What It’s Like Raising a Teenage Olympic Hopeful

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sarah Canzano, the mother of Gavin Canzano. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I’m the mom of an elite teenage athlete. My husband was a downhill skier as a teenager, and he taught our boys, Gavin and Deacon, to ski when they were about two or three. I don’t ski at all.

Gavin was a shy and reserved kid, but he was a different kid on the mountain. He was so confident. We used to say that skiing was like oxygen to him. It’s where he is at his best.

It was easy to recognize his talent early

Gavin began skiing with the Bristol Mountain Freestyle team when he was around 8 years old. It’s a feeder into the US Ski Team. It was apparent quickly that he was very good in the air. In 2024, when he was 14, he was invited to Lake Placid, N.Y., to participate in the US Ski Team’s Project Gold, an aerial camp. He was all in on aerial skiing after that.

Now 15, he is part of the US Ski Team’s national development program for aerials. He trains with his national teammates at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid. He also travels for competitions.

It can be challenging to raise a teenage athlete and create balance

He’s a 15-year-old boy. He makes mistakes. But as long as he’s working hard, and doing the best he can at school and being a good human, we will continue to make sacrifices for him.

We have also had conversations with Gavin about the sacrifices that he would have to make on this path. That means school is going to be harder, because he’s going to miss a lot of school. He won’t be able to see his school friends that much when he’s competing and traveling. But, we’ve always told him, “We will work hard for you as long as you are working hard for yourself.”

He loves what he does, which makes it easy for us to support him. If he ever got to the point where he didn’t want to do it anymore, we would never make him. It sounds insane considering the investment we’ve made, but it’s his body, his life. We are also teaching him to advocate for himself because we won’t always be with him.

We’ve had to change our lifestyle to accommodate him

I’m a travel agent, and we like to travel as a family. Before, we’d be off to an island somewhere every break, but now I’m spending that time standing on a mountain. We’ve definitely had to change our plans several times for him, but we never put that burden on him. This is our family’s choice.

My husband and I divide and conquer a lot. A lot of times, just my husband or just me will travel with Gavin, so that Deacon can be home, in school, and with his friends, pursuing his hobbies. Pat and I are apart a lot, but we also try to take advantage of that one-on-one time with our kids, and the moments we have together with them.

Deacon is the real hero here; he is such a supportive little brother. He goes along for the ride with minimal complaints and is Gavin’s biggest fan. He’s so proud of him.

We’re taking it one step at a time, but the Olympics are the goal

We want him to have fun. He had me write “have fun” on his skis, so if he’s having a bad day or a couple of bad jumps, he can remind himself that this is fun.

But it’s also serious. We might consider looking for financial sponsors soon, as we try to get him to where he needs to be. We will cross those bridges as they come. The goal is the US Ski Team for the 2034 Olympics. That sometimes feels overwhelming — it’s almost a decade away.

My job as his mom is balance. I have to let go of some control, but I also need to remember that he’s 15 and still needs a lot of guidance from us. I am confident in his abilities, and I’m now able to watch him jump without closing my eyes anymore.