Pathways, age group squads, and development squads. There has never been more in the middle than now — grassroots to elite performance, and everything in between.
The muddle with the middle is prediction. Who is going to give us a medal, a payoff, or a headline? Who do we invest in, and who do we drop?
The tell are proxy measures. Sport is now awash with them.
And it’s a shame, because sport is simple. Life is not. Unless, of course, you are in the business of prediction, which is less about sport and more about the illusion of power and control.
If you want to know who benefits, follow the money.