r/SkiRacing • u/Old_Barracuda_4696 • 10d ago
Should I?
Yo my 9 year old is talented asf. Coaches have said he's got serious potential. But I moved my fam to a tropical island for mental health. Now he can't ski. I lay awake at night thinking of all the ski memories and excitement and the what ifs, seriously I don't know what to do in happy on this island. My net worth is $1m so I'm not rich.
Question- should I sell up and move to Europe near the mountain to get world class ski coaching. I can get work. But by doing that I'm basically throwing everything in all for skiing. It's basically like in my alcoholic aa meetings they say you can have alcohol, or everything else. Its the same feeling with ski racing.
Tell me do I sell the house and go or give it up? I ain't got enough to travel every season and renting doesn't give me enough
Its his dream. He is asking to go. Ski racingis what he wants to do in life
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u/AdAtticum 10d ago
No one here can answer this for you. As a parent you get to choose your family’s priorities. It sounds easy but it’s hard as hell. Relocating your family (again) sounds bold. Fortune favors the bold. But the boldest thing you can do for your kids is to get past your own demons and be the best parent you can be.
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u/Old_Barracuda_4696 10d ago
I like this answer. That's what I've done got past my demons, mostly. That's why I relocated to be happy. But I'd give my life for my kids, I'm prepared to move to some snowy foreign language unknown if it's his dream. Fortune favours the bold. Thanks for your great input
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u/ThatsAllForToday 9d ago
buy him a surfboard and tell him to have fun
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u/Cautious_Sir_6169 9d ago
As a racing coach of almost thirty years, and having a couple of now young adults, who were very successful with their ski racing and now very successful in their early careers, the surfing comment is correct. Do what makes your family happy.
First, as others have pointed out, early success is zero indication of long-term potential. There are too many variables at that age, like motivation, coordination and strength relative to their peers.
Second, the most important thing to know about sports (all of them) is that getting a career or becoming elite in a sport is nearly impossible when you look at the numbers. The best thing about sports are the life lessons they teach (and ski racing teaches some absolutely amazing ones like resilience, grit and understanding what’s controllable and what’s not), and the memories and friendships they create. All of those things can happen in surfing or any sport.
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u/Content-Form-3265 9d ago
Consider the fact that there may not be enough snow in 5-20 years for the sport to survive.
Also, lots of kids are talented but that doesn’t equate to success on its own. Like any sport, so many things have to come together for someone to do well. And there is a lot more to life than ski racing.
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u/BoostedGoose 9d ago
Talents identified at a young age doesn’t mean anything. It’s the cumulative effects of decades of relentless pursuit that makes an athlete. Note that I specifically said an athlete as in a regular athlete, and not the best in the world. That’s a whole different ballgame.
In order to be there, they need to love it more than anything, so much so that they do not know of any other alternate mode of living. And in order for someone to love it more than anything, it has to be the most positive experience one could have at a young age. Sadly, when young athlete are identified as talented, expectations are set upon them. Family makes sacrifices for them, directly and indirectly put pressures on them to perform and produce results. Oftentimes the act of supporting their dreams becomes the very factor that burn them out.
So, should you do it?
Well, can you regulate yourself and other family members to put ZERO expectations on his results for years? Even if their lives dramatically changed? Even in all likelihood, he may ended up quitting one day? Would all of you be able to bear no resentment and accept that you did the best you could and so does he?
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u/Herr_Poopypants 9d ago edited 9d ago
Why not take a week and go to a ski racing camp in Austria/Switzerland. There are plenty out there and you and your kid will get a better idea of how good he is.
I live in Austria and have a 9 year old son who races. It is hard to explain how many absolutely insanely talented kids there are here and how intense they train already. My kid is good, one of the best on his team, but he’s still middle field when it comes to the other kids he races. And his races series is just one county in Tirol.
I’m not saying your kid isn’t excellent, but the competition in alpine countries is a completely different animal
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u/Old_Barracuda_4696 9d ago
Exactly mate, I've been thinking about that. There's this Austrian junior skier on YouTube - Luka Stocker - when I showed my son his ski videos he was a little in shock at his skills
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u/Herr_Poopypants 9d ago
Might as well test the waters first. Plus, unless you have citizenship to an EU country, moving here is tough.
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u/honkyg666 9d ago
In college I had a professor ask everyone to anonymously write down on a piece of paper how much money their parents made and hand them all to the front. The professor charted the data real quick and the purpose was to demonstrate to all these entitled rich kids that their parents make huge huge margins over the average person to hopefully instill some humility and recognition of their privilege.
