Is NZL athletics fighting a rear guard battle ? Yes we have a handful of great athletes of international caliber but when we see the decreasing number of competitors at diverse championships , especially in the critical age groups U18 to Seniors , there must be something wrong somewhere. In fact they are the trees which hide the desert caused by early burning of potential talents. Instead of hiding behind pretexts ans excuses , it could be a good idea to face the problem and make a proper analysis to find eventual solutions to stop the process. In this article , D POPPE , is putting the finger on one of the possible factor we have the power to change : the massive killing of potential talents at the so called juniors and children competitions . 90% of the participants in juniors competitions will never reach the U18 age group , 99% will not reach the senior normal age of practice ! Can we change that with a little bit of common sense