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Stretching Your Cheer Dollar at Competitions
Along with the excitement of beginning the all star competition season, comes the inevitable feeling of anxiety at the costs that come along with attending these great events. Once arriving at a competition, our cheer budget (if we have one) may not be foremost in our minds. We are busy unloading the car, following the throngs of bouncing happy cheerleaders and families fully decked out in cheer gear in to the arena…our hearts beat a little faster hearing the loud booming music and shrieks of spectators…the sparkling stage setup, the bright spotlights, and seeing familiar team uniforms. No doubt about it – the competition atmosphere can be intoxicating. Oh, and check out the shopping area and food vendors! Purses, jewelry, luggage, and every possible color combination of hair bows, Dippin’ Dots, funnel cakes, and hamburgers!
Event shirts and hoodies, shorts and sweats…it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and spend, spend, spend. “Pleeeease Mom…I HAVE to have that….EVERYONE is getting one!”…..how can you say no to those pleading eyes?
Watching your wallet and keeping more of your money in it during a cheer competition does not have to be an exercise in futility. But it starts long before you enter the competition arena and fork over the dollars required just to get you in the door. You can save a lot of money by planning carefully, establishing guidelines with and for your cheerleader BEFORE you leave, and then sticking to your plan. The key is to make sure you and your cheerleader are on the same sheet of music.
Experienced cheer families know well in advance that competition season is expensive. They may have a pretty good idea of what things cost and what their spending plan is. Smart cheer parents can ease the financial burden of competitions by saving small amounts during the off season and squirreling that money away into a “cheer fund”. Your cheerleader can help too. A portion of extra money earned by yard work, babysitting, or a job can be placed into the cheer fund with those monies specifically allocated for the upcoming cheer competitions. If your cheerleader has a stake in the earnings, then perhaps she will be a little more prudent in how the money is spent! However, cheer competitions are already upon us. If you haven’t saved up or if you’re like a lot us that need every penny every month, there are other ways to still have a great, affordable cheer experience.
When your competition schedule comes out, look it over and determine which competitions are day trips and which require an overnight stay. Plan out the season well in advance including which competitions will involve the whole family. Check the admission costs to the event. It is very possible that several competitions selected by your gym may be free for spectators to attend. But many do charge admission fees that can range as high as $20 per day. Some organizers offer reduced rates for two-day events if you purchase tickets for both days in advance. Yes, your cheerleader and her team want and need a lot of familial support but let’s face it – more people mean more money spent. Additional admission fees, when applicable, along with higher food and incidental costs for additional family members to attend are things to consider. Maybe not everyone in your family needs to come to every competition. Pick and choose when everyone comes along and perhaps use the smaller competitions as special times with just you and your cheerleader.
Carpooling and sharing hotel rooms at competitions are obviously great ways to save money. Some cheer gyms or their parent organizations take the initiative to pair up interested families. Consider designing and creating “Room and Ride Boards” for parents looking to split costs to connect with one another. Talk to other parents on your team – surely someone would be interested in sharing a hotel room or sharing the drive. After all, you can cut costs enormously by not being picky about your personal space! If you are a typical cheer parent who supports all your competing teams, you won’t be in the room that much anyway.
Having someone to talk to on the drive home and splitting the costs of high gas prices and parking fees makes a lot of sense. If you are more comfortable rooming on your own and are not into sharing with others, don’t forget to check out the hotel chains and their reward programs. Many times you can use points to either upgrade to a room with more amenities or actually get a room for free.
Another huge area you can save a boatload of bucks with is food. The obvious methods are always good and give you the control on what to eat and how much to spend. Bring along a cooler with healthy snacks and drinks and keep extra food in your car so that you don’t need to spend money on arena food. Fruit, protein bars, and even peanut butter sandwiches from home are a better choice than the $10 personal pizza! Make sure that your cheerleader is well fed before you arrive at the arena. It will ward off the temptation to immediately gravitate towards the cotton candy and hot dogs. Stick some granola bars and a bottle of water into her cheer bag for a quick snack.
If you have an overnight stay, book a room with a free breakfast or bring your own breakfast. Muffins and fruit are easy to transport, don’t require refrigeration, and are quick to serve. If you can request a refrigerator at your hotel, do so. You can bring along milk or other drinks instead of having to purchase them. If you must eat out, consider “take out” and bring it back to your room to eat. You will often skip the huge crowds at the larger competitions and come out of it spending far less because you won’t need to purchase expensive drinks or leave tips.
