High School Hs Cheer Fees

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Jan 10, 2017
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Curious, how much does it cost for your HS cheer fees? What is included?

On that same note, how much practice wear do you have?
 
My HS team was fairly low cost, but this was also like 7+ years ago so might not be super relevant anymore.

-UCA camp ($250ish)
-Camp wear ($75 for 3 shirts, wore our own black bottoms)
-Warm ups ($75 and only needed to buy one set during)
-Shoes (we picked our own)
-Bows (3 for $30)
-Sweatshirt ($30)
-Shirts for homecoming/state/court-warming ($50)
-$50 fee for senior gifts/banquet
-Add in an extra $100 for random stuff I don’t remember

We had 3 uniforms that were owned by the school. All competition/hotel/travel fees were paid for by the school. However, they now go to UCA nationals so I’m not sure where that burden falls to.

We also had 3 practice shirts that were owned by the school.




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I work in a Title I school so I try and keep it as low as possible - this is my most expensive team (Varsity Competition), so they're expected to have everything. Some things I keep the same year to year, so those are italicized to indicate that they don't have to purchase it again. For comparison, JV costs $167 vs. the Varsity cost $1494 ($1218 for returners) and then they have the option of adding anything that they want from Varsity's package (warmups, cheer camp, etc.). The school pays for all transportation and in state competitions, and we have a game day and competition uniform also provided by the school, so we lucked out in that regard.

-Camp $350
-Clothing Bundle $218 (Includes three shirts, two shorts, leggings, sports bra, four bows, scrunchie, crew cut socks, with all customized)
-Choreography/Music $175
-Competition Shoes $75
-Nationals $400
-Poms Bundle $36 (one green, one black, two pink for BC)
-Practice Shoes $25
-Backpack $75
-Warmups $140

These are all the costs prior to fundraising, which some kids take to the extreme and which can be extremely beneficial. I had one kid last year who raised so much money selling chocolate bars for Nationals that she literally ended up with a surplus to go into the next season. We also do team fundraisers (selling concessions, hosting Allstar gym showcases at our school, etc.) with the money usually going towards banquet and other such team things.
 
For my niece’s high school varsity team they pay $0

Wasn’t the case when I cheered there or my younger sister

School pays for everything (uniforms, shoes, practice outfits, choreography etc ). For awhile the school payed for practice at an all star gym, but opted to just hire a tumbling coach instead

They fundraise (sponsors, kiddie camp and host a competition)

I believe they have 3 practice outfits


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This year, our competition team is about $940. The majority of this is camp, which is $365 for camp and $125 camp clothes/practice clothes (three outfits and a sweatshirt). This also includes new uniforms this year, and all comp fees (5 local, State and Nationals). I am a coach on a budget... I make sure we get the most possible for the money we pay. This does not include our travel to State and Nationals, but we carpool to State so only one flight.

For our Game Day team, the cost is $225. We purchased uniform shells and skirts for the team and we will own them, and the $225 they pay includes poms, warm up jacket, a practice t-shirt, bow, body liner and spanks. This is a one time purchase for them, so if they continue to cheer they will never have to pay it again unless they lose something. We are trying very hard to make Game Day reasonable.
 
We try to stay as low priced as possible. The school owns the uniforms, warm ups, and poms so the kids don't purchase those.

These are our prices for stuff this year:
NCA Camp (optional attendance) $288
Camp wear - $150
1 practice wear set - $50
any white shoes of their choice - price varies
Pink wear (bow and socks) $15
Bow - $17

We have additional items available through big V as well and they can buy those if they want, but no requirement.

Comp team splits comp costs (choreo, music, fees) and will pay about $220 each this year.

Truthfully, I'd like to move some of this around and have them own their own warm ups and let that school budget money get used for other things. But that's a work in progress.
 
Does anyone else do public school cheer in CA? Because we can’t charge for things that aren’t “personal items” (shoes, socks, briefs, etc.). Everything else has to be paid with fundraising or parent “donations”... camp fees, comp fees, etc. Fortunately we’ve got a mom on the team who’s got her wholesaler’s license, meaning we can customise everything ourselves with as many sparkles as we can stand.

TIP: get your wholesaler’s license. It’s a little complicated and you have to actually have a “business,” but it means buying bows, tees, etc. and customising them at a fraction of the cost. So the girls get their sparkly crap without paying fourteen bucks per letter via Varsity.

But so yeah, if anyone else coaches at CA public schools, I would love to hear your costs (because of our shortcuts, I don’t think mine are accurately representative of the state). And if you’re at a CA private school, even better. I’d love to hear about the freedom to charge whatever you feel like for whatever you want. I literally have dreams about it.
 
