Nurturing our Junior Champion

I was watching a re-run of Friday Night with Jonathon Ross on Dave the other night, and Gary Lineker was on it. It was just after Euro 2004, and all the talk was about Wayne Rooney. Ross started talking about him being 'the next Pele' and Lineker said we shouldn't put that much pressure on him 'but he can be in the next set, the Cruyff's and Zico's. He can be a genius.'

Yeah, that's not pressure. We tend to put youngsters up on a pedastal ridiculously early, and wait for them to fail to hit the heights (whether we want them to or not.)

When Laura Robson played in the Junior final at Wimbledon this year, it went out live on BBC 1. The next day after she won, she was all over the front pages of the Sunday newspapers. She's not 15 until January, yet has been watched and read about by millions.

Yet, I think the LTA may just have got this one right. Robson gained a lot of exposure from her win, and plenty of talk of her being the brightest hope for women's tennis. Since the tournament finished though, Robson has dropped off the radar again. A few mentions of her progress through senior tournaments have popped up on tennis sites, as she achieved a ranking, but no hype, no celebrity, no scrutiny.

Nobody has tried to cash in at this stage, Robson is being allowed to learn her trade away from much attention. Really this means she is able to fail without being in the media limelight. As soon as she showed the potential, she has been withdrawn from the view of lenses to make sure she realises that potential.

As for Wayne Rooney when he showed the potential? He earned himself a £27 million move to Manchester United, arguably the biggest club in the world, where he has been watched ever since, and I wouldn't call him Zico...