<p>I think the kids show you early … </p>
<p>I have photos of my (now D1 lacrosse player) at age 2 … complete with pacifier, dad’s jersey, and lacrosse stick. We thought it was cute … </p>
<p>He loved his sport … but it takes more than love, it takes drive. When you see them decorate their room with the goals and the outline of how to get there … and then watch them put it into practice … that’s what it takes. That kind of commitment and drive.</p>
<p>By the way, I was talking about my D in post #56, not slumlord’s! I just caught up with the thread and realized that that could have been misconstrued.</p>
<p>Anyway, for girls we’ve definitely seen the freshmen phenomenon at work. Top performances at a young age can be a foretelling of great things to come, but we’ve witnessed far too many athletes peter out for so many reasons that it’s wise not to make too many assumptions–much less plans–based on a kid’s performance at age 14 or 15. Outside of physical changes, it’s not uncommon for teenagers to decide they enjoy late-night partying, drinking, and pot-smoking and naturally all that will affect performance. I’m not expecting that will be the case with most CCer’s children, but it’s something to consider when assessing your child compared to others; those others might fall susceptible to those things.</p>