Parents Advice on Funding?

[Nikknaq]

Hello, I just came across this website and joined today. This is my first time posting on a forum like this. I came here for help/advice on funding/fundraising?
I have two level 4 competitive gymnasts and we are stationed in California. They have been competing since we moved here three years ago. Last year was their first time going to the North So Cal State Chanpionships and my 10 year old placed first on beam and my 8 year old placed first on vault and bars! They are crazy good and everyone loves to see them tumble! They’ve accomplished so much.

The one and only issue that i have (and maybe some can relate) is that it is so expensive! Our booster club is practically non existent and being that we are on a military installation, there are tons of rules and limits to the type and frequency of fundraising we can do. For instance We can’t do anything that sells food.

Gymnastics is my daughters whole entire life...they love it and it makes them so happy. They are at that gym for 12 hours a week!
But the fees associated with competing kill us every time! I don’t know how we got by last year (i know it was hard!)

Uniforms, Leo’s, coaches fees, usag, gas (traveling two plus hours out), entry fees for gymnast, entry fees for mom and dad, hotel stays if necessary...
What do others in our situation try to do to raise money? Are there scholarships that i don’t know about?

If anyone has any insight it would really mean the world to me. Thank You!

 

[MILgymFAM]

We are a military family too, and had two gymnasts in CA for a few years (we are stationed in VA now). Honesty? We used credit cards more often than was fiscally sound. There are some gyms that give military discounts, some that give scholarships (rare, but they do exist!), and some that will trade some work for tuition. Mostly you either accept that it’s gonna kill your budget or start looking for a new sport. Our kids are much older, so the end of the money hemorrhaging was always in sight- otherwise I wouldn’t pushed running! Ha!

 

[Nikknaq]

We are a military family too, and had two gymnasts in CA for a few years (we are stationed in VA now). Honesty? We used credit cards more often than was fiscally sound. There are some gyms that give military discounts, some that give scholarships (rare, but they do exist!), and some that will trade some work for tuition. Mostly you either accept that it’s gonna kill your budget or start looking for a new sport. Our kids are much older, so the end of the money hemorrhaging was always in sight- otherwise I wouldn’t pushed running! Ha!

Ha I appreciate the honesty! Geez, that’s what we have been doing thus far, running up credit..& it sucks!!! But I def see the truth in “accept it or find a new sport”. I’ve kind of started to accept that competitive gymnastics is just simply starting to be out of our league. I’ve tried to have the talk with my girls but it’s hard for them to understand. It’s hard seeing their little hearts break which is what brought me here! Ahhh...
Nice to know other military families out there who’ve been/are in my position!

 

[MILgymFAM]

Ha I appreciate the honesty! Geez, that’s what we have been doing thus far, running up credit..& it sucks!!! But I def see the truth in “accept it or find a new sport”. I’ve kind of started to accept that competitive gymnastics is just simply starting to be out of our league. I’ve tried to have the talk with my girls but it’s hard for them to understand. It’s hard seeing their little hearts break which is what brought me here! Ahhh...
Nice to know other military families out there who’ve been/are in my position!

Are they in JO? Because Xcel could be a cheaper option. There are YMCAs in SoCal that compete, and that’s another cheaper option. You could always ask grandparents and such to buy uniforms/pay meet entries as bday or Xmas gifts. If all else fails- and it did for us for a year- there is always the option to have them do rec instead and find something else to compete. SoCal also has T&T which is cheaper, and rhythmic and acro- they’re sometimes cheaper, sometimes not. Will you get stationed elsewhere soon? We had to force one of my girls to quit when we moved. It was HARD, but the big move gave it a clean break that wouldn’t have been possible if she’d quit while we were stationary.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

A job perhaps ???

 

[bookworm]

Well if your girls are level 4 and you're already having money troubles without an obvious solution in sight (promotion for Dad, job for mom, lottery winnings etc) , I can tell you from experience with 2 girls who were in it through multiple years of level 10, it will only get worse. Ball parking what we spent yearly with all the charges you cite and probably some you missed, it was 10 K per gymnast per year ...so $20,000 of liquid cash you need to have handy for the next 10 years going forward (and some years were a little less, and some years were more...)

Some years we traveled a lot and had 3-4 flights during the season, and some years only 1 or 2, but there was always flights, last minute, and therefore higher priced, at the end of the season for Nationals....

