High School Wwyd? - High School Uniforms Or Lack Thereof

[Cheermom1969]

In California it's against the law to require payment for sports. We can ask for a "donation" but things are getting cut left and right because parents are choosing not to pay (even when they can).

And this pisses me off! I'm seeing the same thing. So many people who can pay and don't because "I don't have to" and it only affects the kids/team. I saw it with my son and his football team all four years he played. And it's only getting worse.

 

[Official OWECheer]

This!

Not to mention, $2000 is asinine. Including our trip to nationals this year, even my first year cheerleaders who are purchasing warmups etc will only be out about $1200. The ones established in the program who have all of that junk will only be out the cost of the trip to nationals. If I made them purchase one each of all three of our uniforms that number would go up to about $1650. Prior to my taking over the program, people were paying in the thousands every year. I put a stop to that crap and am on a mission to prove that you can win competitions without sending your athletes' families into the poor house.

Thank you. I rememeber reading an old article about the cost of high school cheer at some schools and how difficult it is for some families... legit saw one school whose first-year cheerleaders paid $3500 to cheer. Nuts when you see successful, nationally competitive programs charging their athletes less than half of that.

I think that is a wonderful goal and I applaud you on pushing your athletes in that direction. I wish cp's team took your lead.

I always find it funny when I see really strong programs that know when to fall back and take a year off from Nationals if they feel they need to rebuild that season, vs. programs with no pressure to maintain a reputation who feel the need to raise all of the money and go every year, only to be cut in prelims.

 

[coacha]

I always find it funny when I see really strong programs that know when to fall back and take a year off from Nationals if they feel they need to rebuild that season, vs. programs with no pressure to maintain a reputation who feel the need to raise all of the money and go every year, only to be cut in prelims.

I think for us it helps that we compete in the NorthBeast. If we can't beat teams at local competitions (or even at our league competition), why on earth would we travel all the way to Disney to lose to the same teams. We did beat a couple of nationals heading teams a few weeks ago, so we'll be closely watching results in February to see how those teams do.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

Thank you. I rememeber reading an old article about the cost of high school cheer at some schools and how difficult it is for some families... legit saw one school whose first-year cheerleaders paid $3500 to cheer. Nuts when you see successful, nationally competitive programs charging their athletes less than half that.

I wi

I think for us it helps that we compete in the NorthBeast. If we can't beat teams at local competitions (or even at our league competition), why on earth would we travel all the way to Disney to lose to the same teams. We did beat a couple of nationals heading teams a few weeks ago, so we'll be closely watching results in February to see how those teams do.

I have a bit of a different philosophy. I do all of our choreography and use our regional competitions to judge what we are doing in comparison to what other teams are doing. I also devour scoresheets and videos much like a football or basketball coach would. I want to win everything, don't get me wrong, but I am ok with showing an ability to be competitive at the regional when it comes to making an educated decision to spend the money on NHSCC.

 

[CheerBank]

I think for us it helps that we compete in the NorthBeast. If we can't beat teams at local competitions (or even at our league competition), why on earth would we travel all the way to Disney to lose to the same teams. We did beat a couple of nationals heading teams a few weeks ago, so we'll be closely watching results in February to see how those teams do.

The parents from cp's team never seem to see it that way. Can I schedule you as a motivational speaker for them? :D

 

[Official OWECheer]

I think for us it helps that we compete in the NorthBeast. If we can't beat teams at local competitions (or even at our league competition), why on earth would we travel all the way to Disney to lose to the same teams. We did beat a couple of nationals heading teams a few weeks ago, so we'll be closely watching results in February to see how those teams do.

Yes, the northeast has an insane amount of talent.

 

[Tealxblack25]

Thanks everyone, I am not sure what we are going to do - I think we will be okay for now as we didn't really have a great turnout for tryouts - both teams have about 10-12 kids on them

I think we are going to look into a new uniform for next season and hopefully that will be enough incentive for them to fundraise!

