Eighty-seven percent of parents invest in their children’s sports activities when they believe those sports may be a source of income for their child one day in the future. Turns out, these parents may be on to something.
Football coaches likely don’t happen upon their careers having never played football. The same is likely true for any coaching position.
With some sports, coaches actively play or participate in the sports they teach, no matter how old they are or how long they have been coaching. Non-contact sports can be enjoyed throughout a lifetime, sports like tennis, basketball, or skiing. Careers can be long, enjoyment of the sport even longer.
Planting a Seed with Indoor Ski Lessons
Imagine the trajectory of one’s career path when they start young and become passionate about their preferred sport. In Colorado, that could easily be the case in the sport of skiing.
Eighty-three percent of kids ages 6-17 participate in sports, but there’s a spark in their eyes that parents see from the start, when they know they’ve found the one. The one sport that will become a passion for their kid and change the direction of family activities for the next decade.
Starting Indoor Skiing Training Young – Very Young!
Let’s look at the franchise owner of a ski school, and how he got started in the industry. For this example, we’ll call him Jack and go back to about twenty-five years ago, when Jack was just a tot.
Jack’s parents liked to hit the slopes for fun, so it made sense to enroll Jack in the Yeti Ski School at Shredder Ski, the indoor ski park in Colorado, when he was very young – only nine months old!
In the Yeti classes, both of Jack’s parents could hang out with him during the 40-minute, weekly class that taught Jack about balance and stance while wearing his tiny ski gear, and the fun he could have in a skiing and snowboarding environment.
For Jack, this became a time that he would not likely remember the specifics of, but the feeling of joy, safety, and contentment those times brought to him would be ingrained forever.
Becoming a Little Snow Shredder at our Indoor Ski Park
Keeping with our hypothetical story about Jack, when he joined the Little Shredders, that’s when the real fun began. Jack had a ton of energy as a toddler – just ask his parents!
Indoor ski training became his favorite time of the week during a typical school year, and in the summer, daily camp kept the fun going. Many of Jack’s friends enjoyed indoor skiing in Colorado – and now outdoors too! – and he even celebrated his birthdays there.
Ready for New Ski Challenges
By the time Jack was five years old, he was strong, coordinated, happy, and ready to learn the fundamentals of skiing and snowboarding, with the help of qualified ski instructors, and without Mom and Dad.
For a five-year-old, you might think the transition would be a tough one but remember…this is a place Jack knows well. He has practically grown up there in his skis.
Jack’s classes were taught by excellent ski instructors, who helped him develop his skiing skills, instilled in him the importance of safety and sportsmanship, and nurtured his independence.
It was in this class, for kids ages 5 to 10 years of age, that the spark Jack’s parents had seen so long ago really caught fire. He was a good skier, and by the time he advanced to the next level of classes, he knew he wanted to become a great skier.
Skiing as a Competitor
Practice makes perfect. As an adolescent, if Jack wasn’t up on the mountain, he could be found indoor ski training.
He joined a ski team through school, and from middle school, and all through high school and college, Jack mastered the slopes, won countless competitions, and reveled in his abilities to participate in the sport he loved so much.
A Future on Skis
As an adult, it is rare that one can make a living doing something one is passionate about. Certainly, people try and start out that way, but often a career turns into a job.
The lucky ones are those who get paid to do what they love. For Jack, he went on to be a professional skier, earned endorsements and was able to use that money to help his parents pay for college. He saved the rest.
Later, when it was time for Jack to retire from competition, he found that he still had options for a professional career path that kept him on his skis.
He could become a ski instructor and bestow his expertise on the next generation. He could even invest in an indoor ski school in Colorado, likely a franchise with Shredder Ski School, where it all began so many years ago.
No End in Sight for Skiers
The thing about skiing and snowboarding is that they get in your blood. For Jack, there isn’t a time in his life that he remembers not having a pair of skis. The sport he loved had become a true part of his identity.
As for Jack’s parents, they couldn’t have planned a better outcome for their son, once so little he could barely stand up on the skis on his feet.
For them, instilling a love of the sport was the best decision they had made as parents. It all started with indoor skiing in Colorado, at an indoor ski park that rivaled the side of a mountain, but within a positive, fun, nurturing environment they wouldn’t have traded for anything.