A common enquiry fielded by the NTID program relates to how sons, daughters, grandkids, nephews, nieces, neighbours and students can maximise their chances of becoming an elite athlete. While supportive family and friends are very important in the lives of elite athletes, and most have only good intentions, there have been interesting confessions regarding how the nominated child’s abilities have been recognised or assessed.

The following general advice might be helpful to those who think they might have identified the next Olympic or world champion.

Children decide to become elite athletes - not parents

It is unethical for parents to decide that the life of a small child should be dedicated to becoming an elite athlete. For parents to dedicate the entire developmental years of their child to pursue their own selfish goals is reprehensible. The chances of becoming an elite athlete are extremely small, let alone the fact that as the child gets older they might not wish to live their life in that way.

Talent is not always apparent by observation alone

To be talented in sports usually requires a blend of favourable characteristics. While strength is an important component of weightlifting so too is the ability to apply the strength quickly (power), as well as possessing short arms and short legs. Similarly, while it is true that ‘big legs’ are indeed helpful to the sprint events in track cycling; the leg girth must be almost entirely due to muscle and not fat. However, muscular lean legs are not enough—otherwise all triathletes would make great track cycling sprinters! The existing muscle fibres must also be of the type that have the ability to contract very fast. The point here is that there are often several key characteristics associated with a sport that must be taken into account to optimise or predict performance in that sport. Often you cannot see these characteristics, but you need to measure these objectively or scientifically.

Being a big fish in a big pond—not a big fish in a small pond

A child shows real talent when they outperform all comers. Comparing a child’s talent with local groups, friends and family members can lead to an inflated idea of a child’s real talent. The talent must be compared with the performances or attributes of the entire population, and this is done by evaluating the child’s performance on a series of standard tests or measures which have been previously conducted nationwide (eg Talent Search). Comparing the child’s performance against normative data (norms), or a sporting organisation’s own historical data is most instructive.

Don’t specialise in just one sport—try several

It is not necessary for a young child to specialise in a single sport for them to achieve sporting excellence as an adult—quite the contrary. With the exception of some sports (such as gymnastics and swimming), a broad sporting focus rather than a narrow one is preferable for attaining sporting excellence. Before the teenage years, parents can help maximise the chances of their children succeeding in a range of sports by allowing them to participate in activities that have:

• an aerobic or endurance component (such as running, swimming, hiking, cycling, rowing, dancing)
• a motor-skill or coordination component (such as hitting, kicking, throwing catching sports, gymnastics)
• a social or interactive component (such as team-based sports)

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Australia is one of only two nations to have competed in every modern Summer Olympic Games

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