DD was on track for American Protege before all the changes in our life. It would have been so much work.
Her friend does violin competitions and it is interesting how there are so many levels to competitions. The mother researches and decides which ones her daughter could be "competitive" at, but she told me these are not the top level. The top level is super difficult and those are the ones when kids tour at 12 etc. But going to them is expensive too, like all competitions. I was a competitive figure skater and that is almost as bad as horseback riding. You need close to 100K per year to pay the top coaches. A kid has to want to compete.