It Takes a Village

The last couple of weeks many of us watched the many of the world’s best athletes during the Olympic Games. While they raced, jumped, lifted, hit, and shot through their competitions, the camera often caught their coaches giving advise or family and friends cheering them on. The athletes were competing with their teammates or on their own, but they definitely did not make it to the Olympics on their own. MSN has an article, The high price of raising of Olympian, which talks about how much time, money, and effort go into making a successful athlete.

New bicycle racers (and their families) should be aware of the commitment needed to become the best. In addition to a lot of hard work, time, planning, focus, expertise, some talent, and a bit of luck, reaching one’s potential requires money, coaches, advisers, sponsors, equipment, teammates, mentors, competitors, and much more that an athlete cannot provide on their own. As you learn, develop, and progress as an athlete, look to include as many people as you can in your goals—the bigger the goals, the bigger your support group will likely have to be.

Of course, as one of the parents in the article mentioned, if he’d have known how much it would take to support his son, he never would have done it. So maybe it’s best you don’t know ahead of time and just go for it.