All-Star It's Happening All Over; Not Just In Cheerleading

[tumbleyoda]

The coach wasn't a sales rep for the company she just chose those shoes for whatever reason. I just disliked the fact that a coach would mandate a particular shoe and not just say ''all white cheer shoe". I don't know if that's the norm?

We say all white cheer shoe. Don't care who you use or what you pay. But I have worked for gyms in the past that did mandate what kind of shoe you wore. Conveniently they also were suppliers of that brand of shoe.

 

[Boughetto]

We say all white cheer shoe. Don't care who you use or what you pay. But I have worked for gyms in the past that did mandate what kind of shoe you wore. Conveniently they also were suppliers of that brand of shoe.

That's definitely not a good deal unless they are giving the athletes the shoes at a significantly reduced price.

 

[Momager]

Gymnastics, travel soccer, all star cheer.... the high cost and the "travel" were sold to us so that she could compete with the best all across the country. You can stay in rec and compete with every team in Podunk, or you can get on a travel team and compete with the best across the country. You stay in rec and be coached by someone's dad or you can do travel soccer and attend camps at UNC, UVA, UMD and meet the most successful coaches in the industry, meet Olympians and be coached by them etc etc etc. Some people were chasing scholarships, some were chasing fame, some were just so competitive that it wasn't success until you were competing with the best.

 

[tumbleyoda]

That's definitely not a good deal unless they are giving the athletes the shoes at a significantly reduced price.

True. That would be the only benefit I would see to it. But not everyone has the same sense of ethics so...

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

The desire to follow what is being marketed to them as being successful even if it raises prices to unreasonable levels, higher cost in uniforms, mandatory camps in order to attend certain competitions, paying for "training" at local gyms which is sometimes nothing more than open gym with under-qualified coaches and other times a deal under the table to get the team there.

IMO we have lost our ability to say no. And this is killing the sport and causing the industry to die a death of a thousand tiny cuts

Not just sports...society cannot say "no."

That's why consumer debt in this country is at an outrageous level.

 

[Official OWECheer]

For example lets say gym A charges 100.00 a month for training a school team. Gym B says we only charge 80.00. Gym B is a better value money wise at first glance. But what they don't know is Gym B is quietly paying the coach of the school team 25.00 to 40.00 for each kid that signs up. So of course school coach pushes Gym B cause she is getting paid by them under the table and off the books to bring her school team to that gym. Now Gym B also uses under qualified staff that don't cost as much per hour and basically make it open gym play time. Even though Gym B has less structure and instruction, the emotional touch point of price drives the selling point to the parents.

If more parents understood this and knew what they were paying for, things would be much different.

 

[tumbleyoda]

If more parents understood this and knew what they were paying for, things would be much different.

True. But often this type of information is kept close to the vest. In communities where everyone is friends with everyone else, people are not so quick to blast someone out, even if they know they are wrong. Usually it is if a disgruntled ex employee leaves, or someone gets drunk and runs their mouth do you find this info out. In the cases I know of they just were so lax with what they did that one price was posted via websites but the school kids were told to pay a totally different price. When parents wanted to switch gyms after seasons of no progress, injuries, etc the coach fought it so hard they began to press the issue and then found out why the coach did not want to change gyms.

 

[Official OWECheer]

True. But often this type of information is kept close to the vest. In communities where everyone is friends with everyone else, people are not so quick to blast someone out, even if they know they are wrong. Usually it is if a disgruntled ex employee leaves, or someone gets drunk and runs their mouth do you find this info out. In the cases I know of they just were so lax with what they did that one price was posted via websites but the school kids were told to pay a totally different price. When parents wanted to switch gyms after seasons of no progress, injuries, etc the coach fought it so hard they began to press the issue and then found out why the coach did not want to change gyms.

How did things end for them?

 

[Helen uk uni cheer]

I hate that sports including cheer are just pricing everyone out. In the UK just three years ago as long as worked hard in practice and went to an inclusive tumbling class it was fine. There were no privates offered at most gyms. Uniforms were cheap and apparel was normally a couple of t-shirts for practice and to wear at comps. I got outpriced quickly and still am. I was expected to to extra tumbling which I was happy to do it at a place neaer me as I lived 2 hours from the gym, double the price for a uniform, expensice practice wear.
Now some are even expecting parents to stay overnight for a 2 hour drive for comps. I used to but it was optional

 

[SL&AM]

"And municipalities that once vied for minor-league teams are now banking on youth sports to boost local economies..."

We had a local minor league team here for as long as I can remember, I grew up going to games. A youth sports baseball club thing (I don't understand baseball) promised over 200 games a year with stay to play hotel rules and now they're where the minor team used to play.

 

[luluscamom]

This is a heart wrenching must read article. If it was not for recreation programs, community programs, and coaches letting me and many others participate for little to no cost, I would not be where I am and who I am today. To be abundantly clear I was never a young phenom, superstar, wunderkind or anything remotely close to that that a coach or program could use me in a marketing campaign to get other kids to come to their gym. I would of never been a model, spokesperson type of kid. I was good but never great as an athlete. Often left alone to work things out on my own they surprising others when I made progress. Only then did I get help when I showed I was determined to not give up.

