anyone with a spare money tree?

[coachmolly]

I also wish they would let us fundraise for this. there is no booster club and fundraising is limited to if a coach does it then MAYBE they will allow it.

Could you offer to spearhead some kind of fundraising effort? Work with the gym owners to see if you could pull something together that would get some money for the kids travel and also help out and draw attention to the gym.
That is a lot of expenses for a level 7 and it's completely reasonable to keep your dd home. Maybe you could find another fun activity for her to do on those weekends, ones that are still fun but much more budget friendly so she doesn't feel like she's being totally left out. Or let her pick the meet she wants to go to (out of the PA/MD ones). Keep checking airline websites and travel sites for cheap deals too. Sometimes you can get some amazingly cheap airfare. Southwest has some incredible deals sometimes which might help make the cost a little easier to manage.
Good luck with everything, I hope it all works out!

 

[NOG]

Wow! What were your owners thinking? In this economy I would have thought that they would be keeping the parent's budget more in mind. We only do 1 out of State meet a year, and this year it's at least driving distance (Chicago - 4hr).

Have you considered a train? I think that we are probably going to take an Amtrak to Chicago. They are very reasonable and saves me cost of gas, wear and tear on the car and most importantly, cost of parking fees in Chicago.

The train may be a viable option for you, worth a try checking it out. Good luck, we'll be thinking of you and hope that you find a way through the difficult situation that you find yourself placed. And SHAME on the owners for placing you there!

 

[Gillatard]

Wow! why so many? Our gym only does one and this year we aren't even going out of state. And yeah right now most people can barley afford gymnastics let alone 4 out of state meets! I would deffinetly talk to the owners and kind of tell them it's ridiculous.

 

[cher062]

Could you offer to spearhead some kind of fundraising effort? Work with the gym owners to see if you could pull something together that would get some money for the kids travel and also help out and draw attention to the gym.
That is a lot of expenses for a level 7 and it's completely reasonable to keep your dd home. Maybe you could find another fun activity for her to do on those weekends, ones that are still fun but much more budget friendly so she doesn't feel like she's being totally left out. Or let her pick the meet she wants to go to (out of the PA/MD ones). Keep checking airline websites and travel sites for cheap deals too. Sometimes you can get some amazingly cheap airfare. Southwest has some incredible deals sometimes which might help make the cost a little easier to manage.
Good luck with everything, I hope it all works out!

I have offered several times over the past 10 years but the owners got burnt by the booster club when there was one and basicly got rid of them about 10 years ago since then no fundraisers or anything that even resembles a booster club. Over the years I have offered along with several other parents to run a fundraiser but the answer is always NO. I am going to try again I really would like DD to be able to do one of the away meets but unless there is a good fundraiser in place i don't know how we will do it.

 

[cher062]

Wow! What were your owners thinking? In this economy I would have thought that they would be keeping the parent's budget more in mind. We only do 1 out of State meet a year, and this year it's at least driving distance (Chicago - 4hr).

Have you considered a train? I think that we are probably going to take an Amtrak to Chicago. They are very reasonable and saves me cost of gas, wear and tear on the car and most importantly, cost of parking fees in Chicago.

The train may be a viable option for you, worth a try checking it out. Good luck, we'll be thinking of you and hope that you find a way through the difficult situation that you find yourself placed. And SHAME on the owners for placing you there!

I've thought about it as I did grow up with amtrack - my grandfather worked for them and as a kid we went everywhere on them for free. Unfortunatly that isn't an option anymore for free. There isn't much difference in a plane train or bus tickcet and a train to these places would end up being more expensive because we would need extra days of travel espcially to the west coast. We would have to have funds for more days of food and the sleeping car is expensive. And then there are more days out of school not really an option. I'm hoping something changes soon and we can do at least the ones here on the east coast.

 

[kikimom]

I feel bad for you and your dd. Our gym only does one travel meet - last year we did the Dells, so we could drive and this year we are doing Twistars in Michigan so we will be able to drive. Being in the midwest, we luckily have lots of opportunity to do travel meets that are close by.

 

[NotAMom]

I don't recall anyone bringing this up...

Have you tried asking your gym for the reason for all these long-distance meets? Since you're in South NH, there should be plenty of great meets just over the border in MA.

 

[NOG]

I've thought about it as I did grow up with amtrack - my grandfather worked for them and as a kid we went everywhere on them for free. Unfortunatly that isn't an option anymore for free. There isn't much difference in a plane train or bus tickcet and a train to these places would end up being more expensive because we would need extra days of travel espcially to the west coast. We would have to have funds for more days of food and the sleeping car is expensive. And then there are more days out of school not really an option. I'm hoping something changes soon and we can do at least the ones here on the east coast.

I hadn't thought about needing a sleeping car, that would be expensive. It wasn't much for the club car part, but we're only traveling what would be a 4hr car trip and had no need for a sleeper.

Have you thought about doing fundraising on your own? Sell Home Int candles door to door (making the normal fund raising deal with the local home int lady), or car wash. The club's name never has to be brought up. She can just announce to potential buyers "I'm selling candles to help fund my gymnastics fees". Or is this a legal issue and can't be done (fundraising without a non-profit status)? Might be worth looking into.

