JUNIOR TALENT RARELY GUARANTEES ELITE SUCCESS

Dr Tania Cassidy, is a professor of sports coaching at the School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Sciences at the University of Otago, New Zealand. Her research focus is pedagogy, and she uses educational theories to explore the interconnections between coach, athlete, content, and context. During the Sports Champ Talk Show with Chief Editor Bhushan Thakur, she spoke about talent identification, luck factors, and the early and later bloomers in sports. Excerpts:

Tell us how you turned to sports

Well, I suppose I grew up in the 1960s. Things were a lot simpler back then because we didn’t have formalised sports for children as young as four. Kids just played in the street, and you probably didn’t start playing club sports until you were maybe 9 or 10. I grew up in a small town of about 9,000 people, so we had a lot of freedom to roam. My father was into sports—he played cricket and rugby. So, every Saturday afternoon, whether it was winter or summer, we would be dragged around the sports grounds, following him. He was very insistent that his children play sports. I was the firstborn of four girls and the only one interested in sports. I played hockey until I was 24, and then, after going overseas, I stopped. When I returned to New Zealand at 42, someone asked me to play again. They said, “You used to be a winger, and we need a winger.” So, I started playing again, and 18 years later, I’m still at it! Strangely, I’m playing more hockey now as an older player than I did in my younger years. Now that I’m part of the national team, I’m training regularly.

What are two positive and two negative points about sports, in your opinion?

For me, one of the biggest positives is that sports gave me freedom—both physical and social. It allowed me to move my body in ways that girls in the 1960s were not typically encouraged to. Socially, sport provided an escape from my conservative upbringing. It gave me the freedom to go on sports trips and meet new people. Another positive is the way sport breaks down barriers— whether religious, cultural, or social. I’ve had the opportunity to travel within New Zealand and internationally to places like Argentina, South Africa, the UK, and Germany.