 

[tojofasho]

Thanks everyone, I am not sure what we are going to do - I think we will be okay for now as we didn't really have a great turnout for tryouts - both teams have about 10-12 kids on them

I think we are going to look into a new uniform for next season and hopefully that will be enough incentive for them to fundraise!

If you ever need help with fundraising, I've got a ton of ideas I'm happy to share. They each only make around $200, but when you add that up multiple times through the season you can rake in thousands! I just purchased my own set of new uniforms for the team as well :)

 

[EWalsh1029]

It is a requirement here if you want to cheer. It costs about $2000 a season. Every sport is the same. You pay to play. Before I was on here I never heard of a school system providing cheer uniforms.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Around me, you pay to play as well, the "athletic fee." It ranges from $250 to $950. Cheer pays $450 where I coach. You pay this fee every year. We have 39 girls in our program (JV & Varsity pay the same). 39x450 = $17,550 from the cheerleading program alone. You can apply for a scholarship if you do not think you will be able to afford the fee.

This "fee" covers our buses to and from competitions; buses to and from games; competition fees; choreography x2; and music x2. Our school pays for our uniforms in 4 year rotations.

Separately; our girls have to pay for:
- Warm up jacket $70
- Team Leggings $28 w/ new leggings; $5 just embroidery
- Team Shorts $2 just embroidery on black nike pro (which every girl already has)
- Team Tank $18
- Team T-shirt $10
- Team Sweatshirt $45
- Shoes $80
- Poms $19
- Brief/Pink Bow $30
- White Bow $5
- Competition Bow $18
Total = approx. $335 (for a cheerleader new to the program; if they are a returning athlete they only need to pay for the team tank; t-shirt & competition bow,as these vary by year).

So, our girls end up paying about $785 to cheer if you are new to the program; and $496 if you are returning. We only have fall cheer. We are currently awaiting approval from our school district for a Nationals trip, if that gets approved then we will fundraise for that.

Thankfully, for lack of better word, I coach in a "well off" district, so this cost isn't much of a dent to the families in the program; but I know this isn't the case for most schools/districts.

 

[Official OWECheer]

Thanks everyone, I am not sure what we are going to do - I think we will be okay for now as we didn't really have a great turnout for tryouts - both teams have about 10-12 kids on them

I think we are going to look into a new uniform for next season and hopefully that will be enough incentive for them to fundraise!

For now, I'd just design a T-shirt to wear with Soffes for comps. Your parents should be understanding of your circumstances (though not all of them might be).

 

[cheer25mom]

So for all of you that have team sets of uniforms, how do you decide how many of what sizes to order??? Our varsity rep comes and individually sizes each girl. Skirt and top lengths are customized to them. Do you just do this for the team you have and hope they fit next season, order a set amount of each size, or what? Do you allow for growth in the program or do uniforms determine how many on a squad? Band uniforms are the only thing that belongs to the school around here, and I know for that we order extras and the students pay a rental fee for their use so there will be money for new ones as needed, but those aren't nearly as fit specific.

 

[cheer25mom]

Around me, you pay to play as well, the "athletic fee." It ranges from $250 to $950. Cheer pays $450 where I coach. You pay this fee every year. We have 39 girls in our program (JV & Varsity pay the same). 39x450 = $17,550 from the cheerleading program alone. You can apply for a scholarship if you do not think you will be able to afford the fee.

This "fee" covers our buses to and from competitions; buses to and from games; competition fees; choreography x2; and music x2. Our school pays for our uniforms in 4 year rotations.

Separately; our girls have to pay for:
- Warm up jacket $70
- Team Leggings $28 w/ new leggings; $5 just embroidery
- Team Shorts $2 just embroidery on black nike pro (which every girl already has)
- Team Tank $18
- Team T-shirt $10
- Team Sweatshirt $45
- Shoes $80
- Poms $19
- Brief/Pink Bow $30
- White Bow $5
- Competition Bow $18
Total = approx. $335 (for a cheerleader new to the program; if they are a returning athlete they only need to pay for the team tank; t-shirt & competition bow,as these vary by year).

