"She's been full-time basketball since she was nine years old," her father says. "Every summer." This is a cautionary tale for any parent who wants to push their child into anything. At some point, if they don't really want to do it, they won't. Even they burn out eventually...if you push them too hard. And it may just happen when they get to where they're going, and decide it isn't where they wanted to be after all. Here are some before and after clips from articles at Slam and ESPN.
SLAM: On March 10, 2006, Elene Delle Donne led her Ursuline Academy team to its third straight Delaware state title. A 6-5 guard from Wilmington, Delle Donne scored 50 points in the 68-51 victory over archrival St. Elizabeth and their star, Khadijah Rushdan. Delle Donne shot 20 of 32 from the floor, including 5 of 10 from three-point range. Her 50 points shattered the previous state championship record of 35.
Which was set the previous year. By her. This was Delle Donne's third straight year averaging 20-plus points, her third straight season ending in a state title. And next year? Next year she'll be a junior.
That's right. Elena Delle Donne won't turn 17 until September. This means that college coaches aren't officially even allowed to contact her yet. Still, they've come in a virtual parade to Wilmington to see her play - Auriemma, Summitt, Hatchell, Stringer. All the big timers. And for good reason. Because, despite being branded "the female LeBron James," Delle Donne will most definitely be going to college - and that has nothing to do with the current WNBA rule prohibiting girls from turning pro before their college class graduates. "It has been a thought in my mind, why not just skip four years of school and go straight to the pros?" she says with a giggle. "But for girls' basketball, it seems like college is almost more important than the WNBA. I mean, college seems like a great experience, and I don't think I want to miss out on that." Click here for the full article at Slam.
As it turned out, she didn't miss out on college. She got all the way to UConn, dubbed the Next Big Thing...and decided she didn't want to play basketball anymore.
BURNOUT.
But she's still athletic, and still an athlete. Only now she plays volleyball, and apparently very well. Below is the beginning of the article at ESPN. Click the link after for the full read.
ESPN: She was provided with a personal trainer from age 7.
She was obsessed with being the best, always afraid someone was working harder than she was. Her skills seemed to be exceeded only by her maniacal work ethic.
Elena Delle Donne towered over the competition. The 6-foot-4 guard from Wilmington, Del., could handle the ball as easily as the expectations. She could shoot like Bird.
She was on the fast track to greatness until her heart began steering her in a different direction.
"About age 13, I thought, 'I don't know if I want to do this anymore,'" Delle Donne says. "'It's not fun.'"
But fun was never the objective. Delle Donne was the consensus 2008 Naismith National High School Basketball Player of the Year. She saw herself as the future of women's basketball. So did most everyone around her. She was supposed to follow her idol, Diana Taurasi, to Connecticut, win four national titles and become a superstar in the WNBA.
"I kinda was driving myself to be happy, and I was like, 'Well, you better like this!'" Delle Donne says. "'Because this is what it's gonna be.' And I was trying to force happiness upon myself, which I couldn't find in the sport."
Delle Donne was a Connecticut Husky for all of 48 hours. She says it took her only that long to realize she lacked the passion to play the sport at the highest level. She says she could no longer pretend.
Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma doesn't pretend to understand why the top recruit in America left his school in the middle of the night in June. Click here for the full ESPN article. Now ask yourself if your kids really love the sport they play....or if YOU love the sport they play.
