Coolest sports story of the weekend: There’s a test to find out if your little kid could be a budding athlete:

The test’s goal is to determine whether a person would be best at speed and power sports like sprinting or football, or endurance sports like distance running, or a combination of the two. A 2003 study discovered the link between ACTN3 and those athletic abilities.

Neat, right?

“I’m nervous about people who get back results that don’t match their expectations,” he said. “What will they do if their son would not be good at football? How will they mentally and emotionally deal with that?”

Now we are not parents (yet), so forgive us if this sounds harsh – what’s wrong with people? Sure, we’ve already got dreams of our kid becoming a star athlete (unlikely; neither parent played high school sports), but who doesn’t? Obviously you hope for the best, but you’re realistic and never put unnecessary pressure on the kids. And more than anything, you keep the focus on grades.

So where’s the test to measure desire? Either way, the story is a great read and makes for a swell discussion. And regardless of whether or not our kid takes the test one day, he’s growing up with a soccer ball, basketball, and football in his crib.

Born to Run? Little Ones Get Test for Sports Gene (NY Times)