NEW YORK--As a parent, helping your children realize their dreams is part of the job description, and nurturing talent often comes with a hefty price tag. For parents of children who try to reach the Olympic or other highly competitive level in sports, the time and monetary commitments can be substantial.

Tracey Diescher, whose 14-year-old daughter Marissa is training to become an Olympic softball player, said her family spends approximately $15,000 a year on Marissa’s sport activities and classes.

“We have tournaments on the weekends where you have to travel, and I have to either take off work, or my husband has to take off work. The travel almost always involves overnight stays in hotels and meals out. And that’s almost every weekend in June, July and August,” Diescher said.

The January OnTopic series covers the business of sports. Click here to read more from this month’s coverage.

Marissa attends hour-long lessons two times a week at the training facility Pro Prospects, based in her hometown of Monticello, New York. Lessons cost $110 per week, and the batting cages, which she uses twice a week, cost $20 for an hour. Marissa also participates in national “Travel Ball” tournaments that take her everywhere from Florida to Connecticut, and carry a fee of $650 per season.

Although Diescher admitted the time and money spent to help Marissa make it to the Olympics is a sacrifice, she said she believes her daughter “absolutely positively has what it takes to go pro and get a [college] scholarship. We know she can’t get to that level just from pitching in our front yard," Diescher said.

Though Marissa’s lessons cost $55 each, her coach, Steve Pinto, said that’s cheap compared to training prices in athletic hotbeds.

“Fees are usually $80 [per lesson] elsewhere, but we want to be able to work with the kids who want to work,” Pinto said. Pro Prospects sponsors four children’s scholarships each year, and even lets some children take lessons in exchange for chores such as cleaning the shop and putting away equipment.

At the Ice Vault Arena in Wayne, New Jersey, Skating School Director Karen Cohen-Prosnitz said parents spend approximately $20,000 a year to help their child make it to the competitive level. Lessons range from $47 to $60 per half hour, not including the $14 per hour ice fees.

“I don’t think many parents like to think of it as an annual cost, because then it becomes overwhelming,” Cohen-Prosnitz said. “You can price yourself right out of this sport. Because the cost of energy keeps going up, it costs more to keep the ice frozen, and that’s reflected in the ice fees and lesson price.”

Cohen- Prosnitz’s 13-year-old daughter, Rachel, has been skating since she was three.

“It opens doors when you’re in a sport like this,” Cohen-Prosnitz said. “You meet people from around the world, it’s good exercise, and I always know where she is. As a parent, just saying to your kids, ‘I’ll see you tonight,’ is a frightening concept. Here [at the rink], she's safe."

Rachel now trains more than 10 hours a week on the ice, and four hours per week in off-ice classes, such as ballet and core muscle training.

“I was always into the dresses,” Rachel Prosnitz said of her inspiration to start skating. “I know I am trying to get somewhere [in this sport], I’m just not exactly sure where. I know it’s something I want to do competitively, and it would be really cool to be on TV,” she said.

The January OnTopic series covers the business of sports. Click here to read more from this month’s coverage.