Olympic Parents - Financial Woes

I know people that have lost their homes paying for their children's sports at a much lower level. If I had to speculate I would think that is a bigger money drain because some of these kids suck at their chosen sport so mom and dad bear all financial responsibility.

At least when they have the talent to be an olympic hopeful sponsors come on board to help with costs.

Personally I put a lot of money into my daughter's soccer career but never more than I could afford. She was an exceptional goalie and I would not have allowed her to play at that level if she wasn't. Then again according to my kids I am a mean mom in this regard.

I never saw it as investing in her dream, she never had a illusions to being major, it was the level of competition she enjoyed. She quit her junior year because her school made her chose between sports and student government, she chose the latter. No worries, it is her life.

One of my sister's and I played competitive soccer. My parent's were VERY poor. They worked extra jobs (cleaning, handy man stuff, running errands, etc) on the side, to pay the thousands of dollars in fees. For them, it wasn't even about our "dream." They saw an opportunity for us to do better. We had a raw talent, that is not very common. They saw a better life for us. College scholarships, education, a future. My sister did take her sport all the way to college and got her entire college paid for. I was so burnt out on all the competition and injuries, I quit in high school. My parents tried to hide it, but they were devastated. They knew they couldn't pay for college, and they were scared I wouldn't go. (I did pay my way through some.) Unfortunately, most of my high school years were spent so focused on soccer, I was not able to give academics enough time to qualify for significant academic scholarships.

Anyway, most parents I don't think...really focus on this magical dream. They focus on the success, the profession, the chance to give their child a significant future. I'm sure most of those parents wouldn't have cared if their kids didn't achieve their "dream" of the Olympics. However, I'm willing to bet they'd be relieved and overjoyed their kids made it far enough, to build a future. You don't need the Olympics to do your sport professionally. I think the goal for parents is a profession and a future, but they do everything to also support the "dream." I think they find more relief in the profession, rather then the dream.

Parents go broke investing in education, skills, success, and sending their kids to college all the time. I don't think it's any different for these Olympic parents.

I think it's really hard to know what you'd do unless you were actually in that position, which of course, most of us never are.
I will say that as much as I love, admire and adore the US Women's Gymnastics team I have NO desire to encourage my daughter (who is a lower level competitive gymnast) down that path. Never mind the cost, I'd be such a nervous wreck watching her compete at that level, and always be on pins and needles that she'd break her neck!

I think that for many of the kids along the way that it isn't the child's dream as much as it is the parents' dream.

I used to work with Kerri Strugg's sister, who also trained with the goal of going to the Olympics until a back injury caused her 'retirement.' She talked about the good things that came from the Olympics but also shared the realities and not so good things. Personally, I'd never put my family (or child) through the many, many sacrifices required to reach that level of competition. Also, I wouldn't want a coach to have a more prominent role in raising my child (and making decisions arbout my child) than I do. I admire Olympians and their accomplishments, but there will be no Olympic dreams for my family .

My daughter wanted to get into ice skating when she was young and she probably would have been great at it but I didn't want to go down that path because I knew we couldn't afford it, so that ended her skating career.

My response is very similar to Jo's except my daughter's passion was softball.

We too paid league fees, coaching, private pitching lessons, etc. But it was all what she wanted to do. When she came to me, her sophomore year in HS and said that she was not looking for an athletic scholarship and she'd rather focus on her academics, we (she) cut back to just playing for the school.

I think that while you ask a very valid question, it isn't for us to judge on the 'whys' or 'hows' other parents financially support their kids dream. We only know what the media is telling us and there could be a lot more to the story.

I admit that it was an easy decision made for us, because my daughter chose to change her focus. BUT, if SHE WANTED to be on the fields, or in the batting cages or working out with her pitching coach, and SHE WAS that good, I honestly say, I'm not sure what we would have done.

I think it's about finding balance. Very few people make it to the olympics. Granted the winners make a lot of money back on endorsements, etc...but the vast majority sink tons of money and don't win any titles.

We ran into this with gymnastics. We were paying 4-5,000 per year for these private gyms, coaches, meet fees, travel....etc..

We finally said enough is enough...we switch to a recreational league which still has competitions. The cost is WAYYYY less and the meets are exactly the same.

There are less expensive alternatives to almost everything.

Olympians may be a different story, but again this is a tiny fraction of the population. Many of them get sponsors when they are real contenders.

A piece was done on the news recently about how much the parents of the US Women's Olympic team spent financially, and time wise, on getting their girls to the Olympics. They monetary figure was at least 1/4 of a million, and the time put in was in the tens of thousands of hours.

It seems pretty bittersweet, really. Plus, what about the other kids, that may lose out on opportunities because all of the money that goes to the kid with the most potential to do something big?

You know, I'm really not sure. Thus far, it doesn't seem like I'll have to make decisions around that since neither of my children display an unusual aptitude or focus in any one discipline. They both enjoy life and are deeply interested/interesting little people, they just don't have that unique and early passion for a single activity.

I imagine that, if my child felt as though she were born to swim, play the piano, or study the stars, I'd do whatever I could to help them achieve her dream and goals. You know what I mean?

It seems that is not our situation, so I'll get to help my children find and achieve their dreams in other (and probably less taxing) ways.

I hope my kids don't fall in love with a sport. It isn't just the financial commitment, it's the time. Life is so short, and to put so much of it into one thing like that? I don't know, I'd rather see them do lots of things well, then do one thing that takes over everything else.

Back in the 90's, I worked with the competitive ice skaters. The skater's coaches and ice time were costing around 30-40K a year. Ironically, it seemed to be more of the parents dream than the kids. I had to kick the parents out of a training session more than once, because they were trying to push the kids farther than I thought they were ready to be pushed. You have to learn to walk before you can run. I don't have any desire to get involved with sports to that level. Luckily, my daughter is much more academically gifted than sports gifted.:)

I was wondering that myself!! I know they had mentioned that Gaby's mom had moved to Iowa ( I think that was the state) so she could be with her trainer!!! And I wonder how much money do these parents need to get them and the kids to London, do they have to pay for the outfits they wear, etc..............??? And then I read that the US taxes them on their medals which I never knew that and can't figure out why either!!!! And we are talking thousands and thousands of dollars per each one too :(

And you are right, my hubby and I would spare no expense if one of our kids had a sever medical problem, I wonder if we would so they could follow their athletic dream as well.......

S.

I was wondering about this myself. These are so many stories of families that have worked so hard to get their kid to the Olympics. The gymnast John Orozco from the Bronx comes to mind. I found this article that said that top level gymnastics costs about $15,000/year. http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2012/07/24/the-co... I thought it would have been much higher because I figure they are basically paying the salary of a coach. How many students can a coach really focus on? The travel, outfits, everything just adds up. Personally, I would hate to go into debt to for this purpose but if I could fund it by cutting back in other areas and taking a second job, I would do it.

My friend's son is actually on the U S Olympic team. He is wrestling for the U S. His parents have spent a King's ransom on Ben's dream. I know back in 2009 he traveled to Greece for a world champion match and was less then a half pound overweight to compete and had to forfeit the match. he has been wrestling as a World Class Athelete for several years.
Today he won his first match and I am patiently (ya right) watching the Olympics to see how he does on the next round.

I talked to his dad a few weeks ago and hotel rooms in London for the Olympics were going at $1000/day. They rented a house with some other families. He said they had so many people staying at the house they would have some people sleeping on the floor.

If interested you can go to nbc.com/sports and get results for today. Look up Ben Provisor, my friend's son.