All-Star Maryland--over Saturated With All Star Gyms?

[ctwings]

I would think that the state of GA takes the cake with being over saturated.....in my area with is south of atlanta there is 6 gyms in a 30 mile radius...then north of atlanta you have stingrays, ga, atl, twisters, allstar panthers, thunder.....CRAZY!!!

 

[cheerinfo]

In Atlanta area you have Rays, GA, ACE of Atlanta, GA Heat, Jayhawks, Allstar Panthers, Icon, Twisters, Force Elite, Ellenwood, Thunder, GA Elite, NV, CTA, Platinum Elite and at LEAST 5-10 more. That is just in the Atlanta area, not the state of Georgia. I truly think this is the most saturated area in the universe LOL!!!

 

[redsmom]

In addition to geographic proximity you have to consider the population of the area. As of 2010 the Baltimore-Washington Metro area had over 8.5 million people, 4th largest "statistical area" in the country behind NYC area, Los Angeles area, and Chicago area. Dallas-Fort Worth area was 7th at 6.7 million and Philly area was 8th at 6.5 million ad Atlanta area was 10th at 5.6 million. The Balt-Wash area is also one of the highest income areas in the country, so probably not even close to being saturated with All Star gyms. It is exciting to see what will happen in the coming years with all these changes.

 

[ALittleBitTwisted]

Personally, I think it's wonderful to "spread the wealth" so to speak...and minimize travel time to get to some of these gyms. I know a lot of people that travel far to be a part of gyms like Maryland Twisters. I wouldn't necessarily call this "over saturation" more like expanding and finding new talent/giving more people an opportunity to do all star cheerleading. Unfortunately when there are SO many in one specific area it tends to star a bit of a rivalry amongst gyms and even athletes...I think that should be the main concern. It becomes even more of a concern when you have athletes flipping back & forth between gyms in the area. I live in Northern VA where there is several smaller gyms and a few select "large programs" which most people travel far to become a part of. I agree with @fabulousity gas prices are way too high to drive long commutes a few times a week.

 

[Iamshannon]

In Atlanta area you have Rays, GA, ACE of Atlanta, GA Heat, Jayhawks, Allstar Panthers, Icon, Twisters, Force Elite, Ellenwood, Thunder, GA Elite, NV, CTA, Platinum Elite and at LEAST 5-10 more. That is just in the Atlanta area, not the state of Georgia. I truly think this is the most saturated area in the universe LOL!!!

you forgot pro cheer! and they have 3 locations in metro atlanta. and ATL. I live within an hour of at least 6 in atlanta! ga is probably just over an hour away from me because of terrible traffic, and rays is about 2 because of the same reason (atlanta traffic really is the WORST in the country).
Theres also CA Twisters, Douglassville Cheer Stars, Haydens, Hot Shots, Middle Georgia Cheer Extreme, TCB, Cheer Savannah, United Pythons, & Cheer South. Those are all over the state.

 

[cheerinfo]

I said I missed some...I would not include Pythons, Middle Georgia, Hayden's or Cheer Savannah in "Metro Atlanta". In GA there are even more, I was just saying that Metro Atlanta is ridiculous!

 

[anythingforcheer]

Starting to see a trend in the Maryland area with athletes leaving the smaller gyms for larger gyms, any thoughts on why?

 

[Angelica]

i dont even want to try to count all the gym there are here in texas....small and large together --_________--

 

[ohkcheery]

i'm not privy to any information on Vipers' acquisition, so that will probably always be confusing to me.

but i think the Twisters expansion has been great. there are not enough options in southern maryland for the amount of talent within that region, and there is a large amount of Twister athletes from the southern maryland/northern va area that make the trek all the way to GB. while i consider the GB and Baltimore gym to be in close proximity, i understand that the additional location is a great addition for the I-83 and 695 corridors and will help service athletes from PA, DE and western MD. Gas prices are too high for 2-hour gym commutes and the GB gym can only house so many teams.

I personally love the fact that gyms in Maryland are expanding and thinking on a national scale.

Agree with you 100%. I think that GB is as "centrally located" as you're gonna get. The Baltimore gym is going to be awesome for people from Harford/Baltimore/Frederick/Carroll County. I couldn't imagine going to the GB gym during rush hour from those locations. I live less than 10 miles from the original gym and it's a mess trying to get there anyway!

On another note, the more teams there are and in more locations, the more people have an opportunity to compete. These teams seem to cover multiple price points for parents looking to get their kids started on a team or for even the more seasoned athletes. Great business moves IMO.

 

[sun77]

Starting to see a trend in the Maryland area with athletes leaving the smaller gyms for larger gyms, any thoughts on why?

Smaller gyms here aren't able to put together full squads that are competitive at the higher level. You end up with less than 20, or a large percentage w/out maxed out skills, or a combination of both. I can only imagine how frustrating that is when you are maxed out but your teammates hold you back from being competitive.

 

[Mamarazzi]

Let's face it, even with these areas being saturated, there's a lot of talent and a lot of great gym/coaching staff - apparently plenty to go around! Just look at these programs, level 1-5, and you can see that they're all amazing!

 

[kisscheer18]

i wanna know how many ohio allstar gyms there are. at worlds it seemed like every other team was from ohio.

 

[f5forever]

Don't forget about C4 Longhorns!!! Another great program in the metro-atl area! I'm sure we left out a few gym. Sorry if we did.

 

[Cody Z.]

In Ohio there are a TON of gyms...but in Columbus its the worst. Within 30 miles at the most there are Step 1 Allstars, The Matrix Allstars, The Cheer Center, Midwest Magic, Gotta Flip Twisterz, Hilliard Cheer Academy, Rock Solid Allstars, Midwest Panthers, Integrity Cheer Elite, Fame Allstars (open 6), Westgate Patriots (Rec Cheer), Buckeye Cheer Elite, Iyoowee Fusion, Trinity Allstars, Ohio Twistars and Columbus Fyinest.

Other known gyms in Ohio...
Teams that are about 2+ hours north: American Elite, NEO Allstars, Blue Storm, Champion Allstars, Top Notch, Midwest Cheer Elite-Toledo, Lake Erie Ultimate, Star Performance Centre, Ohio Extreme, North Coast, Ultimate Athletics, Findlay Cheer Elite, Lima Rebels
Teams from around Cincinnati: Midwest Cheer Elite, ATJ Dance, UCC, CIA, South Central Xtreme, TNT Cheer
and just southern in general is Tumble World

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

So there has been some new information emerging about mergers/openings in Maryland:

Maryland Twisters are opening a gym in Baltimore.
Maryland Twisters have taken over Maryland Superstarz in Waldorf.
East Coast Nitros might be taking over a gym in Westminster.
Vipers Cheer & Dance have taken over a gym on the Eastern Shore.
Vipers Cheer & Dance are opening a gym in Bethesda.

So basically, there are going to be four large teams within an hour of each other in all directions. Discuss!

Not over saturated at all. Three of the five you listed above were already gyms, they are just being absorbed into another program. MD, while a small state, is very populous. Even though Westminster is 40-50 minutes from GB on a good day, throw in an accident on 695, and kids are missing practice. During rush hour it can take much longer than that to get there. I used to live in near the Walmart in GB right off 97, and my boyfriend lived in Hampstead, and it felt like it took ages to get there in traffic. Before MD Marlins, Twisters were the only real big name cheer gym in the entire metro area, and as someone said above, it's the 4th largest metro in the nation.