En brottningsmatch med olika förutsättningar : En kvantitativ studie av brottarnas väg till det svenska landslaget

Sammanfattning: Sports are changing along with the development of society; commercialization and professionalization of the sports movement is today demanding more of the athletes than before. These demands have created a trend of early specialization, not only amongst the biggest global sports, but also the less practiced ones. This study investigated the sport of wrestling, in Sweden, focusing on socioeconomic factors in the families of the wrestlers, when they were growing up. Furthermore, how family members influenced the athletes, as well as their thoughts of early specialization in order to reach the national team, was included in the research. The conclusion of this study was that the majority of the wrestlers who reached the national team, grew up in families where both parents where present, and their parents had a great interest in sport. Moreover, the families had a medium to high socioeconomic status, indicating that this might have been a contributing factor to the success of the athletes. The wrestlers in the national team started training when they were between five and nine years old, whilst making a debut in competition one year later, and started training for an elite career around the ages of 15 to 16. Still, they had divided opinions whether an early specialization is necessary in order to reach a very high level of the sporting society.