All-Star Worlds And Summit Travel

[amy1k]

We get an invoice that breaks down all of our fees and balances monthly.
If your gym is hiding fees what else are they hiding?

I'm talking about before the season. If I'm shopping for a gym, I want to be able to see the costs BEFORE I bring my kid there to sign up. Locally it is becoming more difficult to do that. Gyms don't want to show costs until you've signed up.

 

[icame2WERQ]

Our competition fee payment break down also cover's music, choreography and coaches travel fee's. That does sound a little high to me.

Yep. Music and choreography are all separate payments. Not included in comp fees


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[mstealtoyou]

Yep. Music and choreography are all separate payments. Not included in comp fees


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Side eye

 

[CatFan22]

I've seen gyms charge MUCH more than that for competition fees. Think $1400 per athlete for Worlds...it included (I'd say includes, but they no longer post their fees publicly, so I can't confirm) hotel and registration and coach travel fees but nothing else. The fees were the same with a paid bid. The parents are fine with it...they've commented as much on Fierce Board. I don't CARE...except that if one gym can do it, it worries me that others will follow and choices are limited in my area.

How are the fees the same for those with a paid bid? So, is the gym just pocketing the $650/kid they receive from the EP? Wow!

 

[amy1k]

Yes. They consider(ed?) it an investment in the gym. Not sneaky or anything, it was explained in their contract.

 

[CatFan22]

Yes. They consider(ed?) it an investment in the gym. Not sneaky or anything, it was explained in their contract.

Hmmm.....That's quite the "investment". That's about $13,000-$23,400 depending on the size of the team.

I don't think I'd be OK with that if I saw that in a gym's contract. It would definitely be a determent for me. In my mind, part of the purpose for the paid bids are to aid in the expense of Worlds for those athletes.

 

[amy1k]

Hmmm.....That's quite the "investment". That's about $13,000-$23,400 depending on the size of the team.

I don't think I'd be OK with that if I saw that in a gym's contract. It would definitely be a determent for me. In my mind, part of the purpose for the paid bids are to aid in the expense of Worlds for those athletes.

Like I said, we have few options. I'm glad for the Fierce Board and the ability to be educated on how it's done in other places. ;) Not everyone has that...they can't compare from gym to gym because the information is typically kept quiet. People make decisions based on what they know or what they are told.

I'm pretty frustrated will allstar cheerleading in general. :)

(There aren't a whole lot of paid bids to Summit or Worlds awarded to teams in my area, so this isn't a hugely common thing, I'm sure)

 

[AlwaysLearning]

@Perkyninjamomma I know you love your gym, but there are a couple of things that raise my eyebrows about the rules they have.

I've been at 3 gyms in my CP's cheer life. I have always paid comp fees within $5 as stated on the EP's website (yes I've priced it out to see how my charges compare). I don't care if my gym charges a small admin fee, but I don't want them to be gouging me. If an athlete is injured or needs a replacement the replacement is expected to cover all of their own travel expenses. The comp fees are already paid so the original athlete covers those. In our case we make our own travel plans so I may be out hotel or flight if my kid can't compete & I can't transfer it to her replacement. You said part of the reason for paying the gym is to easily switch kids. I would expect the replacement would be paying the fees and the original athlete getting credited since it technically should be easy to switch the names.

I'm sorry, but I've never heard of a replacement taking the money of the original kid. That seems shady to me and I would seriously question why I would have to pay for someone else's kid to travel to a comp.

If they're adding travel costs to your monthly fee I would ask for a breakdown. Before our season starts we get a very detailed spreadsheet with every fee broken out. I know the cost of every comp fee, usasf fee, uniform, warmups, practice wear, monthly tuition, etc. I pay a lot for cheer, but I know exactly where my money goes and where the profit is built into for my gym. Cheer is a business and I don't expect our owner to do this for free, but I do expect to know where my money is going. If they're adding 10% to comp/travel fees, etc for their admin fee/bottom line then they should be upfront about it.

 

[AlwaysLearning]

@amy1k Gyms keeping paid bid money is also shady. It's already an expensive trip from your area. I wish you had more options so those practices couldn't hold up!

 

[gofriars610]

Like I said, we have few options. I'm glad for the Fierce Board and the ability to be educated on how it's done in other places. ;) Not everyone has that...they can't compare from gym to gym because the information is typically kept quiet. People make decisions based on what they know or what they are told.

I'm pretty frustrated will allstar cheerleading in general. :)

(There aren't a whole lot of paid bids to Summit or Worlds awarded to teams in my area, so this isn't a hugely common thing, I'm sure)

oooh i remember that discussion. If I were the EP, I'd be furious. It's for a bid to Worlds, not for new cheese mats.

 

[amy1k]

@amy1k Gyms keeping paid bid money is also shady. It's already an expensive trip from your area. I wish you had more options so hose practices couldn't hold up!

Our gym doesn't, so far, keep bid money (they've not received a paid bid, either). I'd hope it would stay that way...but who knows. The other gym has been more successful and popular historically, so what's to stop other gyms from adopting their practices? *shrug*

 

[Fiercecheermom]

I've seen gyms charge MUCH more than that for competition fees. Think $1400 per athlete for Worlds...it included (I'd say includes, but they no longer post their fees publicly, so I can't confirm) hotel and registration and coach travel fees but nothing else. The fees were the same with a paid bid. The parents are fine with it...they've commented as much on Fierce Board. I don't CARE...except that if one gym can do it, it worries me that others will follow and choices are limited in my area.

As a side: if gyms can't make their fees public knowledge, I'm going to assume they're hiding shady info. It blows my mind that it's becoming so difficult to see and compare. Not talking about this gym, just generally speaking. I should be able to go to a website and see how much it would cost to allow my child to spend a year there. Major peeve when I can't.

$1400 per athlete for Worlds fees is felonious. Anyone can look up what the costs are per athlete on the USASF site and realize they are charging double what is being publicized. We are charged $50 per month to cover World's costs. If we get a paid bid, our athletes are then credited the bid amount plus anything that we had in our "World's savings account" from the $50 per month. I cannot imagine ANY parent being okay with this. Would LOVE to know what gym does this.

 

[amy1k]

It covers coach fees, too! So, it's not just the registration fee and hotel. It's still marked up, but not as much.

 

[njallday]

$1400 per athlete for Worlds fees is felonious. Anyone can look up what the costs are per athlete on the USASF site and realize they are charging double what is being publicized. We are charged $50 per month to cover World's costs. If we get a paid bid, our athletes are then credited the bid amount plus anything that we had in our "World's savings account" from the $50 per month. I cannot imagine ANY parent being okay with this. Would LOVE to know what gym does this.

I have nothing to add, but I love the savings account idea! I know parents could just save on their own but easier said than done for some people.

 

[emeoow]

Posted how it is done in our gym, then re-thought as it just sounded grumbly.

Does anyone know if friends/family can book and pay for on-site accommodation themselves? They thought they could and just needed the gyms reference number. But they've just got an invoice from USASF with no information on where to pay on it. So looks like the coach has done it for them. They are not arriving at the same time as the team and leave earlier. They also don't need to use their transport as they'll have their own car. I'm not sure how that works with checking in/finding their rooms and bands though? Last time we all arrived together and checked in with USASF for everything.