Aspen finals! (with spoilers)

[Frankly]

Good points and you would know. You should also know by now that I'm pretty sarcastic, I imagine in the MS-world a "bad boy" would be a kid who got a B-minus once. Or someone who quit piano lessons.

As a parent I can't help but be a bit fascinated by hers and high level sports families in general, since it really must stress everyone else (like the less world famous siblings). I can imagine the Lifetime movie of how Mom abandoned me for my sister, Dad worked 80 hours a week, etc. Even in your case, Muleski, I know what the ski academies require and how much goes into supporting a kid beyond the local club level. Heck even at the club level it's prohibitive. Makes me breath a sigh of relief with my 13-year old who dances 10-hours a week and is respectable locally and gets a lot of satisfaction out of it... when my wife complains about the cost of unitards and shoes I just laugh.

Not being involved directly I don't have any say, but the Dad in me wishes the whole sport could take it down a notch or three, so that kids could be in school and maybe only have half a dozen pairs of skis and maybe they head out west for a race series in the Spring and do Nationals and come home to do spring sports or catch up on classes. It seems like the kids at the college level are doing things a lot closer to this ideal than the USST kids.

I'm also a minor jock myself so I gravitate towards these niche sports that are up and coming and growing and getting more complicated and I want to say, wait! you really don't want $$$ sponsors and television and big productions. Right now I shoot a little 3-gun (sorry California, not PC) and that sport is going through those growing pains similar as to what Sporting Clays did a few years ago... currently I can go to a national match and squad with the champion shooters and drink with them afterwards. We exchange jabs on social media. Granted the champ is a cop in Oklahoma and not in Luxembourg, but that kind of human-scale, first hand experience is fantastic. Yet I know once it gets more popularity and growth then it will be lost. I've seen this repeated over and over with all kinds of other sports that surge then decline... anyone still sailboard?

I bet ski racing was on that more human scale too... pretty much before the World Cup!

So I'm just being wishful and wistful here. I wish MS and the rest of the racers the best not only in their skiing but with their futures.

 

[Muleski]

IMO, one of the worst dynamics is that the arms race in ski racing can work for those who are the most "fully invested." It's obviously not that cut and dried. There still are kids from fairly modest means who can rise in the sport. But increasingly they are the rarity.

And the arms race starts younger than ever before. One of the best gigs for an experienced coach these days is to be a private coach for an exceptional young kid or siblings. And it can be real young.

These coaches tend to be very experienced with great backgrounds, as the parents are not messing around. Think a nice six figure paycheck, plus all of your living expenses and food in top of that, a vehicle leased for your use, normally on dad's company payroll for benefits. Probably the use of the family or dad's company jet. Unlimited budget for training, travel, equipment. Year round. No geographic boundaries.

If the kid{s} are talented, hard working and coachable how do you keep pace? Is it good for the kids in every way? Probably not. Highly dependent on the actual kid.

That program is for those who do not want to wait to 6th or 7th grade for a ski academy and who do not want to have their kid share coach band width with even a small training group...say five other kids. The coach figures out how to get a little pace by including other kids or training with other private "programs."

If you do the math on this, it makes $100K a year for a full on academy, camps year round, travel, equipment, and the "best" of all that seem like a bargain.

This is not going backwards, sadly. At times I wish it would. But no chance.

And I agree that it's in every sport. Equestrians, figure skaters, golf, tennis...shooting, etc. Sailing, crew....even cycling. I know a teen being coached by a TdF rider. Lotta bikes.

Then you have the other factor of specialization at really young ages, which every sports doc hates. Seems to stop nobody.

I have a coach in my family that is trying to take ALL of the focus off results until FIS ages. Those who fight it the most are parents. Not always, but generally those with the least experience in the sport and willing to spend anything. Every one thinks it is great idea, and supports it, until the first race start. Then the parents are fixated on live-timing and on results. Not on progress.

My older brother was a three sport athlete, through college. Skied at the NCAA level, and on the USST. Can you even imagine that today? When I tell teens that today they absolutely can't believe it.

MS has had a wonderful opportunity, and countless great experiences, but you wonder on what she has missed out on. Hopefully nothing of consequence.

And wow.....once in a generation skier, for sure! I do think it would be a real challenge to have patented through this.

 

[SBrown]

I was often grateful that my kids were very good but not great athletes. Or maybe I should say great athletes with great ambition OR super-duper-talented-but-not-sure-how-motivated. Takes away a lot of hard decisions.

