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@dennisbon Sure, your priorities are your priorities, no shade from me. I only answered to give you a perspective from someone who has an elite athlete in the family. I will just say, though, those are YOUR priorities, not necessarily your son’s and there really is no “becoming an elite athlete young.” Doesn’t make you lazy or a bad parent to have different priorities, but statistically by the time he’s 13, unless he’s just a savant, if he hasn’t been playing on competitive teams, he will almost certainly not be eligible for those pre-Olympic training programs I mentioned and will very likely not ever be an elite soccer player. Not that that’s a bad thing! Personally, I detest the idea of being an elite or professional athlete and hate the idea of existing in constant pain from injuries, always on a specific diet, barely any time for books or games… no thanks! But my sibling ate, drank, and breathed their sport growing up and to them, all of those things were (and still are) worth it, not to be at the top (though they are) but just to keep getting more and more skilled at this thing they love so much. Also - not that it’s not impossible to be elite if you only start stepping up at 13, but it is vanishingly unlikely. It’s up to you to determine whether or not that opportunity is worth the sacrifice and commitment. And you’re not wrong, it is a massive commitment for the entire family, particularly for families who are not wealthy (like mine). Little sis will be stuck at all of those events until she’s old enough not to be and may be resentful because of it, you will have WAY less family time, teams and travel are expensive, and if you prefer to be home, that is functionally impossible. For our family, the trade-off always seemed worth it, simply because of the absolute burning, and all-consuming passion and skill the athlete had (and still has) for their sport. Those statistics you mentioned get to where they are because of all that training and sacrifice, and most of them absolutely wouldn’t be at the top if their families hadn’t been willing to do it.