Olympic sports to try that won’t cost a fortune

At some point, almost every parent has watched the Olympics on TV this month and thought, “Sure, my kid can be an Olympian.” Well, the odds are not good, of course. Beyond just the athletics of your children (they’re good, but not that good, let’s face it), there are the finances.

A 2012 study by Forbes put the annual cost of training and competing in archery at more than $25,000, fencing at $20,000 and gymnastics at $15,000.

As a parent, how do you know that your child will be interested a year after watching the Olympics on TV and want to emulate one of Rio’s big stars?

Here are 5 sports you can try out on the cheap — in your basement, backyard or a public park — before investing thousands on Olympic training and competition.

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Badminton | VALERIE MACON/Getty

Badminton

Cost to get started: $18 (badminton set)

  • First Olympics Games: 1992, Barcelona
  • Fast fact: In the Olympic version of the sport, shuttlecocks travel at up to 250 miles per hour.

Basketball | Thearon W. Henderson/GettyImages

Basketball

Cost to get started: $12 (ball)

  • First Olympics Games: 1936, Berlin
  • Fast fact: This year’s U.S. team includes Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Carmelo Anthony and is coached by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.

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Tennis | Scott Cunningham/GettyImages

Tennis

Cost to get started: $22 (racket, 3-pack of tennis balls)

  • First Olympics Games: 1896, Athens (men); 1900, Paris (women)
  • Fast fact: This year’s stars competing in the Olympics included Serena Williams and Venus Williams (United States), Andy Murray (Great Britain), Roger Federer (Switzerland), Novak Djokovic (Serbia) and Rafael Nadal (Spain).

Soccer (football) | Jamie Squire/GettyImages

Soccer (football)

Cost to get started: $10 (ball)

  • First Olympics Games: Paris, 1900 (men); Atlanta, 1996 (women)
  • Fast fact: The Rio Games started with 16 countries in the men’s competition and 12 in the women’s, with play spanning 7 stadiums across Brazil.

Table tennis | Richard Heathcote/GettyImages

Table tennis

Cost to get started: $110 (table, paddle, balls)

  • First Olympics Games: 1988, Seoul
  • Fast fact: It’s the most popular racket sport in the world, according to the Rio Games official website.

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