All-Star The Current State Of Allstar Cheer

[quietmom]

This came up on facebook memories. Seems to fit this discussion.

Varsity Brands Owns Cheerleading and Fights to Keep it From Becoming an Official Sport | Houston Press

 

[catlady]

I can only speak for our family but, for us, it's the travel. The big comps continue to get larger each year extending their end times and days, and with higher demand comes higher hotel and airfare prices. For NCA, if you have multiple kids in the program, that now requires many families to fly out on Thursday and return on Tuesday (at the minimum). What we used to be able to do with 3 days of hotel, 4 days of food, and 2 days of parent admission (about $300-400 per day plus airfare) now can require 5 days of hotel, 6 days of food, and 4 days parent admission. Turn around 1 week later and add Cheersport, a month later UCA, and a little over a month later Summit or World's. And, bless you parents with the level 5 athletes having to do "all the all" with the latest and greatest comps at some gyms.

My kids missed 8 days of school last year in the second semester and DH 8 days of work out of his 3 weeks. Add on top of that privates, tutors, PT and doctor bills, much of which can be directly related to the increase stress of a jam packed season. I love AS, our gym, coaches, Varsity (sorry not sorry, their events are much of the reason why our kids love AS) but, most of all what AS has done for our kids. Bottom line, travel is expensive, stressful, effects schoolwork and imposes on the entire family. If your business is down, then "slow your roll".

 

[cheermomforever]

It is crazy, my CP went back after a year off and for the 5 comps that her I5 team is doing is over $800, the other teams do more than double the comps. It
Is definitely getting out of control for fees!


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[chardaeeeee]

This came up on facebook memories. Seems to fit this discussion.

Varsity Brands Owns Cheerleading and Fights to Keep it From Becoming an Official Sport | Houston Press

great read.. I must share this.

" Varsity actually views cheerleading as less than a sport... He also admitted that teams receive more points if they use varsity merchandise or props."

 

[catlady]

Devil's advocate... Many athletes do AS in preparation for HS cheer, and many gyms have HS's coming to their gyms for space and coaching. If cheerleading becomes a sport, it like gymnastics, would become too expensive for most average to low income HS's to continue their competitive teams. Most schools gave up gymnastics because, equipment, spring floor requirements and space prevented them from being able to continue. Add to that, the cost of qualified coaches. If cheer becomes a sport, most HS's would be forced to go strictly sideline-grounded and gyms would lose even more income.... and yes, Varsity would lose money, as well.

Where Have All the High School Gymnastics Teams Gone? - Gymnastics Zone

 

[cupieqt]

Sorry for the double post. I am so hot on this subject because I really do feel for the gyms! I have seen numbers dwindle for the last few years. I remember when the mini and youth divisions had at least 10 in each division, particularly levels 1 and 2. You don't see that nearly as much now, and crossovers are far more prevalent than in years past. I mentioned it in an earlier post - I discourage new parents from getting their kids involved - I don't even have to outright say anything "negative". I just explain what is involved and how much it costs and the interest disappears. Everyone knows word of mouth is your biggest advertiser. The numbers speak for themselves, and it is unfortunate.

I need to take this and put it in needlepoint form and send it to every single person that sets price points on events, apparel and music.

 

[cupieqt]

So much yes to everything y'all have written. We have two years left and I'm hoping my daughter will choose high school year her senior year instead so then we only have one year left. I love this sport, my daughter loves this sport, but the costs are too much.

I'll admit, I've been one of those parents all-in for all the flash and merchandise and travel. But over the last two seasons, I've been burned out and overbudget. I was so excited to finally get to go to the Summit. All I can say is, been there, done that, didn't even bother buying the tshirt because they were too expensive! I don't ever need to go back.

I think it's going to need to start with the parents. We are the ones with the wallets. Without us, none of this exists. And since the only way we will be listened to is by essentially not joining up, I think the dwindling numbers in the sport is going to eventually be the nail in the coffin unless something changes.

Sorry for the double post but what @quitthedrama said about newbies being immediately turned off is terrible but the part I bolded above is ALSO terrible. We have to have a build up to the flash and excitement so that we can have longevity and sustainability.

 

[Cheermom1969]

Sorry for the double post but what @quitthedrama said about newbies being immediately turned off is terrible but the part I bolded above is ALSO terrible. We have to have a build up to the flash and excitement so that we can have longevity and sustainability.

Hey, I confessed! At least I'm honest. lol

Seriously, I know that's a BIG part of what drives the expense, the parents. We want all the stuff and then complain when it's so expensive. <hangs head in shame>

 

[FamousxMindset]

Simply out curiosity what is the current tuition at your facility, is your gym small/medium/large, and lastly what division does your child compete in?

 

[Ashley]

My long term goal after starting my career as an engineer is to start a "Non-Profit" gym, where all money coming in pays a decent wage to employees, and drives down the cost for the families. Tuition would be average to the industry and would still go towards buying equipment and keeping the heat and lights on and everything, but anything extra goes to helping to pay for comp fees, hotels, uniforms. I don't have the logistics all figured out, but it makes sense in my head.

You say that like gym owners are rolling around in the dough. They're not. Most are barely staying afloat.

And do you plan to run this gym in all of your spare time after work? I'm a software engineer and out of the house 10 hours a day. Good luck having enough time in your day to run a gym.

I know a couple who own a gym - she does most of the day to day work and he's a software engineer and helps coach when he can, but there's no way he could do it alone without her running them gym. And now you've got a stay at home spouse to support in addition to not making any money at your gym.

