Tennis prodigy Todd Ley on the underbelly of elite junior sport

Todd Ley exposes a high-pressure world where talent is everything, but protection is rare; where overzealous parents, manipulative coaches, hungry sponsors and indifferent associations can push young athletes to their breaking point. It's not just a story about tennis, it's about what happens when a child's identity is consumed by a dream that may not be their own and the long road back to self-worth after the cheering stops.Presented at the 2025 Byron Writers FestivalSpeakersTodd LeyFormer world's top Junior tennis playerAuthor of SMASHED: Prodigies, parents and parasitesAnna FeatherstoneAuthor; non-fiction advisor to the Alliance Independent Authors, publishing consultant for the Australian Society of Authors