All-Star Open Team Expectations

[fiercerando88]

This thread is interesting to me now. I just (as in this past Saturday) finished off a season on an i4 team and probably spent close to, if not slightly more than $1000. This includes tuition ($50/month starting in August), music, choreo (done in-house unlike other teams in the gym), uniform & sneakers, and 4 comp fees We didn't travel outside of New England, and only had 1 two-day comp (so entrance fees were a little lower). Like Tealxblack25 said, we also only competed against ourselves at 3 out of the 4 competitions. That was frustrating, but given the newness of the division, it was expected. The gym also made sure our uniform and music/choreo fees were cheaper than the other teams in the gym. The gym worked really hard to keep our fees down and work with us so that was helpful, but I'm not sure how many gyms do that.

I've been out of undergrad for almost three years so paid for this myself, but a lot of girls' parents paid for the season. I know for me, this cost was about all I could handle, if it was any more I wouldn't have been able to afford it. As it stands now, I'm planning on "re-retiring" because my loans can certainly use that $1k more than my aching, 25 year old cheer body. ;) Not too mention the fact that I wasn't a fan of having no competition, and attendance issues at practice. I'm pretty sure there was 4 times when our team had full attendance... and that was at our 4 comps. I've seen it said on here for years that attendance is a struggle, but I guess I didn't believe it until I lived it. Hard to hit a routine when not everyone comes to practice!! Despite that, I think Open teams are a really good thing, (and starting the i4 was an awesome idea that I hope takes off more), but it's certainly not for everyone.

 

[WinstonsGirl]

I don't even understand the concept of open teams. What makes it different from your typical team?

We are often level 6 too, so we get to do all the cool stunts, like 2 1/2 high pyramids and rotational tosses. :D

 

[youbetterwork]

I can't imagine people taking cheerleading seriously and really show up to practices if they don't have to pay. If I had a hard time attracting people to my open team I would offer them to pay in the beginning of the season and if they stuck around until the last comp they would get the travel/comp costs for free.

Adding to the off-topic discussion - here in Sweden we actually get paid to study at a college/university. Despite that most people still waits a couple of years to start studying after high school.

 

[Phenomenon]

Hard to hit a routine when not everyone comes to practice!!

AMEN ! :chestbump:

 

[Kelli Nicole]

I can't imagine people taking cheerleading seriously and really show up to practices if they don't have to pay. If I had a hard time attracting people to my open team I would offer them to pay in the beginning of the season and if they stuck around until the last comp they would get the travel/comp costs for free.

Adding to the off-topic discussion - here in Sweden we actually get paid to study at a college/university. Despite that most people still waits a couple of years to start studying after high school.

Why didn't I go to school in Sweden!? :D ..Oh wait, despite my Swedish heritage I speak NO word of Swedish (other than names for food!)...

 

[ShutItDown]

My experience was hell. False promises, only one worlds bid event for us even though we were promised two or more, kids didnt take it seriously, hard to afford. Only practiced once a week and kids didnt workout or keep themselves active. Routine got watered down a lot, my rec team does harder stuff than we do-_- big disappointment in the program already, not just the open team. Gym also didnt have the spotters for us older.larger athletes. It was a hot mess and still VERY disappointed i went through it, but did meet some cool people, new friends, wasnt so bad, but i would NEVER let someone outside of cheer see a video of me from this team.

 

[youbetterwork]

Why didn't I go to school in Sweden!? :D ..Oh wait, despite my Swedish heritage I speak NO word of Swedish (other than names for food!)...

Haha we have some programs in english actually. Too bad it's too late ;)

 

[ShoWStoppeR]

No desire to ever coach an open team after being a part of one. Ours has kind of fell along the wayside. Everyone wants to be coached and be treated like an athlete, until they're actually being coached. Everyone already thinks they know everything.

