All-Star Killing Small Gyms?

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What killed my small gym was parents who did drive-bys. They made the initial payments and after that became drive-bys. They dropped their kid off for practice and never showed their face to pay. Small gyms rely on every athlete for choreography. The economy hit my small town hard, 19% unemployment rate. Parents thought they could make ends meet by not paying me. It lead to me closing the gym and being broke. It is amazing what some people will do to others. Do people not have a conscience?

That really sucks... our area was hit hard by the economy, as well. We have a policy that if your bill gets too high, your kid has to sit out until you pay it down to half. I had a girl sitting out for the past 6 weeks. It's heartbreaking, because you know it's not their fault. Most of the time we'll just allow them to make SOME sort of payment, but in this case it was zero payments since the summer. I mean, we may not be running a business, but that money does go toward the operating costs of our program and possibly having our own gym some day. We have to do what we have to do to get the payments! Hope u are able to start something up again! Good Luck if you do!
 
Food for thought: Is it really the new rules from the USASF and all the huge gyms killing the small gyms??? Or are they killing themselves?[/quote]

Probably both!
 
I really like this point!! Whether a gym has 3 teams or 15, the success of your gym is directly related to the effort and organization you put into it. The more effort you put into coaching and helping your athletes, the better they become. When your teams start winning Cheersport and NCA and Worlds, even if it is one of 4 teams at the gym, people WILL notice success and come running to signups! Every large gym starts off small. Stingrays didn't start with 14 very successful teams... they had to work their way up from the bottom too!

Ah yes...but you're back to my point. When those people come running...answer the phone!!!


I'm in the Chicago area...if you pm me the gyms that have ruled themselves out, I'd be happy to provide you a few more that you may not be familiar with but are still great environments.

I don't know that there is a gym within 75 miles of me that I'm not familiar with at this point! I do internet research for a living, so I've put my skills to pretty good use on this.
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But you are more than welcome to PM me some names. So far I think we're going to end up with one of the 2 that called me back already, but I'm open to some new names.
 
Where are you located in chicago, because there are some wonderful gyms around. There is Ultimate Athletics in Wauconda, Allstar Rebels in South Elgin, & Cheer Alliance in St. Charles. They are all wonderful gyms and have excellent coaching staff. I've been to all three gyms and trained there and I would recommend these to anyone. Young or old.
 
Where are you located in chicago, because there are some wonderful gyms around. There is Ultimate Athletics in Wauconda, Allstar Rebels in South Elgin, & Cheer Alliance in St. Charles. They are all wonderful gyms and have excellent coaching staff. I've been to all three gyms and trained there and I would recommend these to anyone. Young or old.

It's not a matter of finding a wonderful gym--I've found plenty. It's a matter of getting them to return calls so I can go see them and sign up! But two of those you mentioned are on the list of people who actually returned my calls.:) I was supposed to go check them out this weekend by I'm on my way to the airport to go to a funeral. I think they have comp the next 2 weeks, but maybe I can get there during the week. Thanks!
 
This whole thread should be required reading before anyone is allowed to open a gym.

Hate to seem a little heartless here, but how often did you let the kids continue to tumble/practice after the parents got behind? Would the video store do that? Bowling alley? Skating rink?

Sorry for your difficulties and I hope you land on your feet somewhere.

That was part of my problem- I'm too nice to be in the business field. I have a huge heart and people sucked me in on sympathy stories. Several made arrangments to pay at income tax return, then disappeared after they couldn't stall me with 'I haven't got my refund yet' any longer. Then I had a lot of drive-by parents too, which I mentioned. The economy didn't help things much either.
A lot really changed after my 2 sons died and coaching cheerleading really helped me get through it. I put all my energies into it, all the pain I had bottled up inside, everything- it all went into cheerleading. It's a shame people took advantage of my emotions, my heart, and my passion.
When I had to close my gym- it was like losing another child.
Now none of my competitors will hire me to coach because they are sour from athletes that left them to come to me. Sour from competitiveness, and the overall poor sportsmanship they hold. A few years ago my teams made Good Luck baskets for several teams and one happened to be for one of the local gyms and they handed it back to us :/. It's a shame because my gym always upheld good sportsmanship and was kind and courteous to everyone they came in contact with, regardless if they received the same treatment in return.
I get calls nearly every day of people begging me to re-open, but I've already sold everything and honestly- I think I'm made to coach. Ownership just isn't for me.
 
Gymcheercoach, I'd like to take a quick moment and applaud your honesty and good sportsmanship. I honestly hope you can get back to coaching, because your passion and positive role model of good sportsmanship are very much needed. Good luck to you!

