How does your gym deal with coaches' fees, travel expenses?

[JudyS125]

After a controversy between the parents' association and the coaches, I've been asked to do a little research on how much other gyms compensate their coaches for travel, meals, hotels, etc.? What per mile rate do you use? Do you pay actual hotel costs, meals, or a per diem. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. I would love to hear from both parents and coaches.

Thanks!!

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

We pay a flat fee per meet $100. That includes meet fee, portion of team entry fee, coaches fees & expenses.

After the meet the HC presents a bill to the Booster Club for coaches fees ( certain amount per session - can't recall amount at the moment - gas ( # miles @ certain rate - last bill I saw her rate was way below current IRS rate of .55 per mile which I would contend she is actually entitled to ) and hotel / meal expenses (actual amounts). We voted to increase our meet fee to $100 this year because last year we ran out and had to fork over more. The new fee seems to cover it all ok.

Booster Club also writes the check for the entry fees

 

[flippersmom]

We don't have it worked out at new gym since owner is coach that usually goes and she doesn't charge much.

At old gym, we paid $25 per meet into expenses. Coaches were paid IRS mileage for any miles over 30. They were paid $125 for the first session of the day they went to, $75 for each additional sessionl figuring their travel time was paid in the first session of the day. The were paid $15 per diem if they attended 1-2 sessions, $30 if they attended more than 2. We usually had enough girls attend to cover these expenses. The actually charges were divided by the girls who attended and kept track of. At the end of the season, they would either have to pay a little more if they owed, or received a refund from $$ paid in.

If there was a travel meet, the coaches got their travel, hotel and a daily per diem ($75). These costs were divided by gymast attending.

 

[CoachTodd]

It's built into the meet fees at our gym

 

[Granny Smith]

We pay a monthly coaches fee - 12 months a year. The rate is dependent on your level. Right now I know Level 7 & up pays $125 a month. I assume that all coaches expenses are paid out of that money. We pay the regular meet fee that is listed on the applications (plus the team fee divided amongst the number of girl on each level team.) If a gymnast makes Regionals or Nationals, there is no extra amount required to be paid. Also on average the upper levels have 3/4 coaches at the meets too, whether locally or travel.

 

[cathiann]

Based on my booster club board notes, we (the booster club) pay the coaches about $43 per meet--I think that's for two coaches (not positive--my notes don't say more). I KNOW the coaches get paid mileage and hotel, plus per diem meals for away meets, but I think that comes out of the yearly team fee we pay the gym--it's not listed anywhere on my booster club budget. The part the booster club pays is them figured into the meet fee--for those first year team gymnasts who have to pay all meet fees, they would have that extra expense in there. For returning gymnasts, the booster club pays it (unless we didn't fundraise enough the previous year!).

 

[amylouwho]

parent prospective:

Every August, every team gymnast pays $70 -Booster Club Fee and $70 -Coaches Travel. We then pay our meet fees, whatever they may be, when due, and the Booster Club registers the the gymnasts and writes one check from our gym for fees. It's easy and we pay the one time fee each year. We also do general fund raisers where the funds go into the Booster Club account to lower our overall expenses and to purchase new team equipment etc.

Past general fund raisers include: garage sales, apparel sales, Sandy Candy and Show concessions, golf tournament, raffles, and our advertising board. It's a huge board (actually we have 2) in our gym that local businesses and such can pay for a 12' by 12' ad space (with a business card holder). The board stays up for one year....and the gymnasts who sell the ads get a 10% kickback for their individual account...

Past Individual fund raisers: doughnut sales, pizza/cookie dough sales, apparel sales, tupperware/ pampered chef sales....etc....This money or kickback goes into the gymnasts' individual account to be used for meets, other fees, leos, etc....

I know this was long and wordy...but I hope it helps...

Good luck to you.....

Have a gr8 day ~amy

 

[gym monkeys mom]

All of our meet fees and travel expenses are paid for through the Booster Club. Parents have accounts some fundraisers are general fund and some individual also. general fund always takes a cut of every fundraiser.

All gymnasts join Booster Club this year it was $40. We do fundraisers to pay for coach's travel expenses for out of town meet, banquet and team parties (2 a year).

We are fortunate our club owners pay coaches for meet not the parents. We do cover all travel costs ie: hotel, mileage (IRS amount), food. We give them money before we travel but, they are required to fill out report with receipts afterwards for accounting purposes. this seems to work well for us but we are a small club.

We do not require participation in fundraisers but, strongly encourage all families to do at least one a seson.

Here is what we have done fundraiser wise:
Garage Sale, Poinsettia and spring flower sale, used leo sale, pumpkin sale, and what we call slice night.

Slice night is this: Every friday night after practice our gym has Open Gym we sell pizz and a soda right before this and make about $80 -$120 a week. we have team parents donate soda. It works well because even if you are not staying for open Gym you need to eat and gymnasts are always hungry.

Hope this helps. I have found that communication between club owners, coaches, parents and booster is essential. I know this sounds basic but I find it very important. We try to nip problems quickly and encourage communication.

Best wishes. Some parents/coaches will never be happy and all we can do is try our best.

 

[BlairBob]

Hmm, all the gyms I have been at bill the Boosters at the IRS rate per mile which was 52c/mile.

I'm cool with just hitching a ride with a parent and waiving the mileage. It's money in my wallet I'm not seeing but they appreciate it. As well, I can sleep on the way and don't have to dry 45-120m each way. That's nice. Sometimes they'll buy me dinner as well. They save quite a bit on meets per season, probably 5-6 meets@50-100 dollars a meet. This year I picked two meets that are within 15 miles. There goes my ski money. However, in the current economy I'm sure they appreciate it. Upon next season, I'll re-evaluate this based on how everything stands. If I'm trying to get new parents and gymnasts on team, I might use this as a selling point. Because of where we compete, quite often our meets are 100 miles away and sometimes State can be 200 miles away.

