There's no shortage of young athletes in the Ohio Valley, although very few make it to elite levels of competition.

A Colorado company called Atlas Sports Genetics claims that it can use a child's DNA to look for a genetic marker that gives hints to which sport is best for your child.

ACTN3, Atlas claims, is responsible for fast-twitch explosive muscles.  If you have a little, you're better suited for endurance sports like swimming or running.  If you have some, you're considered mixed-pattern, and you might be better at hockey or soccer.  If you have a lot of ACTN3, you've got the strength and power to excel at football, powerlifting and wrestling.

NEWS9 obtained a testing kit from Atlas and made arrangements with the parents of Trevor Carman, an eight-year-old wrestler, to sample his DNA.

Using a cheek swab provided by Atlas, Trevor's dad gathered a saliva sample, which we then mailed off to Atlas's laboratory in Australia.  Within three weeks, we should have results showing us Trevor's level of ACTN3 and, according to Atlas, see if he's predisposed to succeed at a specific sport.

Some geneticists have criticized the method as "snake oil."

Dan Carman, Trevor's dad, is dubious as well.

"I really don't have a care one way or the other what they think he's going to be good at," said Carman. "Whatever he wants to do, as long as he's having fun and we we can make him do his homework because of it, then we're OK wit that."

Atlas doesn't claim that ACTN3 is the sole predictor of specific types of athleticism, nor does it discount the role that coaching, practice and nutrition play in building a star athlete.

The Carman family has agreed to review the results with NEWS9 once the sample has been processed.  Watch NEWS9 for a follow-up on this story.