All-Star Thoughts On Traveling For Competitions

What Gym/Level are you/CP at: Jr. 3 team, small gym
Where is your Gym Located: Arkansas
What/Where are the competitions you attend: The furthest will be NCA Dallas (6 hour drive) the nearest will be about a hour 1/2, which is about the range of most of our comps. Their are a couple that are about 2 1/2hrs away.
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season: All of them, we are in a rural part of AR. No comps. going on in our town -lol- But I would consider the ones we can go to and come back in one day local. Thus, depending on what time you team preforms that would be 2 or 3 of them where you would need hotels.
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable): I prefer local with one big comp. to travel to. It wouldn't hurt my feelings if the gym switched out the 2 1/2 hr drive comps for ones that are closer (even smaller) and leaving NCA in has our big one, this year. CP is only 8yrs old and I don't feel like busting butt at this age.
What is the Farthest you have traveled for a competition: We'll have to drive 6hrs to NCA, this year.
Does your team stay and travel together or separately? Norm. we travel separate (some do carpool). For NCA we are all staying at the same hotel, some parents had a hissy fit over this big time. The gym will block rooms at the other comps. or give us a list of hotels we can stay at.

I loved traveling.... however my bank account hated it.

I aged out but I will answer what applied to me!


What Gym/Level are you/CP at: I was at FCA Rubies (SrLrg4, then SrO5)
Where is your Gym Located: Western PA
What/Where are the competitions you attend: Out of my six years there we had gone to Cheersport, Indy, Columbus, Ocean City, Spirit of Hope, and Myrtle Beach as our larger comps. We did do All Levels one year as well. I went to worlds one year also. Cheersport and Indy will always be my favorites (Cheersport because of the large competition and Indy for the atmosphere and competition)
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season: Usually there were three per year
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable): We never went to NCA in my years there. Locals around here aren't super exciting for me as least my last few years, they were more fun my first three years or so. Locals don't tend to give competition in each of the divisions and thats why I love traveling.
What is the Farthest you have traveled for a competition: Cheersport
Does your team stay and travel together or separately? We didn't travel AS a team and at some comps depending on the hotels we had blocks but that wasn't every time.

What Gym/Level are you/CP at: Carolina Spirit Athletics Sr 2 & Sr 3.
Where is your Gym Located: Clemmons, NC (Winston-Salem area.)
What/Where are the competitions you attend:
this season-
2 exhibitions, 1 near our gym and 1 near Odyssey Athletics gym 1.5 hours away
UCA Regionals Greensboro, NC (1 day)
UCA Nationals Sevierville, TN (2 day)
Spirit Xpress Sweetheart Classic Chapel Hill, NC (1 day)
Spirit Xpress Raleigh, NC (1 day)
Allstar Challenge King of the Jungle Raleigh, NC (2 day)
Battle At The Beach Myrtle Beach, SC (2 day)
American Championships Superstarz Myrtle Beach, SC (2 day)
The Summit (Hopefully.) Orlando, FL.
but in the past I've gone to WSF nationals, WSF Regionals, Cheersport Regionals, Athletic Championships,UCF Columbia, Battle Under the Big Top, Jamfest Nationals, All Levels, and WCA I think.
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season:
almost all of ours are out of town, with the exception of UCA Gboro. The one day regionals in Raleigh start super early so we almost always have to stay in hotels.
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable): I personally love traveling for competitions!
What is the Farthest you have traveled for a competition: Gatlinburg/Chatanooga area is about a 5 hour drive, Atlanta is 5, and Myrtle Beach is about 4.5.
Does your team stay and travel together or separately? When I was at CEA, some competitions were required to stay at a certain place (expecially when we went to All Levels), and at my current gym, they don't really worry about these things.

In Arizona we traveled once to California for "Nationals". Here in Texas we have only traveled once a season to Houston for Cheer America. AZ to CA was definaetly the farthest we have traveled at a 6 hour drive. Houston is more manageable at 4 hours.
Cp and I love to travel but my pocketbook hates it. CA isn't going to Cheersport this year so I'm hoping that holds for next season also, if not it's AS Prep for us (though now cp is wanting to do a season of Dance Athletics w/ one of her friends from Bobcat days...so we'll see).
As far as traveling together...in AZ the owner would rent coach buses for the kids that wante to ride together, the younger ones would travel with their parents. Here we have always traveled on our own and there are block rates available but we always stay at La Quinta because I gather points there.

What Gym/Level are you/CP at: JuST cheer allstars!
Where is your Gym Located: Fairfield, NJ
What/Where are the competitions you attend: NCA, Worlds, Reach the Beach, Cheersport, Spirit Festival
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season: there are 0 in town. there's like 8 out of state.
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable): I LOVE TRAVELING
What is the Farthest you have traveled for a competition: Florida or Dallas! Maryland too.
Does your team stay and travel together or separately? TOGETHER 100%

What Gym/Level are you/CP at: I'm on an International Open Coed 5
Where is your Gym Located: Gilbert, AZ
What/Where are the competitions you attend: All of our local competitions are in Phoenix. This season we will go to Vegas twice and Anaheim once. Other teams from our gym will go to Palm Springs.
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season: For my team 3, the others have 2 or less
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable): YES. I like local competitions honestly. Less stress money wise and planning wise for this college student. I would rather we participate in more of the local competitions and save our out of state money to go to NCA.
What is the Farthest you have traveled for a competition: Vegas/California is the only place I've ever been.
Does your team stay and travel together or separately? We are responsible for our own accommodations including travel, which I really really don't like. When we went to American Grand in December there was a team bus which helped a lot, but the rest of our competitions will not have that. Like I said I'm a college student who's parents are not at all involved in cheer or supporting cheer so to travel by myself to california/vegas is so expensive and stressful. I would much rather them book everything and have me just pay them!

