How good can high school athletes be?

nano reefer

nano reefer

Active Member
ok, how good can a high school athlete be?
this kid Tommy Cross went to my cousins prep school (Westminster). He just graduated, and before he graduated, the Boston Bruins offered him a job as a starter. He said no, and is going to BC full ride on a hockey scholar ship. He is very smart too. He was also the schools star baseball pitcher.
i went to one of their games, and they play in a very old rink. the stand were packed. it was like new years at times square, and it was hard to breathe. kids, about age 7, were all chanting his name. I don't get it.
congrats to Tommy.
do you think talent like this is born, or learned? and how do they get to be this great?
 
bruner54

bruner54

Member
well good for him going to college before pros to start with second i think its born and learned cause anybody can be good at w.e. with practice but it takes a special someone and a lot of hard work to be that good
 
armywife1314

armywife1314

Member
its both, you have to have something to start with and then you hone it with the right teaching. good work ethic and heart are key! sounds like my husband with football.
 
bruner54

bruner54

Member
Originally Posted by armywife1314
http:///forum/post/2651340
its both, you have to have something to start with and then you hone it with the right teaching. good work ethic and heart are key! sounds like my husband with football.
couldnt agree more does your husband play pro football???
 
armywife1314

armywife1314

Member
he started as a freshman at his high school, and he was talked to by some pro-teams and colleges his senior year but wanted to join the army and here we are! well im here, he's in iraq.
 
niskyvaulter

niskyvaulter

Member
depends how good you have to be to be considered good. my school's lacrosse team is in the top 20 nationally and i have a friend who got on as a freshmen. his coach gets contacted by division 1 colleges about him all the time.
also, once you get to a really good level, you start to improve much slower, the difference between a senior in high school and a 22 year old athlete isnt much progress wise because you make progress much slower at that level. last year my friend ran a 4:23 mile as a sophmore and this year he got 4:19. at his level thats considered a nice improvement. its not like hes gonna be going to the olympics, but hes still pretty good. if i were to improve by only four seconds, it would be terrible. so the thing is, there isnt much difference between an 18 and 22 year old at a pro level.
 
rylan1

rylan1

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2651652
Two words, LeBron James.
You can tell when somebody has a rare gift... I attended several Lebron high school games... When he was a junior I told my friend he was going right to the NBA... This may have been premature given he still had 1 1/2 yrs of school... and my friend disagreed... I never would have imagined he'd be considered the 1st to 2nd best player in the league by his third year... but as I said you can tell ... they have something special... of course they work hard but the sport seems to be just natural to them and as if its effortless.
 
lexluethar

lexluethar

Active Member
I DO NOT believe it is something learned. I think to a certain point you can learn a certain craft (sports), but to 'take it to the next level' you really need to have a natural talent at the sport. I played soccer all my life, played college, some semi pro but nothing big or fantastic. I worked my arse off and could get to that next level and couldn't make it to the pros. I really feel (maybe because where i've come from) that in order to be a great athlete (talking pros) you need to be naturally gifted, as well as having a great work ethic and determination.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by LexLuethar
http:///forum/post/2651674
I DO NOT believe it is something learned. I think to a certain point you can learn a certain craft (sports), but to 'take it to the next level' you really need to have a natural talent at the sport. I played soccer all my life, played college, some semi pro but nothing big or fantastic. I worked my arse off and could get to that next level and couldn't make it to the pros. I really feel (maybe because where i've come from) that in order to be a great athlete (talking pros) you need to be naturally gifted, as well as having a great work ethic and determination.
Absolutely, the gift is inherent in you, the skills are what is learned and honed with work.
 
kjr_trig

kjr_trig

Active Member
Not to be downer here, this kid is no Lebron or Sydney Crossby, I saw him projected at the #12 player for this year, which means there are 11 guys available to go to the NHL better than he is....Hardly Lebron or Sydney material there, they were both considered the best young players for many many years. He is a big fish in a little pond right now.
BTW the Boston Bruins can't just offer him a job as a starter, it doesn't work like that. He has to declare for the draft, then he is subject to going to whatever team drafts him.
 
armywife1314

armywife1314

Member
Originally Posted by bruner54
http:///forum/post/2651756
thats sick after college i was thing about doing semi-pro then maybe arena football
one played in the usc vs ut rose bowl and then was drafted to i think the browns (my husbands friend), and another was picked up his sophomore year of college by kcc, and another got picked up by the colts his freshman of college.
my husband did take a year off after high and played semi-pro for texas and colorado wanted him for arena, but he wanted to fly helicopters in the army so were here. but wow if he would have went pro that would have been nice, i could have someone take care of my saltwater tank for me
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Originally Posted by armywife1314
http:///forum/post/2651958
one played in the usc vs ut rose bowl and then was drafted to i think the browns (my husbands friend), and another was picked up his sophomore year of college by kcc, and another got picked up by the colts his freshman of college.
That doesn't make any sense, in the NFL, players must be out of high school for three years to be eligible. I guess he could have taken some time off, but I don't see NFL teams picking up players who've just sat around.
 
armywife1314

armywife1314

Member
Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/2651996
That doesn't make any sense, in the NFL, players must be out of high school for three years to be eligible. I guess he could have taken some time off, but I don't see NFL teams picking up players who've just sat around.
i could have got it wrong and it could have been ones junior year, i know the other did take a year or two off and played semi-pro then started college and i know it was technically his freshman year when he got picked up.
 
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