NYTimes article on the U.S. Ladies

[Shayuki]

If I had a daughter, I would discourage her from skating just due to the cost, and I'd consider myself upper middle class. It is just WAY too expensive. I'd put her into tennis or golf where just maybe down the road she could get a college scholarship. Two of my friends from high school did that. I thought it was crazy what their parents were spending even then for those sports, but they ended up at good schools on full scholarship so when all was said and done it paid off. My ex's daughter was an equestrian and she got a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University (one of, if not the most expensive colleges in Texas) to compete! There's just nothing down the road for a figure skater, even if they are good enough to make USN.

Sheesh, does everything have to be about money? If they enjoy it, then it's worth it. What could money be better spent on, anyway?

 

[tars]

Well aren't you sympathetic? How is one person supposed to change their entire country's social and economical environment?

I don't know about LiamForeman, but generally speaking I haven't seen many posts here expressing the will to change the whole US federal system towards financing less popular sports like figure skating or even influencing some trends in national sports development.
On the contrary, some people literally wrote they like it the way it is and that they don't want any changes.

Why would I be symphatetic to somebody who's happy with current state of things? :confused2:

 

[Manitou]

My ex's daughter was an equestrian and she got a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University (one of, if not the most expensive colleges in Texas) to compete! There's just nothing down the road for a figure skater, even if they are good enough to make USN.

I was always wondering if the many thousands of dollars, your time, your travels, your effort, draining most of your family resources, not only material but also mental, are worth that elusive scholarship.

I am a friend with two families who completely focused on their kids’ sports, one case was girls volleyball, the other was gymnastics. They never had normal vacations, all their money and time was going to their kids’ sports.
The one in volleyball eventually got a scholarship on an average university, but I think it would have been much more worth to put the money into a college fund and have at least a functioning family.
The other girl, the gymnast, got injured, then recovered but never caught up with the others, and then eventually quit.
Now she is a happy girl in a college, just like everybody else.

I know it’s a good thing to have a gold medal. Like Mikaela Shiffrin. Her family sacrificed everything for her skiing career and in her case it paid back. But she is one among many thousands who were not as lucky.

 

[stella luna]

Haha, they chose such interesting mid-air photos for Med and Zagitova.

Wow @ Ashley's comment about the Russian girls burning out. It's kind of true, and it's super gutsy of her to say that.

My husband commented on Ashley's Skate America costume, in which she's pictured in the article, as being her skimpiest yet.

 

[Skater Boy]

Very gutsy considering those burn-outs have been more successful than her with much shorter careers.

Well I am not sure if the term is burn out for these Russian girls. They just are so young when they develop such amazing tech skills and then there bodies make it much harder for them to maintain that tech level and some cannot adapt with their new body shapes ie Yulia Lipnskaya. It is great to see Carolina's and Ashley's still competing and each person is different and their motivation is also very different.

 

[temadd]

If I had a daughter, I would discourage her from skating just due to the cost, and I'd consider myself upper middle class. It is just WAY too expensive. I'd put her into tennis or golf where just maybe down the road she could get a college scholarship. Two of my friends from high school did that. I thought it was crazy what their parents were spending even then for those sports, but they ended up at good schools on full scholarship so when all was said and done it paid off. My ex's daughter was an equestrian and she got a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University (one of, if not the most expensive colleges in Texas) to compete! There's just nothing down the road for a figure skater, even if they are good enough to make USN.

If everyone thinks that figure skating is expensive try being a competitive equestrian where your "equipment" is a living breathing animal. In comparison figure skating is a bargain.

 

[Mathman]

I don't know about LiamForeman, but generally speaking I haven't seen many posts here expressing the will to change the whole US federal system towards financing less popular sports like figure skating or even influencing some trends in national sports development.

I think that most Americans would reason like this. If you (a parent) want to spend thousands of dollars to accommodate your daughter's whims, well, that's up to you.

But do I want to chip in thousands of dollars to buy your daughter a new costume?

Remember, when we say that the government ought to invest a lot of money in something -- hey, that's our money that the government is spending so generously. Maybe instead of raising taxes so that some American skater can win a gold medal, our money would be better spent if we as individuals voluntarily contributed to the USFSA scholarship fund. -- In other words, leave the government out of it.

 

[brightphoton]

I think that most Americans would reason like this. If you (a parent) want to spend thousands of dollars to accommodate your daughter's whims, well, that's up to you.

But do I want to chip in thousands of dollars to buy your daughter a new costume?

Remember, when we say that the government ought to invest a lot of money in something -- hey, that's our money that the government is spending so generously. Maybe instead of raising taxes so that some American skater can win a gold medal, our money would be better spent if we as individuals voluntarily contributed to the USFSA scholarship fund. -- In other words, leave the government out of it.

Why should winning gold Olympic medals even be a government funding priority, for any sport? That's just such a waste. If people want to spend their money raising an Olympic athlete, that's great, and certainly it's great for us fans, but that's not enough to say, okay, we need $X million dollars per year to win X medals at the Olympics.

Firstly, the important thing, tax-wise, is for a population is to be healthy and active. It's better to build community basketball courts, it soccer fields, or swimming pools, or similar things.
Secondly, professional athlete isn't a "real" career. If you're in the top 0.1% of luckiness, you can get a job as a professional sports player, and retire at age 40. Everyone else goes to the gym after work and plays with their friends on weekends.

At the Olympic level of sport, it's not even healthy for the athletes. Perhaps Tara should have commented to the NYT on why she retired from skating before she graduated high school.

