time to decide if their daughter Frankie, a teammate of Kassenbrock’s, would play only one sport in high school.

“We had struggled with narrowing down on one sport heading into my daughter’s freshman year,” said Kontor. “We decided not to have a focus and play all three sports.”

But the Kontors’ debate is slightly different than one most parents of athletes face. Frankie is a talented three-sport sophomore athlete who will play on the varsity this season in volleyball, basketball and softball. Last year, she was one of two freshman starters on the softball team. Other young players often are more skilled in one sport versus another. That makes the decision to specialize an easy one.

Dan Held, director of operations for the Indiana Bulls travel baseball team, said he believes children are pressured to pick one sport versus cross-training in hopes of reaching the major leagues or the NBA. While he is sympathetic to the dream of professional sports, Held is adamant about keeping young athletes in multiple sports for as long as possible.

“I’ve had kids in the program say they want to quit another sport and I have to force them not to,” said Held, who was a St. Louis Cardinals coach from 2003-07.

Scholarship pursuit

While becoming a professional athlete is appealing to most young ballplayers, parents have a more immediate goal: college scholarships.

Average annual tuition costs for college range from $8,893 at an in-state public university to upwards of $30,094 at a private institution, according to College Board. Add in the increased exposure of elite college athlete success stories and the result is a mythical pipeline to cheaper higher education.

In reality, approximately 2 percent of high school athletes will receive some form of athletic scholarship, according to the NCAA’s website. That number is even lower for full-ride athletic scholarships, which are often tied to the moneymaking sports: football and basketball.

The small percentage of scholarships to spread around is why Kontor is a “stickler about grades” and pushes Frankie toward an academic — with maybe a secondary athletic — scholarship.

Despite the numbers trending against her, Kassenbrock still is excited about the prospect of becoming a scholarship athlete.

“It would be pretty cool to play in college, and we’ll see, I guess,” said the pitcher and shortstop.

Kassenbrock has her own recruitment website and has attended several player showcases to raise her stock with coaches.

Long-term goals or monetary payoff aside, parents and players are still left with the question of when to specialize if they want to focus on one sport.

Some involved in youth sports, such as Bryan Michel, director of operations at Indy Premier Soccer Club, support early decisions.

“In any sport, you can teach an athlete the basic skills, and a sport like soccer or maybe tennis, where you have some more specialized things, those are maybe a sport that you should specialize a bit sooner,” he said.

However, for high impact sports such as football, rugby and lacrosse, physical concerns can factor into delaying specialization.

“The older a child is, the more stable the neck is. Really below the age of 13, heavy contact is probably not a good idea,” said neurologist Dr. Tony Kerasidi.

Good or bad idea, specializing in sports is likely to continue as long as young athletes and parents see it as helpful, no matter the time required.

“It’s a commitment,” Kassenbrock said. “Do whatever you want to do, and I want to play softball for as long as I can. And I’m going to work hard to do that.”

Follow Star reporter Autumn Allison on Twitter: @Aallison25.