Miami's football savior could currently be enrolled in an Oxford kindergarten throwing footballs around the playground like a younger, more decisive Brett Favre.
Preposterous, you might say? Not so when there is news of a five-year-old from New Jersey already being scouted by the New York Yankees.
Ariel Antigua is a fairly normal child. He goes to preschool, throws tantrums when things don't go his way and hits 119 mph fastballs. That's right, he hits a baseball thrown at one hundred and nineteen miles per hour. That is a conversion because Ariel actually hits 75 mph from a pitching machine that is much closer than an actual baseball mound. The reaction time needed to hit it, though is equivalent to 119 mph (it's basic physics). Nevertheless, it is a noteworthy feat. The question now is whether this "prodigy" will become a bona fide star, or will instead end up like Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront saying, "I coulda been a contender."
I consider a prodigy to be a child under the age of about 15 who can play at an adult level. This, of course, excludes female gymnasts because they are all under 15, and that is just too many prodigies. However, the problem today is that everyone is looking for the next "great one." Your own parents probably thought you were a music prodigy when you stomped on piano keys. There are even websites that show the top 6th graders in sports such as basketball, hockey and baseball. How many of these kids are prodigies? Probably none, and the ones that are have a very slim chance of making it anyway.
I see a few key ingredients that are needed to go from child prodigy to superstar. First, choose the right genes. Talent goes a long way in sports, and in the battle between nature and nurture, nature always wins. Second, start from a young age. You can't be a prodigy unless you're playing a lot when you're young. The optional third ingredient is having crazy parents that make you practice every day.
This recipe has worked, just look at Tiger Woods, Andre Agassi and Bobby Fischer (if Nascar is a sport, then chess certainly is). My personal favorite child prodigy has to be Henry Rowengartner, whose story is told in the film Rookie of the Year. He goes from normal kid to pitching star for the Cubs after breaking his arm!
However, for every Andre Agassi, there are 100 kids who have given up on sports or who did not make it even when they were supposedly destined for greatness. Freddy Adu was signed to a seven-figure deal to play major league soccer at age 14. And now, at age 21, he cannot even make the U.S. national team. Danny Almonte threw a perfect game in the Little League World Series and was throwing the equivalent of 100 mph. However, once it was discovered that he was three years older than everyone else, the tag of prodigy was taken off and now he is wallowing in the minor leagues of baseball.
To summarize, bestowing the title of "prodigy" on a child can be as much a curse as a blessing. So let's take it easy on little Ariel. Being a kid is hard enough to do without having to worry about Yankees scouts showing up at your tee-ball game. Besides, it seems a bit silly for fans to hang future hopes on a five-year-old. But just in case, keep your eye out for a Talawanda elementary school star. We could sign him early!
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