Too much too young?

Eurosport - Tue, 08 Jul 14:30:00 2008

Laura Robson has set public expectations of her impossibly high after winning the Wimbledon girls' singles title.

TENNIS 2008 Wimbledon Laura Robson - 0

Anything less than repeating the feat in the Ladies' category in the future will surely be seen as a failure.

Tracy Austins's plea to "Leave her to get on with it" printed next to a huge picture of Robson that runs across two pages of one newspaper illustrates the weight of expectation heaped on the shoulders of every high-achieving young sportsperson.

If the 14-year-old can avoid the pitfalls and misfortunes that have blighted many a promising sporting career, then she will have won half the battle.

Below are a few examples of youngsters that either had so much promise and failed to deliver, or suffered for their premature achievements in later life.

If you can think of other examples, then feel free to share them below:

Andrea Jaeger

In 1980, Jaeger became the youngest ever player seeded at Wimbledon at the age of just 15 years and 19 days.

The American went on to reach the first of her two US Open semi-finals that year, and in 1983 had a Wimbledon final appearance to add to her one at Roland Garros the previous year, losing to Martina Navratilova on both occasions.

Years after retiring due to a shoulder injury in 1987, Jaeger revealed that the night before the Wimbledon final, her father locked her out of their apartment after a row, and she had to ask Navratilova to help persuade him to let her back in.

She also revealed that she threw several matches at the peak of her career in order to avoid becoming world number one and the pressure and attention that would have gone with it.

She is now known as Sister Andrea and lives her life as an Anglican Dominican nun.

Sonny Pike

When Sonny Pike, the nephew of ex-Tottenham Hotspur striker Mark Falco was invited to join Ajax's Academy of Excellence at the tender age of seven, his name flew around the football world. He was the subject of a BBC documentary, in which his father, Mickey, said: "I'd like him to have the skill of Pele, the strength of Cantona, the style of John Barnes, and the manners of Gary Lineker."

Sonny even pulled off a star turn as a guest on television show Fantasy Football League. However, the pressure of being dubbed 'the new Maradona' at such an early age took its toll, not just on him but his whole family.

At the age of 14 Sonny's parents divorced after 22 years of marriage, his father's clamour to make him a star at odds with his mother's desire for a more normal life for her child.

The most recent reports of Pike were of him living in Scotland, studying for a degree in Psychology at Dundee University, a career path he found through his own troubles: "I couldn't take it, and I got ill, really screwed up. I stopped going to training and stuff, because I was so screwed up I couldn't hack it. Looking back, it's amazing how low I was.

"Ajax completely forgot about me, they didn't want to know, but as soon as I was better, they acted like they'd always been there for me. I realised how superficial it is at that level. That's why I packed it in, it's so unstable. I guess it was during that period that I realised how much psychologists can help people, and I suppose I took it from there."

Owen Price

Price made the news when, as a 14-year-old, he scored a goal in 4.07 seconds for Ernest Bevin School in the final of the Heinz Ketchup Cup.

Price joined Tottenham from Charlton Athletic the following year, and Spurs were ordered by a tribunal to pay £445,000 after originally offering the Addicks a miserly £4,000.

However, Price never made a senior appearance for Spurs, and eventually left the Lane to join his uncle at Conference side Lewes. From there Price went on to Swedish side Sundsvall, and now plies his trade in Finland.

Michelle Wie

Unlike most of the people on this list, 18-year-old Wie is a current professional and has every chance of still claiming glory at the top level in her field.

In 2002, at the age of 12, Wie made history by becoming the youngest person ever to qualify for an LPGA event when she reached the Takefuji Classic. A year later she became the youngest ever to make an LPGA cut, shooting a phenomenal 66 to reach the final group of the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

On the eve of her 16th birthday, Wie signed multi-million dollar sponsorship deals with Nike and Sony as she announced she was turning professional. Her pro career got off to a great start, and in her first year she finished third in both the Kraft Nabisco and the US Women's Open and second in the Evian Masters.

Since the latter, however, she has never finished in the top ten of an event, missing the cut as often as she makes it. She has also attracted more than her fair share of criticism during her short career, drawing complaints about her clothing worn while playing, her allegedly unfair entry into PGA events in which she has consistently fared poorly and her high turnover of caddies, the count of which has now gone into double figures.

She is currently a student a Stanford University.

Dominique Moceanu

Born in the USA to Romanian parents in 1981, Moceanu was part of the American "Magnificent Seven" that won gold in the artistic gymnastics team event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

After winning both the junior and senior national championships, she was the youngest member of the USA team at the 1995 world championships in Sabae. The nation took Moceanu to their hearts when she won the team's only individual medal with a silver in the beam event, and she even published an autobiography - Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion - in the run-up to the Atlanta Games.

