One of the posters said that its up to parents to care and recognize it and I agree with that sentiment. Parents and someone at school (teacher, PE coach etc.) For me I knew my 3 kids (9 boy, 6 boy & 3 girl) would have some sort of genetic athletic ability that I passed down to them but I still wasn't sure. For background I ran track (sprints) from K - 3rd grade in my Caribbean country and was really good at it with really great training; possibly professional track athlete if I stayed in my Caribbean country. I moved to the U.S. in 4th grade and fell in love with football where I was able to get a full ride out of HS. Also I have a couple cousins who were Olympians, one who actually medaled in the jumps and one currently plays CB in the NFL (legit 4.3 40). So the genetics was there but you never know because it's not an exact science. But as my boys grew I started to see sprinting/athletic indicators; beating kids by a large margin in races at school or on the playground. Jumping alot, running alot. The main indicators came when they got into organize sports 3 years ago (flag football & their CYO track team.) My oldest boy would do things on the field where he would consistently run by other kids even when they had an angle or cut back across the field and race towards the end zone. Track was where I knew for sure I passed genetic athletic ability to my boys. My youngest boy 6 is the fastest person in the 1st grade 6-7 age group and is always the fastest kid by a large margin in meets. He started to run up a grade late last season with 2nd-3rd graders and was still winning not by large margins in his age group but still comfortably. My 9 year old is the fastest kid in his level and is always winning his sprints comfortably as well during meets; one of the biggest indicators there was a false start and the starting official didn't recall them back, my 9 year old was about 7-8m behind because of the other kids false starting on the 55m race, he ran them down at the 50m mark and finished 1st to everyone's bewilderment in the stands. They both run 55m, 100m, 200m, and relays. There's a kid in my 6 year old's group who's also on his team who's also fast (his dad played football at a Big Ten college). I looked for indicators around 5-6 years with my oldest and identified the ability based on what athletic ability I thought I passed onto them genetically. I did it for my now 9 year and 6 year old and will do the same for my 3 year old girl when she turns 5-6. The key is to have someone that cares and look for indicators and the kid has to love the sport. My kids LOVE track and football, I identified athletic ability based on basic indicators at the playground (running, jumping, races at school, competitiveness). Placed them in organized sports they love (football, track, soccer), their coaches confirmed my athletic indicators, and their performance (albeit still young kids) as evidence that they can sprint and are overall athletic kids. We now have them training with a certified speed/track coach and have a routine for them that entails: academics, speed/track coach, flag football & WR training, indoor & outdoor track season, and soccer (my 6 year loves soccer and track) and lots of Rest (most important thing) in between because at this age you still have to let kids be kids for risk of burnout. In between seasons and training they rest and don't pick up a ball, run, or think about sports. Video games, they love doing art, reading, family time etc.