All-Star Worlds Bid Money

[MyDaughterCheers]

Can anyone tell me what recourse there would be in the following situation?

Friend's CP is on a world's team that received a partial paid bid earlier in the season. The parents paid the remaining fees in full. At a later competition, the team earned a full paid bid, so USASF gave them the difference between the bids. The gym deposited the monies into their booster accounts.

Season is now over and the family decides to go to another gym, so gym now says they can't have the money in their booster account from USASF. Does that money become the property of the gym in this case, or is it the property of the athlete?

Thanks!

 

[12stepCheermom]

I have no expertise in this but it seems at the least they should be able to get back the money THEY put in to cover what the partial did not. If the full paid was in excess of that it may well stay with the gym and not the athlete. But that's all one uneducated guess.

 

[MyDaughterCheers]

I agree. I am pretty sure that the family in question is asking for just that - the amount they paid out of pocket before the full paid bid was awarded.

 

[SarahS]

I could see why gyms would have a policy to not give cash out booster accounts - the gym isn't a bank and there are sometimes different rules/laws about what can happen with fundraised money. The gym's policy on this should be clearly laid out in a contract that the parents should have signed. The parents may be out of luck. (Personally, I think the gym should probably refund this money, just because that's probably the right thing to do, but we're only getting one side of the story, so who knows?)

 

[p.o.k.]

What happened to the other parents that decided to stay. Were they out the money too?

 

[SarahS]

What happened to the other parents that decided to stay. Were they out the money too?

I would guess that it was rolled into this upcoming year and could be used to cover expenses. The people who left would be the only ones out money.

 

[MyDaughterCheers]

The people who stayed have a credit in their booster account that can be used for any expenses for the upcoming season. The gym does have in their handbook where you can't get money back from your booster account, but I don't think the parents even had a choice about the money in question being deposited into their account.

 

[JulieP]

I would be consulting a lawyer if I were them.

 

[MyDaughterCheers]

I agree.

 

[Mom Jeans]

The USASF $ wasnt given to the gym for their booster account. It was given for the trip to Worlds 2012. Any money paid by the athlete over the amount due for the trip should be refunded back to the athlete.

What they are really asking for and should get is THEIR OWN money. What a shady gym.

 

[cspoon]

If cash can't be given back to an athlete once it has been deposited to the booster club, why doesn't she just see if she can have the funds transferred to a friends account that is still at the gym... then have the friend give her money the next time the friend would have been making a payment to the gym?

 

[RaRaMama]

I could be wrong, but if the parent(s) paid money to the gym for worlds, that probably should have gone to the athletes account-not necessarily the booster account. I have heard issues with booster clubs being able to give funds directly to parents, but it sounds like that money shouldn't have been crossed with the booster club in the first place. Of course, some gyms have rules in their handbook that state things that any money paid to the gym will not be refunded. In the interest of "doing the right thing", it sounds like the parents should be able to get the money refunded....but what makes sense and what actually happens can often be two different things.

 

[NEliteSteven]

I see both sides of this. How much money are we talking?

 

[MissCongeniality]

Was that $ earned through fundraising or did the parents just write a check or something from their personal account?

 

[Corsicab]

If cash can't be given back to an athlete once it has been deposited to the booster club, why doesn't she just see if she can have the funds transferred to a friends account that is still at the gym... then have the friend give her money the next time the friend would have been making a payment to the gym?

That's what I was going to suggest as well.