When does ones talent become obvious?

[mup]

I suppose it can be difficult to answer as everyone develops at a different pace but when does it become obvious that a young kid is going to be a decent footballer?

What talents should they possess at what age? I'm curious to know experiences of other juvenile coaches.

[Captain Obvious]

When you see a young player performing well in a final or in Croke park.

[mup]

Fair enough but typically I've often wondered when the likes of B Brogan or Gooch or Murphy started showing they'd be something special. How developed show an 8, 10, 12 year old be if they have designs on being an intercounty footballer?

[Syferus]

When Pat Spillane decrees it so.

[mylestheslasher]

I read somewhere that Henry shefflin couldn't make his club team at underage.

[Minder]

I read somewhere that Henry shefflin couldn't make his club team at underage.

I don't think JJ Delaney played underage for Kilkenny, if it's not him it is someone with multiple AllIrelands and All Stars, maybe Noel Hickey.

[AZOffaly]

Neither could Michael Jordan, he held it as a burning inspiration all his career. Mind you Henry has more All Irelands.

The thing I look at when evaluating if a person has got something 'special' is their decision making, awareness, reading of a game. That stuff is almost innate.

Skills can be worked on, Physicality can be worked on.

The biggest mistake I see is big lads are great and small lads are no good. At 10-12-14 you can't tell whether a lad will shoot up. Suddenly the big fella with the poor awareness or skills becomes a lot less effective when everyone else is as big.

[screenexile]

Tony Scullion never played any Minor Football. I've seen lads look like superstars at underage but not cut it at Senior... it's impossible to say!

[ONeill]

Different sport and ethos but this question was posed to Arsene Wenger:

What's the youngest age you can tell if a player has the potential to make it? Have you ever looked at a player and known instantly?

At 12 you can detect if technically a player can make it or not. At 14 to 16 you can detect if physically he will be able to cope with the demands of professional sport. And from 16 to 18 you can start to see if a player understands how to connect with other players. At 20 the mental side of things kick in. How does he prepare? How does he cope with life's temptations and the sacrifices a top player must make? This is a job where you must be ready. If you get a chance, you have to take it.

[brokencrossbar1]

Normally about 5 years after you quit u16 football and you're hanging over the bar "impressing" some doll that you were the best u14 player in Ballymuck up till ye did your knee and then hit the drink.

[johnneycool]

Neither could Michael Jordan, he held it as a burning inspiration all his career. Mind you Henry has more All Irelands.

The thing I look at when evaluating if a person has got something 'special' is their decision making, awareness, reading of a game. That stuff is almost innate.

Skills can be worked on, Physicality can be worked on.

The biggest mistake I see is big lads are great and small lads are no good. At 10-12-14 you can't tell whether a lad will shoot up. Suddenly the big fella with the poor awareness or skills becomes a lot less effective when everyone else is as big.

Brian Lohan never played minor hurling for Clare also.

I've seen it all too often where big lads dominate underage hurling and their size masks poor technique, then all of a sudden everyone grows up round them and that bad technique comes back to haunt them, whereas the smaller lads have to be quicker at their skills to compete, some grow later and some stay small in relation to their peers but the better technique stays with them.

[heffo]

Impossible to quantify. Some players can look like superstars at U13 and be very average by the time they're U16. Others look awful at U13 and can be decent club players later in their teens.

Ciaran Whelan wasn't good enough to get on his school team and Bernard Brogan didn't play Minor.

[Onion Bag]

I think it is an individual thing, certain people will develop quicker than others. some people have a natural raw talent, e.g Ronnie O Sullivan made his first century break at the age of 10 and a maximum 147 at the grand old age of 15.
while others will have to work a lot harder in order to gain success at their chosen sport.
i am currently unolved with our local U14 set up and and i can tell who is going to go through the ranks and who is not, some of them have talent and love the sport, the rest are not great but work hard and then you have the ones that have a natural raw talent but couldnt be bothered and are just lazy and will not develop any further. 

[Dinny Breen]

Leinster Rugby start identifying talent in 15 year olds, they go through a serious of skills screening at that age so regardless of size if they have the required skill set they move on to the next stage. In the last 2 years they dropped this age from 16 to 15.

[EC Unique]

2 Corner backs for Tyrone were late enough developers. Ricey never played any underage for Tyrone and our current Aidey McRory would have been very average at underage even at Errigal.