Another big money vacuum at competitions can be on-site photography and videography. Check out the competition organizer’s policy on video-taping and photography. It’s usually shown on their website and you definitely want to adhere to their guidelines. At almost every competition, you will have the option to purchase still photos and/or videos of your cheerleader and her team. The quality and selection is usually very good but it can be costly if you are not careful. Sure, we want to capture every second of that very special performance but is it worth spending the $25 that you might be charged for a video? Maybe it is…particularly if it’s a winner. Again, this is an opportunity to use other team parents as a resource. Everyone is taking pictures! You may even have a professional photographer in your parent pool that would be willing to share their photos at a nominal cost. If you can videotape, plan in advance to do so or take turns with other parents to record and share those performance routines. Some competition photography services offer a master disk of all team photos taken (which can number into the hundreds) if parents get together and coordinate a group purchase. It’s a lot less expensive and you get many more pictures. Check out the photographic options available to you and make your choices.
Other smaller cost cutters can keep money in your pocket too. Before you leave for the competition, print out the competition schedule at home. Oh sure, you may be able to get a copy of the performance order at the competition…but you’ll end up paying up to $5 for it! When you arrive at a competition, make sure your cheerleader is dressed in uniform or at least in her warm-ups. You have already paid for their participation with the competition fees so don’t pay for them again. If they are in their uniform, they’ll get in free even if they don’t compete until later in the day.
Talk to your cheerleader before each competition and establish a spending plan. If you can do so, allocate a certain amount that she can spend with the understanding that when that money is gone, that’s it. For younger cheerleaders, guide their choices. “You can buy that shirt which you can wear all season or you can buy Dippin’ Dots and a pizza that will be gone in ten minutes….which is a smarter choice?”
No doubt about it….all star cheerleading can be expensive but by careful planning and following some of the suggestions presented here, you’ll find that at the end of your competition season you will have more money in your wallet to spend for next season…and you might just make some cheer friends along the way!
Stretching Your Cheer Dollar at Competitions
Along with the excitement of beginning the all star competition season, comes the inevitable feeling of anxiety at the costs that come along with attending these great events. Once arriving at a competition, our cheer budget (if we have one) may not be foremost in our minds. We are busy unloading the car, following the throngs of bouncing happy cheerleaders and families fully decked out in cheer gear in to the arena…our hearts beat a little faster hearing the loud booming music and shrieks of spectators…the sparkling stage setup, the bright spotlights, and seeing familiar team uniforms. No doubt about it – the competition atmosphere can be intoxicating. Oh, and check out the shopping area and food vendors! Purses, jewelry, luggage, and every possible color combination of hair bows, Dippin’ Dots, funnel cakes, and hamburgers!
Event shirts and hoodies, shorts and sweats…it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and spend, spend, spend. “Pleeeease Mom…I HAVE to have that….EVERYONE is getting one!”…..how can you say no to those pleading eyes?
Watching your wallet and keeping more of your money in it during a cheer competition does not have to be an exercise in futility. But it starts long before you enter the competition arena and fork over the dollars required just to get you in the door. You can save a lot of money by planning carefully, establishing guidelines with and for your cheerleader BEFORE you leave, and then sticking to your plan. The key is to make sure you and your cheerleader are on the same sheet of music.
Experienced cheer families know well in advance that competition season is expensive. They may have a pretty good idea of what things cost and what their spending plan is. Smart cheer parents can ease the financial burden of competitions by saving small amounts during the off season and squirreling that money away into a “cheer fund”. Your cheerleader can help too. A portion of extra money earned by yard work, babysitting, or a job can be placed into the cheer fund with those monies specifically allocated for the upcoming cheer competitions. If your cheerleader has a stake in the earnings, then perhaps she will be a little more prudent in how the money is spent! However, cheer competitions are already upon us. If you haven’t saved up or if you’re like a lot us that need every penny every month, there are other ways to still have a great, affordable cheer experience.
