Parents Guide – Part 6

Parents Guide - Part 6

BE COST AWARE

Parents don’t need to be just the piggy bank. Yes, this sport is expensive. The past couple of years though, it has felt like all the prices are being jacked up on every turn. Again, everyone needs to make a profit, I understand that, but if the prices keep going up, this sport will continue to shrink and then none of this will really even matter. There has to be a breaking point. (It may come sooner than you think). Every season, I watch as gyms close and gyms open. The past few seasons, I see more gyms closing down (successful gyms that have been around for more than decade) than I see new gyms opening up.

We are also starting to see a decrease in athletes. And for the past couple of years, we started to see a decrease in the number of competitions. I’ve talked about this earlier, but this season is the biggest decrease in competitions I’ve seen. It looks like at least 2/3s of the Event Producers (including the IEPs) have cut at least one competition from what they had last season. (See my State of the Mat for a further breakdown). In addition, over the past few years I have seen big prominent competitions go from 2 and 3 day comps with 2 floors sized down to 2 day comp with one floor done by 5pm.

I realize that anytime anyone talks about the cost of this sport, the common thought process is that Varsity is a money-hungry bleep. Now yes, it is possible that there is some truth, but the costs don’t just lie at Varsity’s feet. It is more than that. Everyone is charging more, even down to the cost of a bottle of water. Heck, I’ve even seen some competitions where athletes need to bring their own water, because it is not offered backstage anymore.

While we are talking about costs I need to make sure that people understand this. I did an informal survey, and almost 90% of the parents that responded said they needed assistance to pay for cheer. Whether it was in the form of fundraising, second jobs, or even borrowing money from friends and family. Almost 90%. Please coaches and gym owners, pay attention to this… Almost 90%. If 90% of your gym needs help paying, please re-evaluate.

Here are some quick cost saving measures for everyone.

PARENTS

Car pool

Cook in your hotel rooms or bring food from home.

Watch the team gifts contributions, make sure they are affordable for EVERYONE!

Use a fuel reward program or Upside to save money or get cash back on fuel.

Look for a credit card to use for cashback on hotels and travel expenses (but pay it off every month)

Look for AirBnB or VRBO where families can team up and share the costs of lodging. (Especially easy to do at the Orlando competitions)

COACHES/GYMS

Before you add mega-comps to the schedule, make sure your families can afford the travel costs.

Uniform Rentals. It works!

Don’t go with a name brand uniform, lots of good moderately priced companies.

Use the same uniform for a several years, don’t need to buy a new one every season

Go with one traditionally store bought sports bra and shorts, instead of 2 sets of fancy practice wear

Go to competitions that are drivable (or carpoolable)

Add smaller one day comps

Lower your upcharges by 1% or 2%.

Re-evaluate fees that go into comp expenses.

Only bring those coaches that are required to attend that particular competition (not all coaches, just because it’s a cool comp)

EVENT PRODUCERS

One spectator admission with registration

Work with venues/parking for re-entry (that way we can come back and cheer on other teams)

Get rid of Eventbrite and online ticketing (the fees are killing us)

Get rid of Stay n Plays

Get rid of extravagant stuff in coaches room (no need for Funnel cakes/fried Oreos or chefs preparing made to order eggs or massage chairs)

Work with hotels to make sure of best pricing and/or benefits (also “vet” the hotels and make sure they aren’t next to strip clubs)

Get rid of rebates, reduce prices instead.