WAG Need opinions on hourly rate for increased summer hours.

[MILgymFAM]

This is the cost of living in NY.

Living in San Francisco I get high COL, but I can't fathom people paying over $1,000 a month for gymnastics (and that's just the base tuition). At least out here, that would put parents in a position to be laying out over $750-800 a month for L4 (12-16 hrs). I know I am poor, so maybe a different perspective than some, but that is just nuts.

 

[twinmomma]

Living in San Francisco I get high COL, but I can't fathom people paying over $1,000 a month for gymnastics (and that's just the base tuition). At least out here, that would put parents in a position to be laying out over $750-800 a month for L4 (12-16 hrs). I know I am poor, so maybe a different perspective than some, but that is just nuts.

I'm with you. This seems ridiculous to me. We already shell out $300/month for L4 and that's not including competition fees and travel, leos, etc...

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Currently paying close to a thousand for 11 weeks of 7.5 hours/week

Did recheck my math though, its more like 12.00/hour.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Currently paying close to a thousand for 11 weeks of 7.5 hours/week

Right, close to a $1,000 for almost 3 months. Parents in your gym must be paying triple that, unless hours stay very low.

More power to you. We were in a odd, one-off, situation for two months where I was paying around $1,000 a month (for two girls, three gyms total) and it nearly caused panic attacks. It definitely caused ridiculous amounts of stress. Parents at your gym must be very dedicated!

Eta- we have been in the unfortunate position of paying more than you per hour, when DD did 6 hours, and it would have been untenable for higher hours. Luckily it seems common for the per hour to drop as the hours rise.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Right, close to a $1,000 for almost 3 months. Parents in your gym must be paying triple that, unless hours stay very low.

Again, just what it costs around here. Could find a gym that costs a bit less (not much) but the quality of Little's training would drop significantly. It is what it is.

I pretty much work for gymnastics. And traded day care for gymnastics.

This is why I don't stay at practice. For what I am paying I am going to make good use of my free time. Date night with hubby tomorrow in fact.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Just wanted to add we got summer gym camp info.

Its 310.00 a week 9am-3pm, M-F. I think we get a 70.00 credit because we train at the gym and some of those camp hours are part of the summer cycle, so if we do gym camp its 240.00 extra for each week of camp. There are 4, we will be doing 3. So there is another 800 plus bucks.

 

[xxStumpyxx]

Currently paying close to a thousand for 11 weeks of 7.5 hours/week

Did recheck my math though, its more like 12.00/hour.

my daughter has just started doing 7 1/2 hours a week and the cost is £62 a month or £141 for 11 weeks - works out on average at £2.07p an hour, we pay calendar month so get free weeks sometimes.

In Dollars it works out at
$218 per 11 weeks
$96 per month
$3 per hour

I think we have got a bargain.

 

[twinmomma]

Just wanted to add we got summer gym camp info.

Its 310.00 a week 9am-3pm, M-F. I think we get a 70.00 credit because we train at the gym and some of those camp hours are part of the summer cycle, so if we do gym camp its 240.00 extra for each week of camp. There are 4, we will be doing 3. So there is another 800 plus bucks.

Highlighting again that gymnastics is limited to those who can afford it. 310/week for 6 hours a day, where you can't even drop them off before work and pick them up after is unreal. Sorry, too rich for my blood.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Highlighting again that gymnastics is limited to those who can afford it. 310/week for 6 hours a day, where you can't even drop them off before work and pick them up after is unreal. Sorry, too rich for my blood.

Yep that is why we were unable to do it last year. This year it will be 2 or 3 weeks max. We can not afford all 4 weeks.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I have to say though, in speaking with parents who have kids involved in other things that isn't cheap either when you get in competitive track.

Ice hockey, Figure skating (have you seen the price of skates and blades, that will make you shudder). Competitive dance, lots of costumes during the year. Travel anything, soccer , baseball etc.

I am just happy not to have to deal with weather when watching. I may have to sit through the same music over and over, and long awards but at least its mostly climate controlled.

 

[l.c.o]

My DD currently goes 11 hrs/wk $295
This summer it'll increase to 15 hrs/wk for $360

This summer, my DS will go 7 hours per week for $220 (I don't remember what we pay for four hours...).

I'm ignoring the fact that it'll be almost $600/mo for both kids this summer.

We're suburban region 4.

 

[gwenmom]

Suddenly I'm feeling very appreciative toward my DD's gym.

We pay $225/mo year round - 14 hours practice during the school year and, this summer, 20 hours. This may be a potential model you move toward as it spreads the additional cost out throughout the year for the parents. As parents, we KNOW the girls hours will increase in the summer, but we also know we won't be paying anything additional for those hours.

This is our gym as well and I appreciate it greatly as my cost already go up in summer in paying for daycare and summer camp for my other child. A jump in gym cost in the summer might make the budget to thin.

 

[Gymbee06]

My dds gym allows us the option of attending from 9:30 until 4:30 for an extra £2 ($3)a day they have an hour before normal training begins at 5:30 until 8:30, if I were to do all the hours offered a week in the school holidays she could train for 43 hours a week!!! They do get to play around and have breaks and stuff it would cost me £24 ($48) a week or £104 ($208) a month so glad I live in the uk!!!

