Grand Final Day

Its here again. The most important day for most Victorians is the AFL grand final.
Despite the Hawks not playing its still an exciting day and Im looking forward to it for a number of reasons.
I was up early this morning to hit the gym and do my rehab exercises as I had a physio appointment at 10am with Adam.
Naturally I was proactive in asking an enormous amount of questions, what are my exercises? Can I return to training soon? Can I do these gym exercises? etc, etc.
His response that made me excited was I can go to training on Tuesday! Of course this will be my first session in 3 weeks so I must be super careful and conscious to not cause any further damage to my hamstring. That means a modified program were Im only going to kick with my un-injured leg and nothing above waist height. I will think on it over the next couple of days and write down exactly how I think I should approach this session to ensure I have no set backs. Im thinking only training for half an hour, starting at 60% and gradually increasing to perhaps 70%
As far as exercises go I have to slowly strengthen the muscle again so I'm doing one leg bridges. He gave me a theraband (an elastic band for gentle exercises) and I have to continue to strengthen my glute / hamstring and Im aloud to jog for 10mins without a break.
Our conversation turned to the Grand Final and football. Adam has had an amazing career and has worked with the Hawks, Fremantle and the Pies at AFL level. He is the best in the business and that's clear as you walk into his rooms with the thank you pictures from Australia elite athletes, including the Wallabies and some sprinting athletes (hence I know Im in the best hands and if he believes that I can make a recovery in four weeks for Nationals, I need to trust him and do everything he says).
He went on to tell me he was asked to train a 14 year old teenager to make it to the AFL. I asked how much training he did with this guy, his response was around four times a week for close to four years. That is a tremendous amount of dedication from this junior athlete but he has reaped the ultimate reward and been drafted!
For me this is an indication to all aspiring athletes the importance of commitment and the benefits of developing your body at a young age. I think that our sport is a direct reflection of this and the kids who are training hard, doing more than just what there club demands are the ones who will be successful later in life. In other words it all starts at that critically young age of 14-16.
Carlo started young, most of the guys who are winning Nationals are in their early 20's because they've done that ground work when they were much younger, their bodies have been moulded to suit Taekwondo.
Now to the Grand Final, go Saints!