All-Star Interesting

Welcome to our Cheerleading Community

Members see FEWER ads... join today!

quietmom

Cheer Parent
Jul 12, 2012
1,451
5,322
Saw this on Twitter. What are your thoughts?



As the letter says, there are a lot of issues here. This is a very ok first step. I think one thing that the gym owners can also control and immediately address themselves in order to help with costs for families and keep the industry going strong is reevaluating the practice of purchasing of new uniforms what seems like every year for the sake of fashion statements. Maybe they can consider having classic, bra friendly uniforms that can be resold among athletes in the gym over a period of multiple years? Maybe they can have affordable practice wear as well. But that's wishful thinking.
 
Last edited:
Love the ideas listed out on this, especially 3 and 4.

Costs are out of control. We will likely end up changing gyms next year due to costs. Tuition and coaches fees are out of control at our current gym. The next closest gym has a crazy travel schedule. I need to really look closely a costs.
 
You’ll never get kids to give up their cute practice wear. Not in this IG world. Like, no.

For many families, the uniform and practice wear are more than rent payments and monthly food budgets. This is why very talented athletes from lower income families are not participating. Some families are one bad month (accident, medical bill, job loss) from being able to afford this.

What would you rather have? A team with talented athletes that is competitive or a cute outfit?
 
I am happy with this start. While I agree that STP needs to be looked at, there was an explanation here recently as to why STP is a good thing and how it prevents the booking systems from jacking up the prices when it sees lots of activity. However, if gyms would work to get group rates at hotels themselves, it might help. That is a contracted rate. Gyms know how many athletes they have and can get a good idea how many rooms they will need.
 
You’ll never get kids to give up their cute practice wear. Not in this IG world. Like, no.
Actyally, most of the senior kids at our gym don’t wear it unless it is explicitly (and I mean”you will run laps until you drop”) required. Little ones,yes, but not older ones. Even when they dress the same, it’s usually a t-shirt or team tank top,not the gym-wide practice wear. Often the blingy practice wear is less comfortable, less supportive and scratches the girls all up in stunting.

I do like what our tiny novice team does, which is to wear the blingy practice wear as their uniform. I kind of wish my Senior could do that! And I would love to see more cost-effective uniforms. A lot of the designs for prep or school cheer are still really cute, and cost so much less without the crystals and cutouts. And you can wear a regular sports bra with them.

Hotel room blocks I kind of understand. I’m in a professional org that runs into trouble with conferences because of too many of our grad students stay elsewhere to save money, the cost for the meeting space goes way up, and so does registration. The good deals are based on the convention centers being able to sell the rooms.. Having said that, with registration fees so high, it kind of feels like they have that covered.

And I really wish that things would be structured, again, more like school cheer with local and regional comps and ONE big nationals, as opposed to what, 8, 9, plus Summit/Worlds? I’d like no more than one comp a season that requires flying or a 10+ hour drive on each end. I know being national champs is a big deal, but when you can be a National champion multiple times in the same season, it loses it’s luster.
 
I like that they are trying to talk about these initiatives but I'm not sure stay to play will go away. It's not just in cheer. It's in other travel sports as well. I hate it tho. As for what I said about practicewear and uniforms, I appreciate gyms who try to find ways to make things cheaper for parents, i.e. less travel, cheaper competitions, cheaper practicewear etc. But some of the gyms who are all proud of what they put out in this letter are some of the same gyms who make you get practice wear that costs sooo much. Not just one set but practice wear for each competition. So the kids wear it for one competition?
Where we are at now, there is mandatory practice wear and the team got to choose one competition to get anything special as an extra. The mandatory wear is several mix and match pieces that were fairly priced and will definitely last all season and longer. The teams are going to a few big comps and several local comps. Team gifts are being monitored so parents dont feel like they have to shell out even more money. The gym is trying to ensure they retain customers. Our prior gym owner also tried to find ways to save parents money. Some parents dont care to blow all their money for all these crazy unnecessary expenses and they actually demand all this extra stuff. All star cheer is fast becoming a hobby for the rich. The talented but financially worse off just quit because they no longer can afford it. Yes comps are too expensive, yes stay to play is a rip off in SOME cases, not all. And yes, some gym owners are just greedy and will dollar you to death. Those owners cant place all the blame on stay to play and event producers. It's the WHOLE culture that needs to change. So while I agree with the idea behind these initiatives, I say that gym owners themselves need to get their own house in order before they point fingers at the powers that be. It's not just the powers that be that need to change.
 
