All-Star Scholarships Linked To Gym Failures

Cheerforme · Jan 23, 2013

Ok - all the Trinity talk got me thinking...and maybe there is a thread on this - so please point me in the right direction if there is...what is the relationship between gyms allowing some athletes free tuition and the failure rate of gyms in the market? In the area I come from, there is at least one gym with a good long reputation that closed and one of the rumors (never was a customer there) I heard was that they gave away to many free scholarships to keep athletes, so in the end they couldnt stay afloat...early on they didnt offer the scholarships this they had the revenue to keep the doors open, but as the competition with other gyms became steeper, they went that route and ended up folding. From what we heard, Trinity has a lot of scholarshipped athletes - and more power to them if htey can afford this...but what is the staying power - will this be a sustainable endeveor? The negative publicity is certainly going to impact their ability to attract paying customers...I for one would clearly think twice about joining a gym that gave a lot of scholarahips, because I wouldnt likely qualify for one, and I yet I cant afford to pay higher prices so someone else can get the scholarship...and I would worry that next year the gym couldnt keep up and would close.

DaniV · Jan 23, 2013

Cheerforme said:
there is at least one gym with a good long reputation that closed and one of the rumors (never was a customer there) I heard was that they gave away to many free scholarships to keep athletes, so in the end they couldnt stay afloat...

I feel like this has got to be somewhat common to keep small gyms from losing athletes or just the natural competition of trying to be the biggest and best gyms. I have heard an identicle rumor about a gym in my area go through the same thing. Who knows it if it was true (and frankly doesn't matter to me, I was just sad to see them close) but at some point we have to make the smart business decision to turn down athletes who can't afford it or have missed the "scholarship" deadline.

My gym sets aside a set number of scholarships and athletes have to apply for them and prove necessity. We decide who gets them and after they are handed out, they're gone - no more until the next season. We are a smaller gym and can't afford to have many people cheering for little/free without it coming out of the owner's pocket.

CheerDadof2 · Jan 23, 2013

OK - from what I've seen in ATL there are a lot of gyms that offer some form of scholarships. None really made it on here other then ........ but there are a lot. Last year around tryouts only two really advertised, one put out there that 21 boys would get scholarships and another that Double Fulls don't pay. Not sure how well this promotion worked out as I think there are only, I don't know maybe 10 boys in the one program and the other, last I saw, was fielding a restricted 5. I've also heard other gym owners flat out say, you don't make your money off of the level 5 kids but they do fundraisers, work study/teach classes, that sort of thing for the level 5 kids to help pay their way. There are a few gyms that I know of that do it this way.

I don't know that anyone has ever tracked this sort of thing but it's not a sustainable model for anyone, even if it is a good tax write off for your other endeavors. However many kids had scholarships this year, I'd say it's fair to say they probably won't do the same next year. IMO

cupieqt · Jan 23, 2013

We offer a tuition discount up to 60%. You have to prove financial need (lots of forms to turn in and/or fill out) so you can't just ask for one and get it. We do not discount fees such as uniforms, comps, etc. Those are standard across the board.

We manage our finances very carefully so that we don't just break even or take a loss. This is a business and profit isn't a dirty word. I'm sorry if kids can't participate because they can't afford it but it's not a hardship. (I can't afford to join a country club or send my kids to private schools but I guess we will be ok. Not everyone gets the same opportunities in life).
I need a job so it's very important to me that our gym is financially healthy. Can't do that if too many people don't pay to play.

catlady · Jan 23, 2013

Cheerforme John's Creek/Roswell/Alpharetta/Sandy Springs in Atlanta are four adjacent very well to do areas. You have Trinity Athletics, GA AllStars, and Stingray AllStars-Johns Creek within an 8.5 mile radius of each other, all of them being decent sized programs. I think what makes this so unique is 1) the wealth of the area, 2) the close proximity of gyms, 3) the overall popularity of AllStar and HS Cheer in that area, and 4) the competitive, type "A" personality that often accompanies extremely wealthy areas. The fact that Stingray AllStars-Johns Creek opened up last year in that area more than likely sparked some of the creative advertisement and recruitment tactics for tryouts. The reality of this situation is these owners know if they don't get results quickly, type "A" parents will pull their kid(s) and put them where they do, especially if it's just a few miles down the road. I'm not justifying the behavior but, knowing the area and close priximity of the gyms it makes it easier to understand the strategy that could have been behind all the scholarships.

