I think this is a big part that some people are over looking with the convenient part. It is not always the talented passionate ones from an early age that rise. I recall an interview with Adam Rippon that he used to do one lap when dragged to the rink then started begging for food. It was only later in his childhood something clicked for him with skating. He is someone who many parents would have picked more convenient options for than the one he gets board and begs for food at. And that would have been a shame.
We have to try to make it feasible for skaters to dip their toes in before diving in headfirst. We have to keep the maybes around. We need skaters of all levels at all levels.
Hmm, that's odd because this article says he WAS passionate AND talented from the beginning.
"Kelly, who raised Adam and his five siblings as a single mother, says her son fell in love with skating after attending a birthday party at a rink in Pittston, Pennsylvania, near their Clarks Summit home, at the age of 10. 'He learned really fast,' she says. 'Within an hour he was able to skate around and he looked really coordinated.' She signed him up for group lessons and he entered his first competition eight weeks later.
A former dancer and a gymnastics coach, Kelly saw Adam's potential right away. 'He had a very good back, he was very coordinated and his learning trajectory was so quick,' she says. 'He was able to reverse moves right to left and left to right without a lot of explanation. It was a very natural thing for him.'"
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a47860/adam-rippon-mom-kelly-rippon-interview/
I agree with keeping around kids who don't seem to have talent but do have passion. I don't agree with keeping the kids who don't have an interest in skating. It's sad watching them be so bored and just being forced by their parents to skate.