All-Star Gabi's New Gym And Team Announcement 7/6/15

[UCFKnights07]

South Florida was the original location; Daytona Beach is the 2nd. Daytona will be active for this season; SF is supposed to be her International team and then everyone else next season.

if this international team is going to be based out of south florida location, then wouldnt it be active for the 2015-2016 season, cause i figured that is what her announcement was referring to. Now im confused cause i thought there was only one location (daytona).

 

[DancerDude0118]

I can see this hurting small programs, but I am unsure of whether I see someone leaving (example) TGLC, OO5, BSB, etc. for an unknown.

The $$$ aspect may entice someone who may be on a non-marquee L5 team at a large gym but looking to have a shot at making a Worlds team AND getting attention.

I know a very strong tumbler who was on TGIF announced on Twitter that he'll be joining this new team instead. Other than that, I believe you're right... I don't see the bigger programmes being hurt as much.

 

[SL&AM]

if this international team is going to be based out of south florida location, then wouldnt it be active for the 2015-2016 season, cause i figured that is what her announcement was referring to. Now im confused cause i thought there was only one location (daytona).

From how I'm understanding it:

South Florida:
IOC 5 team starting this season and being formed over the next month or so
For the rest of the gym, 2016 season is their first official year

Daytona Beach:
Starting this season so 15-16
Senior LVL 5 team and then 1-4 all levels/ages

 

[AScheer]

It will be interesting to see if she can put together an IOC team AND a Senior 5 team. Daytona is a fairly good size city and if you drive 2+ hours any direction you will find another big city. That being said the area around Daytona is pretty much nothing. I've vacationed in the area quite a bit. Small beach towns. Not much to do at all! I'm not sure how much of a cheer culture there is to pull from. Sounds like an opportunity to grow a gym from the babies up, but it doesn't seem like an instant thing.

 

[dance_extreme_94]

It will be interesting to see if she can put together an IOC team AND a Senior 5 team. Daytona is a fairly good size city and if you drive 2+ hours any direction you will find another big city. That being said the area around Daytona is pretty much nothing. I've vacationed in the area quite a bit. Small beach towns. Not much to do at all! I'm not sure how much of a cheer culture there is to pull from. Sounds like an opportunity to grow a gym from the babies up, but it doesn't seem like an instant thing.

I agree with you. Demographics is a huge consideration to make when opening a business.

 

[dance_extreme_94]

It will be interesting to see if she can put together an IOC team AND a Senior 5 team. Daytona is a fairly good size city and if you drive 2+ hours any direction you will find another big city. That being said the area around Daytona is pretty much nothing. I've vacationed in the area quite a bit. Small beach towns. Not much to do at all! I'm not sure how much of a cheer culture there is to pull from. Sounds like an opportunity to grow a gym from the babies up, but it doesn't seem like an instant thing.

That's why I stated that I had concerns for her. She wants level five, and international team as her first two teams, but they're gyms out here large and small that have a hard enough time already keeping their level fives and international teams a full team each season There was one "big" gym in my area before they closed last year, they had just created a level five team and was barely able keep it because nothing is new under the sun, I'm sure they're not the only gym who struggles to keep their level fives and international teams.

 

[flcheermom]

It will be hard to form a level 5 team in Daytona. Our area just doesn't have the athletic pool to form multiple level 5 teams logistically. With TG Orlando only being about an hour away, and a few smaller gyms in our area that can't even form a competitive level 5 team it will be difficult. There is also Brandon and TG Miami to consider- though not close to Daytona, kids will travel to those gyms. I am not saying it won't be possible - just difficult with the logistics of athletic talent we have and our area. Maybe her name being attached to the gym will help bring in talent, but I believe last year, Angels and Brandon White were the only small sr 5 teams. Cheer express fluctuates between medium and small - they are over by Brandon. And that is basically it for small sr teams.

 

[King]

I think the thing everyone is analyzing (which is interesting) is the business case of opening a gym in the area. Take out the uniqueness and novelty of one person at the top everyone is asking if those two places make sense to open up at gym at. When a chain goes to open a new location they do a study of foot traffic at a certain area to know if there is enough of a population to support a cheer gym. Have many gyms ever done that?

 

[SL&AM]

It will be hard to form a level 5 team in Daytona. Our area just doesn't have the athletic pool to form multiple level 5 teams logistically. With TG Orlando only being about an hour away, and a few smaller gyms in our area that can't even form a competitive level 5 team it will be difficult. There is also Brandon and TG Miami to consider- though not close to Daytona, kids will travel to those gyms. I am not saying it won't be impossible - just difficult with the logistics of athletic talent we have and our area. Maybe her name being attached to the gym will help bring in talent, but I believe last year Angels and Brandon White were the only small sr 5 teams. Cheer express fluctuates between medium and small - they are over by Brandon. And that is basically it for small sr teams.

Going off the assuming that athletes may be provided a monetary bonus to join the team; maybe she isn't banking on pulling just from local talent? She could very well be taking a play out of Cali's book---I'm not sure how well it would work since it's completely untested and no one knows how the team will do, but with enough money it may pose logical to have some out of staters move down to form the team she wants.

Again, speculation based on the contents of the thread and I tend to look at things from all angles. With this essentially being close-ish to my backyard, it'll be very interesting to see how it comes together. Maybe we'll attend a comp where they're at over the next season.

