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I was a competitive figure skater growing up. I loved the intensity of competition, the rigors of training and the thrill of performing. As an early adult I parlayed my figure skating past into a career as a figure skating coach. I also enjoyed this aspect of competition; teaching my students their skills, preparing them for competition and interfacing with their parents. I thought I had seen most sides of childhood competitive athletics. But then I became a parent. Once my eldest son was old enough to engage in athletics at the ripe old age of four I got him onto a t-ball team. He was absolutely adorable out there swinging at the ball and running the bases the wrong way. His favorite part of the afternoon was always snack time and I was beginning to wonder if he had missed out on inheriting my fiery competitiveness. Shortly after that first foray into his athletic career we started soccer. My son's time on the soccer team was largely the same as t-ball, slugging through the weekly game just to get to snack time. I could see that it would be foolish to hope for a competitive athletic future for him. In an effort to give him a skill he might one day use as an adult, I enrolled him in ski lessons The lessons were quite intense for a youngster, all day lessons from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. I had little hope for any skiing success from my son. He had barely even seen a pair of skis much lessons stood on them. But the competitive transformation began. Soon we couldn't hear enough about skiing. He looked forever to each week's lessons and was proud of his progression. Each new milestone was a source of celebration for my son and my husband and I saw his talent and competitive fire up close when we saw him from a distance skiing with his group on the very same slopes that we were on! He has taken on everything skiing, showing an earnest interest in the equipment and televised events. We ask him if he is going to get "rad" on the slopes and he looks at us strangely and tells us "no mom, I'm going to get sick." We are so proud of him and his effort to excel at a sport. He may never make the Olympic team such as I never did but he will surely benefit from all the lessons and joy derived from his new favorite sport skiing.

Learn more about this author, Emily Lischer.
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