Talent can take time to develop

Past performance is not an indicator of future results.
That’s a phrase often snuck in quickly at the end of late-night commercials in which gambling “experts” promise they can correctly select the outcome of sporting events 93 percent of the time. But it also applies to many other areas of life.
Athletic performance is among them.
That fact was brought to mind Wednesday when I was writing the Collegiate Check-up, which appears elsewhere on this page.
I performed a search on The Commercial Review’s web site to see how far back I could find results from a meet in which current college runners Katie Simmons (Jay County High School, IPFW) and Hannah Moore (South Adams, Huntington University) competed against each other.
What I found was this: At the 2005 Norwell Invitational, when they were sixth graders, Hannah was the top runner for South Adams. Katie competed in the reserve race for East Jay Middle School.
Hannah continued the success she experienced that day and was the Starfires’ top cross country athlete and track distance runner throughout her middle school and high school career. She won track sectional championships in the 3,200-meter run in her freshman and senior seasons, and won the cross country sectional title in as a junior.
Katie ascended to the starting lineup quickly at East Jay. By the end of the season she was one of the Chiefs’ top runners, leading the team at the Delta Invitational.
She improved throughout her career at JCHS, despite often battling injuries. She was an immediate contributor, took the top spot on the cross country team as a sophomore and became a contender for a state berth. She finished in the top three at the cross country sectional in each of her final three seasons with the Patriots, and won two sectional championships in both the 1,600-meter run and 3,200 run in track.
Success takes different paths.
Some athletes are naturals, excelling from the moment they pick up a ball, step on the track or swing a club. For others, athletic prowess takes time to develop.
I remember watching 2007 Fort Recovery graduate Tiff Gaerke play basketball in middle school.
She was all arms and legs then. Her teammates would laugh because she generally had no control over where the ball was going to go when she threw it off the backboard.
But as time passed Tiff gained control of her long limbs. She became a four-year starter for the Indian girls basketball and volleyball teams, was the No. 1 pitcher for the softball team and excelled in track when she decided to give the sport a try during her junior season.
She was selected first-team all-state by the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association as a senior, won the Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year Award and went on to play volleyball for four years at the University of Dayton.
“My first couple of years I was … terrible, very uncoordinated, couldn’t really hit the ball,” Tiff said after winning the MAC Player of the Year Award. “Coaches told setters not to set me. I was that bad. As I got to my freshman year I definitely grew into my body.”
Tiff’s physical gifts were always there, she just needed time to figure out how to harness them.
Just last week Kevin Inman was telling me about his son Landry, who had serious issues with his lungs when he was growing up. He remembers spending a week in the hospital with his son.
Back then Kevin wasn’t sure if his son would live, let alone play sports.
Now he’s the No. 1 singles player on the Jay County High School boys tennis team and a starting pitcher for the Patriot baseball team.
Those are just a few local examples of the many athletes who have been able to achieve success despite not starting out with the best physical prowess, coordination or skill.
So if you’re the little guy or girl who is struggling to compete, keep working at it. Bodies develop, skills improve, circumstances change.
What happened yesterday, last month or five years ago doesn’t necessarily have to determine what occurs today, tomorrow or years down the road.[[In-content Ad]]