Parents Let's talk boosters...

[FlippinLilysMom]

I'm also one of the odd parents that loves to work the meets, I would work the meets everyday for free if they asked me to.

 

[jenjean70]

The Booster Club cannot buy equipment for the gym, it violates the 501c3 rules. The Booster Club cannot benefit the for-profit club. Here is info from USAG about non-profit Boost Clubs: https://usagym.org/PDFs/Member Services/webinars/dec14.pdf

I am probably wrong...I know some parents were suggesting that but they are not in charge and have not researched the 301c. The president and VP of the booster club know the ins and outs of staying legal so if someone were to suggest that in a meeting I'm sure it would be rejected...it is a nice wish though...our pro pit is shot!

 

[jenjean70]

In the gym with the booster club, monthly tuition was $550 per kid (I had 2 there) , leos every year $400 (x 2); warm ups every year $250 (x 2), assessments for meet fees $3000 per kid ( x 2), AND we were charged EXTRA for States $65 (x2), Regionals $100( (x 2) and Nationals ( ranged from $550-850, told the amount on a Thursday and "due by Monday" ...4 days later...and both my girls qualified ) ...the fees alone were over $8000 and on top of that, I had to work endless shifts at their meet (x 2 because I had 2 girls) and they had the balls to try to charge me admission for the session they competed in, that I wasn't working....I saw about 300 bucks from that endeavor. I could work at my regular job for the weekend and make more. Our HC decided that the gym ( read: him) would get " the profits from the meet if we wanted the gym's name associated with the meet and the booster club could get the profits from the concessions"...and the booster club officers agreed to this!!...the profits from meet fees, and admission fees were huge, the concession stand didn't hold a candle to that...and the parents did all the work! HC took a percentage of all booster club profit as basically a "fee" for having the gym's name associated with it. Sorry, but that didn't work for me...

We moved to a gym with no booster club....tuition 350 a kid, 200 for a leo, assessments of 1200, and no extra fees for states, regionals or nationals...we paid what we owed, period and weren't slaving at meets for pennies. Give me this gym anyday.

Oh my goodness- that is awful! We have worked a meet that our gym was asked to help at for the past 4 years. The people who worked never saw any of the money. The first year they put on a banquet at the end of the year that we still had to pay $25 per person to attend. Now with the booster club the $ from the meet will go to the booster club and the booster club with put on the end of the year festivities and buy the trophies. We always had to pay extra at the end of the season if your child went to regionals or nationals....originally the owner would only let the girls fund raise for post season meets because he thought that they traveled more. It was only last year that he let the boys team fund raise to off set the cost of post season meets and coaches post season expenses. We have our first level 10 boy as a gym and 4 level 9 boys. The program is only 8 years old, so it's still pretty new. Our one level 9 boy was the first one at our gym to go to nationals 3 years ago and his family had to pay for coaches travel and lodging by themselves as a family. The thought of paying $5000+ at the end of the season without team mates to help defray the costs is overwhelming- that's why the booster club was started.

 

[bookworm]

I'm sure our booster club raised about $75K but the parents saw very little of that...and that's why I am not a fan...

 

[bookworm]

The last gym we were at had no booster club and didn't charge any extra for JOS because they saw it as good advertising for their gym, and they also felt that the parents paid enough throughout the year...loved that gym

 

[jenjean70]

That is crazy!! We pay about $60o per month for our daughter (about $100 more per month than the regular JO girls due to her extra HOPES training hours), we pay nothing to the booster club (no assessments or booster club dues) but we are required to work at all 3 meets that we host as well as participate in the smaller fundraisers we hold throughout the year, we don't pay any meet fees or any coaches fees but we do pay for competition leos (one every two years) and warmups if/when needed. I couldn't imagine being forced to pay thousands of dollars to the booster club and still being required to work the meets but not seeing any of the reward. Our booster club hosts one of the meets that we host (a compulsory meet) and the booster club gets 100% of the profits from that meet, the other two meets that we host (an optional meet and usually one of the state meets) and we split the profits made from those meets with the gym (since the gym doesn't have to hire people to work the meets, it's the booster club members working the meets) and we also get 100% of the profits from the concessions stand at both of those meets. We also do a color run every year and host smaller fundraisers throughout the year (butter braids, frozen pizzas, plant sale, used leo sale), and the past couple of years the booster club has raised over $100,000. We are now looking into trying to get corporate yearly sponsors, but that is in the very early stages.

We do corporate sponsors but we were told that the booster club cannot pay for gymnasts meet fees because that violates NCAA status or something like that....

 

[skschlag]

We do corporate sponsors but we were told that the booster club cannot pay for gymnasts meet fees because that violates NCAA status or something like that....

our booster club pays meet fees. That is legal. They cannot pay tuition from what I understand from our lawyer. But the booster club can pay for actual competition costs. But maybe the corporate sponsors make it different? I am not sure.

I spoke to the NCAA eligibility department. They said that as long as the money is not coming from a college, college booster, agent, or the child is not getting paid to do gymnastics, it isn't an issue.

Now, IRS issues...that runs into another issue thus the reason we have a non-profit lawyer

 

[jenjean70]

our booster club pays meet fees. That is legal. They cannot pay tuition from what I understand from our lawyer. But the booster club can pay for actual competition costs. But maybe the corporate sponsors make it different? I am not sure.