Good luck. Maybe enough parent's will put their foot down and the owner's will have to reconsider their choices.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

That is crazy, four away meets!!! I live in a relatively rich area. The economy has not been hit so hard here; we are even expecting another boom shortly. The parents still complain about/hate unnecessary cost. I hear different examples every week, where parents are unhappy with the cost of events/travel/uniform. Good economy or not, clubs/coaches need to reduce cost as much as possible.
Surely the club won't be making any money out of this? (unless the coaches have demanded this as some sort of holiday) Would they not be better saving your hard earned cash for their tuition costs?

A long shot idea… Not sure what laws you must follow, but could you approach businesses asking for personal sponsorship? In some cases this is tax deductible for them and they could place advertising on your daughter’s gym bag.

 

[cher062]

I don't recall anyone bringing this up...

Have you tried asking your gym for the reason for all these long-distance meets? Since you're in South NH, there should be plenty of great meets just over the border in MA.

hvent had the chance yet because we just got it but I will be talking to the gym today or tomorrow on this and offering my services to organize a fundraiser. Wish me luck that they allow it.

 

[cher062]

I hadn't thought about needing a sleeping car, that would be expensive. It wasn't much for the club car part, but we're only traveling what would be a 4hr car trip and had no need for a sleeper.

Have you thought about doing fundraising on your own? Sell Home Int candles door to door (making the normal fund raising deal with the local home int lady), or car wash. The club's name never has to be brought up. She can just announce to potential buyers "I'm selling candles to help fund my gymnastics fees". Or is this a legal issue and can't be done (fundraising without a non-profit status)? Might be worth looking into.

Good luck. Maybe enough parent's will put their foot down and the owner's will have to reconsider their choices.

To do a fundraiser where you say the money is just for me so I can do a cool trip usually doesn't go over very well with potential donners unless they are grandma. We cant use the gym name with out their permission. There are also tax issues we would have to deal with if we do it just for us and I don't think it would be considered a "worthy cause" by most.

 

[cher062]

A long shot idea… Not sure what laws you must follow, but could you approach businesses asking for personal sponsorship? In some cases this is tax deductible for them and they could place advertising on your daughter’s gym bag.

Not a possiblity. The gym determins if they would allow advertising on the "team" stuff her gym bag is part of the uniform and no other advertising would be allowed.

 

[Granny Smith]

I believe that individual sponsorship can also affect NCAA college scholarship rules.

I feel for you with 4 away meets. Like you said you could drive to the PA & MD ones, but couldn't they just stay closer to home? I would not go to CA or NV, those coaches are delusional especially during these economic times....

Our gym is doing 1 flyaway meet and 2 other out-of-state meets that are driveable (about 2/3 hrs drives.) We have many complaining about the 1 flyaway because how expensive the airline tickets are. It's tough enough just to keep the kids in the sport with just the monthly costs, let alone adding in all the other stuff...

 

[gymch34]

This is a view from a head coaching position:

We are also trying to save on meets & the extras for our families- but it's hard to do this w/ out losing the quality that is necessary & that they have come to expect. The leos are a little cheaper, used the warm up again, etc -those were the easy choices on our end-we also chose not to attend a regional training camp that involved an overnight stay.

Most coaches I've spoken to are doing the same.

We will do 1 flyaway and 2 driveable "away" meets. (They are optional- no one HAS to attend.) That will cover the needs of our optional gymnasts, but keep costs down. The optionals need to get out there and see the comptition, and learn how to travel & compete before they get to the regional/national meets. We take the other levels b/c the coaches will be there anyway, and it helps w/ splitting the expenses.

To the poster who was upset the coach would only fly and not drive to the meet: Please remember coaches have families and lives too! Maybe by flying, that coach can spend the extra time running the business, or by spending time w/ their own family! You'll be w/ your child on that long drive & in the hotel- this coach will either be alone or w/ another coach. Maybe if he/she flies back, they can actually tuck their own kids in for once on Sunday night- Im sure your coaches work their tails off for your gymnasts, so please support them however you can!

 

[Flippers Mom]

We live in the midwest. There are just not a lot of great meets to attend that could be considered "home". I believe we'll go to 2 meets IN state this year. All others will require a 3 - 8 hour drive, plus one fly meet (not required). We knew about this when we moved to this gym. While it is very expensive and a struggle for us (dh is self employed and business is not good), we understand the rational of the coaches. HC takes the upper level girls to meets where they can get national attention, be seen by college coaches and work toward scholarships. It is a burden now, but hopefully it will pay off later. We do have fundraisers. Many families are wealthy and don't participate, but we certainly do! We may have to skip a couple of meets this year due to finances. The gym doesn't like that, but understand the realities of this economy. All of this is difficult for a 10-year-old to understand. Why do her teammates get to go to ALL the meets and stay in 5-star hotels while we skip and few and get our hotels on Hotwire and take food along? Economics 101.

