All-Star 2020-2021: New Gyms, Closings, And Acquisitions

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I just saw something on social media re: CEA Fairfax.

Question: I don't understand the DMV layout and distance. CEA also has Maryland and a location labeled DMV.

How far apart are these 3 places distance-wise? How do programs set up like this survive longterm?

If (example) Glitter Athletics A and Glitter Athletics B are like an hour apart, aren't you competing for kids with your other location?

(Unless it's a situation in which Glitter A is just tumbling classes and prep and Glitter B has actual competitive teams.)

If all 3 locations are actual competitive gyms with teams and Worlds teams, I don't see how that longterm works.

Especially in COVID world.

There are so many gyms in this area and they look close together, but the drive times can be crazy. For us if practice (or tumbling class) starts at 5 or 6 it would be a nearly 2 hour drive. If practice starts at 7:30 it can be 45 minutes. You can live 15 miles from 5 different gyms but you’ll probably only have 1 or 2 that don’t require you to drive in the same direction as DC after work traffic.

There are no gyms between DC and Stafford though (Fairfax and Manassas are closest but they are to the west). That’s super weird, all the kids from that part of Nova drive an hour no matter where they cheer. There are a couple gyms in Fredericksburg but getting on 95 south is a nightmare so I think most of their kids come from further south. If a decent gym opened in Lorton/Woodbridge they’d be mobbed with kids.
 
There are so many gyms in this area and they look close together, but the drive times can be crazy. For us if practice (or tumbling class) starts at 5 or 6 it would be a nearly 2 hour drive. If practice starts at 7:30 it can be 45 minutes. You can live 15 miles from 5 different gyms but you’ll probably only have 1 or 2 that don’t require you to drive in the same direction as DC after work traffic.

There are no gyms between DC and Stafford though (Fairfax and Manassas are closest but they are to the west). That’s super weird, all the kids from that part of Nova drive an hour no matter where they cheer. There are a couple gyms in Fredericksburg but getting on 95 south is a nightmare so I think most of their kids come from further south. If a decent gym opened in Lorton/Woodbridge they’d be mobbed with kids.
There's quite a few successful gyms in the Arlington/Woodbridge/Fairfax and surrounding areas of Northern, VA. VA Royalty Athletics, Hot Topic, ADC, CEA to name a few. But with many large gyms such as Twisters and Stingrays within a hour or so commute many tough the traffic for that experience. The same is said large gyms in any large metro area!

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I believe Stingrays Michigan closed their doors.
i saw about that on twitter earlier. i wonder what happened? i did a bit of lurking on their social medias and apparently they were doing great, doing clinics and classes and had tryouts scheduled and all of the sudden closed very suddenly. never was a big fan of that gym anyways, i have a friend who went there and she said the coaches and owners weren't very nice people and it wasn't run very well.
 
i saw about that on twitter earlier. i wonder what happened? i did a bit of lurking on their social medias and apparently they were doing great, doing clinics and classes and had tryouts scheduled and all of the sudden closed very suddenly. never was a big fan of that gym anyways, i have a friend who went there and she said the coaches and owners weren't very nice people and it wasn't run very well.
Twitter had a pretty bad post about the personel stuff that was happening there, if true OMG!!!!
 
Twitter had a pretty bad post about the personel stuff that was happening there, if true OMG!!!!
right?? i've never cheered there in my experience but like i said, i had a friend who went there not too long ago and she said the stuff that happens behind the scenes is not good. girls being forced to practice and compete on injuries and concussions, the coaches being super mean and aggressive, that sort of thing. i really didn't expect it though.
 
i saw about that on twitter earlier. i wonder what happened? i did a bit of lurking on their social medias and apparently they were doing great, doing clinics and classes and had tryouts scheduled and all of the sudden closed very suddenly. never was a big fan of that gym anyways, i have a friend who went there and she said the coaches and owners weren't very nice people and it wasn't run very well.
From what I read, Michigan really doesn’t know if they are going to allow contact sports yet, so the gym has had to continually push back evals and other events. But I’ve seen some other things that would make me believe there’s more to the story.
 
Broward Elite in Miami announced they’re closing after 15 years due to the COVID business impact.
 
I can't speak to the CEA locations or their distance, but we have locations that are within 30 minutes of driving time and you would be surprised at how little cross-town competition there is for athletes. There are a few who will switch, but that number is less than you would expect.

Within most relatively large metropolitan areas, parents are often not excited to drive very far or go past geographic "hurdles" like a particular major highway. In our Plano location, we have had people who flew in, drove hours each way, etc. from WAY out of town, but rarely have athletes from the opposite side of town.

I’ve always been curious, how do fly in athletes work? To they fly in and out 2-3 times a week? Who transports them from the airport to the gym? What happened if there’s inclement weather or if you want to call more practices? The logistics of flying across the country for cheer have always fascinated me.
 
I remember reading a Q&A from an open team athlete who flew into a mega gym from another state. She said she didn't attend every single practice or ones that were added at last minute. She attended like once a week for the weekend practices. Ex: team normally practices Wed and Sun but she only attended Sundays. This athlete was also still attending HS face to face so she was in school all week.
 
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