Stacy Danley: Hidden Talent Identification in Sports

When people talk about talent identification as a process, you’ll often hear it is not easy. According to Stacy Danley, this is why many major decisions on which players to choose are made on physical attributes and possibly the success of their performance during that time.

Understanding the fundamentals and foundations for building psychological and technical skills for the players to thrive in the development environment is important. There are several guide questions for this. Do players show the willingness to stick to a given task, knowing skill execution may go awry before it goes right? Do they persevere in a game when things may not be going their way? Do they thrive under pressure during clutch moments?

If young athletes exhibit these qualities, they can be developed, and this means that these aspects should be considered in the talent identification process.

It should also be noted that coaches and teams will probably want different things from their talent identification process, which means that each process will differ as you go from team to team. They also need to ensure that these players fit the club’s philosophy.

Darren Gough, Lionel Messi, Wayne Gretzky, and Allen Iverson are some of the most notable examples of athletes who have made it big, even though they may not have had the natural physical attributes required for their respective sports or may not have developed as early as their peers. These players have all used their talents, skill, and dedication to rise to the top of their fields.

Darren Gough had a great career as a fast bowler in cricket, with over 200 test wickets and almost 900 first-class wickets. He was under six feet in height. Allen Iverson racked up over 24,000 points in the NBA at a height of just six feet. Wayne Gretzky and Lionel Messi struggled regarding their physical size, not height. Gretzky was known for his unimpressive size, speed, and strength. However, what he developed, which so many other players did not, was an uncanny intelligence and unparalleled anticipation for the game. It made him arguably the best hockey player in history. On the other hand, Messi worked on his skills so much that very few could rival him.

On a final note, Stacy Danley notes that these athletes all possess the mindset of being the best they can be. They are all talented and relentless learners, even with “lesser” physical attributes. What spectators see is their performance on the day — but what people don’t see is the years and years of hard work they put in to achieve the heights of success.

Stacy Danley is the President and CEO of SLD Sports Management Group, a premiere management consulting, sports, and special event marketing and management company specializing in providing quality event management corporate consulting, strategic planning, fund-raising, new business development, sales, and corporate marketing. He graduated from Auburn University, earning his Bachelor of Science in Adult Education and Master of Education in Administration of Higher Education. Follow this page. for related posts.