I definitely appreciate the dedication these girls have. And honestly as long as they are happy with what they are doing then that is all that matters. Its not nearly as intense, but my brother has pretty much dedicated his life to hockey. But if you ask him he wouldn't have had it any other way. And like he knew all along his hard work has paid off because now he will be playing in college. He has also had many great life experiences because of it including traveling the country/North America. He has had a pretty normal life though and definitely never trained for 8 hours a day. Maybe 4-6 in juniors.
I had an opportunity to run track in college, but passed on it. I never regret it because I would have never been able to do that, work, and maintain the grades I did in my major. Sometimes though I think it would have been fun to compete after high school. Now I just get to live vicariously through my brother and sister