When your competition schedule comes out, look it over and determine which competitions are day trips and which require an overnight stay. Plan out the season well in advance including which competitions will involve the whole family. Check the admission costs to the event. It is very possible that several competitions selected by your gym may be free for spectators to attend. But many do charge admission fees that can range as high as $20 per day. Some organizers offer reduced rates for two-day events if you purchase tickets for both days in advance. Yes, your cheerleader and her team want and need a lot of familial support but let’s face it – more people mean more money spent. Additional admission fees, when applicable, along with higher food and incidental costs for additional family members to attend are things to consider. Maybe not everyone in your family needs to come to every competition. Pick and choose when everyone comes along and perhaps use the smaller competitions as special times with just you and your cheerleader.
Carpooling and sharing hotel rooms at competitions are obviously great ways to save money. Some cheer gyms or their parent organizations take the initiative to pair up interested families. Consider designing and creating “Room and Ride Boards” for parents looking to split costs to connect with one another. Talk to other parents on your team – surely someone would be interested in sharing a hotel room or sharing the drive. After all, you can cut costs enormously by not being picky about your personal space! If you are a typical cheer parent who supports all your competing teams, you won’t be in the room that much anyway.
Having someone to talk to on the drive home and splitting the costs of high gas prices and parking fees makes a lot of sense. If you are more comfortable rooming on your own and are not into sharing with others, don’t forget to check out the hotel chains and their reward programs. Many times you can use points to either upgrade to a room with more amenities or actually get a room for free.
Another huge area you can save a boatload of bucks with is food. The obvious methods are always good and give you the control on what to eat and how much to spend. Bring along a cooler with healthy snacks and drinks and keep extra food in your car so that you don’t need to spend money on arena food. Fruit, protein bars, and even peanut butter sandwiches from home are a better choice than the $10 personal pizza! Make sure that your cheerleader is well fed before you arrive at the arena. It will ward off the temptation to immediately gravitate towards the cotton candy and hot dogs. Stick some granola bars and a bottle of water into her cheer bag for a quick snack.
If you have an overnight stay, book a room with a free breakfast or bring your own breakfast. Muffins and fruit are easy to transport, don’t require refrigeration, and are quick to serve. If you can request a refrigerator at your hotel, do so. You can bring along milk or other drinks instead of having to purchase them. If you must eat out, consider “take out” and bring it back to your room to eat. You will often skip the huge crowds at the larger competitions and come out of it spending far less because you won’t need to purchase expensive drinks or leave tips.
Another big money vacuum at competitions can be on-site photography and videography. Check out the competition organizer’s policy on video-taping and photography. It’s usually shown on their website and you definitely want to adhere to their guidelines. At almost every competition, you will have the option to purchase still photos and/or videos of your cheerleader and her team. The quality and selection is usually very good but it can be costly if you are not careful. Sure, we want to capture every second of that very special performance but is it worth spending the $25 that you might be charged for a video? Maybe it is…particularly if it’s a winner. Again, this is an opportunity to use other team parents as a resource. Everyone is taking pictures! You may even have a professional photographer in your parent pool that would be willing to share their photos at a nominal cost. If you can videotape, plan in advance to do so or take turns with other parents to record and share those performance routines. Some competition photography services offer a master disk of all team photos taken (which can number into the hundreds) if parents get together and coordinate a group purchase. It’s a lot less expensive and you get many more pictures. Check out the photographic options available to you and make your choices.
Other smaller cost cutters can keep money in your pocket too. Before you leave for the competition, print out the competition schedule at home. Oh sure, you may be able to get a copy of the performance order at the competition…but you’ll end up paying up to $5 for it! When you arrive at a competition, make sure your cheerleader is dressed in uniform or at least in her warm-ups. You have already paid for their participation with the competition fees so don’t pay for them again. If they are in their uniform, they’ll get in free even if they don’t compete until later in the day.
Talk to your cheerleader before each competition and establish a spending plan. If you can do so, allocate a certain amount that she can spend with the understanding that when that money is gone, that’s it. For younger cheerleaders, guide their choices. “You can buy that shirt which you can wear all season or you can buy Dippin’ Dots and a pizza that will be gone in ten minutes….which is a smarter choice?”
No doubt about it….all star cheerleading can be expensive but by careful planning and following some of the suggestions presented here, you’ll find that at the end of your competition season you will have more money in your wallet to spend for next season…and you might just make some cheer friends along the way!
