All-Star Craig El Arrested For Stealing From Gymtyme Ga Families

[cupieqt]

To answer a few of the questions asked on here.

Yes, the gym lost athletes because of the theft. People left before Cheersport, some left after, and a good chunk did not return this season.

The kids got to compete at Cheersport only because we raised the money through go fund me. Getting to compete was because of the parents and kids hard work raising the money.

If it was a mistake or an accident Mr. El or whichever of his many aliases he is using today would have returned the money that I paid in full for my girls at the beginning of the season when he decided to walk away from our kids. When you ask for a tuition reimbursement for the 2 months of tuition , and he ignores your email and chooses not to respond that shows his true character.

We as parents just want to make sure that he isn't able to do this to another gym. Btw he didn't just not pay for Cheersport he didn't pay for any of our competitions

Thank you so much for your reply and giving us some insight. I am curious about the aliases. What are the other names he goes by that people should know about?

 

[Squirrelygirly9]

I am curious if his Illinois location has new owners why the secrecy? I have a hard time believing that investors invested in it? There is not a lot of $ to be made in Allstar Cheer unless you own Varsity.

Also, if he violated the rules of USASF he will lose his accreditation if he is found guilty or takes a plea which is an admission of guilt.

The whole thing stinks especially for the athletes, the ones that love the sport, their gym and their lifelong friendships they have made

 

[UCFKnights07]

If you paid a tuition i would imagine those fees would solely be used for competition, uniforms, etc. Not to pay the water and lighting bill. I could be wrong on this if im looking from a business prospective though, i would imagine if you had a hundred athletes who paid a tuition the money would first go into investing in the athletes, and the rest would help pay for the gym or whatever. Am i wrong in this??
regardless, if he knew he couldnt afford to send his athletes to competitions, then he should have spoke up and said something.

i wont judge his character till he goes to court and lays all his finances on the table to show what went where. But running a business is not easy, and i know lots of businesses end up in debt and become fraudulent just to try and stay afloat.

if the guy was driving a fancy car, living in a fancy house and going on fancy vacations, while the gym was going into debt then id obviously dont blame people for wondering where their money is going...

 

[Charolais]

If you paid a tuition i would imagine those fees would solely be used for competition, uniforms, etc. Not to pay the water and lighting bill. I could be wrong on this if im looking from a business prospective though, i would imagine if you had a hundred athletes who paid a tuition the money would first go into investing in the athletes, and the rest would help pay for the gym or whatever. Am i wrong in this??
regardless, if he knew he couldnt afford to send his athletes to competitions, then he should have spoke up and said something.

i wont judge his character till he goes to court and lays all his finances on the table to show what went where. But running a business is not easy, and i know lots of businesses end up in debt and become fraudulent just to try and stay afloat.

if the guy was driving a fancy car, living in a fancy house and going on fancy vacations, while the gym was going into debt then id obviously dont blame people for wondering where their money is going...

From a business perspective, tuition should cover overhead and expenses (cost of the facility, equipment, repairs, salaries, utilities, etc). There should be a separate account to receive and pay competition fees, uniforms, choreography, music, etc.

 

[cheermuse]

It would be my understanding that monthly fees would be comprised up tuition and comp fees. Sometimes uniform cost are can be included in monthly fees, depending on gym. I would think a portion/percentage of Tuition would go for rent, payroll, insurance, lights etc. One would need to figure out the cost to open/run gym and set tuition price accordingly. Comp fees would go to comps as uniform cost should go to uniforms. The problem comes when you have to rob peter to pay paul. hard to catch up or replace money so to speak.

It gets hard when you gym owner/accounts payable and receivable/coach. In any business there should always be checks & balances, just keeps things simple and holds people accountable. Running a business is not easy.

I'm speaking in general of course.

 

[UCFKnights07]

From a business perspective, tuition should cover overhead and expenses (cost of the facility, equipment, repairs, salaries, utilities, etc). There should be a separate account to receive and pay competition fees, uniforms, choreography, music, etc.

thank you. I havent been in the sport for years so i couldnt remember how the costs were split up.

there could be a lot of factors in this. I know ive seen parents on the board gripe about people paying dues late, etc. So maybe thats where some of it stems from, if parents werent paying their dues on time, he could have been dipping into money meant for other things to make up for late payments, etc.
Who knows, im really just guessing in the dark here, but i wont be someone who thinks he purposely meant to fraud people from the start. Again, running a business is HARD.

