. . . You are 100% correct. My oldest son is now a football stud, and he actually just competed in his first powerlifting meet last weekend and won his weight class competing against kids up to their sophomore year - he's a re-classified 7th grader. My baseball rat is 10. If you told me 5 years ago that my oldest would be winning powerlifting meets, and going to one of the best football prep schools in my state on scholarship - I would have laughed you out of the room.
He was ok but not anything special when he started out. He tried out for a state all-star team 3 years ago, and got cut. He was devastated. I told him he could do one of 2 things - tuck tail and let getting cut define him, or let it light a fire under his ass and go out there and show those coaches they made a big mistake. It 100% lit a fire under his ass, and he became a complete gym rat - lifting, running, and having me take him to every camp and clinic we could get too. He has now started on that same team the last 2 years, earned a scholarship to the prep school, and just got invited to one of the biggest showcase camps in the country over the summer.
I'm 100% convinced none of this would have happened if he didn't get cut from that team. He literally has a printed copy of the "sorry you didn't make the team" email taped to his bedroom wall, and he has become so motivated that it's actually nuts to me. This kid is now on a mission, and I love watching it. He will end up being successful in whatever job he ends up in someday.