Being the parent of an elite athlete is not easy, but the rewards are well worth it.

Hockey is an expensive sport. The expenses, from equipment, extra lessons, and clinics, to ice time and team fees, really took a big bite out of our family income, so we had to make financial sacrifices, go without to help out our children. The family joke used to be, when Angela or Billy needed some new hockey equipment, "Well, it's macaroni and cheese again this week."

Angela's older sister, Pamela, started out playing with her siblings but, after two years, she gave up ice hockey instead of moving up an age group and playing without them. One time when someone asked her if she was jealous of Angela, she said was jealous, but of the players on Angela and Billy's team that were able to spend time with them.

When she got to high school, Pam took band so she didn't have to take PE. Parents need to recognize each child's talents and help them to excel in that area. Pam enjoyed playing the flute, sewing, and painting. She is now a biochemistry major and thinking about med school or teaching. The key is that we treated each of our children as individuals and didn't force them to do something they didn't want to do.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE You are on the Old MomsTeam.com website. This article has been updated and moved to the new website. Click here to be redirected to the new site or copy and paste into your browser: http://www.momsteam.com

My advice to parents of pre-teen girls is to teach them:

• To try different sports and activities and then, after finding out which one they like the best and think they can excel in, concentrate on that.
• To always try their best.
• Encourage each other
• Not to quit or give up
• When things get tough, find a way to get through it
• The value of spending time with their family
• Playing sports helps them learn the value of hard work, teamwork and the difference between success and failure

If I had it to do all over again, I would definitely make the sacrifices to help my kids. What could be better in this life?

Printer-friendly Version

Send MomsTeam Feedback