Although she suffered a major dip in form post-Atlanta, she came back in 1998 to win gold for the USA in the Goodwill Games.

Things took an unexpected turn for the worse later that year, when she applied for legal emancipation from her parents, claiming that her father had been controlling and abusive and had squandered much of her winnings she had accrued during her career.

The courts agreed with her and freed the17-year-old from her family and put her in charge of her finances, though they later reconciled.

Hasan Raza

Test cricket history was made in Faisalabad on October 24 1996 when 14-year-old Hasan Raza made his debut against Zimbabwe.

Unsurprisingly, the teenager failed to make much of an impact at international level, and was swiftly removed from the international set up.

He returned to the international fold against the same opponents in 2002, but has never been able to translate his impressive scores from his club cricket to the national side, and the off-spinner is still to claim his first Test wicket.

In 2007 Raza took the decision to join the Indian Cricket League, and is now a leading batsman for the Lahore Badshahs, though in moving to the breakaway league he has all but admitted the end of his international career.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

Comment 8 - 27 of 27

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  1. For her sake, I hope she'll do well. Wimbledon however, I don't know. The Brits will "pressure" her to death. See Henman.

    From De Sinees, on Tue 15 Jul 12:42PM

  2. noooo its not too much too young..its NOT about the birth certificates its about the mental maturity and sheer talent, and she has got both in abundance..with the right coaching(Barcelona or Floirdaa hopefully!) this girl will be the next Sharapova, win several slams and dominate woman's tennis for years to come,.Andrea Jeagger had talent but didn't have Laura's maturity.Its exciting times ahead watching her climb up the rankings and definately next Wimbledon's wild card will be well used by her!! well done Laura!!we are all behind you!!

    From moniem28, on Tue 8 Jul 8:18PM

  3. What a spiteful an idiotic post. "Never make it"? On what basis do you say that? She clearly has tremendous talant, a great temprament and has a first rate coach to help her develop.

    As for the question posed in the article, I don't think it's too much too young. The reality is that if she had won the juniors at 17, as Annabel Croft did, it would probably have been too little too late. Henin was the Roland Garros junior champion at 14 and Clijsters and Sharapova were also grand Slam junior finalists at a similar age. The British media will soon go back to their obsession with football and hopefully leave her alone.

    From Bobito, on Tue 8 Jul 7:18PM

  4. Celebrate while you can. The fact is that this is the only level of sports climax you will ever attain, as long as you remain where you are, because you will never make it. Huups!

    From freeowd, on Tue 8 Jul 2:16PM

  5. i watched the final and its clear laura robson has a lot of natural talent that i havent seen in a british womens player for a verylong time i hope she is allowed to get on with her life and hopefully one day she could become a wimbledon champion it is up to her family to keep her feet on the ground and she must remain grounded and level headed she must be wrapped in cotton wool very much like sir alex ferguson did with ryan giggs in the early days i hope the media dont ruin this great young prospect but i have an inkling she will become a truly great player i really hope so british womens tennis really needs it i hope she has some great backing and coaching in the future good luck laura.

    From shaky7rhyme, on Tue 8 Jul 1:24PM

  6. plz british media should let this young future hope Laura Robson to be, praising her too much is not good for her future carier as sports gal, a little compliment is ok for her the moment, too of it may lead to start seing herself in a different way that may lead her to start loosing focus. if u really want her to be your future champion give her the chance to concentrate and work hard, infact her parents should take note of this. this is my own advice.

    Chito!!!!!

    From chito_kezzy, on Tue 8 Jul 9:33AM

  7. It's articles like this which put the pressure on young stars, not their good results.

    From johnnywilkinson@ymail.com, on Tue 8 Jul 8:13AM

  8. How desperate is the UK public and press for someone from Britain to achieve a victory in sport? Having exported most of the world's great games to the rest of the world, you now find that you can't compete with them - so you have to invest your dreams of glory in a 14 year old who happened to win a junior title. Leave Laura alone and get on with the business of developing your sport at school and junior level for the thousands of Lauras who are there, but just don't get coaching or support.

    David - South Africa

    From wynnedr, on Tue 8 Jul 6:04AM

  9. Gush! Somethings never change. It's high time you stopped this hype so that this gal can build her career. Why do u make mountains out of molehill? Even when the major stories have been pulled away, u still feel like blowing up this story, schooling us about ur idols. Murray goes to shopping, Murray aims at number one position. You can never "headline" ur sportsmen into winning ways. Guess what, the real stars or heros are those outside ur enclave, who do not count on you.