We were in gyms with booster clubs and without and I never found the booster clubs to be particularly helpful in defraying the costs, without me working 1000 gym hours ....that I could work at my regular job and make more, so I opted out of those types of arrangements and paid what I owed. Other people swear by them but it wasn't a system that worked for me.

A caveat in all this is knowing how long this can go on, with costs increasing every year, I don't think I would go the "charging it to my credit card" route... I fear if you start that with two gymnasts at level 4, it's a hole you would never get out of ...and frankly, a kid's leisure activity, no matter how much they love it, should not ruin a family's financial stability. There are cheaper options.... the YMCAs have sliding scale fees in our town, Xcel programs and rec teams....and if you can't afford JO, you can't afford it and there's no shame in that. I get that you want to be able to do it all for your girls but you have to think rationally with a plan for years going forward.

I don't mean to be a Debbie downer but that's what you're looking at...

 

[Sminty]

A few years ago I spent some time looking into scholarship opportunities for one of my DD's teammates, but did not find much (I think Nastia Liukin had something for clubs). Another thought is to see if local businesses are willing to "sponsor" the team in exchange for advertising (flyers in the gym, ads in meet program etc). Some gyms will give you a break on tuition in exchange for this kind of fundraising.

To be completely honest, I would also echo some of bookworm's thoughts above. Once we got to optionals, costs increased. More hours = higher tuition, the comp leo was more expensive, we had to pay for choreography ($450) and most significantly, 1-2 out of state meets that require a plane trip and multiple hotel nights. Something to consider as you weigh your options.

 

[bogwoppit]

Honestly it is a very expensive sport, in fact kids sports generally are, at the end of the day not every child can do competitive sports. Sad, but true.

As book says, unless you forsee a lottery win I would not be running up credit card debt for this. That is a recipe for disaster fiscally, and is not sustainable.

 

[tpMom]

First, congrats to your daughters! It sounds like they are talented and motivated. Secondly, I have to agree with the crowd here, as the mother of a newly minted optional gymnast I can tell you that the costs only get worse. I would suggest talking to your gym, some programs offer payment plans and sibling discounts. I would also try to save money during the down season. Competition season gets very expensive with travel, session fees, etc..., if you can try to estimate the total cost over the year, then divide that by 12 and make sure to put that much money aside every month you might be able to better plan for the costs.

 

[kayjaybe]

A job perhaps ???

I agree with this. The amount you are going to get from fundraising will likely never equal the amount you could earn at even a fairly low-paying, partime job.

Working just 10 hours/week at $10/hour is going to bring in $400/month or $4800/year. It is highly unlike you could raise that much money from fundraising.

 

[mommyof1]

I agree with this. The amount you are going to get from fundraising will likely never equal the amount you could earn at even a fairly low-paying, partime job.

Working just 10 hours/week at $10/hour is going to bring in $400/month or $4800/year. It is highly unlike you could raise that much money from fundraising.

I have known several gym moms who have taken on part-time jobs, sometimes on top of their existing full-time jobs, to pay for gymnastics. The lucky ones have worked the front desk at the gym or taught preschool gymnastics classes.

I agree with Bookworm that the math never seems to work out with booster club fundraising.

 

[CuriousCate]

Our older DD is also now moving to optionals and woah. I was floored at what this season will cost. Assuming we only spend the night in a hotel for one night per meet and assuming that only one parent + ODD go to the two meets we'd need to fly to, plus meet fees, and the fancy optional leotard, bag, warm up, etc...the low end figure is coming out to just under $5000.

There are several parents on our team who work at the gym to offset their costs. They have even had some of the girls "working" to clean mats, take out trash, hang the snacks and drinks to pay for their choreo, grips, tiger paws, etc. We have even more who get a lot of their costs covered by grandparents, family members, etc as gifts. I would talk to the HC/owner about options before you pull them out.

 

[mls529]

Have you considered asking your daughters' gym if they have any jobs available? Our gym gives a discount to employees -- several moms I know work the front desk, do accounting/bookkeeping, etc. I even knew a couple who "coached" who had some background in the sport (i.e. mommy and me classes or rec classes). Not only are you earning money (not super high paying, but something) but you can earn a discount on tuition.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Agree with above about costs, not going into debt, etc. I had two competing at one time - one for 6 years and the other for 12. Thanking G-D I've paid my last bill (she's off to college next week!) but totally agree with BW's assessment of $10K per year once you get into optional levels. Fundraising never amounted to much, I would not count on using this as a source of financing competitive gym.