 

[mom2agymnast]

My dd is Xcel and goes 10.5 hours a week and we pay 340.00 a month. They are adding on a 2.5 hour practice on Fridays and that will cost an additional 90.00 a month.

 

[mndl]

We're in NJ and currently pay $270 a month for 6 hrs a week for preteam. I believe when she moves up to level 3 in the summer it will be $ 450 a month for 12hrs a week. I'm not sure how much levels 7-10 are, and I really don't want to know...

 

[gymdog]

Suddenly I'm feeling very appreciative toward my DD's gym.

We pay $225/mo year round - 14 hours practice during the school year and, this summer, 20 hours. This may be a potential model you move toward as it spreads the additional cost out throughout the year for the parents. As parents, we KNOW the girls hours will increase in the summer, but we also know we won't be paying anything additional for those hours.

I will say that @Anna's_Mom had a great point - watch what hours you are scheduling and be aware that a jump in price may price some of the parents out of an increased practice schedule. I'm lucky in that our gym offer after-school and summer programs so I'm not stressed about getting my DD to practice. If your gym doesn't offer an after-school or summer program, it may be a good thing to look in to.

Prices vary a lot depending on location and how much to costs to run the business. Tuition in San Francisco or NYC is going to be higher than say, suburban Iowa. But the location the OP mentioned, regionally, tuition for those hours is going to be more. Now the OP's gym could try to undercut those prices. But it might not be sustainable. And the owner might not agree. That said, I don't know of anywhere where tuition is $250 a week. In the most expensive areas, level 10 tuition is in the $500s.

 

[Aero]

This thread has become quite popular! Thank you to everyone who responded with your personal experiences, as well as suggestions. I have read over all the responses and used a lot of this as the basis for my current choice. You guys rock!

As for the sliding scale of the hourly rate, I am well aware of this standard. I would not dream of charging my parents based on a fixed hourly rate. That would be lunacy, and I would certainly have a very, very, very small team, haha. My current plan is listed below:


Group 1 - $7.00/hr. rounded to $250.00/month.

Group 2 - $6.25/hr. rounded to $300.00/month.

Group 3 - $5.50/hr. rounded to $350.00/month.


Thoughts on these prices? I don't want to charge JO rates, and am trying to keep the costs a bit lower since it's Xcel. I also still have no idea about what I'm going to charge for the TOPs practice.

Also, as far as hours ago, I suppose they are high, but they are only for the two summer months, and I am placing the girls appropriately. The way I look at it, if a girl is talented and driven enough, capping their hours is doing them a disservice. I am also very open to the fact that some families may have difficulty with the days and times, or that certain girls may dislike the greater number of hours. I run the program entirely on my own, and having carte blanche makes it easy to change rules and policies as needed since there is no red tape or higher up individuals to go through. Therefore, if a mom comes up to me and says, "Suzy is having a hard time adjusting to all the hours, what can we do?" I can easily switch her to another group, or have her come one less day and adjust her tuition accordingly.

I feel being empathetic is very important for this line of work.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My current plan is listed below:


Group 1 - $7.00/hr. rounded to $250.00/month.

Group 2 - $6.25/hr. rounded to $300.00/month.

Group 3 - $5.50/hr. rounded to $350.00/month.


Thoughts on these prices? I don't want to charge JO rates, and am trying to keep the costs a bit lower since it's Xcel.

I think it's a bit of a misconception that people have that xcel is cheaper than JO. Generally I think that xcel tuition is only lower than JO because the hours are less, there are less comps/less travel, and the leos are often cheaper. In my experience JO rates (hourly) are always lower.

That aside, your plan seems good to me. It's pretty awesome that you have so much freedom and I love how much thought you put into this whole thing. I hope all your girls flourish this summer!

 

[Iwannabemargo]

My dds gym allows us the option of attending from 9:30 until 4:30 for an extra £2 ($3)a day they have an hour before normal training begins at 5:30 until 8:30, if I were to do all the hours offered a week in the school holidays she could train for 43 hours a week!!! They do get to play around and have breaks and stuff it would cost me £24 ($48) a week or £104 ($208) a month so glad I live in the uk!!!

Blimey - I wish - here is £10 a day

 

[emorymom]

Aero, that looks more reasonable. One thing that may help buffer it for the working parents, is there is a gym around here that moves team practice to daytime but lets team kids do day camp (day care) there for $50/week additional.

My DD's gym leaves summer practice in the evening because the coaches have day jobs; and my DS's gym is set up so it would be a real challenge to be on team there if you didn't have a stay at home parent or a very flexibly employed one (schedule changes on the fly, practice shifts to workday hours during local district school breaks with no associated camp).

It's ok to do one model over the other, because families are different.

(DD's swim club also seems to want to attract stay at home parents; summer practice schedule for her group has two weekday practices 9-11am, two weekday practices 3-5pm, and one at 4:45.)