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Sporting Child Prodigies
Every sport has a hero, a world record holder, an Olympic Champion... every team has a superstar but where do they start? Champions don't become champions overnight... it takes years of training and commitment to get to the top in sport but for a few their rise to the top begins in childhood. Child Prodigies are few and far between but Drivetime Sport has been looking at some of them.
Basketball ~ Mark Walker
Back in 2003 before his actual NBA debut, LeBron James signed a 90 million dollar deal with Nike to be their poster boy for a generation. Simultaneously, Reebok were unveiling their new face to rival Nike's new campaign - a three and a half year old called Mark Walker from just outside Kansas City! How did Mark get in this position? Well, his father sent footage of him sinking 18 baskets in a row (from various angles around his garage!) to the company and the infamous tape eventually landed at the desk of Reebok's marketing department.
The video obviously struck a chord with Reebok though as their next advertising campaign featured the footage of Mark with a slogan reading, "Do you have a 'Mark Walker' in your family?". TV appearances on "The Today Show" and "Live with Regis and Kelly" followed with Reebok setting up a college trust fund for the little superstar as a way of saying thanks.
Click here to see Mark in action
American Football ~ David Sills
This fifth-grade 11-year-old quarterback from Bear, Delaware showed off his startling abilities during a football camp in Pittsburgh when he got up in front of a room of 300 others and began diagramming and composing offensive plays and patterns that he had thought up himself.
Sills' father, spotted his son's potential early and sent numerous correspondance to quarterback 'guru' Steve Clarkson begging him to come and take a look at an emerging talent. Clarkson eventually relented and went to watch Sills play for his local side. It didn't take long for Clarkson to act and he signed Sills up as his client there and then. That was two years ago when Sills was just nine.
One thing that makes this story even more amazing is how physical a sport American Football is and how important build and conditioning (among others) are to a player's development. Now think of an 11-year-old child like Sills coming up against a powerfully built 15 or 16 year old teenager - the difference in size and brute physical force alone show just how developed Sills is already. And he's only going to get bigger and better.
Soccer ~ Rhain Davies
Possibly the most famous of sports prodigies in recent years due to the mass media coverage he has received, Rhain Davies was just a normal football-mad nine-year old, playing for the Redlands United under-10 development squad in Brisbane. Well relatively normal.
The midfielder general's antics on the pitch led to his English-based grandfather passing a DVD of Rhain in action onto Manchester United scouts who acted swiftly and offered Rhain a place at United's academy. Rhain and his family have relocated to Manchester and he is now part of the Red Devils' Under-10 side.
Click here to see Rhain.
Tennis ~ Jan Silva
Although he can barely see over the net and his racket is about the same size he is, Jan Silva is a gifted tennis prodigy.
Despite being just 5 years of age, Silva has been training at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy outside Paris since he was four, after his parents sold practically everything they owned to finance Jan's sporting education. The role of Jan's parents in his development has seen its fair share of criticism after his parents sold their car, their home and its contents to move to France. Jan's father has also predicted his son will eventually become the world number one.
Click here to see Jan on the tennis court.
Soccer ~ Jean Carlos Chera
Jean Carlos Chera is an 11 year old Brazilian football maestro. He signed with Brazilian club Santos' youth side for an undisclosed fee in 2005 after unconfirmed reports that Manchester United headed a list of European clubs looking to make him theirs.
Like so many recent sporting prodigies, Chera first came to prominence after video footage of him playing for his local team, usually coming up against players three or four years his senior, was posted online. The left-footed magician is now with the Under-12s at Santos and although the wonder boy, nicknamed 'Anderson', is still too young to sign a contract with Santos (that can only happen once he has turned 16), he's definitely in the right place.
Click here to see Jean Carlos.
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