So, our girls end up paying about $785 to cheer if you are new to the program; and $496 if you are returning. We only have fall cheer. We are currently awaiting approval from our school district for a Nationals trip, if that gets approved then we will fundraise for that.

Thankfully, for lack of better word, I coach in a "well off" district, so this cost isn't much of a dent to the families in the program; but I know this isn't the case for most schools/districts.

Ours covers all of that plus 3 uniforms per girl (with liners and bloomers), outside tumbling instruction, and summer camp and campwear. They cheer men's and women's basketball and volleyball in addition to football, so it includes all of those buses. Payments are broken up in manageable increments and we do some fundraising. Most parents find a way to pay it if they want their kid to cheer. If they just cannot we have programs in place for demonstrated need.

 

[tojofasho]

So for all of you that have team sets of uniforms, how do you decide how many of what sizes to order??? Our varsity rep comes and individually sizes each girl. Skirt and top lengths are customized to them. Do you just do this for the team you have and hope they fit next season, order a set amount of each size, or what? Do you allow for growth in the program or do uniforms determine how many on a squad? Band uniforms are the only thing that belongs to the school around here, and I know for that we order extras and the students pay a rental fee for their use so there will be money for new ones as needed, but those aren't nearly as fit specific.

We get the same number of every uniform in every size, and I tell parents flat out you get what you get, this is what we have, deal with it.

This year I had 10 freshmen on my team, all of them super tiny and easily an XS, and yet half of them had to wear mediums. My smalls were also in mediums, and my mediums were in larges. The girls were welcome to pin them tighter but cannot stitch/cut them to make them smaller. I always tell the parents "if you want one that fits, you are welcome to order one and purchase it yourself", which some parents will do. However, for most of them (I coach at a Title I school so we are very poor), they just grind their teeth and deal with the bigger uniforms. It's always better for a uniform to be too big than too small, so just make sure to order those extra larger sizes just in case. If you're getting 20 uniforms, I would recommend 2 XS, 5 S, 5 M, 5 L, 2 XL, 1 XXL. That's what I did and while they may be complaining it's too big now, I'd rather it be that than be stuck with one that is too small any day - that's not a conversation I ever want to have with a parent.

 

[Official OWECheer]

That's what I did and while they may be complaining it's too big now, I'd rather it be that than be stuck with one that is too small any day - that's not a conversation I ever want to have with a parent.

True, not something I thought of before.

 

[CheerBank]

Around me, you pay to play as well, the "athletic fee." It ranges from $250 to $950. Cheer pays $450 where I coach. You pay this fee every year. We have 39 girls in our program (JV & Varsity pay the same). 39x450 = $17,550 from the cheerleading program alone. You can apply for a scholarship if you do not think you will be able to afford the fee.

This "fee" covers our buses to and from competitions; buses to and from games; competition fees; choreography x2; and music x2. Our school pays for our uniforms in 4 year rotations.

Separately; our girls have to pay for:
- Warm up jacket $70
- Team Leggings $28 w/ new leggings; $5 just embroidery
- Team Shorts $2 just embroidery on black nike pro (which every girl already has)
- Team Tank $18
- Team T-shirt $10
- Team Sweatshirt $45
- Shoes $80
- Poms $19
- Brief/Pink Bow $30
- White Bow $5
- Competition Bow $18
Total = approx. $335 (for a cheerleader new to the program; if they are a returning athlete they only need to pay for the team tank; t-shirt & competition bow,as these vary by year).

So, our girls end up paying about $785 to cheer if you are new to the program; and $496 if you are returning. We only have fall cheer. We are currently awaiting approval from our school district for a Nationals trip, if that gets approved then we will fundraise for that.

Thankfully, for lack of better word, I coach in a "well off" district, so this cost isn't much of a dent to the families in the program; but I know this isn't the case for most schools/districts.

We are not even allowed to make warmups a mandatory purchase. Poms are supplied by the school. Last year the bow was a gift from the booster club, I believe it was given to the new girls this season as well. The only mandatory outside purchase are cheer sneakers.
Thats not to say that most girls don't buy all the items offered on the clothing order, they just cannot be required to.