We must not make pawns of budding talent

At six-foot-two and well over 80Kgs, with a birthday in January and older siblings who play football as well, Kerry minor footballer David Clifford is your typical easy spot for future success, writes Dr Ed Coughlan

As coaches we can often get lost in the inane conversation of talent identification. We are too quick to proudly announce that a current adult talent was spotted for greatness as a kid.

More often than not, it is much ado about nothing, as those same people are the quickest not to mention the dozens of other future picks of theirs that never materialised into a successful career athlete.