Well, yea, ski racing (for one) is a damn expensive winter sport. And,
not just cash wise. The time commitment is pretty big as well. Unless
you live at the base of a ski area, there will be travel involved.
Race days can take you across the state, which means gas, lodging, food
and even more time. The price of equipment is quite high. Most age
class kids will have several pair of skis for training and racing the
various diciplines. Wax, tunung gear, lift tickets, clothing (speed
suits, protective clothing, training clothes) - way expensive, even
with team sponsored discounts. Oh yea, the team. It ain't basketball
at the local rec center folks. Training fees for the season will set
you back about $1,500 for even the most basic age class program.

I think there are ways for the average Joe to see his child to the
elite level if the child is a gifted athlete and really wants it AND
the parent wants it for their child. But, the average Joe will have to
sacrifice a heck of a lot more than the wealthy that can send his kid
to BMA with unlimited funds to fuel the kid to the top.

This would have been a much more intesting article if the writer would
have done some research on what kind of cash it takes to get a kid to
the top in the various winter sports. Citing the cost of a bobsled was
a start. But, I'm sure there is a hell of a lot more then just that
cost.

I personally would love to see more programs like NBS.

Here is an interesting artcle about NBS:
http://www.skimag.com/skimag/fall_li...327626,00.html

From the article:
"But the challenges facing young African-American ski racers are
daunting. First, there is the cold cash needed to groom a winner: The
NBS says that it takes about $30,000 per year to send a child to an
elite ski academy and pay for travel to races."
--
Marty