Not every child can grow up to swim like Michael Phelps or perform on a balance beam like gymnast Nastia Liukin, two of the superstars from the 2008 Olympics. But with all the excitement, it’s inevitable that children begin to dream, and parents wonder if their child has a future in the Olympics or professional sports.

“When Olympic season’s around, everyone wants to do something,” says Christine Broderick of Plattsburg, Mo. “It gets the kids interested, and I think that’s good, but they need to be committed to doing it 24/7.” And she should know. Her son, Tyler, 12, is on track to becoming a world-class figure skater. When he was just 3 years old, he wanted to play hockey after watching a game, Mrs. Broderick remembers. So, she put him in a learn-to-skate program at Bode Ice Arena and he loved it. Even after exposure to other sports, it was always skating that he wanted to do. This year, Tyler and his skating partner, Olivia Oltmanns, won the 2008 U.S. Junior National Figure Skating Championships.

“Tyler loves it,” she says. “He can be in a bad mood and then he’ll step on the ice and his attitude completely changes. He’s happy, excited. But he completely pushes himself. I’ve seen kids come off the ice crying every day. Obviously, they’re not liking it or they wouldn’t be upset all the time.”

There’s also a price to pay. Right now, it takes most of Mrs. Broderick’s salary to allow Tyler to compete, and it’s going to take more.

“We’re in the process of trying to find a sponsor because it’s getting so expensive,” she says. “If he makes it long enough to be eligible for the Olympics, we’re looking at $80,000 to $100,000 a year.”

Making the decision on how far to take sports is an important and difficult decision, says Robin Weidmaier, with Arising Stars in St. Joseph. She has trained numerous champions at the local, state and national level, including Terin Humphrey for eight years before she went on to the 2004 Olympics in Greece.

“In my 30-plus years of gymnastics coaching, I’ve had several children with the talent in my opinion to make it to the Olympics, but the parent didn’t want that for their child. I have seen parents reliving their lives through their children push too hard. And then I’ve seen a parent give the decision to a 6-year-old between maybe a successful gymnastics opportunity and playing after school with the neighborhood kids. It ultimately is the parent’s choice.”

Lifestyles reporter Sylvia Anderson may be reached at sylviaanderson@npgco.com