 

[EmmytheFlyer]

I would warn people to be careful posting on this thread. I was physically threatened by posting on this board to my personal phone. I will note not from this poster. I've now been forced to file a local Police Report at the the advice of my attorney. My gym is aware of my posts they had to be since I was threatened. They have them. This is a forum people go to voice opinions not to be threatened and told they will be destroyed. I have also reported this person to this board in case they start here too. I never said I have anything factual and of course I'm sorry if it's offensive. I won't qualify what I know or do not know or how I know or do not know anything. Just because we are a member of any gym doesn't mean we know any of our gyms inter workings. We know what they want us to know no more and no less. I can't keep straight much having to do with the gym my kids go to let alone know all the inter working of another gym. My daughters took classes there for over 6 years on and off and I was pleased. Recently even !! I did not start this thread and compared to what others wrote I've tried to stay true to my feelings. People think they can use boards to say what ever they want. I didn't do that at all. You should never post anything you do not stand by cause again it's an opinion. No one should ever wants any gym to fail because it's puts a spot light on an Industry people already question. I pray for this owner, their staff and the kids constantly. I'm glad it's running smoothly and everyone is so confidant that this too shall pass. I do feel however threatening people should be taken very seriously and unfortunately it's taken that turn.

I am not sure if you are new to ICE or not, but you should refer to the social media guidelines in our handbook and follow them because this is ridiculous. ICE has worked really hard to improve relationships with our other Northern Illinois gyms and this kind of stuff doesn't do anything except destroy the work we've put in to do so.

 

[quitthedrama]

I am not sure if you are new to ICE or not, but you should refer to the social media guidelines in our handbook and follow them because this is ridiculous. ICE has worked really hard to improve relationships with our other Northern Illinois gyms and this kind of stuff doesn't do anything except destroy the work we've put in to do so.

So because you go to a gym in the same state you aren't allowed to comment on anything about this topic? The poster hasn't said anything out of line.

 

[EmmytheFlyer]

So because you go to a gym in the same state you aren't allowed to comment on anything about this topic? The poster hasn't said anything out of line.

I didn't say she couldn't comment. I referred her to our handbook which is there for a reason.

 

[quitthedrama]

I didn't say she couldn't comment. I referred her to our handbook which is there for a reason.

which is implying that she can't comment based on the handbook.....

 

[EmmytheFlyer]

which is implying that she can't comment based on the handbook.....

There's a copy online for your reference if it's really that big of a deal for you.

 

[quitthedrama]

There's a copy online for your reference if it's really that big of a deal for you.

I don't need to review your social media policies and have every right to give my opinion that if a gym states you can not discuss an industry topic that is ridiculous. You can rate my post as bullying, but your actions are far more aggressive than most posters on this thread, and if anyone is making their gym look bad, it's you.

 

[EmmytheFlyer]

I don't need to review your social media policies and have every right to give my opinion that if a gym states you can not discuss an industry topic that is ridiculous. You can rate my post as bullying, but your actions are far more aggressive than most posters on this thread, and if anyone is making their gym look bad, it's you.

I also have a right to give an opinion. And that is not what the handbook says. It's in relation to social media boards and gossip about other gyms.

My entire point of this, was if she's getting threats and the like saying she's going "to be destroyed" one might say - hey - take a step back and look at what you're posting.

And if that makes me look like a bully because I care how my gym is represented (with ICE in her handle), and I care that someone from my gym is actually getting physically threatened, then wow I guess I'm a giant bully.

 

[dat.jpp]

Am I the only one who's enjoying this?

 

[RandomCheerMom]

I also have a right to give an opinion. And that is not what the handbook says. It's in relation to social media boards and gossip about other gyms.

My entire point of this, was if she's getting threats and the like saying she's going "to be destroyed" one might say - hey - take a step back and look at what you're posting.

And if that makes me look like a bully because I care how my gym is represented (with ICE in her handle), and I care that someone from my gym is actually getting physically threatened, then wow I guess I'm a giant bully.

I'm confused, does your handbook say threatening other parents is ok? Am I misunderstanding this quote from your post , "... if she's getting threats and the like saying she's going "to be destroyed" one might say - hey - take a step back and look at what you're posting." It seems as if you're siding with whatever nutso is even making threats regarding a children's sport, surely I'm mistaken.