All-Star Paid Bid Question

[FamousMatty]

I get where you are coming from here. Unfortunately, like most things in our industry to have a postive option there are the negative sides of it as well. That 25% replacement is not intended specifically for replacing athletes for ones with higher skills. The intention is that this gives the coach a cushion to replace athletes if needed for injuries or if a parent cannot afford the cost of an end of the year event. In this instance I believe that if the team has earned a paid bid then the new athlete absolutely deserves the rights to that paid bid. However, it is nearly impossible to word the process in way that the 25% is only for injuries and financial burdens that would also allow for the elimination of the ability for a team to stack their team with 25% of higher level athletes. It is just the nature of the beast of our sport.

 

[catlady]

I get where you are coming from here. Unfortunately, like most things in our industry to have a postive option there are the negative sides of it as well. That 25% replacement is not intended specifically for replacing athletes for ones with higher skills. The intention is that this gives the coach a cushion to replace athletes if needed for injuries or if a parent cannot afford the cost of an end of the year event. In this instance I believe that if the team has earned a paid bid then the new athlete absolutely deserves the rights to that paid bid. However, it is nearly impossible to word the process in way that the 25% is only for injuries and financial burdens that would also allow for the elimination of the ability for a team to stack their team with 25% of higher level athletes. It is just the nature of the beast of our sport.

I do understand and agree there are instances where athletes need to be replaced. I, also, feel 25% is a reasonable number. However, I also understand if it states my child didn't earn the bid with the team and they only provide credit to those that performed, I would need to pay for my kid to compete no matter the circumstance. Again, I truly don't know how it's billed/credited/charged back but, they go out of their way to make it a point that only the performing roster receives the credit. It very well could be "formality verbiage" for tax purposes. With that said, I do like the fact that they make it appear that gyms can't take away monetary awards from kids that earned it with their team and give it to other athletes at their discretion.

 

[Belinda]

@catlady While the wordings on the sections do not seem to line I up, I can assure you from current personal experience that the bid does in fact follow the team and not the individual athlete. We have made the very switch in question within the the last week. An athlete was previously showing a balance of $469 ($569 minus the $100 downpayment). They have since been switched to the Paid bid team and now show a 0 balance without making any further payments.

Once the bid is registered the profile is created for the team on the Varsity Portal. This is where the parents will go to pay. So the team in essence has been registered for a travel package and each athlete on that package is given a credit (as is worded in the second section). The package is created and then the changes can be made as needed so that "each athlete in the Summit travel package" is accounted and paid for. So as long as the substitutions do not exceed the allowed 25% of original team then the team is still covered in full including the newly added athletes.

My response had nothing to do with Paid bids, @Lablover question did and I quoted Varsity's site stating an athlete receives up to $569. So, based on the way that is stated in the packet an athlete would only receive a $569 credit but, if crossing over to another paid bid team they would not have to pay the crossover fee (crossing to an at large team they would pay the crossover fee).

I'm only basing this on my own retail buying experience but, if a vendor states it is only going to give you money for specific items (in this case people), it allots money for those specific items (people) and nothing more. While I understand your athletes account went down to $0, that's the gym's accounting and has nothing to do with what Varsity is actually paying for, or if credited up front, what they are charging back if changes are made. I don't see Varsity, or any other vendor for that matter, not wanting to collect money for items (in this case people) it did not say it would provide a credit for. From a customer perspective, this also prevents a gym from deciding they can replace 25% of the team with higher level athletes and be paid for doing so.

I'm pretty sure Matty is referring to the balance on the Varsity portal, not the gyms accounting. So they registered a team with say 20 members on varsity with a WC, everyone had $569 on their balance, the athlete payed $100, so it went down to $469. Later the team had a kid quit and roster was at 19, said athlete was transferred from team A with WC to team B with full paid. That athletes balance then automatically went down to $0 at Varsity. If I'm wrong I apologise, but that's how I understood it.

 

[MomMomMamaMom]

I personally think that Varsity's wording makes it very clear that a paid bid is not to be awarded to a replacement. I think it is strange that they are not implementing this. I don't really have an opinion either way as to if this should be a rule. But I think it is ridiculous to make it a rule and then not enforce it.

ETA: and I would be interested to know if there are any gyms who actually are paying for their replacements.

 

[catlady]

I personally think that Varsity's wording makes it very clear that a paid bid is not to be awarded to a replacement. I think it is strange that they are not implementing this. I don't really have an opinion either way as to if this should be a rule. But I think it is ridiculous to make it a rule and then not enforce it.

ETA: and I would be interested to know if there are any gyms who actually are paying for their replacements.

I still don't believe a company would pay for something it went out of its way to specifically state it wouldn't pay for. I'm not saying it can't happen but, I still think it's highly unlikely. If a gym wants a specific athlete on a team and the parent isn't willing to pay the comp fees, there are most certainly gyms out there willing to pay the fees. Think about those gyms where boys cheer "free" or at "discounted fees", EP's aren't waiving their comp fees. We've already established the parent or gym can go into the Varsity site and pay. Or, it's very possible Varsity just issues one charge back after the comp is over for those that weren't on the original roster.

 

[MomMomMamaMom]

I still don't believe a company would pay for something it went out of its way to specifically state it wouldn't pay for. I'm not saying it can't happen but, I still think it's highly unlikely. If a gym wants a specific athlete on a team and the parent isn't willing to pay the comp fees, there are most certainly gyms out there willing to pay the fees. Think about those gyms where boys cheer "free" or at "discounted fees", EP's aren't waiving their comp fees. We've already established the parent or gym can go into the Varsity site and pay. Or, it's very possible Varsity just issues one charge back after the comp is over for those that weren't on the original roster.

At least one person stated that she did the rosters and put people who weren't on the original team who were credited with the paid bid. Or at least that's what I understood. I find it odd as well. @TheVipersMom, can you clarify?

ETA: @catlady I reread your earlier posts. When they are talking about accounts being credited, it isn't internal accounting. It's at the Summit Portal, so the paid bid account credit is being transferred to other athletes. Of course this could be a software issue. That site is a disaster. If it were my gym, I'd be pretty careful about checking into it. Could be a shock to have to come up with $569 last minute.

 

[catlady]

ETA: @catlady I reread your earlier posts. When they are talking about accounts being credited, it isn't internal accounting. It's at the Summit Portal, so the paid bid account credit is being transferred to other athletes. Of course this could be a software issue. That site is a disaster. If it were my gym, I'd be pretty careful about checking into it. Could be a shock to have to come up with $569 last minute.

Yes, earlier I had misunderstood, our gym does the registration versus each person. However, with FamousMatty's example, from what I understood, they were stating that an AL athlete had paid their $100 deposit out of the $569
and then were transferred to a paid bid team and their balance then showed $0, which is also incorrect because technically if the money transfers with the team, then that athlete should then show a $100 credit from their deposit. I have absolutely no knowledge of the Varsity site since our gym pays our Summit fees and does the registration for us but, I am still interested in knowing the answer.