All-Star New Gyms, Gym Closings, And Acquisitions For 19-20 Season

[alexamarysouza]

Pretty sure salem is "Bens gym", and they share kids with kville, i.e kids being on legacy(salem) and say coed elite(kville). And from what I remember, CSP was pretty involved with the charlotte gym as well, but maybe has less to do with it now(?). I for sure remember her being very hands on with lady elite when they moved to charlotte, and also in the beginning with monarchs.

Yep. My first year at Salem was 2002 and Courtney was our head coach. She stuck around a few years to get the gym going (we were brand new), and then Ben took over and ran things. That gym is his baby. Many of my teammates would cross to teams at Kville and they called upon us several times as fill ins when I was younger. Salem has always been sort of a “stepping stone” location for athletes who wish to be on worlds teams...they train at Salem for a few years and when they feel they have the skills for a worlds team, they go to Kville, which is only about a 30 min drive.

ETA: in regards to teams competing against other locations: seems as though they’ve tried to limit this in recent years but when I was a kid we ALWAYS competed against our own program. Usually against the Sanford gym. I actually ended up coaching a rec program with a girl who I competed against from Sanford, ironically lol. :D

 

[catlady]

So sad about all these gyms closing. A big part of the problem is kids leaving left and right to go their "dream" gym - even though that dream gym is across the country and the majority of these kids are still in high school. I'm sorry but there is nothing anyone can tell me to say this is ok. It's one thing to leave after you graduate but to do it in high school is redic.

I think the bigger factor is 75% of all first time businesses fail within 10 years. I do feel AS has gone out of their way to help gyms have a place for the majority of athletes that walk through their door with the addition of all the divisions: extra small, Int'l, prep divisions .1's and .2's, D2, and NT. One gym will never be able to meet the expectations and goals of every single athlete 100% of the time and that's okay, because that's reality. I give major kudos to the gym's that wish their athletes well when they leave whether to be on a higher level, a World's team, continue to be flyers, etc. Those are the gym's that are confident in their training, their placement, their team selection, and they are the same gym's that welcome those athletes back if and when they return.

Second time business owners have better odds, hopefully many of these owners will try again.

 

[quietmom]

So sad about all these gyms closing. A big part of the problem is kids leaving left and right to go their "dream" gym - even though that dream gym is across the country and the majority of these kids are still in high school. I'm sorry but there is nothing anyone can tell me to say this is ok. It's one thing to leave after you graduate but to do it in high school is redic.

Agree to disagree. It's their choice and their lives. This isn't causing small gyms to close. There are bigger problems like the exponentially increasing costs of All Star cheer pricing out many families. If an athlete finishes their season, they have every right to try out and transfer at another gym and move where they see fit. A family has every right to pay $$$$$ and move where they see fit. Don't give me the thing about loyalty when many gyms host try outs and rearrange teams for worlds and summit so they can have an advantage. Athletes are not gym property.

 

[BlueCat]

So sad about all these gyms closing. A big part of the problem is kids leaving left and right to go their "dream" gym - even though that dream gym is across the country and the majority of these kids are still in high school. I'm sorry but there is nothing anyone can tell me to say this is ok. It's one thing to leave after you graduate but to do it in high school is redic.

We probably have as many of those come to us as anyone, and it is still a very small number - particularly those who do so while still in HS. I would put that number (still in HS) at less than 20 nationwide. If so, that is less than .01% of the athletes in our sport. I can understand being upset about any athlete doing that, but to claim it is a "big" part of the problem is not accurate, IMO.

Regarding gym closures: most businesses fail. This is true of restaurants, retail stores, landscaping businesses, cheer gyms, and everything in between. Somewhere around half of businesses fail within the first 5 years. I think we should do whatever we reasonably can to keep gyms in business, but we are never going to keep all of them open. That should not be the goal. In and of itself, several gyms closing their doors doesn't automatically mean we need rules regarding customer choices.

FWIW, my experience is that FAR more of the failures are more related to the "business" side than the "cheer" side. Managing cash flow, debt, salaries, insurance, A/R, taxes, etc. is far more difficult for most cheer coaches than putting together a decent routine or keeping all your whip doubles at your gym. I know it has been for us.

 

[california cheer mom]

Rockstar just announced a new gym in Las Vegas. Things seem to be getting out of hand. How many have they added in the past two months?

Are they taking over another gym? Las Vegas already seems pretty saturated.

 

[fullinitup]

Are they taking over another gym? Las Vegas already seems pretty saturated.

No they are opening their own location. Vegas cheer is now flipped upside down. We’ll see where everyone’s loyalty lies since they waited till every program had tryouts and announced teams.