I am happy with this start. While I agree that STP needs to be looked at, there was an explanation here recently as to why STP is a good thing and how it prevents the booking systems from jacking up the prices when it sees lots of activity. However, if gyms would work to get group rates at hotels themselves, it might help. That is a contracted rate. Gyms know how many athletes they have and can get a good idea how many rooms they will need.

This is interesting.... every single stp hotel we've ever stayed at is way more expensive than if we booked through Expedia or the hotel directly. For example, the hotel we were supposed to stay at for Indianapolis was $150 a night. The day we booked it we also looked it up on other sites and it was $60 to $80 on any given day, including the days of the comp. Our owner thankfully said no way are we staying there.
 
For many families, the uniform and practice wear are more than rent payments and monthly food budgets. This is why very talented athletes from lower income families are not participating. Some families are one bad month (accident, medical bill, job loss) from being able to afford this.

What would you rather have? A team with talented athletes that is competitive or a cute outfit?

Oh I totally get it and agree with you. A lot of my girls come from low-income families and so ALL our costs weigh heavily on my mind all year. I’d love to get the sparkliest, glitziest camp/practice clothes, but it’s just not an option.

That being said, the girls would still love to have those things. As it happens they’ve never had them, so they can’t miss them. But I imagine if you’ve got kids who’ve become accustomed to cute practice wear, they’d miss it if you take it away. If you look on cheer IG, there are almost as many girls posting pics of their practice wear as there are girls posting pics of their uniforms. Practice wear has become its own lucrative industry, in part because so many people are responding to it. If gyms make the move to oust practice wear to cut costs, I’d be VERY interested to see how Varsity responds. I could almost see the Powers That Be start requiring practice wear as a response. For “safety” or whatever.
 
Love the ideas listed out on this, especially 3 and 4.

Costs are out of control. We will likely end up changing gyms next year due to costs. Tuition and coaches fees are out of control at our current gym. The next closest gym has a crazy travel schedule. I need to really look closely a costs.

What are the typical yearly costs for AS?
 
What are the typical yearly costs for AS?

CP is at a small gym and we paid about 5-6k last year including a new uniform and 2 travel comps with airfare. Costs of tuition, tumbling, and comp fees have all gone up this year.

Since we are a small gym that attends small comps, I have been neutral on STP because I didn't have experience with it to make a judgement. But that changes this year. US Finals VA Beach is a STP event this year. And they wont release block schedules until a week or so before the event so that means booking 2 nights at a STP hotel.

I see that releasing block schedules a month after registration closes is in that Open Letter. But how is that even possible. That must be for the big competitions that I am unfamiliar with. I don't think any of the comps that we go to close registration a month before. There are bid events the week before US Finals.

Yes, our experience is not at a big gym and it may not apply to people on this board. But it's relevant. Lots of people start at small gyms. If they get priced out early, they won't develop into the talented high level athletes we see at the big gyms.
 
Saw this on Twitter. What are your thoughts?



As the letter says, there are a lot of issues here. This is a very ok first step. I think one thing that the gym owners can also control and immediately address themselves in order to help with costs for families and keep the industry going strong is reevaluating the practice of purchasing of new uniforms what seems like every year for the sake of fashion statements. Maybe they can consider having classic, bra friendly uniforms that can be resold among athletes in the gym over a period of multiple years? Maybe they can have affordable practice wear as well. But that's wishful thinking.

Do we really need to have uniforms blinged our like crazy??? No, just comfy athletic ones! I wish any of these would be followed thru!
 
Back