There are few more rewarding aspects of my job than watching a young Tasmanian athlete achieving their dream.
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On Sunday, I compiled a wrap of the state’s sporting success around the globe.
It spanned such diverse locations as London, Budapest, Johannesburg, the Bahamas and Plovdiv, which is in Bulgaria in case, like me, you didn’t know.
It charted the performances of swimmer Ariarne Titmus, cyclist Madeleine Fasnacht, middle-distance runner Deon Kenzie and rower Henry Youl.
Aside from interesting geographical diversity, the most striking aspect of the article was the ages of those involved.
Titmus, 16, Fasnacht, 17, Kenzie and Youl, both 21.
Barely into senior competition but already trotting the globe in pursuit of their sporting goals.
The same thought had already struck me three times before in the past week.
Listening to Kai Woodfall detail how much he is enjoying his basketball scholarship at Southwest Baptist University in the US state of Missouri, it felt as if I had been reporting on the Launceston talent for years so came as a huge surprise when he said he is yet to turn 21.
After a junior career that yielded two world titles and passport stamps from Colombia to Scotland, Launceston’s Lauren Perry detailed how she was making a cycling comeback at the ripe old age of 21.
And soccer coach Lino Sciulli made a similar point when I praised the maturity of his Northern Rangers side devoid of anybody aged over 23.
“The whole league is like that,” Sciulli said.
“Even the top teams – Olympia, Devonport, South Hobart. The whole league is young.”
Thirty-somethings, it seems, are about as commonplace in Tasmania’s top-flight soccer competition as underpaid strikers at Manchester United.
All of which had the dual purpose of both making me feel extremely old and also wonder what life lessons our youngsters are getting from sport.
Go to any junior sport venue around Australia and you will find wide-eyed youngsters dreaming of becoming the best in the country.
It has long been so.
But of more importance than the drive of the tiny minority who make that transition is the enjoyment of the vast majority who don’t.
Of more importance than the drive of the tiny minority who make the transition is the enjoyment of the vast majority who don’t
In my equally demanding dual roles as Sports Editor at The Examiner and parent, I get to spend a lot of time at venues like Hoblers Bridge, St Leonards, Churchill Park and Elphin Sports Centre and can attest that there is never a shortage of smiles, squeals, laughs and occasional tears. And that's just the parents.
Having played netball for a third of her life, my teenage daughter has recently started coaching a team of under-10s. Watching their sheer joy at playing is nothing short of delightful and undoubtedly trumps their positional hopelessness.
Such enjoyment can frequently get lost when performance pips pleasure as the primary purpose of participation.
Examples are easy to find.
When you see millionaire cricketers, footballers and tennis players respectively declining national selection over a pay dispute, winning premierships but suffering depression and gracing the hallowed turf of Wimbledon by feigning injury, tanking and complaining of boredom, it is understandable to wonder whether their sporting dreams were worth pursuing.
Conversely, it is difficult not to admire when single-minded ambition, dedication and sacrifice gets rewarded.
Titmus is a prime example.
Countless dawn shuttles to Launceston Aquatic Centre, endless hours gazing down at that black line in the pool and a supportive family prepared to uproot and move interstate to back a dream all led to the former St Pat’s schoolgirl standing next to the widely-acclaimed best female swimmer in the world on Sunday.
“It’s like playing on centre court against the Wimbledon champion,” father Steve – taxi driver for so many of those dawn runs – said of his daughter’s battle with American superstar Katie Ledecky.
Titmus herself was equally thrilled as she faced the showdown still two months short of being able to get a provisional driving licence.
“I have nothing to lose, I just want to enjoy it,” she said.
A subsequent fourth place in the final firmly thrust Titmus into the box seat for a place at the Tokyo Olympics by which time she will be nearly 20 and doubtless burdened by considerably more expectation.
So she’s right. For now, she does have nothing to lose.
The acid test is whether an athlete is still enjoying their sport when they do have something to lose.