 

[wishfulthinking]

Uh isn't it a little late for Rockstar to be announcing another gym? I mean, which program hasn't already had tryouts by now?

Is there a rundown on how many locations Rockstar has at this point?

 

[icequeen]

I have some honest questions and by know means do I mean to be rude. Why exactly would a kid who is happy leave their existing gym to run to a rockstar location? Yes Beatles had an amazing year this past season and their international team finished 2nd I believe. Other than that how successful had any of their other locations been? I said it once before earlier in this thread and I’ll say it again, they may have good intentions with their brand but in the long run it cheats the brand in my opinion especially when results aren’t produced.

In some cases of gyms buying gyms out there is really no changes made just the same gym with a new name.

 

[catlady]

I have some honest questions and by know means do I mean to be rude. Why exactly would a kid who is happy leave their existing gym to run to a rockstar location? Yes Beatles had an amazing year this past season and their international team finished 2nd I believe. Other than that how successful had any of their other locations been? I said it once before earlier in this thread and I’ll say it again, they may have good intentions with their brand but in the long run it cheats the brand in my opinion especially when results aren’t produced.

In some cases of gyms buying gyms out there is really no changes made just the same gym with a new name.

It's not a rude question, it's a great marketing question. People underestimate the power in name recognition and overflow marketing. I don't think "happy" people are going to leave, but "happy" is a sliding scale. So, if you have the flyer that wants to keep flying or the level 5 kid that's good, but not good enough for Fabulous AS's level 5 team, or the kid that was hoping for a different level, age grid, size team, etc, a new Rockstar can easily take on those overflow athletes and grow to be very successful. We had a little mom and pop that was mainly level 1-3 athletes, Rockstar took over that location under the same management, and in it's second year of being Rockstar it sent a large level 5 team to World's last year and placed 6th. Not bad for a little mom and pop that obviously just needed some name recognition to get noticed and attract the "happy.... but unhappy with placement" athletes from Fabulous AS's and other gym tryouts. Also, if you move to a new city and your choices are Rockstar or Mom and Pop's AS's that you've never heard of, which one are you more likely to visit first? Time will tell if it works long term for the majority (there's always going to be failures), but for those that left Fabulous AS's and were able to get what they wanted at the nearby Rockstar location, they seem to be happy and doing well.

 

[CoachMandiCF]

I have some honest questions and by know means do I mean to be rude. Why exactly would a kid who is happy leave their existing gym to run to a rockstar location? Yes Beatles had an amazing year this past season and their international team finished 2nd I believe. Other than that how successful had any of their other locations been? I said it once before earlier in this thread and I’ll say it again, they may have good intentions with their brand but in the long run it cheats the brand in my opinion especially when results aren’t produced.

In some cases of gyms buying gyms out there is really no changes made just the same gym with a new name.

If memory serves me correct, and I’m getting older so hopefully it does...

Rockstar Rhode Island won Summit this year in 4.2
Rockstar Charleston I believe won Summit last year or the year before in either 4.2 or Senior 4


I would honestly say that out of most of the franchise locations I’ve seen, Rockstar tends to actually be more competitive across the board than some others.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[alpaca]

I have some honest questions and by know means do I mean to be rude. Why exactly would a kid who is happy leave their existing gym to run to a rockstar location? Yes Beatles had an amazing year this past season and their international team finished 2nd I believe. Other than that how successful had any of their other locations been? I said it once before earlier in this thread and I’ll say it again, they may have good intentions with their brand but in the long run it cheats the brand in my opinion especially when results aren’t produced.

In some cases of gyms buying gyms out there is really no changes made just the same gym with a new name.

"same poop, different name"

 

[california cheer mom]

If memory serves me correct, and I’m getting older so hopefully it does...

Rockstar Rhode Island won Summit this year in 4.2
Rockstar Charleston I believe won Summit last year or the year before in either 4.2 or Senior 4


I would honestly say that out of most of the franchise locations I’ve seen, Rockstar tends to actually be more competitive across the board than some others.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, and you are entering a market with a Cali gym that has won multiple, and back to back Summit titles and recent worlds globes. Not to mention some successful D2 gyms.

 

[ChicagoCheerDad]

Add Midwest Cheer Elite Illinois to the list of Illinois closures. As of Tuesday of last week. Letter is on their Facebook,

 

[NEliteSteven]

I heard Rockstar Cheer Idaho is closing.

 

[california cheer mom]

I heard Rockstar Cheer Idaho is closing.

Didn't they just take over Inferno like 2 months ago?