Skiing with children is a fantastic way to spend time together. Being out there together on weekends is healthy and it can give lots of joy. Even though most of the people go skiing with children occacionally, there are people who take it more seriously and start training their children for alpine skiing races. Those people usually have a lot of passion and own experience in skiing and racing. To which group you belong to? Are you interested in training your children for the races and is your child interested in it? Keep on reading. I will tell you few things you should know before starting training your kids.

So you are one of those who would like to see their kids racing, right? Don’t worry; I won’t say it is bad or selfish behaviour. Some folks tend to think that many fathers try to live their dreams through children. I don’t always agree with that. I find racing good for children as long as they enjoy it. My wife thinks that I try to live my dreams while my son goes racing. It is an interesting argument from an ex-athlete?. Anyhow, I am on racing side and I recommend it for you and your children as well, as long as everyone enjoys it.

Racing must be fun, but of course not every day is pure fun. There are the hard times as well and nothing comes for free. Before you start training your children and preparing for competitions, think about what it will be. Are you ready to dedicate quite a lot of your time for training? If yes, be prepared for training every single week, touring competitions during weekends, travelling a lot.. Racing can be a lot of fun, but the glamour dissappears pretty soon after starting. Becoming one of the stars in alpine skiing is not easy and it takes years. Competition is fierce and you’re child may never become a top-skier.

Are you ready to receive setbacks? Not everyone becomes a champion, and your child may belong into this group. He/she may never win races or may not even make it to any race. There may come a day when your child simply wants to quit, immediately. You must be ready for setbacks, but it does not need to mean that training and racing should not be fun. Set up goals with your child and try to reach them one by one. Skiing should be fun, and reaching own goals can be very motivating for your child.

Skiing includes lots of social contacts, networking and fantastic friends. It is a great outdoor activity that becomes a very important part of your child’s life. Skiing and training with your children is about being together and spending time together. Aren’t these very good goals to reach?

If you are seriously starting traning with your children, assuming that your children are interested as well, think about how to start. First of all, go skiing together. Bring your child to a ski-school or teach by yourself if you are capable. After a while consider bringing your child into a weekly alpine skiing school or similar in which your child learns the basics of skiing slalom and super-G. Later on you might be interested bringing your child into a weekly junior skiing school that is meant for those who are already a little bit experienced in alpine skiing. In this school your child learns more about skiing and gets more serious training. One day your child is ready for the first competition. Start with easy ones, such as McDonalds Cup and Audi Junior Cup, which we have here in Finland every year.

All in all, skiing with children is a very nice way to spend time together. Training and racing requires a lot more and can sometimes be quite hard, but it can also give valuable experiences and moments for you and your child. If you are interested about it and your child has motivation to try, go for it! Just remember to set goals with your child and be prepared to receive setbacks. Be also prepared to have a break or even quit if it becomes too much pain for your child.