ABSTRACT
Traditionally, the search for talent in the UK has been rather a ‘hit or miss’ affair. The ethical division between amateurism and professionalism that has dominated sport during the past two centuries has also seen attempts to rationalise the search for talent treated with much suspicion and beset with difficulty. This is due to a traditionally ‘recreational’ approach to sport and the commonly held belief that sport is (or should be) a recreation rather than a career or an occupation. There is also a view in the UK that the early identification and ‘forcing’ of talent is undesirable on the basis that young people should experience as wide a spectrum of sport as possible without early specialisation.
