What do you think of this? Would you do it?
what people are talking about
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Us Girls..Our Views 
Nope I wouldn’t do it! Why do we need some test to determine if they could be the next sports star? I think a lot of dedication and hard work determines that! If my child were to have a specific gene, and they didn’t want to play that sport there’s no way I would push them and make them do it just because they have that gene.
Wow, all I can say to this is way to set the bar pretty high before the child has even started living. I don’t think there could be anything that could be more detrimental to a child’s growth! What if a child could be really good at a sport but also has the mind to find a cure for cancer, yet never realized it because the parents wouldn’t let them understand that they could be anything other than a great sportstar.
It is an interesting thought, but I don’t think I’d do it.
It’s interesting to me because I have a few theories of my own about how certain “packages” of characteristics seem to go together with certain personalities and body types.
One of my daughters probably has a genetic tendency to do well in some aspects of sports. But there are other aspects where, at the moment, she does not seem to be outstanding. For example, she is super strong and fast, and motivated to be physical; but she’s a little awkward, so will she really be able to excel?
I agree with Jenny – the biggest determinant will be whether she finds a given sport interesting enough to pursue energetically. And if she doesn’t, I am not going to push it. I feel that for the vast majority of us, sports are for fun. Personally I had very little to do with them as a kid, and that was really OK.
One thing that makes me think maybe my kid is “born for it” is that her body is small, compact, and all muscle, like the olympic gymnasts. You know how we’re always thinking maybe those gymnasts are little because they have been forced to do unnatural things with their bodies from a very young age? Well, watching my daughter grow, I have a different view. She’s so little, but boy does she pack a lot of punch. Full of energy and physical confidence, and able to do things many older kids can’t do. She’s been like this since well before she was 2. And it certainly wasn’t anything I did to her. Her sister is the exact opposite, so it can’t be parenting.
Yeah, I’m gonna pass on this one.
I think that, as much as you can have a “gene” for something, if you don’t have the “head” for it, you might as well just stay on the bench. I know some people who are phenomenal musicians – can sight-read anything you put in front of them, can play the hell out of a page that looks like a tub of ink spilled on the paper, there’s so much black. But they play “cold”. Not an ounce of passion in the notes they play. They’re all technique, and no spirit. And I know others who don’t have nearly that technical ability, but when they play, you close your eyes and get lost in the music. Because they play with their heart.
It’s the same with sports. Maybe that technical genius has the “music gene”, and maybe some athletes have the “sports gene”. But really, what’s that gene worth, if they don’t have the passion for it, too?
I also see this becoming yet another hammer for the crazed sports parents out there. Yet one more thing to flog their children with… “you’ve got the GENE!!! Get out there and PRACTICE!!” Or, just the opposite… “What do you mean, my kid is riding the bench? He’s got the GENE!!!” “Yessir, he might have the gene. But he’s also a smart-mouth, self-important brat, who needs to learn to be a good sport”
Oh puh-leese!!!!! Nothing but a scam and a way to make a company billions of dollars fast! I’m not saying there aren’t genes that make you more of an athlete than not, but like Laura said, you have to have the head and heart for it too.
I do not need a mail-order kit to tell me if my kid is genetically athletic, or the next sports star. We’ll find that out in time. And even if he had the gene, what if he didn’t want to play sports? They may feel compelled to play, because of the pressure from their genetic make up.
This is a complete waste of time and money.
I agree with everyone. I’d let my kids play and do what they want to do. If something isn’t fun for you and you don’t love it, so what if it’s in your genes? Life is short, we must enjoy it.
No, I adamantly oppose such an idea. Just because a kid doesn’t have a gene to be a star player, regardless of the sport, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be encouraged to play any sport for the fun of it. It’s the fun of the game that catches a kids interest, what does it matter that they might not be a star? Let’s let them play. Experience will tell them if they are meant to stay with it as a pro or just do it for fun.
I can’t believe how many of these test kits the company says they’ve sold! I’m with Nikki, this is a complete waste of time and money.
First things first. Girls with hair that can get in their face should have it pulled back in a pony tail. It’s a safety issue.
Secondly… let me see if I understand the jist of the respondants.
It’s wrong to test a child’s predisposition to a certain sport. It’s just bad.
However, if you don’t like your hair color or style, it is perfectly acceptable to spend money at a salon having your hair colored and fixed into a fashion that pleases you.
I think any “tool” can be an advantage or abused. IF this testing is taken as one of the pieces of the puzzle then fine. If it is used to drive a child into something they do not want to do or enjoy then that is border line abuse.
Wait a sec, I didn’t say it was wrong. I said it wouldn’t matter to me if anything specific was in the gene pool or not. I said “enjoyment” of what one was doing was the most important thing.
How did you go from a gene test to determine this to hair coloring???
You’re right about long hair needing to be pulled back! Where did the hair color/style thing come from? I don’t see a connection here. I’m saying it a waste of time and money and could result in wrong paths being pursued based on having a gene geared towards a certain sport. What if that kids idea of a future doesn’t have sports in it? Suppose the idea of running around on any kind a of a field doesn’t interest them? How many parents would see this sport gene as a way to live vicariously through their child? I stand with letting the kids play for fun and not push them towards one thing or another.
What happens if the kid has a brilliant mind as well as the sports gene? Which way should/would they be steered?
If you don’t like your hair color after you’ve changed it, you can cut most of it off or go to a salon and have it professionally fixed. Cost: $100-200.
If (some) parents get a “positive” on this sports gene test, they MAY spend their child’s entire life pushing them into something that they don’t want to do. Cost: an entire life, for that child, trying to correct the parent’s well-intentioned, but wrong, direction.
That’s not to say that parents won’t do that anyway – I’ve seen plenty of parents push their kids, almost violently, toward one life path, when clearly, that child should be doing something FAR different. And it happens in all walks of life – career, religion, music, AND sports. But something like this, with the crazy salaries and mostly cushy life that are synonymous with most athletes’ lives, even the most open-minded parent would be tempted to steer their child toward what the test says, and not what the child’s interests dictate.
No thanks, I like to leave that kind of stuff up to God.