 

[Muleski]

I was often grateful that my kids were very good but not great athletes. Or maybe I should say great athletes with great ambition OR super-duper-talented-but-not-sure-how-motivated. Takes away a lot of hard decisions.

Good perspective. You have a background i sports, right? That helps.
In the ski racing world, what I have seen for decades are really nice people who have worked VERY hard and have the ability to support kids in this dream.
Part of the challenge has always been to what degree? How many years? How intense?
And there are plenty of people selling, and not telling you NOT to do it.
The fact is that in ski racing, almost every kid I know see as an adult got a lot out of it. In many ways. But they shake their heads at some of what they see going on. We're probably talking about 2% at most of families.
What I do remind myself is that it is everywhere, in every sport. I was thinking this through and I can think of families with a kid who is all in on a sport, and they are all in. Other than golf and tennis, not revenue sports.

Just the world we live in. For the most part it is still VERY different. Not entirely so. You can still grow up in a mountain town, and make it. I like to think you can here, too.

 

[SBrown]

Good perspective. You have a background i sports, right? That helps.
In the ski racing world, what I have seen for decades are really nice people who have worked VERY hard and have the ability to support kids in this dream.
Part of the challenge has always been to what degree? How many years? How intense?
And there are plenty of people selling, and not telling you NOT to do it.
The fact is that in ski racing, almost every kid I know see as an adult got a lot out of it. In many ways. But they shake their heads at some of what they see going on. We're probably talking about 2% at most of families.
What I do remind myself is that it is everywhere, in every sport. I was thinking this through and I can think of families with a kid who is all in on a sport, and they are all in. Other than golf and tennis, not revenue sports.

Just the world we live in. For the most part it is still VERY different. Not entirely so. You can still grow up in a mountain town, and make it. I like to think you can here, too.

It is indeed. I am not one of those who think you can turn back the clock, though. I have no answers. As you know, I have a family member who is in the middle of the arms race, armed with a pop gun but enormous drive. We shall see!

 

[4ster]

Viva Italia!
Bravissimo Federica!

 

[Lorenzzo]

The arms race may be pervasive but speaking as a coach/ex player in one sport and parent in another, kids from modest families still can and do reach the highest levels.. Maybe not in auto racing, skiing or horse jumping but definitely in certain others. Time demands vary too.

 

[Swede]

Interesting turn on MS. As a race parent with some perspective from Europe, I can only concur. It's nuts. Fun as hell, but nuts.
We're in a club that consistently feed the best academy over here with skiers. Some of the girls and boys on Jr World champs come from here and at least two recent WC skiers were fostered in our club. So I've seen it from pretty close up. I remember coming to first snow camp some years ago. It was end of November. U10. One girl already had 23 days on snow! Some kids seem to be extremely competitive and motivated, others are just in for the ride. Perhaps taught behaviour? I don't know and don't know how to do that.
MS seems to be extremely competitive and she has more wins than any skier at her age (perhaps Stenmark was in that legaue too). She is a very special skier and if she can duck injury and doesn't join the Hells Angels, I think she can beat Ingemars record. Is she crazy? Her mother? Probably. But as stated, you sort of need to be to become even a fraction of what MS is.
She's extremely popular in Europe, and especially in Scandinavia. Perhaps we identify with the tight strung-up, controlled personality of the Shiffrins -- it's ok to cry when you win the big globe. Not the small, but the big.

 

[Swede]

And MUHRER. Always late to the party. Well, well ... he had lots of back problems the two latest seasons. Hopefully he'll sort it out during summer.
Just like golfers that change their swing, Mattias Hargin did some adjustments to his technique for this season. And then taking his personal life into account, I think he showed what an incredible athlete and SL-skier he is by ending up top 10 in the cup. Amazing focus and mental strength.
Matts Olsson is a one trick pony, but a pretty descent one. Very strong. Also had all of 15/16-season wiped out due to injury. Shaky start. Good ending.
And I think Sara Hector is worth mentioning in the GS-talks. She will come to the next season furious and in incredible shape. She can be very fast and if she gets everything sorted out I predict that she will be on the podium frequently next season.
Emelie is a very promising SL skier and she showed it in the later part of the season ending up just outside the podium a couple of times.
Maria PH injured and never came back from what looked like a promising start of the season. She sulked when she was left outside the team in the nations event. I think she will be motivated to get back.
Frida needs to figure out her GS and find more speed. Need to be more consistent in SL, where she has the speed.