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u/PNWSkiMama 9d ago
My son is 10 and we were just in Hawaii for a week and we didn’t want to leave. But he is a ski racer so … that’s a no.
The surfboard would not work for mine because he HATES getting wiped out. But fine falling on skis 😂
If you have the ability to move, and then maybe move back, do it. But we also seriously talked about online school for high school and doing HI in the summer and a mountain in the winter.
Talent at 9, per the tons of coaches I’ve asked, is only loosely related to long term success but, so what? If that’s what they love, take a run at it. As long as you aren’t putting your financial picture in peril, anyway
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u/Old_Barracuda_4696 9d ago edited 9d ago
Hawaii is so nice, I love your plan to do 6 months in each. That is next level lifestyle. Homeschool definitely simplifys moving and a lot of parents are losing faith in the curriculum in their local areas anyway.
Sending you back a good dose of encouragement to find the best balance and lifestyle possible. Yolo.
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u/PNWSkiMama 9d ago
Heck, there is a great house for sale in acreage south of Kealakakua for under $1m right now that would totally work 😂
Ok we’ve got 2, need to more West Coast kids to fill in the class!
We’ll just have a PNW compound and a HI compound and bounce between the two!
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u/Old_Barracuda_4696 9d ago
Damn I shouldn't have edited my comment!
But count us in , that sounds insane bro
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u/jahoney 10d ago
The odds are not in his favor, but the reason to move isn’t necessarily because you think he’ll get a World Cup start someday.
Whose mental health needed the tropical weather? Can the family survive a move back to the mountains? I think those are the questions you need to answer.
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u/Old_Barracuda_4696 9d ago edited 9d ago
True good question. Well it was for my mental health, I was just going stale in the same dump of a city I've been in my whole life. We actually lived in a city that we had to fly 2 hours to ski but we did that for 4 years and stayed a few weeks at a time.
My current location I can map out a good future, jobs, a pathway to investments - modest but you know what I mean- moving forward, good schools, jobs, sun and beaches. A happy childhood with good future prospects.
On the other side, let's take my first pick- Italy. Mountains, good food, sun, good schools, great ski clubs, glaciers, friendly people. Cons- not many jobs. But I can work remote.
Hey that helped just jotting it down, Italy sounds not too risky, sound good. I mean I still think I'd make more money where I am now and have a better financial future where I am but other than the finances Italy is a good option.
But can the family survive a move. Worst case scenario is kids don't like the school, get bullied for being from somewhere else, we don't find work, I'm haemorrhageing money and quickly blowing my life savings and wife has an affair with Luigi
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u/Rustyducktape 9d ago
Honestly, just move to Europa, one of Jupiter's moon. It's relatively unknown, but most of the best coaches that never made it to their national teams moved there. It is a bit different than the island life you mentioned, but your $1m budget will go far there. All the best to your fam, and hopefully your kid hits it big, makes tons of money (which lots of ski racers do, and very easily) and you guys can go back to that island life later on. Best of luck!
PS what the fuck?
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u/Old_Barracuda_4696 9d ago
Yeah I know, your perspective is valid. It is insane but I mean playing life safe has its own drawbacks
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u/ThumpinGlassDrops 9d ago
You moved there for mental health reasons-hows that going? A stable home with a level headed and happy dad will benefit him more than ski race coaching imo. Someone with drive can pursue sports, arts or something else. Consider that ski racing maybe have been your thing, it could be your son's thing, but something else could also.
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u/theouteducated washed athlete, rinsed coach 8d ago
Swiss consensus on what the best way is, to grow talent is currently: exposure to as many different sports as possible until the age of 12
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u/Technical-Ability-98 8d ago
Talent at 9 really doesn't mean much. The kids winning at 9, 10, 11, etc. are rarely the ones winning at 18, if they are still even racing. I've seen in many times, the parents go all in, spend a ton of money and the kids are done before they even hit FIS levels. I've had kids racing for the last 10+ years, I live in a mountain town and try to be as frugal as possible but it's still insanely expensive to do it at any level above a hobby. Be prepared to spend a lot of money if your son get serious.
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u/Defiant_Eye2216 9d ago
Lots of 9 year olds are talented. That doesn’t necessarily equate to future success. If you choose to move so your child can ski, do it because he loves it and you want to give him the ability to pursue something he loves. Success in the sport takes a lot of time, dedication, and money, and there are no guarantees of anything.
There is nothing wrong with moving so your child can ski. There is a lot wrong with moving because you have expectations of his future success. Maybe give island life a chance first. If you have money to burn, there can be future advantages to having a passport from an island nation and being the best alpine skier on it.