First off, let me just add a +1 to everything
@Muleski has posted in this thread. This has been a bit of a thread drift, but sure, lets go with it.
@Muleski if you have any interest in putting any of this in a book, I'm game. You have my e-mail (pugski user name at race program .com). I know the athletic director at TSC is working on one.
I didn't read the article
@SkiSpeed referenced, but I can take a guess at what it says. A similar article runs every two or three years. I love the Ski Racing columnists, particularly Jim and Edie, but it largely is a PR front for USSA. The only people I can think of who have been in anyway critical were Aldo in the series he wrote, and an article someone from the Eastern Region wrote a few years ago regarding some FIS issues. That's it. I will probably subscribe, but I'm not rushing to do it.
Yes, ski racing can be a long road for one who sticks with it. According to collegedata.com,
... the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2016–2017 school year was $33,480 at private colleges, $9,650 for state residents at public colleges, and $24,930 for out-of-state residents attending public universities.
Even if you aren't serious about it, parents will spend anywhere from the equivalent cost of a college education every few years to a college education every year. The parents have to be able to afford it, but the kid(s) need to be driving the bus. I pushed my older daughter into it and along the program because there are certain life lessons you get from the sport. Starting at U10 age class she started driving the bus in a pretty focused way. I remember one blow up fight when she was incredulous that her mother was making her go to school when the mountain got 14" overnight. The next year our program changed a little and she was forced to decide between moving up to an application required, more intense, focused program, or dropping down to YSL level. I wasn't loving the options because the cost went up significantly. She did this weird thing where she threw a bit of a fit and said either she was doing the more involved program or nothing at all. This seemed odd behavior to me. At that point I called the program director and told him to give away her spot, but I didn't tell her that. Over the next few months, she decided the opportunity cost was too high (i.e. everything she was giving up to ski at that level was more valuable than skiing at that level) and quit. The next year she skied three half-days total.
What seemed like really odd behavior from her -- demanding the higher program and then quitting -- I have since seen in several other athletes, though they were all high school age athletes. In the case of all these athletes, my daughter included, the opportunity cost to continue ski racing was too high. To provide context, my daughter was in a three-day program. The others were in a 5+ day program and looking at moving to FIS level. None of these athletes are from families rolling in extra money, but where the expense of a high-level ski program was something they could handle. In all cases, as far as I know, the decision to quit was 100% athlete driven and came at the surprise, though perhaps not disappointment, of the parents. I have to imagine that the realization of a life left unexplored (that of being a typical high school student) started to weigh heavily on their minds when the results achieved from the athlete's continued hard work and sacrifice doesn't pay out. In other words, sometime around U16 age, athletes become very aware of what they are giving up by spending 5-7 days a week on snow and/or in the gym while simultaneously realizing that these efforts are not netting better race results. The reason is that all their competitors are working equally as hard and making the same sacrifices. Admittedly, if you live in a ski town, it is probably different from the kids who live in the city and commute to skiing. Skiing five days a week is required to remain at the same level as their competitors. If you are reading this as someone who used race, don't pull a "back in my day I skied weekends only and I won everything," the world is different now. For better or worse.
This thread shows, as do most threads on PugSki related to kids and "ski racing" that there is a HUGE breadth of ways to expose and involve your kid in the sport, and no limit to how much a family sacrifices and puts into it, to reach the dreams of being close to the upper echelons of the sport. It can be like a runaway freight train.
I agree with you about the runaway freight train aspect of the sport, however I disagree somewhat about the assertion that there are different ways to participate in the sport of ski racing, and this has been a big issue for me. I think your assertion may be true or false depending on where you live. In Colorado, and I think most of the Western U.S., it is false. The way ski racing is conceived is pretty simple and straight forward. On the bottom end, you have YSL. This is where you learn what racing is and get a little taste of the sport. Then you progress to age class racing (U10-U14), then you progress to ability level (U16-U19) and then FIS and either NCAA or USST level. If at any point your interests change, you can quit.