 

[shmay]

did they forget Evan in 2010?

Well, certainly understandable...

 

[tars]

I think that most Americans would reason like this. If you (a parent) want to spend thousands of dollars to accommodate your daughter's whims, well, that's up to you.

But do I want to chip in thousands of dollars to buy your daughter a new costume?

Remember, when we say that the government ought to invest a lot of money in something -- hey, that's our money that the government is spending so generously. Maybe instead of raising taxes so that some American skater can win a gold medal, our money would be better spent if we as individuals voluntarily contributed to the USFSA scholarship fund. -- In other words, leave the government out of it.

Why should winning gold Olympic medals even be a government funding priority, for any sport? That's just such a waste. If people want to spend their money raising an Olympic athlete, that's great, and certainly it's great for us fans, but that's not enough to say, okay, we need $X million dollars per year to win X medals at the Olympics.

Firstly, the important thing, tax-wise, is for a population is to be healthy and active. It's better to build community basketball courts, it soccer fields, or swimming pools, or similar things.
Secondly, professional athlete isn't a "real" career. If you're in the top 0.1% of luckiness, you can get a job as a professional sports player, and retire at age 40. Everyone else goes to the gym after work and plays with their friends on weekends.

At the Olympic level of sport, it's not even healthy for the athletes. Perhaps Tara should have commented to the NYT on why she retired from skating before she graduated high school.

I could find dozen of counter-arguments, still what you're saying is completely reasonable and logical. :thumbsup:
What is not reasonable and logical is simultaneous complaining about state of women's skating in your country. :confused2:

You can't have both, when Russia is supporting their figure skating at such financial level and Japanese audience is packing the stadiums up to the roof every single time their skaters step on the ice.
Of course, there is always a chance for some genius individual like Kim Yuna appearing once for while in every country, so... good luck I guess. :thumbsup:

 

[brightphoton]

I could find dozen of counter-arguments, still what you're saying is completely reasonable and logical. :thumbsup:
What is not reasonable and logical is simultaneous complaining about state of women's skating in your country. :confused2:

You can't have both, when Russia is supporting their figure skating at such financial level and Japanese audience is packing the stadiums up to the roof every single time their skaters step on the ice.
Of course, there is always a chance for some genius individual like Kim Yuna appearing once for while in every country, so... good luck I guess. :thumbsup:

Why not? We need X level of government funding before were allowed to complain about anything?

Americans know that in competitive sports, things are what they are. When we get gold medals, hooray. And if we don't ... our athletes tried their best and their performances still have merit.

 

[tars]

Why not? We need X level of government funding before were allowed to complain about anything?

You're absolutely allowed to complain about it, I just find it unreasonable. :agree:

 

[Amei]

If everyone thinks that figure skating is expensive try being a competitive equestrian where your "equipment" is a living breathing animal. In comparison figure skating is a bargain.

I think the point LiamForeman was trying to make was that their ex's daughter got a college scholarship out of the deal, my godparents son had a college scholarship to play football (US football) for a full 5 years all he had to pay for was his parking permits to park on campus. As of right now there isn't a collegiate figure skating program where colleges offer skaters a scholarship so that they can get a degree for pretty much nothing in return for skating for a school. So if a parent or the state invests in skating - most of the skaters won't be able to turn it to an actual living, even if someone gets to the highest level and gets Olympics/world medals.

 

[concorde]

If everyone thinks that figure skating is expensive try being a competitive equestrian where your "equipment" is a living breathing animal. In comparison figure skating is a bargain.

Not so sure on that. My brother's daughter is a competative equestrian and my daughter is a competative skater. We compare costs and they are both really ugly.

 

[Manitou]

Not so sure on that. My brother's daughter is a competative equestrian and my daughter is a competative skater. We compare costs and they are both really ugly.

Yes, and the fact you still do it is a proof that you can do it and you don’t need any government money.

 

[Mathman]

Of course, there is always a chance for some genius individual like Kim Yuna appearing once for while in every country, so...

Or Olympic champions Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss. Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes, none of whom depended on getting money from the government.

Well, that was then, this is now. (although Davis and White won something just a few years ago). Figure skating ran out of steam in the U.S. somewhere around the beginning of the twenty-first century. Why? Manitou put it most eloquently above: it just did. Nothing to do do with government money -- we never had any to begin with. It is what it is. Go Nathan!

 

[concorde]

Yes, and the fact you still do it is a proof that you can do it and you don’t need any government money.

I was not asking for any government money.

Personally I would be afraid to let any government decide what is best for my skater. I could see their focus would be on medals while my interest is primarily on her health and enjoyment; medals are nice but way down on the list.

 

[brightphoton]

You're absolutely allowed to complain about it, I just find it unreasonable. :agree:

Ok, I hope you apply that to your own life and don't complain about anything unless it's tax-payer funded.

 

[brightphoton]

Or Olympic champions Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss. Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes, none of whom depended on getting money from the government.

Well, that was then, this is now. (although Davis and White won something just a few years ago). Figure skating ran out of steam in the U.S. somewhere around the beginning of the twenty-first century. Why? Manitou put it most eloquently above: it just did. Nothing to do do with government money -- we never had any to begin with. It is what it is. Go Nathan!

And those are only the gold medalists. There's also silver medalists Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, Nancy Kerrigan, and Linda Fratianne.

 

[tars]

Ok, I hope you apply that to your own life and don't complain about anything unless it's tax-payer funded.

Yeah, that's the whole sense of my post, whatever.