There are as many stories as there are people, and each one is truly different.
How often do you make the mistake of trying to find the right path of sporting development? How often have you been convinced that this is the ideal path: a child should start training in basic sports like gymnastics, and as early as possible. Then, it is necessary to choose the right sport for them to pursue. The choice must be made quickly because children become too old for certain sports very early on.
Success, measurable only through results, needs to come quickly, because if it doesn’t, obviously something is wrong. Throughout the entire process, the parent must be highly engaged, because if the parent is not fully involved, the whole story will fall apart sooner or later. Of course, finances are very important; large investments are required, because later it will all pay off.
In our rich experience of working with athletes, we have so far had the honor of providing support to over five hundred athletes. A large number, but our intention is not to boast, but rather to look at all those sporting stories we have had the opportunity to listen to. As much as sports and sports psychology topics resemble one another, each of those athletes was just as different. By different, we do not mean only the level of success, which varies from recreational athletes to Olympians, but we mean the different path that each of them goes through.
Does a Right Sporting Path Exist?
We are not claiming that the described “ideal path” is not the right path for some athlete, but is it the right path for everyone?
Limiting factor. The age at which children start training in a certain sport can be a limiting factor. If you start too old, e.g., at 16 or 20, there is no chance you will succeed? Yes, that may or may not be true. We have met athletes who started training in swimming at age 16 and were at the Olympics by age 21. We worked with a female boxer who put on gloves for the first time at 20, and became a world champion at 24. An early start is important, but it is not decisive.
Large investments are required? Depending on the sport, definitely. Does everyone need to have 100 thousand euros in their bank account to reach sporting heights? Honestly, those who do are rare. We have met athletes who took out loans just to be able to continue training. Did the investments pay off for everyone? For some they did, for most they didn’t, at least if we look at the financial side. If we broaden the picture to what they gained or learned along the way, then there are many more who came out richer—in experience.
Success needs to come early? After years of playing in the Croatian First Football League (1. HNL), he left for a foreign second division. A nice transfer, but poor results; the athlete sits on the bench. Dissatisfied with his status, he moves to another second-division club, becomes the top scorer, and enters the elite tier in less than a year. Success comes overnight for some? Yes, if several thousand nights passed before that.
The right path does not exist. Only your path exists, and each one is different. Comparisons with others are irrelevant and burdensome. The path by which someone became a star very early on does not mean it is the only correct path. Compare yourself to who you were yesterday and keep looking for your own path to success. Think about how you define success and what you are doing to achieve it.
