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OT: Skaters, speed, & local sightings

So, DH found this article and said "hey - I think this is the kid and coach we saw at Kettler (the CAPS training facility at the Ballston mall in Arlington, double rink complex) on Saturday. Check out the article." I did, and sure enough this young boy is the up and coming Apollo - and we were watching him work in the center of the ice with the coach, thinking it was so cool - the kid leaning heard over the angle of his skates, as the coach (on skates) held this webbed strap and they skated ovals. Kind of like lunging a horse, except it seemed the idea was for the kid to get confident being so far over on his edges. Reading the article, wow - it's a lot the family does to have a potential Olympian! We were at the rink during the girls U-19 tourney, and one of the shhets had a 2 hour break for a public skate.

Anyhow, link below is to the Washington Post article "Misfits...." In the Olympic spirit, or maybe it's just the cold weather....

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Reply to
ellice
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Ummm, if you know many high level athletes, you'd know this isn't really so unusual for parents supporting kids with exceptional, underline the exceptional, talent/ability/dedication. It is crazy, but.... We know girls playing on the premier U-19 hockey team that do a 3-4 hour round trip 3X a week for practice, then games, wherever. Heck, when DH was playing for an NY Jr team and he lived in NJ, that was a 3-5 hour trip ----given the NJ/NY traffic.

I'm thinking that living where they are, and carrying a small apt is while inconveniet, not economically worse than moving to the DC area. Living close to the Ballston rink, even with a housing downturn, a small, small house would be between $400-$500 K. The condos around there start around $325 K, and this is a high cost of living area. And jobs aren't plentiful - it's a decent market, but not fabulous, and really depends on your skills. As in it's good for advanced degreed scientists/engineers/lawyers/and sort of for comp sci/IT and Security types. After that, not so good. Heck, I thought my officemate was crazy 10 years ago when he bought a house about 45 mi south of the beltway, because he could get a lovely mid-size (not huge, but good size) house for $300K with a yard, as opposed to a smaller house with a small yard within 20 mi for $350K. Nope, worth it to him. His commute - he'd leave the house to be on the highway before 5:15, to be at work around 6:30, and could never leave til after 7 pm, otherwise it took him 2-3 hours to get home. Seriously. He spent a cool 3 hours, maybe 4-5 every day on that commute. It happens around here, so maybe I'm jaded. People do crazy things for coach access in that rarified air.

Ellice

Reply to
ellice

And you wonder why we aren't pushing DD into the upper reaches of women's hockey quite yet...

C
Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

LOL - but you have really good programs within an hour....;^p around here - that's just a normal commute.

Ellice

Reply to
ellice

We are weighing options right now

C
Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

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