All-Star Jam Brands Has Merged With Varsity

[cupieqt]

Hah...You don't count as part of the competition experience ;) You are part of the pre and post competition shenanigans :p

Word


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[purplecheer]

One word-No.

 

[SarahS]

Out of curiosity in terms of variety, what would you like from different cheer competitions, that varsity does not provide, or lack?

ALL Jam Brands events have a Score Check judge, where coaches can verify all of the objective scores on the scoresheet before awards (difficulty ranges, deductions). ALL Jam Brands events have separate judges for technique and difficulty, so the judges can focus on their specific area. Both of these concepts help to ensure proper placement of teams. Sometimes Varsity has accuscore (like score check), but at local comps, they often do not. I'm not sure on the varsity stance on technique vs difficulty judges (last year they were often combined) but I haven't seen a definitive statement on that from Varsity, while I have from Jam.

 

[lucyemma]

This worries me for the UK. Jambrands has 2 comps here and varsity now does uniforms here. I have noticed just in 2 years how much the price of cheer has gone up in the uk and I think families will be priced out. I just varsity to stay out of the uk

It is very worrying for UK cheer. It has been largely unaffected until now by Varsity but there is a lack of understanding about Varsity's monopoly business model and shady tactics. I think many coaches are flattered by the beautiful uniforms and freebies that they are throwing at them right now, little do they realise that in 5 years many of their athletes will be priced out of cheer because of that same company owning much of UK cheer and increasing the price for uniforms and competitions to the point that there is nowhere else to turn to for coaches or athletes because Varsity will own everything. The only way to put up some kind of resistance is to educate others and support small businesses & EPs.

 

[SL&AM]

Jam Live does charge admission.... I don't think we've ever had to pay admission for GLCC or JamBash events


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We had to pay $20 cash for GLCC in Kansas City.

 

[icame2WERQ]

I don't know .. its kind of hard for me to believe people getting priced out of cheer .. granted i'm sure it has happened, and it is possible with all these high prices, but i still feel as if you really want to participate in this sport, there are still many options to fund raise to make it affordable. Not saying we should still ignore the high cost, and be ok with it. But i think it is kind of foolish to be in this sport and not fund raise.

 

[Official OWECheer]

I don't know .. its kind of hard for me to believe people getting priced out of cheer .. granted i'm sure it has happened, and it is possible with all these high prices, but i still feel as if you really want to participate in this sport, there are still many options to fund raise to make it affordable. Not saying we should still ignore the high cost, and be ok with it. But i think it is kind of foolish to be in this sport and not fund raise.

There are costs to fundraising that might not be apparent to a lot of people. Like time. Lots of people have demanding jobs, multiple children, and errands to run. Fundraising really only works up until a certain point. If you have to fund raise several thousand dollars each season just for your child to be able to cheer, it's a lot easier to fall short of your goal.

 

[SL&AM]

I don't know .. its kind of hard for me to believe people getting priced out of cheer .. granted i'm sure it has happened, and it is possible with all these high prices, but i still feel as if you really want to participate in this sport, there are still many options to fund raise to make it affordable. Not saying we should still ignore the high cost, and be ok with it. But i think it is kind of foolish to be in this sport and not fund raise.

Different areas are more successful with fundraising than others; especially gyms in high poverty areas or surrounded by high poverty towns.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

I don't know .. its kind of hard for me to believe people getting priced out of cheer .. granted i'm sure it has happened, and it is possible with all these high prices, but i still feel as if you really want to participate in this sport, there are still many options to fund raise to make it affordable. Not saying we should still ignore the high cost, and be ok with it. But i think it is kind of foolish to be in this sport and not fund raise.

Quality fundraising options are not available to everyone or at every gym. If my gyms didn't have concession stands in the local sporting arenas to fundraise at, my family could not have afforded it. Theres no way we could've sold enough candles/wreaths/candy bars/sausages to pay for cheer - and that was before 2010. I'm positive MANY families at my gym could say the same thing.

It's a problem when families, even well off families, need to take on second or third jobs to support their child's extra curricular activities. It is so important for kids to be able to participate in youth sports teams as they grow. There are some lessons you learn that can't be learned anywhere else. Cheer is no longer an activity that is accessible to the general public. It's becoming a luxury that only the extremely well off can comfortably afford and varsity is one of the driving forces behind that. IMO, even if families are having to take on extra work to pay for it, I'd consider them being priced out since they can't afford it on their normal income alone.

 

[AngelsMum24]

Question, next season if Varsity significantly increases the price/cost involved for both Varsity and Jam comp. what other options are there?

Does Nfinity, Rebel, GK, etc. run comp.?

Isnt' Champions League ran by Nfinity?

 

[quitthedrama]

I don't know .. its kind of hard for me to believe people getting priced out of cheer .. granted i'm sure it has happened, and it is possible with all these high prices, but i still feel as if you really want to participate in this sport, there are still many options to fund raise to make it affordable. Not saying we should still ignore the high cost, and be ok with it. But i think it is kind of foolish to be in this sport and not fund raise.

