As a parent of 3 kids who has somehow gotten heavily into youth ski racing, I applaud all those who have come before, all who are currently in the trenches, and all who will embark on the arduous journey in the future…
And no, I am not talking about the kids that train like damn near professionals and fearlessly huck themselves down super steep mountains on race day all for the glory of a 5 cent metal…
I’m clearly talking about the ski parents. 😅
Obviously, the benefits the kids receive are far greater than any material award handed out at the end of the competitions… Ski racing quite possibly could be the greatest teacher of respect, resilience, gratitude, and humility that I’ve ever been a part of.
The ultimate respect the kids must learn for the mountain and the ability to bounce back after inevitable falls will undoubtedly ingrain a grateful and humble mindset into just about all who dare to brave the volatile elements of the ski racing world.
What ski racing does to the kids is self-evident and will stay with them for a lifetime…
What it has the potential to do for parents is just plain fucking bananas.
To watch your 8, 9 and 10 years old go FULL SEND faster than cars drive on a highway makes you question whether or not you have lost your gosh damn mind by letting them do this.
The stress and anxiety I feel on a 45-second kid ski run tops any pressure I ever felt stepping into a Major League batters box with dudes throwing 100 mph…
No, I’m not bullshitting you.
Yes, this can be a life-changing experience for the kids, but the more I experience this shit the more I believe it can be life-altering and extremely liberating in the parenting realm.
So often in today’s world, we have the tendency to be “helicopter” parents, hovering over our kids every move… Yet, the only way to survive being a ski race parent is by letting go and trusting the process that brought you there. For the kids to race at a high level, they have spent endless hours on the mountain honing their skills with qualified coaches who know a lot more about this shit than you or I do… The best thing we as parents can do is get the fuck out of the way.
The other thing we too often try to do is be the “snowplow” parent… We shamelessly try to prepare the road for the child while we really should be preparing the child for the road. Ski racing and the constantly changing unsettled weather and snow conditions force us as parents to throw away the keys to the snowplow and thank goodness…
Life is anything but a smooth path to Elsa’s castle, and when we teach the kids anything other than that, we are flat out lying and doing them a massive disservice.
The road in the real world is just as turbulent and unpredictable as the snow can be so to make our kids understand and experience this at an early age is a complete & total game-changer.
The last thing that being a ski parent teaches us is the invaluable importance of “the process,” which helps us to focus on nothing other than the only thing that matters… THE NOW.
Too many parents live in LA LA Land thinking that their kids are going to be the next great Olympian…
That’s ok for the kid to think, but the only goal WE should ever have for our kids is to get them to have fun and have them wanting to race the next race.
Whether or not your kid becomes an Olympic skier or Major League Baseball player isn’t up to us…
It’s up to them.
It’s only natural to want to protect our children, but the ironic thing is that so often the more we try to protect them, the more harm we eventually do by shielding them from the real world…
Look, being a ski parent ain’t easy and it forces us to let our guard down and become completely vulnerable… Through youth sports, the kids are going to organically realize the benefits throughout the course of their lives, but let’s make sure we as parents are able to realize the lessons WE just so happen to be receiving right NOW.
-EB