Tiger Woods was interviewed on television at the age of 2, played his first tournament aged 5 and  was the first person to win three straight Amateur US Open Championships. Serena Williams made  her pro debut at the age of 13. Michael Phelps achieved his first world record in swimming at the  age of 16. Talent may be latent for some (as we have considered in a previous article) but in people  like those mentioned above it is patent – very patent. The real question then is: what do they do  with it? It is fair to say that those mentioned above have done alright with their talent – Tiger Woods  has won 15 Majors and more tournaments than anyone else; Serena Williams has won 23 Grand  Slam titles; Michael Phelps won 23 gold medals, three silver and two bronze over five Olympic  Games. However, it has not always been the case that such patent talent brings rewards and results.  

Let us consider this story. A man who loved his sport had three children and sent them to a school  that offered plenty of sporting opportunities so that they could develop their talents in that arena.  The oldest son was a supremely gifted child from a very young age who loved hockey, cricket, tennis,  golf and athletics; he threw himself into all these sports and gained recognition at school, provincial  and national age group levels. The second child was a diligent and determined girl who gave her all  within the extent of her abilities and was pleased to represent her school and provincial teams in  netball and volleyball. The third child proved to be talented at soccer but he did not like the coach  who he thought was too critical and unfairly demanding of the players, so he preferred to hide in the  background and not be selected for any of the school soccer teams.  

There came a time for each of these children when their father considered their futures. The eldest  child who had exceeded all expectation in all five sports was rewarded by universities who were  falling over each other to offer him a sporting scholarship. He went on to represent his country in  those sports. The middle child had done well with her sports to continue to play for a local club at a  professional level and flourished at that level through hard work. The last born, however, sadly  discovered that universities were keen only to recruit youngsters who had a sporting dimension and  his father would not pay for his further development.  

There was another successful sportsman who had two sons and who longed that they would enjoy  sport as much as he did, playing with him whenever possible. The youngest son showed immense  talent and set about making the most of his sporting ability. He applied for a scholarship for a top  university overseas where he played sport all the time, opening up doors all along the way and  gaining great recognition and success. Fame and fortune followed him but slowly those proved to  be major distractions to him and he trained less and less in practices, tried less and less in matches  and soon found himself not even being selected for any of the teams. He naturally was worried  about what his father (who had always been his biggest supporter and indeed inspirer) might think  of him; after all, this young lad had had it all at a young age but blew his chance.  

This man’s older son also had great potential and talent which he used within his local sphere. He  did not go overseas to play his sport but day in, day out, trained and played quietly, consistently,  conscientiously at all times. He had much patent talent, which pleased his father greatly, even if he  did not get the headlines, for the right or wrong reasons, like his brother. He looked down on his  brother for wasting his talents, complained about such a waste even, but he still did what he could.  

We may well recognise certain parallels to parables told many years ago yet see parallels in sporting  arenas today, where we come across prodigies, those with excellent abilities, whose talent is not  latent but patent; it shines out from them. The question is: how do they use them? There are many  wonderful examples of sporting prodigies who, like Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, Michael Phelps all  started young, achieved great success, making the most of their patently prodigious talent. There  are others who have done what they can with what talent they have but then there are, too, those  who have wasted their great talent by hiding it, dropping it, ignoring it, despising it, for all sorts of  different reasons, including us as coaches. However, the bottom line is this: we must ensure that our  prodigies do not become prodigals. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!