 

[Granny Smith]

While it is important for the upper level girls to get out there, compete with more than just their area and be seen by college coaches, the other part of the equation is the age of the upper level gymnast. I think it is important for HS girls to be out there, but honestly there really is no need for a 12 yr old to travel. Did my dd travel at 12, yes, but it was only because I could afford it and for the fun of travelling. The results of the meet were not important and if it came down between paying a bill or travelling for a meet, the meet never would of happened. While dd did do the travel meet last yr, her bff did not. He mom felt that it wasn't necessary for a 6th grader to travel and she's right. I'm sure if money was not an issue she would of went, but to most of us money is always a factor to some extent. It's always hard to break our children's hearts if it is something they really want to do, but sometimes I wonder if they truly understand what we sacrifice for them to be in this expensive sport.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I feel for you. Another reason why I would like to stick with my daughters gym. The owner is very understanding about the economy and only 8's and above go to travel meets that require planes. I think it is only 1or 2 and the parents never usually go, the gym owner arranges the hotel and airfare and the girls usually share rooms. The head coach takes them and supervises with another coach. The gym owner even canceled one of the away meets last year I believe it was not a USAG meet because she said that airfare was just to high and she could not ask the parents to pay for that and spending money for the girls. Our booster club fundraisers help finance it I even think they pay for 1/2 the airfare. Our booster club is very organized and the gym owner is very involved in it, maybe you could approach the idea of the booster club again to your gym and let the owners be involved so they do not get burned from it again. Honestly the sport is not going to get any cheaper and having to deal with unrealistic owners maybe you should look into other gyms. I also think expecting your daughter to do privates is also fincanally draining it is nice that he offered to do it for free but is he eventually going to expect you to pay for them. Our gym does not encourage privates unless you pursue it, and then you pay the coach directly who is doing the privatenot the gym. I hope things work out.

 

[fishchimes]

Ugh that really sucks, pardon my language.

My family could do with a money tree right now too; we are in debt. It might have gotten better last I checked but I don't know. So I'm dog sitting and lemon squeezing like a bleeping maniac -___-

Word of advice: Camping out in the car is better then not being able to go. I'm not sure whether it's illegal in your state; but if it isn't, take the opportunity should hotels run too high.

 

[cher062]

I feel for you. Another reason why I would like to stick with my daughters gym. The owner is very understanding about the economy and only 8's and above go to travel meets that require planes. I think it is only 1or 2 and the parents never usually go, the gym owner arranges the hotel and airfare and the girls usually share rooms. The head coach takes them and supervises with another coach. The gym owner even canceled one of the away meets last year I believe it was not a USAG meet because she said that airfare was just to high and she could not ask the parents to pay for that and spending money for the girls. Our booster club fundraisers help finance it I even think they pay for 1/2 the airfare. Our booster club is very organized and the gym owner is very involved in it, maybe you could approach the idea of the booster club again to your gym and let the owners be involved so they do not get burned from it again. Honestly the sport is not going to get any cheaper and having to deal with unrealistic owners maybe you should look into other gyms. I also think expecting your daughter to do privates is also fincanally draining it is nice that he offered to do it for free but is he eventually going to expect you to pay for them. Our gym does not encourage privates unless you pursue it, and then you pay the coach directly who is doing the privatenot the gym. I hope things work out.

Several of us parents have approached the gym owner on the booster club idea and its a whopping NO. My son was young then when the issues occured and it was REALLY bad and I don't blame the owners for not wanting to go down that road again.

If the travel meets didn't allow parents to go with their kids and under the guidance of the coaches then my DD would never go until she was at least 16yo. Just how we choose to raise our kids.

Privates - although not required many of the girls and boys on the team do them. usually its just to work on that one thing that your getting stuck on. Like my DD had a very bad fall about 8 weeks ago doing her back tuck - she didn't open up early enough and landed on her shoulders and head. She was dazed and then the fear of that backward tumble set in. The owner felt that if he worked with her (she adores him) he might be able to get her over her fear (and after 30 min today he did - he's really good with this). in the past when I had a job and hubby's pay wasn't slashed I would have her do a private at least once a month to work mostly on artistic things like pretty hands, graceful moves etc. usually we have to pay $40 for an hour to the gym in cash and they get it to the coach.

Cost really is failry the same from gym to gym so that isn't an issue to move gyms.

 

[cher062]

Ugh that really sucks, pardon my language.

My family could do with a money tree right now too; we are in debt. It might have gotten better last I checked but I don't know. So I'm dog sitting and lemon squeezing like a bleeping maniac -___-

Word of advice: Camping out in the car is better then not being able to go. I'm not sure whether it's illegal in your state; but if it isn't, take the opportunity should hotels run too high.

LOL I've done car camping for scouting event and I wouldn't have an issue with a campground and tent but both meets are in the height of the coldest part of the winter (Jan and Feb). getting to the West coast from here is just way too expensive no matter how I slice it - just isn't a doable thing and the east coast meets well I like camping in tents and am not opposed to it but Winters in this area of the east are more than COLD and can you say lots of snow!! I'm not a fan of winter camping in a car or a tent BRRRRR