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I run our finances like I would a not-for-profit. I take a "bang for the buck" approach. The socioeconomic status is very diverse, and requires a bit of diligence. I up-charge virtually everything by a few dollars and use the funds to run day-to-day, and as a cushion within our account. When we do fundraising, I retain a very small percentage of the earnings for the same purpose. Example: recent fundraiser earned $2025. I distributed $1880, and retained the remaining $140. I've also started managing the finances using business software which gives me a means to track income/expenses in a way that I've never had before. It's been quite mind-blowing.

Practice shirts $10.00 x however many they want. (They are all the same and we use the same ones year over year.)

UCA camp $150.00 (2-day UCA commuter camp. I charge $10.00 over cost to cover coaches and buy lunches)

My team leaders chose not to do camp clothes specifically this year because of the increased cost to everyone for our new uniform package. Their decision. We are going to wear our practice shirts and be dressed uniformly, but not with fancy camp clothes that we wouldn't use anywhere else.

Choreography (This is for our 2 1/2 minute routine. I do the Gameday choreography myself)
on mat: $150.00
Alternate: $115.00

This is in contrast to our feeder program that spend $360 alone on an overnight camp, AND pays for choreography from the same choreographer. What is costing my kids about $300 when they get to high school is costing them about $500 in middle school.

Uniform Package $585.00 - includes 2 shells, a skirt, warm up, pullover, polo, skort, custom liner, and plain liner
(We had a uniform crisis and went with a Varsity package this year. The kids now own their uniforms. Huge up-front cost, but all of the items except 1 will be able to be sold to a new athlete if a cheerleader outgrows them, graduates, or otherwise leaves the program.)

Nationals - Whatever the total invoice except my cost divided by the number of athletes attending. Covers my assistant coaches, crossover fees, etc Typically $725-ish

We live close enough that people can choose to drive or fly. I give them a day and time to arrive, and expect them to be there. No issues with this so far.

Our KHSAA regional/state competitions are free, and the school provides transportation to those when we need it. Every other year, regional is held in our town.

School has two accounts set up for us. One gets replenished every year with $1200 which is used to provide the "bare necessities" of the program. I can use it for poms, megaphones, Additional uniform pieces that will belong to the school, etc.

Fundraising account is used for funds raised by athletes/athlete payments.
 
This year, our competition team is about $940. The majority of this is camp, which is $365 for camp and $125 camp clothes/practice clothes (three outfits and a sweatshirt). This also includes new uniforms this year, and all comp fees (5 local, State and Nationals). I am a coach on a budget... I make sure we get the most possible for the money we pay. This does not include our travel to State and Nationals, but we carpool to State so only one flight.

For our Game Day team, the cost is $225. We purchased uniform shells and skirts for the team and we will own them, and the $225 they pay includes poms, warm up jacket, a practice t-shirt, bow, body liner and spanks. This is a one time purchase for them, so if they continue to cheer they will never have to pay it again unless they lose something. We are trying very hard to make Game Day reasonable.

You must fundraise the crap out of nationals
 
I work in a Title I school so I try and keep it as low as possible - this is my most expensive team (Varsity Competition), so they're expected to have everything. Some things I keep the same year to year, so those are italicized to indicate that they don't have to purchase it again. For comparison, JV costs $167 vs. the Varsity cost $1494 ($1218 for returners) and then they have the option of adding anything that they want from Varsity's package (warmups, cheer camp, etc.). The school pays for all transportation and in state competitions, and we have a game day and competition uniform also provided by the school, so we lucked out in that regard.

-Camp $350
-Clothing Bundle $218 (Includes three shirts, two shorts, leggings, sports bra, four bows, scrunchie, crew cut socks, with all customized)
-Choreography/Music $175
-Competition Shoes $75
-Nationals $400
-Poms Bundle $36 (one green, one black, two pink for BC)
-Practice Shoes $25
-Backpack $75
-Warmups $140

These are all the costs prior to fundraising, which some kids take to the extreme and which can be extremely beneficial. I had one kid last year who raised so much money selling chocolate bars for Nationals that she literally ended up with a surplus to go into the next season. We also do team fundraisers (selling concessions, hosting Allstar gym showcases at our school, etc.) with the money usually going towards banquet and other such team things.

Are you attending UCA nationals for $400? I'm trying to wrap my head around that. Staying off site?
 
We are in a Title I area, so I try VERY hard to keep costs down. There are a lot of WANTs for cheer, but I try very hard to stick to NEEDs only.