Simple enough, right? What happens when you have athletes in a full-time program competing in YSL? Is it OK if they are 8-years-old? As was pointed out earlier, ski racing is the only sport that you move up a level just because you get older. There is a flip-side to that coin, which is if you do not improve significantly as you get older, you get ejected from the sport. What you have is a situation that is supposed to be like a funnel, but is more like a centrifuge. Unless the family has nearly unlimited funding and the athlete has nearly unlimited time (I think it is fair to say nearly all U16 and older athletes capable of landing in the top 5 of a race are either home schooled or in an academy), they will be ejected from that track long before they reach their potential.
Luckily for those athletes (most everyone), there is another track, which is junior high, high school, USCSA. USCSA is a strange racing league where you may have someone skiing down a course in a wedge chased down the hill by someone who is nearly national team level but who decided to pursue an academic path in college (this is where chiefs of timing go crazy). But, and this is a great big BUT, not that many schools offer this level of racing and it tends to be pretty low level competition. You have a track for high level skiers, and you have a track for low level skiers. You have nothing for your average 100-200 point athlete, which let's be honest, is most people.
The reality as I see it is this: you can be successful at YSL level skiing 2-3 days a week, but YSL ends at U14. Age class competitors are on snow three days a week starting at U10 progressing to five days a week by U14. Above U14, a competitor will not be competitive unless they are in a full time program. This is not to say you have to ski this much to race, just that you have to enjoy placing in the bottom half of the field. For the sake of transparency, the group I coach is a three day age class program. The athletes are very dedicated, but they have other things going on in their lives that are equally important to them (family, academics, other sports, music, theater). It is extremely unlikely any of them will progress beyond a NCAA D2 level or more likely USCSA, and there are no delusions to the contrary. They are here to work hard, have fun and do the best they can without expectation. I do have some older athletes moving up from YSL and I think they understand the reality of what they are walking in to.
Up until a year or so ago, the possibility of a college scholarship was a carrot dangled in front of athletes and parents by coaches and program directors to keep kids in the sport, training and competing at a high level after they should have quit and moved on with their lives. I think that myth has been debunked, but I know a few athletes who realized they got used and fleeced for a program director's own goals and desires and never forgave the person.
When you begin, I advise getting a pretty good handle on what is involved, and of what a realistic end game might be. It's important. This is a sport where pure mileage on skis, under the direction of good coaches, and with the right equipment matters. It is hard to "catch up", depending on who your kid is trying to catch, and what the long term goals may be. I have seen it for decades. One simple question is how soon and at what age can your child ski "full time", 5-6 days week. Oh, weekends only? That should lead to a conversation.
This leads to my next issue. We have data on exactly how much snow time is required to be successful at each age group starting at U10, and how much is too much. We know that up to a point, time on snow starting at a very early age is required for success in the current U.S. ski racing system (emphasis on U.S. because I think the rest of the world is smarter here). However, buy the time the athlete reaches U16-U19 age, you have burned out the athlete and exhausted the family's finances. Let me put a finer point on this: It is pre-determined what a ski racer's maximum achievable potential is by age 11. There is no longer the option for a skier to grow organically with the sport as was possible when we were growing up.
There are SO many ways to enjoy and love "ski racing". Great options. But taking an occasional weekend skier at say age 11-12, and introducing them to ski racing requires some thought as to what you are hoping to accomplish. It also helps to have your child in a program where the other families, kids and coaches are all on the same page.
The original intent of the thread was exactly this, taking kids, introducing them to the fun of racing, teaching them some technique that can be applied all over the mountain, having a good time.
But if that's your goal, do not end up in a program where there are fairly young kids who have legitimate USST and WC goals, as over the top as that sounds.
This is sage and crucial advice that parents need to be very careful of. We live in an age where parents want the best for their children and can pay for it. However, it is imperative to understand that there is a big difference between THE BEST and the best for your child. Some programs are pretty upfront about that, most are just happy to take your money. Go to the program whose values and goals align with yours.
My son helped coach a U12 who had 60 plus days on snow between May 1st and October 15th ... I know a family with kids, U14 and younger, who have been to both Chile and NZ this summer.....about 30 days on snow.....with a world class private coach.
This is my point. This is neither good nor bad, it is the current reality of the sport. At any given level, it is important for athletes and parents to understand the landscape.