 

[SL&AM]

I think the thing everyone is analyzing (which is interesting) is the business case of opening a gym in the area. Take out the uniqueness and novelty of one person at the top everyone is asking if those two places make sense to open up at gym at. When a chain goes to open a new location they do a study of foot traffic at a certain area to know if there is enough of a population to support a cheer gym. Have many gyms ever done that?

My guess is not as many as we'd think, but this is also Florida we're talking about---you can practically sneeze almost anywhere in our state and hit an AS cheerleading gym. It may not have every level, it may not be the elite, but it's there---this state is saturated with options.

 

[King]

My guess is not as many as we'd think, but this is also Florida we're talking about---you can practically sneeze almost anywhere in our state and hit an AS cheerleading gym. It may not have every level, it may not be the elite, but it's there---this state is saturated with options.

This would be a good questionnaire to ask people: What matters to you when choosing a gym?

Solid teaching?
Teams to suit athletes level and age group? Now or future?
Organized office that can do billing correctly? (this is one I don't think attracts people but they will leave if bad)
Competitive? Winnig?

 

[flcheermom]

Going off the assuming that athletes may be provided a monetary bonus to join the team; maybe she isn't banking on pulling just from local talent? She could very well be taking a play out of Cali's book---I'm not sure how well it would work since it's completely untested and no one knows how the team will do, but with enough money it may pose logical to have some out of staters move down to form the team she wants.

Again, speculation based on the contents of the thread and I tend to look at things from all angles. With this essentially being close-ish to my backyard, it'll be very interesting to see how it comes together. Maybe we'll attend a comp where they're at over the next season.

This is my opinion only :) since I live in the area and have seen many gyms come and go, and I know what gyms used to have level 5 teams, etc. It is almost a given there will have to be outside talent brought in. A local gym EPIC tried that route with the free perks and tuition -uniforms, and they did not last long. I am not comparing the two, I have just seen the ebb and flow of all star gyms in this area. Gyms have had to merge/change names to survive.

 

[SL&AM]

This would be a good questionnaire to ask people: What matters to you when choosing a gym?

Solid teaching?
Teams to suit athletes level and age group? Now or future?
Organized office that can do billing correctly? (this is one I don't think attracts people but they will leave if bad)
Competitive? Winnig?

I think a lot of those answers will vastly depending on the age and level division of the athlete. I know when I talked to a few moms who have kids in AS teams elsewhere (no one on here) when I was trying to make the switch we did this season, both were surprised by some of the things I was considering as requirements. But then, in the same breath, I've been the cheer mom on a team where the only thing 2 of the parents cared about was winning at all costs. And watching people leave when winning didn't happen.

Given Gabi's dad's background, I won't assume this venture has been taken lightly or that they haven't done some sort of homework. I'm sure all of that has been done, but it'll be interesting to see it play out over the course of the season. The saying, "You bite off more than you can chew," come to mind. Fielding a team for you to compete on is daunting, trying to put together an entire program from LVL 1 Tiny's to Senior LVL 5 this late into the season in an entirely different part of the state (and the drive from SF to Daytona isn't that close) is an entirely different beast.

I truly do wish her the best of luck because she's a kid who has dreams and every kid should reach their dreams. I just also hope she has a really solid supporting structure so this doesn't collapse around her and cost her to money she's clearly been saving to do this with.

 

[flcheermom]

I think a lot of those answers will vastly depending on the age and level division of the athlete. I know when I talked to a few moms who have kids in AS teams elsewhere (no one on here) when I was trying to make the switch we did this season, both were surprised by some of the things I was considering as requirements. But then, in the same breath, I've been the cheer mom on a team where the only thing 2 of the parents cared about was winning at all costs. And watching people leave when winning didn't happen.

Given Gabi's dad's background, I won't assume this venture has been taken lightly or that they haven't done some sort of homework. I'm sure all of that has been done, but it'll be interesting to see it play out over the course of the season. The saying, "You bite off more than you can chew," come to mind. Fielding a team for you to compete on is daunting, trying to put together an entire program from LVL 1 Tiny's to Senior LVL 5 this late into the season in an entirely different part of the state (and the drive from SF to Daytona isn't that close) is an entirely different beast.

I truly do wish her the best of luck because she's a kid who has dreams and every kid should reach their dreams. I just also hope she has a really solid supporting structure so this doesn't collapse around her and cost her to money she's clearly been saving to do this with.

I wish her all the luck in the world also. I just know Daytona area has had a hard time with All Star Gyms - and just the logistics of the central Fl area and cheer..maybe she can change that :)

 

[notyourcheermom]

I know we have some lower level athletes that drive from Palm Coast/Daytona that drive to Jacksonville to be on teams, but summer months are when new uniforms and choreography and all of our big payments are made. Would be painful to some parents checkbook to just forfeit everything they've already paid and start over on another new uniform and all but maybe they could look at it as saving gas money. I haven't paid a lot of attention to Daytona's all star environment, but we have enough athletes in our program that drive from that way that I don't think there is a strong gym there. Not everyone chooses to drive for another program. Maybe Daytona has a whole lot of kids that have "retired" and a new program will bring them back to all star. Good luck to them.