School buys our uniforms for us. Pros: no cost to us. Cons: we are at the mercy of their schedule to replace (currently every 4 years).

Camp: $250 (parents run fundraisers to help offset this)
Sneakers: their choice, cost varies (I did suggest a mid-range pair for $52 this year though)
Poms: $20
Bow: $10
Practice/Camp shirts: $35 for 3
Practice/Camp shorts: $20 for 3
Briefs/Plain Liner as needed: $5-25
Warm-ups: $85 (one time cost, they can re-use each year)

Our school account pays our local competition entry fees and music/sign needs. (I mix our music, I just need to pay for the covers from unleashthebeats or other USA cheer legal source). I also do our own choreography. We don't have the skills for a successful UCA nationals trip, and with the cost being out of reach for a lot of our families, it's not in our immediate future, so for local and state, my choreography skills are good enough.

If we make states, the school's general athletic fund covers our travel and hotel fees, including food stipend! (just as if we were any another sport).
 
Are you attending UCA nationals for $400? I'm trying to wrap my head around that. Staying off site?

Oh no, sorry for the confusion, I love my kiddos but we could never go to UCA nationals. We do "West Coast" AKA USA "Nationals". Not a true National championship but it's driving distance and my kids can compete Novice/Intermediate which is pretty close to their skill level (I mentioned once on this forum that there are no feeder programs or allstar gyms near my school, we're kind of in the middle of nowhere so I basically have to start from scratch with new kids each year). So it's $110 for comp fees, $150 for hotel, and we have a military family who buys us Disneyland 2 or 3 day park hoppers for like $150. I dream of living in a state/area where UCA Nationals would be an option skill wise (there's usually one or two AZ schools that attend but they never make it out of prelims), but at the same time I like working with the smaller programs that have no legacy to live up to yet.
 
Oh no, sorry for the confusion, I love my kiddos but we could never go to UCA nationals. We do "West Coast" AKA USA "Nationals". Not a true National championship but it's driving distance and my kids can compete Novice/Intermediate which is pretty close to their skill level (I mentioned once on this forum that there are no feeder programs or allstar gyms near my school, we're kind of in the middle of nowhere so I basically have to start from scratch with new kids each year). So it's $110 for comp fees, $150 for hotel, and we have a military family who buys us Disneyland 2 or 3 day park hoppers for like $150. I dream of living in a state/area where UCA Nationals would be an option skill wise (there's usually one or two AZ schools that attend but they never make it out of prelims), but at the same time I like working with the smaller programs that have no legacy to live up to yet.

I’m super sad that USA is losing its lustre. Nobody really goes anymore especially if they go to UCA instead. There’s a team near here called Granite Hills that’s really good but I didn’t even know about them until recently because they only did UCA even though USA is right next door. So even though we’re close skills- and geography-wise, our paths never crossed. And if this trend continues of CA teams opting for UCA even though USA is cheaper and more geographically desirable, then USA has a problem.

So anyway, I’m concerned for USA’s future. They’ve got the west coast audience on lock which is good, but with more teams opting for UCA I’m not sure if they can sustain themselves much longer. The dance portion of the event is really watered down already. They tried to expand the competition and attract more teams by creating a zillion new dance divisions, but the result is now there are only two teams in each one. I’m pulling for them since USA was the comp I cut my teeth on and have very fond memories of, but I’m worried for them.
 
Oh no, sorry for the confusion, I love my kiddos but we could never go to UCA nationals. We do "West Coast" AKA USA "Nationals". Not a true National championship but it's driving distance and my kids can compete Novice/Intermediate which is pretty close to their skill level (I mentioned once on this forum that there are no feeder programs or allstar gyms near my school, we're kind of in the middle of nowhere so I basically have to start from scratch with new kids each year). So it's $110 for comp fees, $150 for hotel, and we have a military family who buys us Disneyland 2 or 3 day park hoppers for like $150. I dream of living in a state/area where UCA Nationals would be an option skill wise (there's usually one or two AZ schools that attend but they never make it out of prelims), but at the same time I like working with the smaller programs that have no legacy to live up to yet.

No apologies necessary. I figured it was another national, but didn’t know which one. It seemed too expensive for a high school division in an all star competition, but not expensive enough for a trip to Orlando. After seeing the break down, it made much more sense.
 
We attend Jamz in Vegas, so flights and hotels are actually reasonable. If anyone is considering a cheaper alternative, I cannot say enough about Jamz. The production is top notch, and has a good amount of competition. The girls feel like rock stars the entire time they are there, and they take care of coaches. It's the best.
 
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