 

[WinstonsGirl]

Devil's advocate... Many athletes do AS in preparation for HS cheer, and many gyms have HS's coming to their gyms for space and coaching. If cheerleading becomes a sport, it like gymnastics, would become too expensive for most average to low income HS's to continue their competitive teams. Most schools gave up gymnastics because, equipment, spring floor requirements and space prevented them from being able to continue. Add to that, the cost of qualified coaches. If cheer becomes a sport, most HS's would be forced to go strictly sideline-grounded and gyms would lose even more income.... and yes, Varsity would lose money, as well.

Where Have All the High School Gymnastics Teams Gone? - Gymnastics Zone

Interesting that things are like this in the US, as I've found it to be the opposite in Canada. Our school programs are doing great, and a lot of my parents have said it's specifically because they can't afford all-star cheer. I run my school program for about $200 per athlete a year. Shoes are extra if they need them, but we don't require cheer shoes for most. It probably helps that schools are on a dead floor here (unless they are at an all-star competition) and coaches are not paid. They are all volunteer, cutting down on some costs. That said, I've found competitions here are getting more and more expensive, especially for school teams. It's almost like they're hiking school fees to make up for the money being paid out for Worlds bids, as these are the only competitions that are hiking school prices.

 

[Ashley]

It is crazy, my CP went back after a year off and for the 5 comps that her I5 team is doing is over $800, the other teams do more than double the comps. It
Is definitely getting out of control for fees!


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I've cheered on my open team for 6 years and I'm helping to coach this year. The two of us coaching aren't getting paid and we're trying to keep costs down as much as possible - 3 comps, new uniforms this year because we have no choice, a music and choreo fee.

But for 3 worlds bid competitions (and we always register at the last minute so we can drop the comp if we need to) we're looking at over $500. We used to have 3 bid comps in New England where you could avoid hotel costs if you wanted, but now we have to go to Atlantic City and we added Ocean City as one of our comps because with the two events left we're probably not going to get a bid - and Providence is too early in the bid season for our open team to even be competitive for one. It's a waste of money even though it's about 40 minutes from the gym.

We don't even want fancy uniforms, but companies aren't even offering simple uniforms without cutouts or rhinestones or anything. We can't get them below $200 - for a uniform we wear maybe 3 times a year. It's insane and we only do the minimum amount possible, but the costs have gone up so much.

 

[TealArmySparkle]

I'm glad that I have aged out of allstar now because the industry is rapidly becoming something I don't like and difficult to associate with. I started cheer in '04, long before the monopoly culture ever existed and like many on the board, I miss those times. Back in the day (albeit when the rules were more relaxed) I was able to afford to triple team in both cheer and dance. Now however, I've nearly been priced out of cheer on a single senior team twice in three seasons due to the demand of costs and extras that came with it. Mid way through the 14/15 season, I ended up having to nearly take on two jobs in order to continue cheering and if I wasn't as obsessed with cheer as I was back then I would have walked away because the lengths I was going to was crazy. Unfortunately, I also worked out that if I had put the money I earned from working towards a college fund instead of cheer, I would have had enough to fund my way through my entire first year of college and have enough to live off of for a good few months. I think now that the stark reality of how much it was costing has set in, I've viewed the sport in a negative light and want to see it change because the revolving door can only go on for so long until it breaks.

 

[dawgshow]

I was just talking about this today with some friends. If we want to see change, we need the big 5 or 6 gyms say "we're mad as hell and we aren't going to take it anymore" for a couple of years. Want to get Varsity's attention? Have CA, CEA, TG, WC, Cali, etc.. refuse to attend STP comps for a couple of years. Have them attend the smaller, lower production competitions. Use non-varsity vendors for uniforms and warmups. They need to take the lead and take the expectations back about 10 years. Will they? No.

I admit that when I saw our original comp schedule I was considering bailing because there weren't any "big" comps on it. I wasn't looking for ALL big comps, but at least a couple. They gym owner adjusted to accommodate the parents desires and her vision and now I'm happy to say that CP is hitting the mat 10 times for around $1200 plus one flight. We may need hotels for 3 comps, but none are STP so we should be able to get decent rates. Our L5 team will go to Worlds only if they get something better than an at large bid. Summit will be attended only with paid bid. Of course, if people saw our schedule, it would probably get no respect but this is the kind of change that needs to happen to sustain the sport.

 

[Emily]

I so wish I could team you guys up with coaches / kids / parents in Germany right now.
We're currently at a point where cheer is still very affordable (I'd imagine you guys jumping for joy if you knew what parents pay over here), but Varsity Europe is doing a great job with their "growth plan" and gyms feel the pressure to add more and more competitions - not only in Germany but also in other countries. Gyms travel to Disneyland (ugh), and also to Switzerland / Great Britain, etc. for competitions when there are a lot of amazing competitions in their backyard (with small fees and due to the size of Germany you can go to all comps by car/train/bus - there's also no STP). Uniforms used to be clean and simple, but more and more gyms want an individual design with lots of rhinestones. Kids want to be just like their idols in the US - wearing Nike pros, Nfinitys and going to those huge comps with stage lights and all. Thanks to the bids Varsity gives out, more teams make the trip across the ocean not only for worlds, but also for UCA and the Summit. I also saw a team advertise that they'll compete at NCA next year.
We're at a point where the current trend is still reversible, but I guess that won't happen. I wouldn't be surprised to see parents in Germany say the same things that you guys are saying here just a few years down the road.