And I'd be shocked if you could find 24 college+ athletes that would be willing to pay full tuition+travel.

bingo, you hit the nail on the head....
I looked into doing an open team when I first came to college, but it just wasn't realistic, especially when I already pay out of pocket for my college team. I love me some allstar, don't get me wrong, but when it gets down to it, I would much rather pay to do my college team than an allstar team... at that age its time to move onto something new (no diss to those that do it, just my personal opinion!) now that being said, I think if I was in an area with more successful open teams, that would play a factor in my decision. (*cough cough cheer athletics, gym tyme, SOT, rays... just to name a few) This may come off slightly arrogant, but at this point in my cheer career, I don't really see the point to keep paying to be on a team that stands no chance of winning....

 

[AllstarObsession]

ok I am just gonna be honest. The moment I got out of high school is the moment my parents stopped paying for cheer. I cheered on a S5 my freshman year of college and they had to make me pay the bare minimum because I could only work 2 days a week with practice and school and didn't have that much money. I couldn't have afforded to pay over $100 a month for tuition plus the comp fees and everything else.

That's the problem. I am not stubborn and think that I am the greatest cheerleader that shouldn't have to pay, I am a broke college student whose parents wont pay for cheer anymore. I know some people will claim, if you don't have the money then don't cheer but if you want me on your team then understand that I am a broke college student.

and to the comment about focusing on college, being on an actual senior team my freshman year of college, I made nothing less than a B, had a 3.7 and went to many campus events. I think its unfair to assume that if you're cheering you aren't focusing on college.

I'm in the same boat, except I made the "wise" decision to move out on my own as fast as possible. I'm working three jobs, one of which is at the gym to help pay for my ridiculously expensive uniform, new shoes, comp fees, traveling, etc. I also pay rent, gas, utilities, taxes, food, school fees, etc.

I literally do not have a day off at all. My time is 100% booked. Adding tuition to the mix would end my career. I know there are several others on my team in the same boat.

Also, my college's team is quite the joke. I would not like to drop something I am seriously passionate about to go stand on the sideline of a junior college.

 

[Hotcheerfan]

Another reason I want to move to Canada. Pretty much everyone here HAS to get at minimum a 4 year degree, before you can make anything considered a good salary and those college loans are pretty hefty

Canada is a tiny country compared to the USA. They also have a robust oil and gas economy, so they are richer overall than the USA.

Open teams seem like they are tough to keep together. Nothing like real life to crush your dreams of cheering forever.

 

[drewpate]

This is a separate topic and unfortunately one that would go in random because it isn't cheer related, but, SOOOO true. The value of a college education has gone down significantly and is now, for some reason, 'required' to get blue collar jobs. I see one of the next big bubble bursts for our country being the deflation of value in college education.

It doesn't mean college wont be worth it, but means that paying 40K a year for a college education without a high ROI will no longer be worth it. I know this because my alma mater is actually preparing for this and focusses on ROI (How Do Schools Stack Up? graphics.wsj.com). The dot on the far right is ours.

Basically it is about investment. If the cost of money to borrow is MORE than how much you make from your eventual job then at some point people will realize it and stop paying all that money for your degree. We are anywhere between 5 and 10 years form this but many schools are in for a rude awakening.

Agreed. While I didn't drop out of school because of this (I did because I made some bad decisions) I would still be in school, possibly a graduate program, paying a ridiculous amount of money for what would only get me 3-4k more than what I make if I had continued in that career choice. While I am about to go back at 24 years of age, it will be to receive an education, not a degree, in what will help me and what I am interested in.


As far as kids should be focusing on college cheer, I don't agree with that statement. Cheer scholarships frankly aren't very good, and if you enjoy all star more there is no reason you shouldn't do it. It's expensive, but so are most adult hobbies(golf, cycling, guns, cars,etc) and there's a chance of making a good career of it if you play your cards right. I hated school cheer but loved all star, why should I focus on school cheer then?

 

[Mom Jeans]

Canada is a tiny country compared to the USA. They also have a robust oil and gas economy, so they are richer overall than the USA.

