Jonathan Last, you know I love this article; it touches on my experience as an XC coach and summarizes the essence of my book, Take Back the Game. The Cheetah's story makes me sad: not because she isn't wonderfully talented and gracious, but because she will likely get used up by the system. Coaches will feel pressure to keep up the intensity and her parents will have to actively resist the expectation that she should throw herself headfirst into running. In my experience, it's next to impossible to scale back and do less when you're killing it at 10, and it doesn't work out well for these rare talents. One of the advantages of running is that you don't need to specialize from a young age to compete in high school; newbies with natural talent, decent coaching, and a bit of drive will improve rapidly. It just isn't necessary, or even desirable (if you ask me) to have elementary school kids training at the track. The toothpaste is out of the tube, but parents can still exercise their judgment and resist the worst of it, for their kids' futures and for the sake of their family.
Jonathan Last, you know I love this article; it touches on my experience as an XC coach and summarizes the essence of my book, Take Back the Game. The Cheetah's story makes me sad: not because she isn't wonderfully talented and gracious, but because she will likely get used up by the system. Coaches will feel pressure to keep up the intensity and her parents will have to actively resist the expectation that she should throw herself headfirst into running. In my experience, it's next to impossible to scale back and do less when you're killing it at 10, and it doesn't work out well for these rare talents. One of the advantages of running is that you don't need to specialize from a young age to compete in high school; newbies with natural talent, decent coaching, and a bit of drive will improve rapidly. It just isn't necessary, or even desirable (if you ask me) to have elementary school kids training at the track. The toothpaste is out of the tube, but parents can still exercise their judgment and resist the worst of it, for their kids' futures and for the sake of their family.