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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As I watch the Olympics, I often wonder what my life would have been like if I had grown up in an athletic family.

I was very athletic and competitive as a child / early teen but sports weren't something my parents thought was a good use of time and they didn't support my athletic activities. I did as much as I could during school hours but by high school everything required before or after school practices and I had no transportation.

Not that I think I would have been in the Olympics, but so many of these athletes were on the slopes / rinks / hills / trails as children - in families that were also very athletic. Had I been born into an athletic family, or one that supported athletic endeavors, I think sports would have become a big part of my life.

Then I think that maybe these Olympians have a drive that supersedes family interests - maybe if I was motivated / competitive enough I would have found ways to practice sports at home even without family support and somehow train myself.[/quote]

No - you couldn't have done it alone. If getting rides to/from local HS practices were an issue, then your parents wouldn't have turned their lives upside down for you to go train with the best coach for whatever sport half way across the country. As mentioned, Chole Kim's dad quit his job and was driving her 3+ hrs each way to snowboard and then eventually moved up there with her; Red Gerard's entire family moved from Ohio to I think SLC or Colo; and the ice dancing siblings have talked about  how their mom moved with them to Mich. so they could train full time with some coach and their home is in Mich. while their dad kept his job in Boston and keeps an apartment there and spends Monday-Friday there and flies out Fri night to go back to Mich.

IDK if it's worth it honestly. For those examples -- great. They're instantly famous, will get (already have) millions in endorsements and hopefully are nice enough kids that they'll take care of their parents' by paying off their mortgage/funding their retirement etc. But for every 1 that makes it, there are 1000000 that don't. They are up there but don't get the 3-4 qualifying spots for the US team. Or they qualify but are just barely competitive with the Olympic competition and don't make it out of qualifying rounds at the Olympics or even if they make it to finals, finish with such low standings that no one knows their name and thus they're not bringing in endorsements. And often their parents have made the same sacrifices as the winners' parents. Sure -- life experience blah blah -- but most of these people don't have parents who are hedge fund portfolio managers or surgeons such that money is no object. If they're UMC professionals - with only one person working bc the other is full time managing the kid's career, they may be making 200k and setting that money on fire with multiple residences in multiple cities, coaching, traveling to competitions etc. -- most of which is not covered by USOC until the kid has qualified for the team. What the heck does their 401k and savings look like?? There was some (young - maybe 8-10 yr old's) family featured talking about how this is their dream in the future -- and for that, they are spending 150k-200k/yr. I love sports but I don't get it. Put your kid in basketball/baseball/football which are comparatively cheap (even if you go above and beyond w private coaching) bc they are played in all 50 states so you don't have to move and can get you at least a partial scholarship at some school and the chance at a short pro career.[/quote]

+1. My college roommate's family was like this. She had 2-3 siblings who were talented ice skaters - winning everything locally/regionally. When it got serious enough to get to junior Olympic level, mom and dad both had to decide what to do. Both were drs., remarkably neither gave up their career for this but when it was a local thing, they just worked themselves to death -- getting up at 4 am to take kids to the rink etc. and then putting in a full day at work and then showing up at evening practices and obviously were throwing a lot of $$$ at this with ice time, private coaches, hiring rides for the kids to take them from school to the ice before they could drive. When they started getting national acclaim, it was decided that one of the kids would do better as a pairs ice dancer, rather than solo. Turns out his perfect partner was located in Boston though they lived in Minn. Mom got herself a job with a Boston health system and moved with the skating kids and continued this life there; non skating kids stayed with dad in Minn. and it was a commuter/marriage and family for like 10 yrs. Obviously they had money so having 2 separate homes across the country was doable. Everyone is in their 30s now -- no one really placed in nationals; no one went to the Olympics or even trials. So I'm honestly not sure what the purpose was of losing 10 yrs as a family and wasting some serious $$$ which the kids could definitely use now -- none of the kids went to med school or any comparable profession and just have jobs, certainly trust fund $$$ from mom and dad would come in handy now as they buy their own houses, have kids etc.[/quote]

Yeah, I always wonder, when commentators talk about how much parents sacrificed for their kid's sport, what happens if you sacrifice that much and then your kid never makes it to the top?  What do you think?  And what do other siblings think, given that they are affected by these sacrifices, too?  A decade or more of burning all your time and money for this activity, and what if you don't have anything to show for it?  [/quote]

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