Bringing a kid to be ski champion

These four days of volunteering at the junior ski races gave me quite a bit of time to observe young racers. Many are pushed by their parents, and have acquiesced to get on with the program just with their head, not their heart.

For the first two days of my volunteering assignment this year, I was the Finish hand-timer and could observe attitudes, whether they were wining or not so high in the aggressive category. The ones that were half convinced about their purpose on skis crossed the finish line with very little energy and enthusiasm. It could very well be that a “finish line” location could be the best tell-tale place to assess skiers' motivation and future potential...