All-Star Cheer Athletics (questions/rumors)

[BlueCat]

How would you handle something like that so an athlete wouldn't be offended? I went through a phase when I was a sophomore in HS when I had gained some extra weight due to some medication I was on, and if anyone at my gym had spoken with me about it, I would have been mortified. Maybe I am too sensitive, but I think most would find themselves feeling the same way in a similar situation. At a time in one's life when feeling confident and having a high self-esteem is so important, wouldn't having someone that you look up too, like a gym owner or your favorite coach, telling you that you are overweight or underweight, damage your self-esteem?

Not trying to attack your program, just trying to understand how you would handle it so I can know how to handle it, as a coach, if I was in a similar situation where I was concerned about an athlete's health.

It is handled VERY carefully and it depends on the athlete, their age, etc. Sometimes we talk to the parents instead, sometimes we would bring them all in together, it varies. It is always handled with utmost discretion and it is always focused on them being healthy, not what they look like.

 

[Nothanks]

How would you handle something like that so an athlete wouldn't be offended? I went through a phase when I was a sophomore in HS when I had gained some extra weight due to some medication I was on, and if anyone at my gym had spoken with me about it, I would have been mortified. Maybe I am too sensitive, but I think most would find themselves feeling the same way in a similar situation. At a time in one's life when feeling confident and having a high self-esteem is so important, wouldn't having someone that you look up too, like a gym owner or your favorite coach, telling you that you are overweight or underweight, damage your self-esteem?

Not trying to attack your program, just trying to understand how you would handle it so I can know how to handle it, as a coach, if I was in a similar situation where I was concerned about an athlete's health.

i feel like in this sport, that's not the common issue--i think the issue more frequently needing to be addressed would be an athlete losing too much weight/concern of eating/dieting/working out too much disorders.

And i also feel like a child being on medication is something a gym director would know about and could learn about side effects and have a better understanding of what is going on with that person's body. (although, maybe that would be a little too optimistic of me)

 

[NJ Coach]

Nice one.

We have really worked hard to improve our youth/mini/tiny program the last few years and it has gotten MUCH better. It is still not where we would like it to be. We would really like that to grow and be a bigger part of our business.

Also, we are not as efficient with our facility as we need to be. The gym sits empty for most of the day during the week and on Saturday. We are probably losing a great deal of money by not coming up with things to do in the building during all of that time.

Don't know what kind of staff you have that could do this, but have you thought about doing a Mommy & Me type of class during the day? I know they are big up here. This also opens the door to growing your tiny/mini/youth program. Get them early and keep them. Again, not sure if you have the staff that could do this, but it's something that can be done during the day and introduces little ones into your program. I'd be happy to share information on class structure if you are interested

 

[BlueCat]

Note to other gym owners: feel free to start a similar thread if you want. I'd be interested in others' take on some of this and see if you guys deal with some of this stuff too.

 

[notimeforthat]

Nice one.

We have really worked hard to improve our youth/mini/tiny program the last few years and it has gotten MUCH better. It is still not where we would like it to be. We would really like that to grow and be a bigger part of our business.

Also, we are not as efficient with our facility as we need to be. The gym sits empty for most of the day during the week and on Saturday. We are probably losing a great deal of money by not coming up with things to do in the building during all of that time.

I once thought the same thing... square feet is square feet and you need to turn X amount of dollars per sq ft to be profitable.
Has anyone ever had children that require occupational therapy use thier facilities during the day? I know schools bus these children to pools to exercise at times. I would think it would be cost effective for a school to use a large area of spring floors to use with students. This would save them valueable space and equipment.

 

[cheeeeer93]

Nice one.

We have really worked hard to improve our youth/mini/tiny program the last few years and it has gotten MUCH better. It is still not where we would like it to be. We would really like that to grow and be a bigger part of our business.

Also, we are not as efficient with our facility as we need to be. The gym sits empty for most of the day during the week and on Saturday. We are probably losing a great deal of money by not coming up with things to do in the building during all of that time.

This may be a little later in the day than you're looking for but a gym (an actual gym, not cheer gym) near me has added themselves as a bus stop for after school. The bus drops kids off right at the gym and they started an after school program. The kids don't have to be interested in cheer but they could very well become a new part of your youth program.

 

[mstealtoyou]

Note to other gym owners: feel free to start a similar thread if you want. I'd be interested in others' take on some of this and see if you guys deal with some of this stuff too.

Maybe have a section strictly related to this. Each gym get's a thread.

I've enjoyed this thread alot. Maybe @Ceacoach will agree to do one after all our cities are finished trying out. Maybe I'll ask her a few questions. LMAO (JK JK)

 

[JulieP]

Also, we are not as efficient with our facility as we need to be. The gym sits empty for most of the day during the week and on Saturday. We are probably losing a great deal of money by not coming up with things to do in the building during all of that time.

Birthday parties and open gyms?

 

[ACEDAD]

Maybe have a section strictly related to this. Each gym get's a thread.

I've enjoyed this thread alot. Maybe @Ceacoach will agree to do one after all our cities are finished trying out. Maybe I'll ask her a few questions. LMAO (JK JK)

Send them to me and I'll post!

 

[crazyredhead]

For such a successful gym what do you consider a disappointing year?

 

[kaylalalaxo]

What brand of practice wear do y'all usually have? And how many outfits per practice? How do you know what to wear on what day?

 

[createmagic]

It is possible, but we need to put all of our focus on our current teams and athletes for now. The last thing we want to do is lower our ability to provide a great service and experience for current CA family. If we get to the point where we think we could add a team or roster spots without it negatively affecting anything we have currently, then we would be thrilled to take on new athletes.

As I mentioned earlier, we could have handled at least a hundred more athletes IF they had shown up for the regular tryout or even called to let us know of their intention to try out after they completed their current season. We could have had time to bring in more quality staff members and could have set up the schedule to make it work. The problem now is that to add more kids we would really need to start all of our rosters, schedules, and coaching scenarios from scratch and that isn't fair to our current customers.

Trust me, as a businessman, it is incredibly painful to turn kids away, but it is what it is. Sometimes short-term profit simply doesn't outweigh focusing on the big picture.

I want to move to Texas and work for you. Just saying.

 

[cheerfor2]

Trust me, as a businessman, it is incredibly painful to turn kids away, but it is what it is. Sometimes short-term profit simply doesn't outweigh focusing on the big picture.

WOW well said!!!! I know it's hard, not as a gym owner but a as a small business owner. I wish more gyms thought that way. What a huge difference it would make!!!

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

Also, we are not as efficient with our facility as we need to be. The gym sits empty for most of the day during the week and on Saturday. We are probably losing a great deal of money by not coming up with things to do in the building during all of that time.

Weekdays: mommy & me tumbling, zumba, yoga, pilates, self-defense. Saturday: any of the above, plus additional classes for kids- karate, zumbatomic, hip hop, maybe a tumbling class or two. Some cheer classes (not allstar) could be moved to Saturday, thus freeing up more space for allstar stuff during the week.

 

[cupieqt]

I teach preschool and homeschool athletes during the day. We also offer mommy day out twice a week. While not huge, it helps fill up the gym more than if we did nothing. Each space in our gym controls a certain amount of money so I try to keep the spaces worth the most occupied as much as possible!