    From unzwa, on Tue 8 Jul 5:44AM

  10. '' Anything less than repeating the feat in the Ladies' category in the future will surely be seen as a failure. ''

    Oh plz... Win u wimbledon then c ppl talking about FAILIURE

    From Jabss J, on Tue 8 Jul 12:19AM

  11. When successful we will hype up how good Laura Robson is and will be. When she loses she will be dubbed the next Henman, allegedly a big choker. Bear this in mind; only Sampras and Agassi spent as long or longer in the top 8 when Henman was there, reached number 4 in the world, he reached 6 Grand Slam Semi's, one on clay, and was the best British mens player we had since Fred Perry in the 1930's. Unfortunately if Laura Robson doesnt win Wimbledon she will be considered a failure, not by me, not by the educated tennis fan, but by the press, the fans who only knows Wimbledon alone is a tennis tournament or by anyone else who loves to put down anyone who is remotely successful in this country.

    From Mark K, on Mon 7 Jul 11:32PM

  12. LOL such a joke yahoo posing this question then having poll if shell ever win the big W

    Jesus

    Maybe there should be poll on viral journalism ever ending

    From Grant b, on Mon 7 Jul 10:54PM

  13. It's great isn't it? A young keen girl comes along ,shows us she has really good potential wins a major tournament then the press & public along with the world and his wife pull the poor girl to pieces because she has done well,
    We in Britain are so very, very negative.
    We can't stand someone doing well in anything. It has to be deep feelings of jealousy we harbour until someone does well - then we let them have it!
    Leave the girl alone to get on with her career and pull someone to pieces who deseres it--Mugabe & his henchmen for example

    From bob c, on Mon 7 Jul 10:26PM

  14. this happens all the time in british sport, someone comes along that looks half decent, then they get bigged up soooo much, and then they flop, if the media just kept away theyd all be fine. british sport aint got nothing going for it right now, she might be myt turn out good for the nation, leave her alone i say!

    From ihtisham.malik, on Mon 7 Jul 9:57PM

  15. The WTA have had a very good policy in place for some years now that protects teenagers from burnout and over-exposure. Players are strictly limited in how many tournaments they can play, increasing each year until they are 18. Laura will not be allowed to play in the US Open juniors because of this policy. It will not be possible for Laura Robson to overdo it in the way that Andrea Jaeger and Jennifer Capriati did. It's not that the danger of overexposure and burnout doesn't exist, but the WTA have definitely got their act together in recent years in reducing that danger.

    Honeybeecro7, Laura did not say that she was going to win Wimbledon next year. She was asked about the possibility of meeting Venus next year and jokingly said "I'll take her down". She and the interviewer were both laughing when she said it and nobody who saw the interview could possibly have taken it seriously. Allow the girl to have a sense of humour.

    From Bobito, on Mon 7 Jul 9:37PM

  16. Keep the media AWAY from her. They ruin everything,

    From derek6ox, on Mon 7 Jul 8:56PM

  17. Look after her!!
    From Bill

    From wgpain, on Mon 7 Jul 8:45PM

  18. Well she isn't helping herself when it comes to expectation by saying that she is going to win Wimbledon next year by beating Serena and Venus!Calm down Laura darling.In womens tennis most girls mature early then men,and usually big starts of womens tennis make a big result in the senior tournaments very early.As for players who haven't made it but had a promising talent-Mirjana Lucic.Was junior No.1 at 14,won a tournament at that age as well,won a Australian Open doubles title with Martina Hingis at age of 15,then made public problems with her dad-moved to USA with her mum&brothers and sisters,reached semi-finals of Wimbledon at 17,and nothing since then.

    From honeybeecro7, on Mon 7 Jul 8:28PM

  19. I Think The Problem The Rest Of The World Has About Us Brits Is The Fact We Can Still Support Our Sportsmen And Women, Even If They Are Not Top Quality Like Our Football Teams (Although England Would Have Won Euro 2008 If They Had Been There), Our Cricketers, Our Boxers, Our Ski Jumpers (Eddie The Eagle) We Love A Loser.
    But Laura Is A Winner And Shes Ours, Who Cares That Venus & Nadal Won The Singles And Some Bulgarian Won The Boys Title.
    Laura Is Where Its At - Get Used To It

    From barrymepham, on Mon 7 Jul 8:13PM

  20. All power to her but is it any wonder that us Brit's pin our hopes and aspirations on our young sports stars? In our culture the majority of people at grass roots level start drinking at 16-18 whilst their European counterparts simply do not. I was once a pretty good runner but the lure of nightlife and lack of support from peers led to disinterest.

    Oh and arshad_iceman2, what have you got against the Brits, every article I see from you is dipped in venom? At the end of the day IRRESPECTIVE of nationality the best are the best and they are better than us so stop critisising. We just wish that for once (in some sports) we were just that little bit better!

    From james r, on Mon 7 Jul 8:05PM
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