cheercurl · Jan 23, 2013

catlady said:
Cheerforme John's Creek/Roswell/Alpharetta/Sandy Springs in Atlanta are four adjacent very well to do areas. You have Trinity Athletics, GA AllStars, and Stingray AllStars-Johns Creek within an 8.5 mile radius of each other, all of them being decent sized programs. I think what makes this so unique is 1) the wealth of the area, 2) the close proximity of gyms, 3) the overall popularity of AllStar and HS Cheer in that area, and 4) the competitive, type "A" personality that often accompanies extremely wealthy areas. The fact that Stingray AllStars-Johns Creek opened up last year in that area more than likely sparked some of the creative advertisement and recruitment tactics for tryouts. The reality of this situation is these owners know if they don't get results quickly, type "A" parents will pull their kid(s) and put them where they do, especially if it's just a few miles down the road. I'm not justifying the behavior but, knowing the area and close priximity of the gyms it makes it easier to understand the strategy that could have been behind all the scholarships.

Interesting perspective...

kristenthegreat · Jan 23, 2013

TG has always been very open that those who want but can't afford are given the option of earning their keep (as far as I'd last heard). Seems to work for them and they have plenty of teams. I do wonder in such situations if girls are given the same options as boys (simply because the demand for boys is higher than girls), but it might be.

I did work-study one year when I couldn't afford to do a show at my teen rep theater. I helped teach a kids theater class made up of mostly lower-income/at-risk kids. Quite an experience, but one I enjoyed!

Cheerforme · Jan 23, 2013

Work study - earn your keep model makes sense to me because the gym owner saves resources by not having to pay others to do the work...It also build responsibility, work ethic...I can think of a lot of good that could come of this

The talent-based scholarships seems like it would breed problems...and sounds sort of desperate or like it is meant to lure people away from other gyms...this is the model that would be unsustainable in my mind. What do you do next year or the year after...keep offering the same or now force the people who came to pay if they want to stay? and the other athletes who bring something to the table, such as flying skills, basing skills, have to foot the bill and wonder what their value is? No team ever won a competition on doubles alone, or with a team full of fliers alone for that matter.

cupieqt · Jan 23, 2013

The work study is hard because I've had moms volunteer to clean the gym so their kids can cheer for free, etc.. I say it's hard because there's only so much work to go around. And at the end of the day I can't feed my kids clean mats, buy school supplies with jr coaches or pay the mortgage with good feelings.

I know it would probably work better for a larger gym with more wiggle room financially. I'm not knocking it, just showing how it wouldn't work well for me personally.

L5cheermom · Jan 23, 2013

It's a precarious position for a gym to place itself in I would think. They are linking their success to athletes who are likely to follow the highest bidder. If next year another gym offers not only free tuition, but also free uniforms or competition fees they will, in many situations, emigrate to the competition. If they are doing it for kids who genuinely need the assistance that is one thing. If they are doing it to recruit from other gyms I think it's a recipe for disaster. It is inevitable that the bar will continue to rise.

kkinsley · Jan 23, 2013

We don't have scholarships but coaches have fees waved but only as its not more hours than they coach. We have also had some of our older gymnasts and cheerleaders come to us when they are paying their own fees if they are unable to keep the payments up. If they have been with the club for a long time they are generally very good at allowing them to pay the lowest squad hour band and then getting them to help out if needed. This has only been given to a few kids though who come to us and are at university, they have also all been at the club for at least 10 years. We do have just over 1000 gymnasts and cheerleaders from rec to elite so the few who are offered this won't break us, if it hurt our cash flow though it would stop straight away

kristenthegreat · Jan 23, 2013

cupieqt said:
The work study is hard because I've had moms volunteer to clean the gym so their kids can cheer for free, etc.. I say it's hard because there's only so much work to go around. And at the end of the day I can't feed my kids clean mats, buy school supplies with jr coaches or pay the mortgage with good feelings.

I know it would probably work better for a larger gym with more wiggle room financially. I'm not knocking it, just showing how it wouldn't work well for me personally.

I suppose if they offered to coach privates/classes as well, that can work (as it's closer to a constant fiscal transaction)..

The talent ones I can't really see working permanently- double fulls free doesn't seem like an incentive to stay. The bar could just keep getting raised on their demands. Also- is it on a case-by-case basis? What happens if the next year you want to charge them- what keeps them from walking to another competitor?

All-Star Scholarships Linked To Gym Failures

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