If you’re like me then you’re all swept up in Olympic fever. I’m cheering on the world’s greatest athletes in the most-watched worldwide sports competition since, well, the last Olympics. I even find myself cheering for sports like Canoe Sprinting. Wait, is that a thing? Apparently, it is.
After Googling the wonders of Canoe Sprinting I started wondering what other less famous sports are there in the Olympics. And more importantly, which one can I have my daughter excel at so she can get a full ride to college?
You see, I’m one of those glorious “middle class” people that the politicians are always talking about. I’m not rich. I don’t expect to win the lottery. I don’t expect a rich relative to die and leave me a wad of cash.
I DO worry about how I’ll pay for my child’s college tuition. Or, how I can help her financially so she can get the best start in life, and not owe tens of thousands of dollars in federal loans like her parents. In a recent article, Forbes showed that education costs are soaring and it’s going to hit the middle class the hardest. Perfect.
The College Cost Calculator from the College Savings Plan Network estimates we could pay more than $116K for an in-state, 4 year college by the time she’s 18. Holy crap! How can we possibly pay for that or even begin to scratch the surface to help her get a leg up?
Then it hit me. Sports! Maybe she can excel and get a scholarship in sports! But which one? The popular sports are already flooded with competitors, but what about the lesser known sports?
I started brainstorming to find a sport that’s not as sexy as say, gymnastics or swimming, and get her started training for the Olympics. Less competitors in the less popular sports. She’ll crush it, get a scholarship and I can save my pennies for retirement.
Don’t even get me started on that disaster.
I realize that an academic scholarship would be ideal. But let’s be honest: her mom is a comedian/actress. So unless they give out academic scholarships for wisecracking then she needs a back up plan. Her dads’ smart genes are in there too but I’m a planner and want to be prepared in case books are not her jam.
So I decided to look at all of the Olympic sports that she could possibly compete in just to see what areas we could focus on for that future scholarship. Here’s the list.
Archery
Badminton
Basketball
Beach volleyball
Boxing
Canoe slalom
Canoe sprint
Cycling - BMX
Cycling - Mountain bike
Cycling - Road
Cycling - Track
Diving
Equestrian
Fencing
Field hockey
Golf · Day 12
Gymnastics
Handball
Judo
Marathon swimming
Modern pentathlon · Day 13
Rhythmic gymnastics · Day 14
Rowing
Rugby sevens
Sailing
Shooting
Soccer
Swimming
Synchronized swimming
Table tennis
Taekwondo · Day 12
Tennis
Track & field
Trampoline
Triathlon · Day 13
Volleyball
Water polo
Weightlifting
Wrestling
You guys, Badminton! Trampoline! OMG Table Tennis! It didn’t get as much attention as the US Women’s Gymnastics Team, but I bet Rose MacLennan of Canada worked just as hard to win Gold in the Trampoline. Her 2nd gold medal, BTW.
I’ve decided, this is my college payment plan. It’s not perfect but right now it feels a lot more attainable than coming up with an extra hundred thousand dollars out of thin air. So be on the lookout for my daughter, future Badminton/Trampoline/Table Tennis gold medalist in the 2032 Games! A gold-medalist, getting her college degree of course.