re: How do you know when your kid has "it" in sports?

There's so many factors it's hard to tell. Some people say by 7th or 8th grade you can tell but those are the ones at the tippy top. Like people who could start on most varsity teams on 8th grade good. Some kids get burnt out or develop early and peak as a 12 year old. Some are late bloomers and may blow up when there 16 or 17.

for baseball, i would say Sophomore year you have a good idea....

before that, it's a kid that has matured early or has been exposed to high level ball so his baseball IQ alone puts him way ahead..... then the rest catch up later/surpass.

I see kids peak SO early because their parents have them in a million camps, etc. which puts them ahead but only for a while.

I'm about 6 years older than my brother and I knew he was going to be pretty special at around age 7. The amount of skill he showed in anything he played was just unreal. Playing SS and backhanding balls and effortlessly making the throw. Scoring at will on the basketball court. Nobody in his age group could tackle him and he wasn't some huge kid. He was always above average size but never close to the biggest. I think I knew he had "it" his freshman year. Just finished up football and it was his first basketball game. He gets put into the game down 2 with 5 seconds left because of a starter fouling out. They draw up a play for the best player but my brothers defender doubles down and the ball get kicked out to him. Knocks down the shot at the buzzer to win it. He started the rest of his HS career.

I'd say that it's much younger than 12 or 13. My son is 18 playing baseball in college in a scholarship. If he hadn't been the best kid on the field from the age of 5 on , no matter where or who he was playing , we wouldn't have spent the money or time that we did with him regarding baseball. If your child isn't one of the best players on the field from a young age , don't expect that to change much as they age. Sure they can get better but "it" is noticeable at a very young age

You can tell what kids are in a different category athletic wise very early. Like 4 or 5. You'll have some kids who bloom late and some kids whose hard work puts them into the elite category. But shear freak athletic ability you can tell when they are very young.

My observation has always been this. Success at one level is not a predictor of success at the next level. There are plenty of kids who are great performers prior to varsity level sports. By then, other kids have caught up with them so things begin to level out. However, success at high school is also not a predictor a success in college. Two points there. My experience has been that college level talent clearly stands out in high school. A college level athlete should stand out on the playing field, look like a man among boys, clearly be dominate. When I go to a college game I often think that both benches are filled with players who are among the best to ever play at their respective high schools. However, one of the most dominate defense ends I have seen in the past decade played at the 5A level, competed against the likes of West Monroe, Neville, Ouachita and Ruston and was named the Defensive MVP in 1-5A. He was not college material because he was about 5"11 and weighted in at 220 lbs. He was virtually unblockable in high school but he was no college lineman and wasn't fast enough to be a college LB.

It is super easy to spot the better players early in comparison to others his age. the problem is development, there is zero ability to look at a child and tell what kind of player they will be at 16-18 years old. Kids just develop so differently

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You can tell what kids are in a different category athletic wise very early. Like 4 or 5. You'll have some kids who bloom late and some kids whose hard work puts them into the elite category. But shear freak athletic ability you can tell when they are very young.

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yes, but we have a few in town that were by far the best tball players and even at 8-9 you are seeing kids surpass them. It just depends

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My son is 18 playing baseball in college in a scholarship. If he hadn't been the best kid on the field from the age of 5 on , no matter where or who he was playing , we wouldn't have spent the money or time that we did with him regarding baseball. If your child isn't one of the best players on the field from a young age , don't expect that to change much as they age. Sure they can get better but "it" is noticeable at a very young age

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this is just wrong. You have April babies playing against May babies early on where the May baby is 7 and April baby is 6. That year is huge at that age. The biggest problem we travel is the one year age groupings and coaches not reevaluating players as they develop

I knew 5 guys that made money playing baseball out of my peers, only 1 was dominant early

My son was a poor athlete from tee ball through 7th grade. He became fantastic in 8th grade, and is now posting times that indicate he will likely swim in college. You really can't tell until puberty. Many playground wonders flame out, or look average after puberty.