Millions of children around the world participate in a multitude of sports, whether in school or outside of school. As they get older, they get better, but some of them stop playing. We discussed that the best and sometimes oldest children (in their age group) have more chances and more opportunities, as well as better supervision. This allows them to gain more experience and practice. Ultimately, some of them end up becoming national or world-class athletes who compete and represent their country. For this to happen, they must be recognized as talented and given a chance to make it big. There are Talent Identification Programs (TIP) that aim to find future star athletes. Scientists have been looking for ways to improve these programs and also introduce new ways of recognizing talent. Most TIPs work by seeking young adolescents, some as young as 6, but most between 8 and 12 (Vaeyens 1368). Factors considered by many TIP programs are: "height, weight, muscle development, body fat, aerobic capacity, anaerobic power, strength, skill and agility" (Pearson 279- 281). Although it's not yet obvious, the problem with TIP is that there are too many variables and confounds to produce meaningful results. If a child is taller than others at age 6 or 12, this may not necessarily be true later, because many physical changes occur during puberty. It is likely that taller, taller, stronger children who bloom early may eventually find themselves average after puberty. Performing tests based on the 9 variables described by Pearson and expecting the results to be true is almost outrageous. A test used by TIP to test for anaerobes...... middle of paper ......d female runners of different ages. " Journal of Applied Physiology 78.5 (1995): 1931-1941. Print.Medic, Starkes and Young. "Examining the relative effects of age on the performance and participation rates of Masters athletes." Journal of Sports Sciences 25.12 ( 2007): 1377 -1384. Pearson, Naughton and Torode. “Predictability of physiological tests and the role of maturation in the identification of talent for adolescent team sports” Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 9. (2006): 227-287, Gullich, Warr and Philippaerts “Programs for the identification and promotion of Olympic athletes” Journal of Sports Sciences 27.13 (2009): 1367-1380. “Talent Identification and Development Programs. Current Sport Models and Future Directions.” Sports Med 28.9 (2008): 703-714. Print.