All-Star When Recruiting Gets Ugly

[schpo]

It's that time of year again. What's ok for a gym to do to recruit new athletes and what's not? Is pretty much anything fair game as long as minors aren't being approached directly?

Note that I'm talking about end-of season recruiting for next year, not stealing athletes mid-season.

 

[cheer25mom]

I think advertising, word of mouth ect is definitely ok. Actively trying to have a positive social media presence, sell your brand, fine.
Things I have seen that I feel are NOT ok:
Actively encouraging parents/athletes to badmouth other programs

Sending "spies" into other gyms to look at what they are doing for recruitment and retention and sell your program to their parents. ie. Your Suzy is an allstar at gymA, but comes to gymB "just to tumble" but you spend the entire class telling other parents how gymA is the place to be and gymB isn't doing it right. Ownership at gymA actively encourages this. Sends kids like this to multiple gyms in the area.

Offering low/ no cost fees to athletes you are looking to poach from another program.

Unsolicited emails or social media contact to another program's current athlete

 

[schpo]

"Offering low/ no cost fees to athletes you are looking to poach from another program."

I'm very curious to know how common this is. I've heard of it in dance, especially to attract boys, but not so much in cheer.

 

[cheer25mom]

"Offering low/ no cost fees to athletes you are looking to poach from another program."

I'm very curious to know how common this is. I've heard of it in dance, especially to attract boys, but not so much in cheer.

It's pretty standard in our area that boy's fees are lower. It's usually written into the paperwork when you sign up and most gyms do it. I'm talking contacting Sally Senior5's mom and telling them they will get free tuition at Elite Hotmess if they bail on Amazing Allstars. It happens, and more than we would care to think.

 

[Lisa Seye]

I think advertising, word of mouth ect is definitely ok. Actively trying to have a positive social media presence, sell your brand, fine.
Things I have seen that I feel are NOT ok:
Actively encouraging parents/athletes to badmouth other programs

Sending "spies" into other gyms to look at what they are doing for recruitment and retention and sell your program to their parents. ie. Your Suzy is an allstar at gymA, but comes to gymB "just to tumble" but you spend the entire class telling other parents how gymA is the place to be and gymB isn't doing it right. Ownership at gymA actively encourages this. Sends kids like this to multiple gyms in the area.

Offering low/ no cost fees to athletes you are looking to poach from another program.

Unsolicited emails or social media contact to another program's current athlete

I swear this one kid who comes to visit our gym is a spy lolol.
On another note, I talked not too long ago to a gym owner in my state. He said that back in summer he was looking for a flyer and someone told him about cp. He checked us out on FB and saw we were already with another gym so he did NOT contact us. That is very professional and ethical in my eyes. My opinion of him and his gym is great simply because he did not try to recruit my kid. Another gym did try and they actively encourage their parents to bad mouth our current gym and our kids. Why in the heck would i take my kid to a gym full of people who criticized her? Yeah, that's not the way to bring in new athletes.

 

[tumbleyoda]

"Offering low/ no cost fees to athletes you are looking to poach from another program."

I'm very curious to know how common this is. I've heard of it in dance, especially to attract boys, but not so much in cheer.

It happens. Many gyms feel forced to have to do this in order to be competitive with programs that do it. And many can not sustain this and end up closing or selling. Gyms that stand their ground and don't do this are often swimming upstream against the flow of the industry. I mean after all if you are in effect paying for talent, why shouldn't you have incredible teams? And if you are losing talent to those that pay for it it makes sense why it is hard for you to beat those same teams on the floor.

Boys cheer free scholarship. Well then why would they pay tuition at your gym? Or for uniforms? Meanwhile the costs are passed on to the female athletes in the gym for them to cheer for free. Or donors to cover their costs. This is a big reason many smaller gyms can not keep boys when they start to really become good cheerleaders.

Full, standing full or double full scholarship. Have those skills, get paid. This one I kinda understand but do we take away scholarship if they lose the skills? If so we can see another area that is a potential for mental blocks to occur. My other thought on this one if you give it to a new person walking through your doors, do you give it to those that have been in your program for years and got those skills? Suzy that grows up in your program should get the same financial windfall that a newbie that does not understand your gym culture would get.

My "favorite" was the last pass scholarship if you recruited the last pass tumbler or point flyer from a neighboring gym. It became a nice way to save on your own tuition. That was when we saw the big push in the industry of the line that it is not recruiting if the athlete or parent does it. Even though the gym sanctioned, approved and paid out for it.

