I remember the moment. You're watching your child enjoy their latest sporting hobby - and someone taps you on the shoulder and asks if they can have a word in your ear. You're told your child has been identified as having a particular talent for their sport and with your permission and help they could go all the way.
First of all, you feel flattered and proud. You're told to think about stepping things up and discuss one-to-one coaching and better equipment.
For us, this was a year ago at archery club. A weekly pastime quickly turned into a full-on serious commitment. My son is now in the Team GB Development Squad and is aiming for the Rio 2016 Olympics. Clearly, there's a lot of excitement in our house right now about London 2012. We'll be at Lord's Cricket Ground soon to watch the GB archery Team compete. Even I will have butterflies in my tummy.
Our living room now houses a large pink yoga ball, and various weights and stretchy bands for building strength and correcting balance. The dining room cupboard houses outdoor and wet weather gear; tents, waterproofs, hand warmers, flasks and various camping utensils.
Gone are the days of weekend lie-ins. Tournaments are all over the UK. Basic local training means getting up early on a Sunday to do all the 'normal' jobs like washing, cleaning and emails before packing the car and heading off for a full day of shooting. I thought I was busy before. But serious sport competition means having to find an extra 10 or more hours in your already busy week.
It's tough. For everyone in the family. Once you're on that treadmill you really can't get off. Sometimes they want to give up, to leave it all behind and have a normal life. You think about the hours and money that's been spent on getting them this far, and you know next week they'll be full of beans again and chatting with excitement about the latest news and gossip from their sport.
I have to admit I cannot keep up with all the language, the technicality and equipment detail my child now needs. Fortunately his coach is there for that. 'Coach' has become an additional member of the family. Yesterday we drove 2 hours, with 'Coach', to buy 12 new arrows. £400 worth. They do occasionally break, and when you're shooting hundreds of arrows a week, at up to 200 miles per hour, they will over time need replacing.
My garden flower beds have been killed off to make room for archery targets and netting. Archery has taken over our lives. It's not cheap to have a potential champion in the family, and we do rely on various grants to help with equipment, training and travel costs.
When it's a cold, damp morning and you feel like staying in bed but have to get up to drive to training, it can get a little depressing, I admit. But you forget that when you get to a tournament, especially if the sun is shining, and you see your child doing this amazing thing that they are good at and enjoy, and then hopefully winning. It's a great feeling. Then it's home and the GBR red, blue and white shirt goes in the wash basket with school uniform and its back to a kind of normality, until the next day when it's more training.