Even though they left cheerleading out of this article make no mistake that the same exact thing is happening there. The industry is knowingly pricing families out of the sport and are even now working to punish those who do not for lack of better terms "see it their way and comply."

This is why I am glad to give time back whenever I can often losing money and family time on the process because I know how much it means to that kid that does not have the resources to participate in teams like this. This is why I am glad to work for a gym that gives back in so many ways not to have our name called out or recognized, but because we love kids and it is the right thing to do.

If you have the resources and choose this path that well and good. My concern will always be for those that do not. Who teaches them? Who motivates them? Who makes them not only better people but better athletes? Who gives them a chance?

I do. I will. I always will. I pray that we don't ever forget that no matter our lot in life, someone is always looking up to us and wishing they had what we have. Don't trample on that. Ever.



Kids' Sports Leagues Have Turned Into a $15 Billion Industry | Time.com

This exact topic has been on my mind for awhile. With the empty nest I'm dealing with as my youngest went to College at UofL I've begun the daunting process of starting a nonprofit to help less affluent parents get their kids into WHATEVER extra curricular they are passionate about. Too many kids focus on ONLY SPORTS or (I swear this is true) as at my daughter's high school ONLY ACADEMICS & the results are children who may be super stars in one aspect but are FAR FROM well rounded. Why? Mostly because it's too expensive to participate in activities or tutoring or whatever helps them get to be well rounded!

 

[cheermommaRN]

High school cheer is ridiculously expensive. I paid literally a fraction of the cost for drill team. Last year between practice clothes, uniform, and coaching at SOT, I would say I spent upwards of $2,000. For drill team it was a flat $800 and that was it for the whole year.
As someone with older kids now this is how they get you...
You don't know better. Susie likes tumbling so you go to the local gym and some coach who may or may not have a Worlds ring tells you how amazing Susie could be if you just spent $25 for 30 minutes of private instruction. So you spend it...then it's "oh Susie would be great for our all star teams (or maybe they start low and say prep team)" regardless you are now pitching almost $300 a month just for tuition. Your bank account is shrinking but Susie just LOVES being there. Then you make friends, other moms or parents that are feeling the pinch of having no money to fix their car or whatever. Together you all convince each other that it's all worth it for that toothless grin your kids give you from the floor. Then Susie hits puberty and can't fly anymore, or gets a tumbling block, or decides she would rather play softball with her friends. You turn around and you've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on privates, tuition, uniforms, travel, ect. You start to wonder WTF you were thinking, or your other kids have deep resentment towards Susie for the lack of family vacations or the rec soccer they were forced to play so she could go to "Summit" every year. It's like boiling a frog.

 

[SL&AM]

I'm struggling really hard with this concept of 'sport specialization' at a young age right now with former CP. After 4 seasons of cheer she traded her Nfinity's for Under Armor running shoes. She started running while cheering, but it was a school club that was low key commitment and one race. If you look at her tentative calendar for races now 2 years later, she's tentatively committed to one race a weekend through the end of the year. I finished paying for her September and early October races today. Racing is local for us, the costs are pretty low (most races are around $15 and she gets a shirt and free stuff out of the deal) and you don't really travel. Middle school and high school kids may do a camp or two, or if you're trying for Boston, have a bucket list or want to get to the Olympics Trials then sure, but otherwise---it's not a sport that 'youth sports' has devoured yet.

One thing I noticed in the article was family after family claiming their child was amazing or had natural talent and I'd be lying if I said my kid didn't have a natural affinity towards running. She absolutely does and we rarely go a race anymore where she isn't approached by adults who she's impressed, but that gives me almost more of a reason to pull back at times. Like, if this is something that could take her far (and I'm not banking or planning that) then burn out is the last thing we want for her. We do let her dictate her schedule, but we've stepped in before especially if she's sick and just flat out said "No, you're not racing this morning." So it's hard for me to understand that push to always be on because it seems so counter intuitive.

Eventually something will have to give because at some point the money just runs out and if that happens enough, or we hit another major recession, this industry will fall. You can't build a stable economy off a parenting style that is likely going to change by the time these kiddos have kids. You can make a lot of money in the mean time, but I don't see the longevity.

 

[OnceUponACheerleader]

High school cheer is ridiculously expensive. I paid literally a fraction of the cost for drill team. Last year between practice clothes, uniform, and coaching at SOT, I would say I spent upwards of $2,000. For drill team it was a flat $800 and that was it for the whole year.
As someone with older kids now this is how they get you... .

(shortened to save room)..

I know in Ontario (Canada) parents can claim youth activities under a tax shelter....

Is there any program like that in the USA? Not that it is a lot of savings- but every little bit contributes...

Just curious.

 

[SL&AM]

(shortened to save room)..

I know in Ontario (Canada) parents can claim youth activities under a tax shelter....

Is there any program like that in the USA? Not that it is a lot of savings- but every little bit contributes...

Just curious.

Nope.