All-Star Economy and Cheer

[CheerDad4Life]

So we are all dealing inflation, gas prices , etc and the lilklihood of a recession. Was anyone here in the industry in 2008-09 with the last major recession? How did it impact (if at all) participation in the sport? With the cost of Allstar suffering from Varsity’s cost inflation of the sport already , I am curious/concerned to see what happens now.

Any thoughts or opinions welcomed.

 

[catlady]

When we began in 2009:
two team shirts
2-3 local comps
Mid-size comp (1.5 hours away from gym)
Battle Under the Big Top (in town)
Cheersport (in town)
NCA (travel)
World's (Summit didn't exist)

When we left in 2018:
practice wear package
overnight stunt camp at a college
two team shirts
parent sponsored team gear (not required, but parent/athlete pressured)
Summit/World packages
1-2 local one day
Seveirville, TN (travel)
Battle Under the Big Top (in town)
Cheersport (in town)
UCA (travel)
Summit (travel)
World's (travel)

While STP didn't exist when we began, our gym had hotel blocks we were required to stay at, so there wasn't a big change for us. The biggest thing I found to impact AS from my perspective, was parents and their willingness to spend in a good economy. At our gym, it was always a handful of very vocal parents wanting more travel and team "stuff." The big difference, in a good economy, the rest say, "Oh well, it's just $30, $50, $100, $200, $300,.... more." In a bad economy, the rest say, "OMG, it's another $30, $50, $100, $200, $300,...more."

 

[NJ Coach]

In 2008-09:
Our practice wear was 2 gym tshirts and 2 pairs of soffees
Travel comps were all within a 2 hour drive except Cheersport and Worlds.
We did maybe 7-8 competitions total not including Worlds.

 

[cheermomforever]

When my daughter started years and years ago there wasn’t multiple sets of practice gear, special tees or practice gear for comps, no STP and we went to universal Florida for our “big” comp……otherwise all local and drivable. She just put away her cheer shoes now and don’t know how much higher it can get with Worlds almost $490!’

 

[Knowcheering]

Around 2008-2009, local and 1-day competitions were much more prevalent. The bulk of our competition schedule was within 1-3 hours driving distance. Lower level teams only had 1 plane flight per season (NCA or Cheersport usually). Worlds teams had 2 or 3 plane flights.

Nowadays, many local 1-day competitions look like ghost towns with hardly any teams in each division, especially in Level 6. Gyms have to fill their schedules with mostly 2-day “Nationals” instead. Some 2-days aren’t so well attended either. Teams of all levels often have to travel outside of driving distance just to find good competition.

The death of good local competitions seemed to coincide with all the bid chasing (especially for Summit) and the massive increase in the number of divisions. A good local competition circuit would probably make the sport more affordable, but teams want to actually *compete*, so instead they have to schedule way more faraway competitions than they used to.

We used to have a competition practically every weekend, but that was only because most of them were 1-day locals. The schedule is more spread out now that competitions are mostly 2-days.

 

[quitthedrama]

Around 2008-2009, local and 1-day competitions were much more prevalent. The bulk of our competition schedule was within 1-3 hours driving distance. Lower level teams only had 1 plane flight per season (NCA or Cheersport usually). Worlds teams had 2 or 3 plane flights.

Nowadays, many local 1-day competitions look like ghost towns with hardly any teams in each division, especially in Level 6. Gyms have to fill their schedules with mostly 2-day “Nationals” instead. Some 2-days aren’t so well attended either. Teams of all levels often have to travel outside of driving distance just to find good competition.

The death of good local competitions seemed to coincide with all the bid chasing (especially for Summit) and the massive increase in the number of divisions. A good local competition circuit would probably make the sport more affordable, but teams want to actually *compete*, so instead they have to schedule way more faraway competitions than they used to.

We used to have a competition practically every weekend, but that was only because most of them were 1-day locals. The schedule is more spread out now that competitions are mostly 2-days.

Exactly this. There were also far fewer divisions, so you actually had 10-12 teams in each division at local or regional competitions. In 08-09 we only went to one competition involving a flight. Our last year (2019), we had 6 flight competitions. I would love to see large divisions at local competitions become the norm again.

 

[CheerDad4Life]

Exactly this. There were also far fewer divisions, so you actually had 10-12 teams in each division at local or regional competitions. In 08-09 we only went to one competition involving a flight. Our last year (2019), we had 6 flight competitions. I would love to see large divisions at local competitions become the norm again.

Wow 6 flights is a lot. I totally agree on the desire for more/better local comps.

 

[catlady]

Gyms in the South/Southeast, definitely had/have it easier than most. In Atlanta, there were a lot of options out there, some with decent attendance, others with little to no competition even back then. Smaller, more remote gyms often traveled 4-7 hours at the "local" comps we attended.

If there's one thing about AS, geography and gym density play a huge role in comps and it still varies greatly across the US.

 

[kayemm]

I'm in the UK, Scotland specifically, and our local comps this year have been SO busy - definitely the busiest I've seen them in years. One of the competitions used to be just one day but it was three days this year! I think the economy is meaning people are less willing to spend the money travelling for cheer and are choosing their away competitions more carefully. We have a Summit bid for next year (bids are awarded a season in advance in the UK) so I know we will be looking to do more local competitions to try and keep costs lower for parents.

 

[cheermommaRN]

2009 was Pheebs first season in Texas cheer (CA Bobcats).
We had the blue and black shirts, everyone wore black cotton soffes. We went to one away comp in Houston (Cheer America), there was no STP. I think I paid $200 a month and it was all inclusive.

This season (Scratch6) I have already spent $200 on practice wear and that was only two of the 4 required sets. We (because we split the cost) still have to purchase the blue/black t's at the proshop this weekend. Tuition is $289 (?) because she's a HS graduate but we have uniform ($450), background check, USASF fee, and we opened a savings account for Worlds yesterday for her to auto-pay out of her paycheck.

Inflation has made it more expensive but luckily my income is infinitely higher than it was in 2009.

 

[UCFKnights07]

2008 was my last year as an athlete. Travel comps werent a thing outside of cheersport and worlds ( i know nca existed back then, but i dont remember ever going to nca, like that just wasnt a thing for our gym).
we got like three shirts (one for the start of the season, and then the other two were for competition practices, end of season, etc)
pretty much all our local comps, were held in HS gyms (basketball courts), flying to comps wasnt a thing either, we all caravanned our butts up to atlanta in minivans together, lol. I also remember staying in sh*tty motels for cheersport ever year we went.
uniforms..... basically wore the same uniform for YEARS, even when going through different levels, all the uniforms were the same, and we would just switch with other members of the gym a lot of times for proper sizes. Occasionally would have to buy a new one, but it was rare.