Open teams seem like they are tough to keep together. Nothing like real life to crush your dreams of cheering forever.

My family would LOVE to move there , don't feel bad the international teams here are hard to keep together, poor Fierce had to get 2 bids because of roster changes and still didn't get to take their IOC5 and PCM Karma was maxed out on alternates/subs I am positive there are many others in the same situation :(

 

[pctmom]

When my gym started our Open team kept us a float. We had a Coed 6 team of upwards of 40 people (who paid) and it was fun and dynamic . This was pre-Worlds. Worlds turned Ontario open teams into a never-ending ever-changing roster of gym jumpers hoping for free tuition, better placement, whatever they could negotiate with a gym owner hoping for one more guy, or one more double - that is if they deemed to come to practice or not give you attitude for actually coaching them. So two seasons ago, we pulled the plug on this team. By the end it didn't serve it purpose - it lost us money and caused us heartache. In my opinion, Worlds was the worst thing to happen to Open 6.

Conversely, we have an IOC5 team. Made up of athletes ages 15-25+. They pay (every one of them including the 12 guys). They practice twice weekly. The are present, coachable and work hard. Worlds is a great experience for them.

I guess what I'm saying is that Open can be successful as long as its run the same as every other team in the gym. If an athlete doesn't want to pay, or be coached they need to retire.

 

[Ashley]

When my gym started our Open team kept us a float. We had a Coed 6 team of upwards of 40 people (who paid) and it was fun and dynamic . This was pre-Worlds. Worlds turned Ontario open teams into a never-ending ever-changing roster of gym jumpers hoping for free tuition, better placement, whatever they could negotiate with a gym owner hoping for one more guy, or one more double - that is if they deemed to come to practice or not give you attitude for actually coaching them. So two seasons ago, we pulled the plug on this team. By the end it didn't serve it purpose - it lost us money and caused us heartache. In my opinion, Worlds was the worst thing to happen to Open 6.

Conversely, we have an IOC5 team. Made up of athletes ages 15-25+. They pay (every one of them including the 12 guys). They practice twice weekly. The are present, coachable and work hard. Worlds is a great experience for them.

I guess what I'm saying is that Open can be successful as long as its run the same as every other team in the gym. If an athlete doesn't want to pay, or be coached they need to retire.

That's an interesting idea. I've heard stories of open teams before my time when they still used to allow 36 people and it was a lot more fun and everyone would get together and compete in shorts and a t-shirt, and they'd add in anyone who wanted to do it. But now it's all about who you can pull in and the bare minimum number of comps you can do to get a worlds bid so you can save everyone some money. And you have to have the big production value of flashy music and uniforms and choreography, because Worlds.

Though I would argue that the addition of IO5 hurt Open 6 as well.

 

[pctmom]

That's an interesting idea. I've heard stories of open teams before my time when they still used to allow 36 people and it was a lot more fun and everyone would get together and compete in shorts and a t-shirt, and they'd add in anyone who wanted to do it. But now it's all about who you can pull in and the bare minimum number of comps you can do to get a worlds bid so you can save everyone some money. And you have to have the big production value of flashy music and uniforms and choreography, because Worlds.

Though I would argue that the addition of IO5 hurt Open 6 as well.

Yup, that was our experience. We'd travel to Nashville and add in a guy from Louisville on the floor for fun. I think at one point we had about 40 people on the team competing at our Nationals. And we weren't even the biggest team!

In my experience the addition of an IOC5 team determined who was willing to put in the time and effort and Coed 6 became "the good ole boys" hoping for one more moment of glory. It really highlighted the wheat from the chaff. But in all things I'm sure its also how we reacted and responded to them, and we are just one example of how Open works.

Interestingly, we had a choreographer up from Stingrays two weeks ago and he commented on our "open" team (our IOC5 team). He couldn't believe how dedicated and hardworking they were. We had to explain that we don't consider IOC5 to be "open". His experience and the experience of many American teams is obviously different.