At What Cost ?….The Elite Athlete
February 12, 2008
Lauren training with the “RIKSHA”for AAU National Championships 2007
The following questions are important discussion points for the parents of a potential elite athlete. They are very thought provoking. At what cost do we direct our elite athletes to move to the “Next Level Youth”, Whose choice is it really? Food for thought…..
Recently, I did some math on a typical elite youth track athlete from the age of 8 through the age of 17 and the emotional, physical and psychological cost of their sport, not to mention the financial burden on the family as a whole.
WELL, Here’s a general break down…. If you travel with your child to the meets in and out of the state.Championship meets, Invitationals etc. Gas, airfare, hotels ( sometime for as long as 7-10 days), equipment, special foods, training, gear,water , supplementation and proper nutrition(vitamins),personal trainers (sprint trainer, long distance trainers , jump coaches I could go on but I won’t. You get the idea don’t you?
Imagine this …Our sport is one of the least expensive to participate in. (A family member of mine has 2 children in tennis and they cost 45-85 bucks/hour 3 times per week for privates.)The learning curve is rough in tennis you need a lot more to get a level success during youth competitions.) So the final cost for track could be as high as $90,000 based on over 10,000/year at 8 years of competition.
I guess if your child gets a scholarship you may think your ahead, but are you really? Do you break even financially?.
Something to think about.
Our sport is the most forgiving in terms of learning and skill acquisition. Allyson Felix started running at 15. She has only been running for a total of 7 years to date. A child athlete starting at 6 will have run almost 16 years by the time she is of same age Allyson is right now.
Allyson looks prime to take the track world by virtual storm in the next few years and maybe even retire before she even hits the numbers of competitive years many of our children will have reached at the age of 25 0r 26. Allyson at 25 would have participated 1o years , the 6 year old athlete would have participated 20 years. Who is more likely to burn out? Is it a fore gone conclusion?
I don’t think so.We must allow our children to have as much fun as possible in these years before it is not as fun as they approach high school and college years and possibly beyond.
These are very hard questions to ask yourself. I ask myself them regularly. I don’t have the answer but I do know we need to dialog more on the topic for the livelihood of the sport. Does it really take starting at 6-8 in track to be the super star standout down the road?
No It doesn’t.Many children start out of love of being with other children and it is fun to be part of something new.
Take a look at the elite youth rankings from a few years ago.How many if any of those same girls or boys are still at the top or even competing?
I spoke to a 13 year old last season who said she retired from track at 13 because she wanted other things . Well that’s just fine except can you really retire from anything at 13?? She said it just wasn’t fun any longer. That was very sad to me but a reality.Many youth athletes aren’t having “fun”. I hope Lauren continues to have fun as long as possible.
Questions to ask yourself today
What drives athletes’ and their parents’ determination to excel at the national and international level?
What is the the financial sacrifice equivalent of a middle-class income, the full-time job of grooming and transporting one’s child to competitions. Is it worth the outcome?
What do we understand that outcome to actually be?
What effect, positive and negative, does allowing or persuading a young athlete to aspire to elite status have on the athlete, her parents, and her family?
More food for thought
- Seek out Information the actual costs of parenting an elite athlete, and the actual percentage of household income that those costs represent.
- Find Parents who have been there and done it, sharing their strategies and outcomes.
- What does an elite track athlete have to look foreward to as he developo after college? Will the parents be able to continue to support at the same level their child as they did in Elementary,Middle and High School?
- Will the newly “open status” of the gradauted college athlete have to train and work full time to realize her dream?(many do)
Trackmom (in a contemplative mood)
Please weigh in on this topic via post I look forward to hearing from you.
Related posts:
- What Is The Financial Cost Of An Elite Athlete
- Part 2 Common Charactersitics of the Elite Child Athlete (continued)
- What is an Elite Youth Athlete?
- Common Characteristics Of Elite Youth Athletes
- Is There Such A Thing As A Youth Elite Athlete ?
Good Morning, I informally met you at the AAU JO’s last summer in Knoxville, TN. I remember stating to you how proud your daughter looked each time she won her heat in the prelims over while watching the long jump, she stood out because for some reason all the other kids showed no emotion whether first or second or so on. My daughter had the pleasure of meeting Lauren out while sitting under the waiting area at the Long Jump, and all my daughter talks about (her name is Kailiece Harris by the way) is how fast Daesha and Lauren were in the 200 meter dash. But anyway I just wanted to let you know I read the articles on your website daily before I start working its very informative and I can relate alot to the items in the site, and the article “At what cost?” has given me alot to think about. Keep up the goodwork.
Hello Tyangela,
Thanks for stopping by.I do remember meeting you! I was honored that you noticed Lauren due to all that was going on. I have shared your insight many times.I hope that we will formally meet again this summer.
Feel free to write post or e-mail me anytime at
trackmom1@gmail.com
Thanks for the post again!!
Lorraine
[...] Discovering the cost of Elite Athletes is not only vague but many times just not talked about. Does a new track parent realize how much the following can cost ; personal training,massage therapist, functional trainers, Chiropractors, Sports med Docs, sports Psycologist, home schooling ,good healthy food (much of which is organic and grass fed). Travel for Californian athletes that can be easily over 5,000 miles in a season and if your athlete is over 15 years old the mileage could be more than 20,000 miles and take her overseas. Not to assume that a parent would have to obtain these services for their athletes… but to make a point that many have all ,some or even one or two of these addition outside already in additon the track team experience. Yes, I am part of the youth sport maze,and I am always asking questions like; What is not enough? What is too much? How does the average parent with out professional expertise in certain area know about possible helpful tools ? I believe that parents want the best for their youth athlete. Parents are more than willing to sacrfice for them and parents want credible balanced answers. Yet another question…. Where do we get that balance? For myself I find balance and make desicions based on my personal approach to life before track was in our life. What I mean by this is simple. We ate healthy and much organic before track,so it is very much in our family life to continue that pattern and the cost (although a lot) is well worth the benefits my family and my youth athlete recieves. It makes good sense to feed an athlete well for optimum performance. I am a Chiropractor and have helped hundreds of people, athletic and not, for over 15 years some of them profession track athletes and even a couple of previous world record holders and world champions as well as football players and baseball too. My professional experience has lead me to utilize this level of care with my own athlete,I did before she every ran track. I believe a parent first has to define for themselves what An Elite Athlete is and isn’t. Does this definition change the way you approach the training and care of your athlete? If so why? What expectations do you have for your athlete? What expectations does your athlete have for himself? [...]