I'm curious as to whether you pay for all star cheer. I just did a quick calculation of my costs this year. About $2,500 will go directly to my gym for tuition, practicewear, choreography, camp, etc. I consider this extremely reasonable. However, about $6,250 will go to competition fees and travel. This is strictly the athlete comp fees and travel expenses for her and one adult. No extras, minimal food, and does not include the expense for Worlds, so if they get a bid it could increase by $500-$1,200 depending on what type of bid is received. That is $8-10k for one athlete. I have a good job, I fundraise, and CP and I work a second job, and it is still a struggle. The sad part is the gym only gets 20-25% of the amount that is costs for my CP to cheer.
Granted CP's team may travel more than some other gyms, but I can definitely see why people are getting priced out of cheer.

 

[driverto6]

I'm curious as to whether you pay for all star cheer. I just did a quick calculation of my costs this year. About $2,500 will go directly to my gym for tuition, practicewear, choreography, camp, etc. I consider this extremely reasonable. However, about $6,250 will go to competition fees and travel. This is strictly the athlete comp fees and travel expenses for her and one adult. No extras, minimal food, and does not include the expense for Worlds, so if they get a bid it could increase by $500-$1,200 depending on what type of bid is received. That is $8-10k for one athlete. I have a good job, I fundraise, and CP and I work a second job, and it is still a struggle. The sad part is the gym only gets 20-25% of the amount that is costs for my CP to cheer.
Granted CP's team may travel more than some other gyms, but I can definitely see why people are getting priced out of cheer.

We have 3 athletes in the last couple of years definitely get priced out. One situation the father lost his job, and the other two the parents divorced. In all 3 of these situations, even if the gym had offered scholarships the athletes still could not compete due to the costs of competitions/travel. Stay to Play has made it so hard for many families to travel to competitions. This past year I took two different athletes with me on out of town trips because the parent could not afford to pay for both her athlete and herself...so the kid flew with me and roomed with me and my daughter. As my child gets older (this is her 6th year of allstar), I see more and more of her friends dropping out...and I completely believe that money is at least part of the reason.

 

[123jump4!]

I'm curious as to whether you pay for all star cheer. I just did a quick calculation of my costs this year. About $2,500 will go directly to my gym for tuition, practicewear, choreography, camp, etc. I consider this extremely reasonable. However, about $6,250 will go to competition fees and travel. This is strictly the athlete comp fees and travel expenses for her and one adult. No extras, minimal food, and does not include the expense for Worlds, so if they get a bid it could increase by $500-$1,200 depending on what type of bid is received. That is $8-10k for one athlete. I have a good job, I fundraise, and CP and I work a second job, and it is still a struggle. The sad part is the gym only gets 20-25% of the amount that is costs for my CP to cheer.
Granted CP's team may travel more than some other gyms, but I can definitely see why people are getting priced out of cheer.

Wow that is a lot of money... :eek: But your CP is on an elite level. Wouldn't prices for any travel sport at a top level be similar?

Our costs to the gym are about the same. We only have 2 travel comps that are not far away. Not more than $1000. It's level 1. :)

So I don't feel priced out of cheer at all at the moment, but I can see how it could get way more expensive if she moves up levels and to a bigger gym that travels more.

 

[gofriars610]

Well this is news to me too.


Any time I read a thread with Varsity in the title, every post seems to feel like a personal attack. I'm not even in a corporate position. I'm actually the furthest thing from it. I work summer camps and the occasional competition. I love my job. We aren't bad people. I've met some of my best friends and the people that will be my bridesmaids through this job. Everyone is so quick to put down Varsity, but we are NOT bad people.

As the thread OP, this was not intended to be an attack on Varsity (or any of its employees), but as a relevant piece of industry news to discuss. I'm sorry if it came across that way. You do fantastic work for Varsity and you should be proud of yourself--I know I was overjoyed to hear the news that you were pictured on their book cover.

 

[tumbleyoda]

We have 3 athletes in the last couple of years definitely get priced out. One situation the father lost his job, and the other two the parents divorced. In all 3 of these situations, even if the gym had offered scholarships the athletes still could not compete due to the costs of competitions/travel. Stay to Play has made it so hard for many families to travel to competitions. This past year I took two different athletes with me on out of town trips because the parent could not afford to pay for both her athlete and herself...so the kid flew with me and roomed with me and my daughter. As my child gets older (this is her 6th year of allstar), I see more and more of her friends dropping out...and I completely believe that money is at least part of the reason.

This right here nails it on the head. The costs of staying home and training and are not too bad at all. It is the costs of competition/travel that when added to All Star cheer that is driving people out of the industry. Doing Power Tumbling also gets them ready for school cheer which is very big in our area and lets them compete the harder skills they learned in the gym that they may not compete in school cheer due to safety reasons.

Just as an example. For our power tumbling program which is in our second year

99.00 tuition 2 days a week 3 hours total.
50 - 125.00 Uniform Depending on team level
800.00 competition/coaches fees (8 competitions not including nationals)

Travel - completely up to parent. No stay to play. It is suggested to use certain hotels for Nationals but you don't have to if you are not attending the other things they are offering for the athletes.
If you add in two nationals AAU and USTA you increase price by 500-1000 only if you qualify AND stay in hotels or fly. it can be done for under 500.00 if you know how to swing it.

Those athletes/parents that drop out of cheer because of pricing love the price savings. They especially love going to compete at 9am and having awards by 10am.