“Two roads diverged in a wood and I—I took the one less
traveled by. And that has made all the difference.”
That line, the most famous by poet Robert Frost, came up in
a conversation recently. Yeah, sometimes I run with a weird crowd. But it
actually had to do with sports and competition. It started as just another
conversation about sports specialization and private coaches, personal
trainers, and travel teams. For 10 year olds.
We talked about choosing just one sport at too early an age,
which, at the very least, leads to injuries and, at its worst, causes burnout
and abandoning sport altogether. No less authority than world renowned
Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Jim Andrews is on a mission to discourage sports
specialization.
Many noted authorities on youth sport injuries in baseball
declare that throwing a curve ball before physical and emotional maturity is a
huge mistake. Research backs that up.
And there’s not much evidence for sport-specific personal
trainers before puberty anyway. Travel teams seem to be the norm these days and
it’s OK, but not at the risk of losing a childhood.
We also talked about recruiting services for young athletes.
The worst example that I’ve heard in a while was an “agent” who, for a fee,
would guarantee a college scholarship. For a 12 year old basketball player.
They had to play on the “right” teams and go to the “right”
camps but this all-seeing agent could already tell that your child was destined
for greatness. At 12. Yeah, right.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen 12 year olds that you just
knew were going to be good. Cait McMahan at 12 was going to be a star athlete.
Everybody that saw her knew it.
Goodness, she could have played just about anything. I
remember seeing her throw a football in the end zone of a high school game,
tossing 40 yard spirals. She might have been 9 at that time. She would beat 8th
graders in basketball when she was a 4th grader. It happened.
And Lee Humphreys. If you ever saw him shoot a basketball (I
first saw him when he was in the 7th grade), you knew that he had a
shot like none you had ever seen before.
I would have offered him a basketball scholarship in junior
high. That UT’s coach Buzz Peterson didn’t wrap him up in recruiting still
bumfuzzles me. Lee went on to superstardom at Florida, holding 3 point shooting
records there that may still be standing.
But like Cait, he could have played anything. Can you imagine
him as the receiver on a football team? Or as a slick-gloved shortstop? Sure
you can.
Can you imagine what a terror Cait would have been on the basepaths of a softball game? Or
as a Libero, covering the entire volleyball court? I don’t know if she’s ever
even held a golf club in her hands but I bet she could hit it straighter and
farther than I ever did.
The point is that yes, you know that some athletes are
destined for greatness. You know it even when they’re young. Which brings up
another quote/cliché—hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
That’s where the Robert Frost quote came into the
conversation. Yes, Cait and Lee were blessed with talent, but they worked hard.
I think Lee had the keys to a couple of gyms. I know that I
would see him from time to time at Maryville College, shooting in the gym. I
have no idea how many thousands of shots he took in practice while in high
school but I’m certain that number is huge.
And Cait, whose dad was a legendary coach in these parts and
whose brother was a prodigious athlete in his own right. Few would outwork her.
She was always doing something to make herself better. Still does.
Which brings me to the final point. There is no easy path to
success. You have to put in the work.
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