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Financial twists and tucks

American Latino families struggle to find ways to support their amateur athletes

Gymnasts Monique de la Torre and Victoria Esparza practice six hours a day inside Carter's Gym, a slump-block warehouse in Mesa. Their 14-year-old bodies are hardened by countless drills on balance beams and uneven bars into sinuous muscles and disciplined minds focused on delivering peak performances at competitions.

Both are among the top athletes of 4 million young people participating in amateur gymnastics in the United States. Monique is a Level 10 gymnast, the highest standard in the world of gymnastics. Victoria is a Level 8, not far behind.

Jack Carter and his wife Erin are founders of Carters' Gym. Jack is an internationally known gymnastics coach. Some parents have moved to the Valley from other states so Carter can train their kids.

Carter proudly says De la Torre is among the top 60 gymnasts in the United States. Monique has the potential to reach the pinnacle of the elite gymnastics world: The seven-member 2008 Summer Olympics team. He likens the odds of any gymnast making the team to that of winning the Powerball lottery - about 120 million to one. It takes expert training, relentless physical conditioning and lots of luck to reach the Olympics, he says.

Yet even as the young Latinas sweat through hours of grueling routines, their parents play a game just as stressful and demanding. They must figure out how to pay the high costs of coach's training fees, competition fees, sports apparel prices, travel and hotel expenses to out-of-town meets, insurance, and medical bills when these young athletes inevitably injure themselves.

In other words, competing at the top echelons of amateur sports takes big money.

"More Latinos could compete in elite gymnastics, if it weren't for finances," Carter says.

Nor are expenses limited to gymnastics. High school golf, swimming, tennis, and hockey also involve big ticket costs. A student competing in interscholastic golf, for example, can pay as much as $1,000 for a set of golf clubs. Greens and range fees at a golf course or country club can cost up to $40 a visit, about the cost of an annual membership to the local YMCA. Then there is the pricey golf clothing, shoes and gloves.

For many lower- and middle-class Latino families, it takes jumping through some financial hoops to keep a talented son or daughter in elite competitive sports.

Pat, Victoria's mother, estimates she and her husband spend an average of $850 monthly for her daughter's gymnastics costs. She works two part-time jobs. One of her paychecks goes directly to her daughter's fees, she says.

Marisela Benavides, single mother of star Westwood High School diver Jose Benavides, makes $1,400 a month as a maintenance worker. Paying for Jose's swimming and diving costs takes a sizable chunk out of the family budget, she says. In addition, two other teenagers are involved in high school sports. Another son, Adrian, 16, competes on the Carson Junior High School football, wrestling and track teams. Daughter Maritza, 13, is a cheerleader.

Martin de la Torre and his wife Lisa both work two jobs to help pay for Monique's training. Martin immigrated to the U.S. from Zacatecas, Mexico, and is a naturalized citizen. Martin says he doesn't mind the extra effort because it gives his daughter opportunities he never had.

"In Mexico, this sport (gymnastics) is only for rich people," he says. "Here in the United States, it is possible for Monique to participate."

Lisa de la Torre adds that they consider Monique's training costs an investment in her future. Lisa doesn't hesitate when asked what parents hope their offspring will get from competing in elite sports: "A full ride scholarship to college," she says. Carter says 83 of his former students have gone to college on athletic scholarships.

STAYING FOCUSED

Victoria says her parents have told her not to think about the costs because it might distract her from the mental discipline needed to stay sharp and competitive. However, Victoria says she can't help but think about the financial pressures her parents face.

"I worry about it sometimes. I know it's hard on them," she says. She recalls her mother crying when Jack Carter allowed Victoria to continue physical conditioning for free after expenses forced Pat to pull her daughter out of the full program for three months.

Carter says that he is aware of the financial pressure on his students' parents. He says he adjusts his fees whenever possible, and sometimes provides "scholarships" that help offset the costs. Yet there is only so much he can cut because the costs of running an elite gymnastics facility with up-to-date apparatus can run about $10,000 a month.

The coach also says that because the parents love their children, those parents who cannot afford training costs pay a high emotional price in guilt when economics forces them to pull their sons or daughters from a sport.

"We've had some really talented girls whose parents took them out of training because of finances," he says. "They really feel bad about it, but they had no other choice."

Jose Benavides, 18, captain of the dive team at Westwood, sits at the kitchen table in the family mobile home in Mesa and says that many Latino student athletes see elite sports as a path to higher economic and social status. Most know they will never compete professionally in their sport, but understand that a college degree and better job will pay dividends the rest of their lives.

He adds that diving training and working part-time to help cover sports costs has kept him away from crime and trouble.

"Diving has helped me to prioritize what's important in my life, and to make better decisions," says Benavides. Student athletes have a focus that many other students don't, he says. He takes college prep classes during the summer. He doesn't have time to hang in the malls or on the streets, he says.

His mother Marisela, a Mexican immigrant, says that Jose's sports participation will allow him to break out of a "lower middle class" life into a better socioeconomic class. In addition, she says Jose is the oldest son and has become a role model on upward mobility for her three other children. He has shown the way for his siblings and other Latino youth, she says.

SUPPORT FROM SPORTS LOTTERY

The regulations of amateur sports in the United States prohibits high school and college athletes from accepting money donations from corporations and sponsors to help offset training expenses. It doesn't matter how needy a family may be.

That isn't the case in Canada or Mexico.

To help strengthen British Columbia's amateur sport system (and in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games), the government of British Columbia approved a lottery that will directly benefit amateur sports. The new lottery is expected to generate about $20 million for amateur sports in that province over the next six years.

In Mexico community booster clubs provide donations to help with equipment and expenses for local youth teams, particularly soccer.

In addition, sports scholarships for Arizona high school children are scarce. Many private clubs and training facilities, such as Carter's Gym, have formed nonprofit foundations that can collect private donations, but the contribution cannot be directed to one individual. The donations go into the general funds to help all club participants, Carter says.

Carter also suggests that giving state tax credits for sports training facilities such as his would allow him to reduce some of his fees.

Victoria Esparza says despite the financial hurdles, physical challenges, and long hours of practice, she keeps her eyes on the long-term prize.

"Sometimes I wish I could be doing other things, but for the most part, this will pay off in the long run. That's the way I think of it," she says.