She walked on as a 400 runner and scored at conference in the 400 hurdles. The gap between those two sentences is two years and one very direct conversation.
He told me I was a good 400 runner and I would be a better hurdler, and that it would take two years. Nobody had ever given me a timeline before.
The event change came with a plan: a full year learning the rhythm before racing it seriously, then a year racing it. She did not PR in the open 400 again. She did not need to.
The takeaway for families
Ask what the two-year version of your athlete looks like. Coaches who can answer that question are worth staying with.