15 Things Figure Skaters Need to Know to Make It Big (Like Michelle Kwan)
I can't imagine a figure skater wanting anyone to know just how much their parents have dropped on them to perform. Once they hit teenage years, there are a number of skaters who do go out of their way to try and hold a job while training as hard as they do...but otherwise they have to be pretty dependent unless they're somehow independently wealthy. Either way, think of the breakdown of cost. You have to pay for skates, lessons, outfits, competition fees, and that's before even mentioning the added costs of travel (which can be pretty nutty). Some lessons are paid for by every 15 minutes of teaching. That's crazy! Especially since it can be more than $50 every 15 minutes. And that's before the rental of the rink on which they train. It makes me want to weep just thinking about the amount of money they spend on this. Hundreds of thousands is not an unusual dollar amount to spend.
