All-Star End Of The Season: How To Exit And Leave Your Gym Gracefully

[Keep_Believing]

End of Season Exit: How to Leave Your Gym Gracefully  »

by our very own @cupieqt

 

[cachoi]

Especially want to emphasize the last point for athletes and former employees.

Bad: Never recruit from your old program for a new gym if you’re leaving to cheer somewhere else. Never. For any reason. Don’t do it.

Excellent article @cupieqt

 

[cupieqt]

Thanks y'all! I am about to start writing an accompanying article for gym owners and coaches on how to handle it on their end.

We all need to do better at this.

 

[Lisa Seye]

Thanks y'all! I am about to start writing an accompanying article for gym owners and coaches on how to handle it on their end.

We all need to do better at this.

Can't wait to read the sister article. Great article. Already left my comments on facebook

 

[alpaca]

Especially want to emphasize the last point for athletes and former employees.

Bad: Never recruit from your old program for a new gym if you’re leaving to cheer somewhere else. Never. For any reason. Don’t do it.

Excellent article @cupieqt

Can we talk about what this exactly means? Because if I were to leave a program and found somewhere that was a better fit for our family and cp, I would absolutely share that information with my friends. That could be considered semi-recruiting. However, I would never actively recruit people. All Star gyms are for -profit business, and unless I am on the payroll, it is not my place to actively market and advertise a gym. IMO, this includes social media.

This is largely a moot point for me since my area does not have many gyms to choose from. But I'm curious to hear what this means for other parts of the country where there are several gyms to choose from.

 

[CoachTamara]

Can we talk about what this exactly means? Because if I were to leave a program and found somewhere that was a better fit for our family and cp, I would absolutely share that information with my friends. That could be considered semi-recruiting. However, I would never actively recruit people. All Star gyms are for -profit business, and unless I am on the payroll, it is not my place to actively market and advertise a gym. IMO, this includes social media.

This is largely a moot point for me since my area does not have many gyms to choose from. But I'm curious to hear what this means for other parts of the country where there are several gyms to choose from.

First, I think if you are an employee this is NEVER ok. It's shady and rude.

But, if you are an athlete or parent there is a big difference between saying "Gym A SUCKS, we just started at Gym B and it's sooooo much better. You should totally come to Gym B with us" and "We are moving to Gym B because it's a better fit for our family. Good luck in where ever you decide to cheer!"

I would guess that about 98% of the time, the conversation is the first example rather than the second.

 

[Keep_Believing]

Can we talk about what this exactly means? Because if I were to leave a program and found somewhere that was a better fit for our family and cp, I would absolutely share that information with my friends. That could be considered semi-recruiting. However, I would never actively recruit people. All Star gyms are for -profit business, and unless I am on the payroll, it is not my place to actively market and advertise a gym. IMO, this includes social media.

This is largely a moot point for me since my area does not have many gyms to choose from. But I'm curious to hear what this means for other parts of the country where there are several gyms to choose from.

If someone ask you if you like your new gym, I think it is fine to share that it is a good fit for your CP and y'all are happy. I think going around saying negative things about previous gym is unnecessary.

 

[Lisa Seye]

First, I think if you are an employee this is NEVER ok. It's shady and rude.

But, if you are an athlete or parent there is a big difference between saying "Gym A SUCKS, we just started at Gym B and it's sooooo much better. You should totally come to Gym B with us" and "We are moving to Gym B because it's a better fit for our family. Good luck in where ever you decide to cheer!"

I would guess that about 98% of the time, the conversation is the first example rather than the second.

Nvm

 

[cachoi]

Can we talk about what this exactly means? Because if I were to leave a program and found somewhere that was a better fit for our family and cp, I would absolutely share that information with my friends. That could be considered semi-recruiting. However, I would never actively recruit people. All Star gyms are for -profit business, and unless I am on the payroll, it is not my place to actively market and advertise a gym. IMO, this includes social media.

This is largely a moot point for me since my area does not have many gyms to choose from. But I'm curious to hear what this means for other parts of the country where there are several gyms to choose from.

If someone directly asks how you're liking the change, I wouldn't call that recruiting. I'd say actively recruiting is seeking out people from your former gym family and popping into their inbox like "hey come here it's better, I'm doing this this and this now, soooooo glad to actually be working hard, finalllllly going to have a good season" or posting videos practicing at Gym A and tagging everyone from Gym B on social media or group texts. Of course there are always exceptions.

 

[SthrnCheerMom]

This article was so timely. It came across my facebook feed and I forwarded it to my daughter. We are in the process of leaving our gym (at least for now). There are quite a few leaving. Some have left quietly and some have left in a very public way.

 

[schpo]

First, I think if you are an employee this is NEVER ok. It's shady and rude.

But, if you are an athlete or parent there is a big difference between saying "Gym A SUCKS, we just started at Gym B and it's sooooo much better. You should totally come to Gym B with us" and "We are moving to Gym B because it's a better fit for our family. Good luck in where ever you decide to cheer!"

I would guess that about 98% of the time, the conversation is the first example rather than the second.

I don't know about that. I think what the departing family did, and what people THINK they did, are two different things. It certainly was in our experience.

 

[cheermomforever]

So much is correct about this article!!! I will never forgive a mom telling her daughter right before warmups at summit finals that they were switching gyms! Let's just say it did not go well for her stunt group! No class at all!

 

[AnotherCheerMom]

Very good article. I agree with a lot of these points. My only addition, is that Cheer is a business. Families pay a lot for a service. At the end of the year if a family wants to leave; just go. There is no need to tell the owners or coaches. I have seen this back-fire because the owners/coaches go on the whole "loyalty" rant. I agree that nothing should be said during the season though!

 

[alpaca]

Very good article. I agree with a lot of these points. My only addition, is that Cheer is a business. Families pay a lot for a service. At the end of the year if a family wants to leave; just go. There is no need to tell the owners or coaches. I have seen this back-fire because the owners/coaches go on the whole "loyalty" rant. I agree that nothing should be said during the season though!

I think that logistically for most 12 month programs, it would be hard to "just go". Our gym does not have a break at all. So what would you do? Just stop coming when it was time for the contract to renew? If you just stop coming to the gym, they will eventually call you and you will have that conversation anyway.

Now compare this to dance programs we have been involved in over the years. There is an official ending to the season and a short break. For various reasons we have decided not too return to a studio ( multiple kids, different dance styles offered , distance etc) and in those cases we just didn't register the following session. No drama, we didn't inform anyone, we just stopped.

There ARE cheer gyms that operate like many dance studio's do in terms of taking a break between seasons, but I think that they are few and far between.

 

[quitthedrama]

I don't know about that. I think what the departing family did, and what people THINK they did, are two different things. It certainly was in our experience.

Yes to this.