A young Kane Williamson, centre holding the bat. He was breaking records before he joined the Black Caps. Photo / John Borren
The sport and gender might be different, but the themes are the same - great family support and practice, practice, practice and practice.
KANE WILLIAMSON
Age 24
International centuries: 15
World test batting ranking: 7
When Kane Williamson was two and nappies was still his preferred style of pants, his parents walked into his room to find him in his cot, shooting a small ball through a mini-basketball hoop at the end of his cot.
What made the scene linger in their memories was the fact that, untaught, he was shooting in perfect basketball form.
The sign of a preternaturally gifted sportsman? Sure, but natural talent only accounted for a small part of Williamson's success. More importantly, he had a family who loved sport, his house backed on to a school so he was never short of room to play, his father started coaching him when he was young but never failed to seek outside advice when his limitations kicked in, and he practiced longer and harder than anybody else.
Williamson is not just New Zealand's best cricketer, but their hardest working. It's not that difficult to see the correlation.
HERALD VAULT: Kane Williamson - Black Cap in waiting
LYDIA KO
Age 18
Pro tournament victories: 11
World ranking: 1
In March, 2005, the Herald's voice of reason David Leggat introduced an article by writing: "This is a true story."
He couldn't be sure that anybody would actually believe a 7-year-old was competing at the women's national amateur championships at Titirangi Golf Club.
But that's where Ko was, finishing dead last, much to the chagrin of golf columnist Peter Williams: "She shouldn't have been allowed to compete and Women's Golf New Zealand now realises that. It would seem it wasn't Lydia's fault that she was entered but her parents'."
Williams feared that Ko would be just another young Korean golfer, pushed to the extremes by a domineering father, before fading away. As it turned out, Ko is not too bad and father Gilhong, good coaching and hours and hours of practice are the reasons why.
Said Ko's former coach Guy Wilson, after Ko won her first LPGA event in 2012: "Gilhong has the Korean mindset, that hours and hours of practice will get the results, which has been proven. In female golf, Koreans are the world dominators.
"He's got Lydia's best interests at heart."
Those best interests involved eight hours solid practice each day - rain, hail or gale.
As Ko said: "I guess the main losses to my life are not being able to go out with friends, not being able to socialise and function like most girls my age.
"Instead, I've had to grow up quickly on the golf course."
That's not a life every parent would choose for their kid, but in the world of professional golf, where a missed shot can cost thousands of dollars, it is paying a pretty dividend.
HERALD VAULT: First mention - Lydia Ko
Andre Agassi
At 16 he was ranked inside the world's top 100 players and with his cut-off denim shorts and hair-metal locks, he represented tennis' racier future. By the age of 27 he was using crystal meth and not winning much, making his comeback from a personal and professional precipice all the more impressive.
Tiger Woods
Like Agassi, he had a father who was determined to mould a champion, though far more positively. His relentless pursuit of perfection made him the most influential golfer in history and an extremely wealthy man, but his personal life unravelled when his numerous affairs emerged in 2009. He is still trying to resurrect his game to pre-divorce level.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
The Rocket made his first century break in snooker aged 10. His father, who with his mother owned sex shops in London's Soho district, did an 18-year stretch for murder, and O'Sullivan himself had problems with depression and drug dependency. He rarely has been anything other than brilliant at snooker, however.
Jennifer Capriati
Another star on tennis' boulevard of broken dreams, she played her first professional match aged 13, was in the world's top 10-ranked players aged 14 and by 17 had been arrested for shoplifting and possession of marijuana. Like Agassi, made a comeback.
Asked if he planned to fight again, Tyson said: 'I don’t know' - but then hinted he might.