All-Star Mandatory Versus Optional

kingston said:

I won't get into a WHOLE discussion on this, but it is also one of the reasons I prefer a universal scoresheet. If you are judged the same way everywhere you go plenty of people could see how they stand in the country when they cant travel that far away (IE a team in Alaska could see if their score of 90 out of 100 is competitive with the rest of the country)

Click to expand...

I agree 100%, now if only ALL judges would watch the vid Andre posted of Justin (hopefully one day he can break down the "Universal" score sheet)

StarshipTrooper said:

How about a 529 plan? But the way I figure, gym costs, tuition, clothes and such are less than 20% of spending. Gas is gas, do it or not, or car pool. The trips, for us Atlanta x 2, Indy, Myrtle Beach, Orlando and Dallas are where the money is in cheer. Sort of the entitlement spending of the cheer budget, accounting for at least 70% of expense for our level 5 teams. Only way to significantly lower costs in K-Vegas is to limit travel to large competitions.

Click to expand...

That IS a ton of traveling! I never flew anywhere when I cheered, and my old gym just recently started taking a few teams to Dallas. Only 3 team from all 3 gyms go. Everyone else competes at Cheersport, which is about a 3-5 hour car ride from all the gyms. I think that really helps keep costs down.

My old gym had a decent structure for travel-

Full-year teams: 2 flying trips, 2 other overnights within driving distance
Half-year teams (called "no fly"): 3 overnights within driving distance, 2 of which were with the full-year teams

I think a main discussion point that we are missing here is that it costs SO MUCH MONEY just to enter competitions nowadays. If competition companies were able to charge less, that would certainly help us all with costs, no?

Mandatory: Uniforms, Makeup, Bows and Shoes
Optional: Warmups, Team Shirts (although most get these), Gym Shirts, Sports Bras, Bags

No flying trips for us...just one of the perks of being in Texas

We are lucky being in FL. A lot of good comps down here and GA is within driving distance, but cost is getting crazy. I agree, things like music, choreography and bows are overpriced!

Our uniform, makeup, bows and shoes are mandatory. We change uniforms once every 3 yrs, so most girls keep theirs for that duration
Warmups, travel bags, spirit wear are all optional.
Our tinys and minis only compete locally, and our j2 and sr 3 only do one or two out of towns. Everyone else does like 3-5. But being in kansas helps the travel cost since everywhere we go (besides Orlando) is driving distance. One of the perks of being in the middle of everything

For those teams that have mandatory makeup, what brands do you use in order to make sure it is affordable for all the athletes to purchase?

This year ours was Maybelline and NYC (for the lipstick)....I think I bought everything for $15. Way cheaper then having to purchase MAC!!
We don't have any "optional" things except for the little pro shops items they come out with (pillow cases, blankets, ect) but her warmup is a YL and she swims in it so she should be wearing it until she's 18!

Warm-ups are mandatory & so are blue shorts & a green top & practice bow. all other practice wear & attire is optional.

mandatory: purple and black shorts, team shirt (usually one per season), black sports bra, shoes, warm ups , competition bows ( we do wear different bows for each competition but one of the coaches makes them so the costs are really low)
optional: Uniform (the gym pays for it, you can buy it but don't have to), practice wear besides the mandatory stuff

kickdblcj said:

Oh god I don't even want to think about it. Every time I do I practically break into tears lol. I'm already spending 140 dollars a week on gas and its only around 3.35 in my area.

Click to expand...

Oh. My. Gosh! On GAS? How far do you commute to cheer? Perhaps try to get a sponsor if you have to do that all by yourself. Some companies will sponsor you if you ask. That's an awful lot to spend on gas.

cheercoachz said:

Oh. My. Gosh! On GAS? How far do you commute to cheer? Perhaps try to get a sponsor if you have to do that all by yourself. Some companies will sponsor you if you ask. That's an awful lot to spend on gas.

Click to expand...

I drive 2-4 hours to practice depending on traffic.

kickdblcj said:

I drive 2-4 hours to practice depending on traffic.

Click to expand...

Wow! That is some dedication on your part! Kudos to you! Your team is very lucky to have you.

cheercoachz said:

Wow! That is some dedication on your part! Kudos to you! Your team is very lucky to have you.

Click to expand...

Thanks but thts nothing compared to the 6-8 hours other people drive. California is a pretty long state.