ETA: Not every gym does this or has experienced this. But that does not mean that it does not happen either.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Let your program speak for itself.

Word of mouth from happy kids and parents gets you more than spying, approaching kids in other uniforms at comps, etc. ever will.

 

[MissCongeniality]

Let your program speak for itself.

Word of mouth from happy kids and parents gets you more than spying, approaching kids in other uniforms at comps, etc. ever will.

While I agree this would be nice in a perfect kumbaya world... we have to face it... Suzy's Mom wants that jacket or ring to flaunt on facebook/twitter/instagram/here even if it means not being a part of happy kids/parents gym.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

While I agree this would be nice in a perfect kumbaya world... we have to face it... Suzy's Mom wants that jacket or ring to flaunt on facebook/twitter/instagram/here even if it means not being a part of happy kids/parents gym.

Yes. I know. I am so kumbaya.

We've even seen evidence of that attitude here on the boards, sadly. (Ex: people putting up with all kinds of crazy.)

 

[schpo]

Let your program speak for itself.

Word of mouth from happy kids and parents gets you more than spying, approaching kids in other uniforms at comps, etc. ever will.

I feel like letting your program speak for itself only works for experienced cheer families. If you're brand new to the sport, you go to the gym that brags the loudest, regardless of how truthful the bragging is. I know we did. Now CP is at a different gym and they truly do let their program speak for itself. No cryptic social media posts, no defensiveness.

 

[KPep]

It's that time of year again. What's ok for a gym to do to recruit new athletes and what's not? Is pretty much anything fair game as long as minors aren't being approached directly?

Note that I'm talking about end-of season recruiting for next year, not stealing athletes mid-season.

Good timing with what I have seen on Twitter today.

In our province we have a very strict policy. As an athlete, our federation considers you still being a part of the gym 6 months after your last event/practice with them. If you want to switch gyms, you have to ask the federation for a transfert. They only agree if you don't owe the gym any money and if both gyms agree. Both owners have to sign an agreement. You can only switch between June 1st and September 30th. Obviously there are exceptions but I won't write down the whole thing.

Poaching is punishable. You cannot recruit an athlete from another gym unless they come to you. If you do, you might not be able to compete next year or you might pay a fine.

 

[schpo]

Good timing with what I have seen on Twitter today.

In our province we have a very strict policy. As an athlete, our federation considers you still being a part of the gym 6 months after your last event/practice with them. If you want to switch gyms, you have to ask the federation for a transfert. They only agree if you don't owe the gym any money and if both gyms agree. Both owners have to sign an agreement. You can only switch between June 1st and September 30th. Obviously there are exceptions but I won't write down the whole thing.

Poaching is punishable. You cannot recruit an athlete from another gym unless they come to you. If you do, you might not be able to compete next year or you might pay a fine.

So Nationals is this weekend. If I were to compete at it, six months would bring me to early October. So I wouldn't be able to move to a new gym when the new season starts in May? Am I understanding correctly?

 

[KPep]

So Nationals is this weekend. If I were to compete at it, six months would bring me to early October. So I wouldn't be able to move to a new gym when the new season starts in May? Am I understanding correctly?

Both gyms would have to agree to a transfert. They both sign the document and everything is good. Unless you still owe gym A money.

 

[THEJOEL]

Actually heard a rumor, can't verify if it's true, that a local program sent a cease and desist letter to a parent of another gym for contacting parents.
I can't see how there would be any sort of legal precedent for that.

 

[CheerBank]

Good timing with what I have seen on Twitter today.

In our province we have a very strict policy. As an athlete, our federation considers you still being a part of the gym 6 months after your last event/practice with them. If you want to switch gyms, you have to ask the federation for a transfert. They only agree if you don't owe the gym any money and if both gyms agree. Both owners have to sign an agreement. You can only switch between June 1st and September 30th. Obviously there are exceptions but I won't write down the whole thing.

Poaching is punishable. You cannot recruit an athlete from another gym unless they come to you. If you do, you might not be able to compete next year or you might pay a fine.

That is ridiculous. What federation are you referring to? Are gyms owned by or subsidized by the province? The gym is not paying you, rather you are paying the gym for a service. This is like telling a consumer they can only change where they shop 6 months after their last purchase at another comparable store.