As far as gyms, I've contacted two gyms out here. One of them is much further away, but responded to my email within hours. I'd previously been turned off by the fact that their routines weren't as clean as I'd like, but I'm really impressed by the communication level. And hey, the routine I saw on video (stupid illness kept me away from the competition today) looked much cleaner and sharper than last year. The second gym has yet to contact me. Granted, it's only been 48 hours and it's coming into a competition weekend, but still, all I asked was whether or not they had a tumbling class. It's not that hard to answer. The gym that responded fast and was full of information gave themselves the edge. Is it the only thing I'll base my decision on? Nope. I plan on watching practices at both gyms to see how they're run and take a look at safety. I plan on looking at what opportunities they have in minis/youth and make sure that my son isn't put in too high of a level for his current ability if he does join a team next year. The gym I'm favoring also has a month-by-month cheer class that goes over basic skills like jumps, motions, and tumbling so he can test the waters for relatively cheap and still get to see what being on a team is like.

The level 5 teams are cool, but it's not what I need here and now. I want the basics. Good, solid basics that will form the foundation for whatever my son does for the next few years in cheer. I know I'm not the only one, and the gym owner who fails to realize that the majority of athletes are NOT level 5 cheerleaders is going to lose a lot of business.
 
Gymcheercoach, I'd like to take a quick moment and applaud your honesty and good sportsmanship. I honestly hope you can get back to coaching, because your passion and positive role model of good sportsmanship are very much needed. Good luck to you!

As far as gyms, I've contacted two gyms out here. One of them is much further away, but responded to my email within hours. I'd previously been turned off by the fact that their routines weren't as clean as I'd like, but I'm really impressed by the communication level. And hey, the routine I saw on video (stupid illness kept me away from the competition today) looked much cleaner and sharper than last year. The second gym has yet to contact me. Granted, it's only been 48 hours and it's coming into a competition weekend, but still, all I asked was whether or not they had a tumbling class. It's not that hard to answer. The gym that responded fast and was full of information gave themselves the edge. Is it the only thing I'll base my decision on? Nope. I plan on watching practices at both gyms to see how they're run and take a look at safety. I plan on looking at what opportunities they have in minis/youth and make sure that my son isn't put in too high of a level for his current ability if he does join a team next year. The gym I'm favoring also has a month-by-month cheer class that goes over basic skills like jumps, motions, and tumbling so he can test the waters for relatively cheap and still get to see what being on a team is like.

The level 5 teams are cool, but it's not what I need here and now. I want the basics. Good, solid basics that will form the foundation for whatever my son does for the next few years in cheer. I know I'm not the only one, and the gym owner who fails to realize that the majority of athletes are NOT level 5 cheerleaders is going to lose a lot of business.

YES. This. (I bolded everything that really sounded like you were reading my mind)
 
I hope so because I just ordered my tee's for my coaches... haha jk

Love this idea tho. I use auto draft. It's an absolute must to be on team or you can pay all tuition /fees upfront This helps a lot with keeping accounts current. Tumbling classes we use auto draft or 3 month sessions.

did you start off with the 3 month sessions? or did you move to them after originally being month to month? I'm considering making this move with my gym and am Interested in how your customers handled it
 
did you start off with the 3 month sessions? or did you move to them after originally being month to month? I'm considering making this move with my gym and am Interested in how your customers handled it

We still are month to month IF you sign up for auto draft which most people actually prefer. We offer the 3 month sessions to the parents who don't like auto drafts. We have over 100 stundents in rec and I'd say about 90 of them auto draft. No one has ever complained because they think we give them options, but honestly we are being way more strict than other gyms in our area.

1 push of a button and all tuition is processed, it takes about a week to actutally make it into our account, but worth not having to make collection calls over and over. Also, if the account NSF's it only cost us $3 instead of $20 from my bank for a NSF check. We have a 30 day in writing drop policy. And believe me when they want to drop a class they will let you know. OR they don't and we get there money without coaching their kid. It's a WIN WIN :)

IMO do not go to just sessions. In our area it does not work well. People normally join tumbling classes because they don't want to commit also when customers feel they have COMPLETED something they will move on to soccer, basketball, etc...

Hope this helps
 
We still are month to month IF you sign up for auto draft which most people actually prefer. We offer the 3 month sessions to the parents who don't like auto drafts. We have over 100 stundents in rec and I'd say about 90 of them auto draft. No one has ever complained because they think we give them options, but honestly we are being way more strict than other gyms in our area.

1 push of a button and all tuition is processed, it takes about a week to actutally make it into our account, but worth not having to make collection calls over and over. Also, if the account NSF's it only cost us $3 instead of $20 from my bank for a NSF check. We have a 30 day in writing drop policy. And believe me when they want to drop a class they will let you know. OR they don't and we get there money without coaching their kid. It's a WIN WIN :)

IMO do not go to just sessions. In our area it does not work well. People normally join tumbling classes because they don't want to commit also when customers feel they have COMPLETED something they will move on to soccer, basketball, etc...

Hope this helps

right now we pay by the class, I'm wanting to move to 3, 6, or 12 month contracts with post dated checks for each month in advance(I know checks are more work than autodraft, but it gives me the freedom to be able to hold a check for a day or two if someone needs me to) Obviously the longer you commit the larger the discount.

I'm trying to simplify the accounting and make my budgeting more consistent and know that I already have the check in hand
 
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