All-Star Discounts For Elite Tumbling?

[DaniV]

I came across something yesterday that surprised me - a larger gym was advertising on their tryout flyer that there is free tuition for athletes with standing fulls and doubles.

I've heard rumors of gyms offering kick-backs to athletes who are new to their gym with elite level skills but never seen anything advertised up front about it.

Is that normal to openly advertise that elite level athletes are getting discounts? I'm not trying to throw shade, I'm just generally curious because I have never seen that before.

 

[crazzyeyesassypants]

I came across something yesterday that surprised me - a larger gym was advertising on their tryout flyer that there is free tuition for athletes with standing fulls and doubles.

I've heard rumors of gyms offering kick-backs to athletes who are new to their gym with elite level skills but never seen anything advertised up front about it.

Is that normal to openly advertise that elite level athletes are getting discounts? I'm not trying to throw shade, I'm just generally curious because I have never seen that before.

I just saw something about this on Twitter also. Are you talking about green & black gym? No sure how I feel about this but if my kid was getting a free ride I would probably be all for it ;) hope the gyms around their area don't have a bunch of their athletes taking off because of free tuition.


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[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Here's what I don't understand about this.

Any kid can come up to your gym and say "I have a double" when what they really have is a spinning ball of piked over death.

Does that get a full ride?

Or like 50% off for being jank but almost there?

 

[luv2cheer92]

I've seen it before, definitely not a lot, but there is one program, I can't remember which, but I think in the Northwest, that's been doing it for several years now.

 

[crazzyeyesassypants]

So I'm genuinely concerned that if more gyms will start doing this, prices will go up, if lets say they find 90% of kids that have standing fulls and doubles for their Senior and Junior worlds teams and have to give them free tuition, where are they going to make up for the lost of revenue from athletes not paying tuition? Will they be raising prices to accommodate the kids with elite tumbling? If they do raise prices because of this, it will mean that other parents will be having to pay for elite kids! Not sure I like that...


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[cheerKT]

This has been going on for a long time with a surprising number of gyms.

I've always wondered the policy of one of these athletes gets a mental block or an injury.

 

[GlitterPlz]

Just saw this on Twitter as well. I've never heard of anything like that before. That's just asking for parents to start pushing kids even harder unrealistically when a level 5 team AND a huge chunk of savings is as stake.

 

[DaniV]

I just saw something about this on Twitter also. Are you talking about green & black gym? No sure how I feel about this but if my kid was getting a free ride I would probably be all for it ;) hope the gyms around their area don't have a bunch of their athletes taking off because of free tuition.


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Yes you are correct in the gym.

This has been going on for a long time with a surprising number of gyms.

I've always wondered the policy of one of these athletes gets a mental block or an injury.

Oohhhh... I never thought about that. But I would assume, if they aren't competing it or consistently throwing it they would have to start paying again. I know people do it and I've heard about it for years but it's always been pretty hush hush. I don't know about considering Cali as the NW but I don't know of any gyms up here that are openly doing this.

 

[DaniV]

Just saw this on Twitter as well. I've never heard of anything like that before. That's just asking for parents to start pushing kids even harder unrealistically when a level 5 team AND a huge chunk of savings is as stake.

Seriously. And the amount of the money they would be spending on private lessons will probably not make it cost effective in the long run. And I feel like they are putting a monetary value on the kids at that point and blatently saying that we value some of you more than others. Tumbling is only one section of the score sheet and a good tumbler does not necessarily make a good stunter or vice versa.

 

[crazzyeyesassypants]

I guess this is kinda like in College and Scholarships, if you are extremely talented you get a free ride. Still hard to swallow for us that don't get free rides...


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[Cheermom1969]

I guess this is kinda like in College and Scholarships, if you are extremely talented you get a free ride. Still hard to swallow for us that don't get free rides...


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Exactly!

 

[FlexyTumblerMom]

I guess the gym benefits from these athletes - you have a showcase level 5 team w/ top athletes, it gets you more level 1-4's that want to be a part of your program. I assume these people still need to pay for comp fees and uniforms, right?

Also wonder if an existing athlete were to GET those skills while already enrolled, do they start getting free tutiion, or is this only for new customers. I would imagine that would cause a lot of internal drama if not.

 

[klynn64]

I've heard that it's common for Level 5/6 International athletes not to pay tuition and that their uniforms, warm-ups, and practice clothes are all comp'd (donated). All the athletes have to pay is their competition fees and any travel costs they may have. And then they commonly attend only a few competitions. The competitions they do attend are usually attended in pursuit of a Paid Bid to Worlds.

I've been told this is not the case with the gym we attend. So obviously not all gyms follow this approach. But apparently many do.

 

[AScheer]

As far as I know this has been a thing for a while, but isn't usually an openly advertised thing. Many gyms do double discounts, or boy discounts. I remember Georgia offering some type of deal a few years ago, but don't remember exactly what it was. I believe they were the first gym to openly state it though so there was lots of discussion on the board. I don't think it fared well for them in the long run though.

 

[worldchampME]

Hey all, I was the one that posted that flyer on Twitter. At Cheerforce in our San Diego location, we have for several years rewarded athletes with standing fulls and doubles, free tuition. This is only for our senior and junior aged teams, or teams like Nfinity, wouldn't pay for a thing as the majority of the athletes have both. If you tryout with those skills you get the discount. If you acquire both throughout the season, you are rewarded then for it. As for those of you who wonder what happens to those athletes that worked so extremely hard for these skills to make the teams that they desire, we have yet to have come across one that has lost the skills. Hope this answers your questions.