Oh, and this season I'll only compete locally 3 times, which seems like nothing to me. Not sure how it compares to others' schedules but when I was at AZ heat we competed so much more in the Phoenix area.

What Gym/Level are you/CP at: lg sr 4
Where is your Gym Located: Md
What/Where are the competitions you attend: 4 - 1 day and 3 - 2 day comps that are in the general baltimore area. Plus BATC (DC), NCA (Dallas), Cheersport (atlanta) and One Up (nashville)
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season: All - we live an hr and a half from the gym.
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable): i say go where you gotta go to get a good, quality competition with talented teams!
What is the Farthest you have traveled for a competition: Dallas
Does your team stay and travel together or separately? We have room blocks and some transportation options available, but cheerleaders and their families are able to make their own arrangements.

What Gym/Level are you/CP at: International Coed 6
Where is your Gym Located: Slovenia, Europe
What/Where are the competitions you attend: . We will atend 5 competitions this season, 2 in Slovenia, 1 in Italy, 1 in Germany and one in Paris.
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season: 3
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable): No, i like to travel
What is the Farthest you have traveled for a competition: Paris, 24 hour drive
Does your team stay and travel together or separately? We always travel together, we stay in the same hotel and we alway travel all together with bus.

alexamarysouza said:

What Gym/Level are you/CP at: Carolina Spirit Athletics Sr 2 & Sr 3.
Where is your Gym Located: Clemmons, NC (Winston-Salem area.)
What/Where are the competitions you attend:
this season-
2 exhibitions, 1 near our gym and 1 near Odyssey Athletics gym 1.5 hours away

Click to expand...

I cheer at Odyssey athletics

What Gym/Level are you/CP at: I was at State All Stars. I was Senior 4.2
Where is your Gym Located: in Norristown, PA
What/Where are the competitions you attend: It varies from year to year, we do one"big travel" competition a year where we all stay in the same hotel, worlds for level 5, and then U.S. Finals for the teams who receive bids there, minus Tinys. My last year our travel comps (we had two) were Connecticut and BATC, I also went to worlds as a spectator and we had block rooms there. We do a lot in Philly, Reading (both about 40 minute drives for me) and NJ (mostly Trenton Sun Center). The Oaks Convention center has become a more popular local venue and that is about a 15 minute drive for me.
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season: Always two, including U.S. Finals (last of the year) and sometimes three.
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable): Yes and no. I would love to travel to NCA, but trips besides Worlds that require a plane ticket to get to are not as feasible for most of the parents at my gym. I do love that we have stay-over comps that are in a reasonable driving distance for us.
What is the Farthest you have traveled for a competition: Columbus, Ohio is the farthest that I remember traveling. We used to do U.S Finals in Virginia Beach, VA, but we recently went to the one in DC and then the one in Rhode Island. Driving to Ohio was a very exhausting experience, and I could never miss my calculus class in HS so my family drove back Sunday night after 10 pm awards, then I only went to school for that class.
Does your team stay and travel together or separately? As I mentioned before, when we have our big travel comps it is required that we stay in the same hotel, we have meetings at night with our teams to go over day 1 results and we always have a door decorating contest for spirit and individuality, so fun!



I think that traveling together as a team is great, but you have to know what kind of commitment you're getting into in the beginning before you join a team. For instance, my gym gave us a large packet at the beginning of the year, right after tryouts (end of May) with your team assignment and a list of competitions along with which teams were attending that competition. Tinys did not do every competition, only the local ones, and Worlds was only there for level 5, with U.S Finals as an "only if your team receives a bid will you go" type thing. There was also a list of the addresses and spectator fees for each comp, along with hotel information if it was the mandatory stay-together weekend. The last page in the packet had the hotel information with the block of rooms that were available and when to book by. It was really simple to keep up with everything as long as you had that packet. My coach Jenn loves to be organized!

What Gym/Level are you/CP at: I coach junior level 1
Where is your Gym Located: Maryland
What/Where are the competitions you attend: All are within driving distance. Most are within an hour. We attend a lot of Epic events and CXE events.
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season: 1 or 2
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable): Our more advanced teams do locals and then Cheersport and seem to be happy with that.
What is the Farthest you have traveled for a competition: The furthest my kids will go is OC MD, possibly Virginia beach.
Does your team stay and travel together or separately? We stay separately. So many families have beach houses or condos that requiring they stay together would be rediculous.

Note: we are a low-cost gym. Our owner tries to keep the fees as low as possible, which is why our kids only go to Cheersport and Reach the Beach. Maryland is so saturated that we usually have a good amount of competition at locals. Also, we don't do janky HS competitions. All the locals we attend are at least 100+ teams and located at the Baltimore Convention Center or the two local arenas.

Our parents are happy that we have made all star cheer relatively affordable without sacrificing quality.

What Gym/Level are you/CP at:
East Coast Emeralds: Senior Elite level 2
Where is your Gym Located:
East of england
What/Where are the competitions you attend:
Future Cheer Heart of England, Future Cheer Nationals, BCA Nationals, BCA Rocks, BCA Midlands
How many out of town competitions do you attend per season:
All of the above (comps are hard in uk haha)
Would you prefer local competitions, and then traveling for NCA/Worlds(if applicable):
What is the Farthest you have travelled for a competition:
4/5 hours
Does your team stay and travel together or separately?
Last season we travelled/stayed separately, but this season we're travelling and staying together