I think I recieve a per diem if there is no hospitality. Not an issue, though sometimes the hospitality at meets is of poor quality which means I don't go back there the year after. This is generally waived.

Per session, I think it's around $100 which equals $25-33/hr. I've seen various rates at different gyms. $50 per session would be very cheap, often enough lower than their standard rate of pay. This fee is split up the amount of gymnasts attending per session. 3 gymnasts=$33, 10=$10. If I'm dedicating my entire day from 730a-8 or 9pm, I'd rather not be coming away with 50 bucks. That's not even including the 3-4 hours I'm driving to and from the meet.

For away meets, travel and hotel is paid for Boosters besides a per diem per meal, I believe.

Typically, I've seen boosters pay for ALL meets, scheduled besides any they qualify for like Zone, State, Regional, National.

It's up to Boosters to either bill the parents for their expenses or donate part of what they earn per year toward decreasing the costs. Often I have seen that the parents who do more fundraising get breaks. This gets into a dicey area with NPO though as I believe you cannot mandate a point system by law though it makes sense when it's generally 10% of the Boosters doing 90% of the work.

If you do not want to participate in fundraisers, you can just pay out of pocket. If what you owe the Boosters is not paid, your gymnast does not get to compete.

Some gyms do not have Boosters clubs because they can be a pain in the butt. Some Boosters clubs think they can give mandates to the gym in regards of coaching staff and policies. Anyways, all fees are paid to the gym and quite likely there are no fundraisers in this case unless the gym decides to do any for Team.

 

[gymch34]

I have seen many booster clubs get cancelled by gym owners over controversies regarding paying coaches at meets. Please remember to pay your coaches a FAIR fee for meets (we give up many family weekends, and often come home after a LONG meet weekend exhausted) as well as their expenses. Do not make us ask to be paid fairly, its a very uncomfortable situation.

If you went away for work, what would you expect your job to pay/ reimburse??? Im sure you would want AT LEAST your hourly wage (or overtime as its would be out side of your 40 hour work week), plus your expenses: mileage, food, hotel if applicable.

Coaches do understand how much you pay in for gymnastics- we do-but its a necessary evil. Please remember that if you do not want to pay coaches for meets, you will not have any coaches and therefore your children will not be going to meets. I think if both sides are reasonable, you can come up w/ a solution that will work for both of you. Coaches are not expecting to get rich, but are expecting to be treated fairly and with respect for our professional skills.

 

[iluvgym]

I always feel bad for the parents when their gym makes the parents of anyone going to particular meet split the coach's fees for that meet. What if it's regionals or nationals and only one girls goes? That's alot on one family, and if gymnast has event coaches then the cost is multiplied even more.

I feel that if one gymnast makes it to nationals she is really representing her entire team and gym and shouldn't be financially penalized because of it.

We do a team budget for all the possible meets in a given year from Level 4-Elite. We divide it amongst the whole team to see how much each girl pays. We do cut the compulsories a bit, so the optionals pay a bit more but basically the entire team foots the bill collectively for all meets and it's paid in 3 installments or 4 maybe per year.

I really think that's the fairest way to do it. Yes, the upper levels get more advantage from the booster club/team fund/parent's assoc. whatever you want to call it, but for the girls who have been there for the long haul, they deserve it and competing at those levels incurs the most costs, so we've just determined this to be what works best for us. If some gymnasts quit before they reach those levels well then that's their choice. The key thing we tell our team families to remember is that we're supporting the TEAM through these fundraisers and fees, not individual gymnasts.

 

[gymnasticslvr21]

At the gym I go to competition is free. Though I am required to work at every meet the gym hosts and my parents have to work 11 hrs a month too.

 

[socko]

I totally agree with Iluvgym...the girls who make it to these National meets (and I'm excluding Elite which is a whole different ballgame) ARE representing their team and the gym and it should be embraced by the team and the gym...and not just fall on the shoulders of the parent.

In our current gym, every gymnast pays a nominal amount ($20-30 each) that goes into a fund for the COACHES to go to Nationals ; it does not pay for the gymnast ; and i think that this is fair. Some people will say " if i'm a level 4 why should I pay?" and my answer to that is 2 part "1. Because someday hopefully your daughter will make it to Nationals and benefit from this and 2. you are PART OF A TEAM and we support each other".

i've been in a gym where I had to pay the whole amount when my daughter made it to Nationals and it was almost like you were penalized for your kid succeeding...

 

[BlairBob]

I feel that if one gymnast makes it to nationals she is really representing her entire team and gym and shouldn't be financially penalized because of it.

Our Booster club offsets travel fees for Regional or Nationals. I think they chip in what they can but I don't know the percentage.

 

[Icoach22]

Our coaches get paid $75 per session at meets. (all the meets are different because of how the girls are broken up...i.e. ages, levels)

as far as gas mileage... Our booster club will only reimburse the coach that drives and we are either to drive with together or on our own. If we choose to go by ourselves, we do NOT get reimbursed. Hotels and such are usually reimbursed in full, or our Booster Club actually pays and makes the arrangements. Meals...if the meet offers lunch/dinner ect...we don't get money for meals. Other wise I think we get $ 8 for breakfast/lunch and up to $15 for dinner.

Our booster club also has fundraisers and out of pocket fees. Hope this helps

 

[EntrReality]

I get paid $75 per session and hotels if needed. I have spoken with other gyms and one requires the coaches to split the fee if more than one goes for a session. I don't like this because it deters the second coach from attending. Partly because they get paid less and partly because their attending affects the pay of the first coach too.