I spoke to the NCAA eligibility department. They said that as long as the money is not coming from a college, college booster, agent, or the child is not getting paid to do gymnastics, it isn't an issue.

Now, IRS issues...that runs into another issue thus the reason we have a non-profit lawyer

Ok. Well that's nice to know. This is all new to everyone at the gym and they are trying to make sure they don't do anything that could possibly jeopardize the gymnasts future.

 

[bookworm]

I'm also one of the odd parents that loves to work the meets, I would work the meets everyday for free if they asked me to.

I actually didn't mind working at the meet itself...I did music for the whole weekend. It was the whole point of knowing that it was supposed to be a booster club fundraiser and it had been usurped by the HC, and that they tried to charge me 15 bucks for the one session I didn't work!

 

[skschlag]

You can call the NCAA eligibility center. I have called a few times just to make sure we are on top of things.

 

[sce]

We do corporate sponsors but we were told that the booster club cannot pay for gymnasts meet fees because that violates NCAA status or something like that....

They are mistaken, actual costs of the sport can be paid for.

 

[Seeker]

That is not a booster club then....they were simply collecting fees on behalf of the gym. Sounds more like grifting honestly. Definitely has not been my experience with a booster club.

In the gym with the booster club, monthly tuition was $550 per kid (I had 2 there) , leos every year $400 (x 2); warm ups every year $250 (x 2), assessments for meet fees $3000 per kid ( x 2), AND we were charged EXTRA for States $65 (x2), Regionals $100( (x 2) and Nationals ( ranged from $550-850, told the amount on a Thursday and "due by Monday" ...4 days later...and both my girls qualified ) ...the fees alone were over $8000 and on top of that, I had to work endless shifts at their meet (x 2 because I had 2 girls) and they had the balls to try to charge me admission for the session they competed in, that I wasn't working....I saw about 300 bucks from that endeavor. I could work at my regular job for the weekend and make more. Our HC decided that the gym ( read: him) would get " the profits from the meet if we wanted the gym's name associated with the meet and the booster club could get the profits from the concessions"...and the booster club officers agreed to this!!...the profits from meet fees, and admission fees were huge, the concession stand didn't hold a candle to that...and the parents did all the work! HC took a percentage of all booster club profit as basically a "fee" for having the gym's name associated with it. Sorry, but that didn't work for me...

We moved to a gym with no booster club....tuition 350 a kid, 200 for a leo, assessments of 1200, and no extra fees for states, regionals or nationals...we paid what we owed, period and weren't slaving at meets for pennies. Give me this gym anyday.

 

[2G1B]

In the gym with the booster club, monthly tuition was $550 per kid (I had 2 there) , leos every year $400 (x 2); warm ups every year $250 (x 2), assessments for meet fees $3000 per kid ( x 2), AND we were charged EXTRA for States $65 (x2), Regionals $100( (x 2) and Nationals ( ranged from $550-850, told the amount on a Thursday and "due by Monday" ...4 days later...and both my girls qualified ) ...the fees alone were over $8000 and on top of that, I had to work endless shifts at their meet (x 2 because I had 2 girls) and they had the balls to try to charge me admission for the session they competed in, that I wasn't working....I saw about 300 bucks from that endeavor. I could work at my regular job for the weekend and make more. Our HC decided that the gym ( read: him) would get " the profits from the meet if we wanted the gym's name associated with the meet and the booster club could get the profits from the concessions"...and the booster club officers agreed to this!!...the profits from meet fees, and admission fees were huge, the concession stand didn't hold a candle to that...and the parents did all the work! HC took a percentage of all booster club profit as basically a "fee" for having the gym's name associated with it. Sorry, but that didn't work for me...

We moved to a gym with no booster club....tuition 350 a kid, 200 for a leo, assessments of 1200, and no extra fees for states, regionals or nationals...we paid what we owed, period and weren't slaving at meets for pennies. Give me this gym anyday.

What you described was almost exactly what we had at one gym (down to working meets but only getting concessions, charging parents to get into the meet for their kids' sessions despite the work the parents were doing for the meet, and the still having high fees despite all the meets). All booster clubs arent like that though. We are now at a gym where the booster splits all profits from the meet evenly among the team and it significantly cuts down on what the parents have to pay out of pocket.

 

[jenjean70]

I actually didn't mind working at the meet itself...I did music for the whole weekend. It was the whole point of knowing that it was supposed to be a booster club fundraiser and it had been usurped by the HC, and that they tried to charge me 15 bucks for the one session I didn't work!

I LOVE working the meets. I look forward to it every year. I get to sit at the judges table at HNI- so interesting!

 

[mommyof1]

At my kid's first gym, there was a booster club that charged an "assessment" that was supposed to cover meet fees, "equipment," and other unspecified charges. The booster club billed parents separately for coaches' meet expenses and competition attire. Parents were also expected to participate in several fundraising events, sell stuff, work at the meet the gym hosted, and work seven bingo shifts per year. Parents were supposed to be refunded part of the assessment at the end of the season depending on how well the fundraising went, but most of the refunds went to the upper levels and parents who'd been through it before reported that very little was ever refunded to L3 parents. Plus that, we'd have had to pay several hundred dollars extra to buy out of bingo because smoking was allowed inside the bingo facility (I have no idea how that was even legal).

When we switched gyms, one of the major factors in our decision was the booster club setup. At the new gym, the booster club was mainly a pass-through for clearly itemized competition expenses, which added up to about the same amount as the "assessment" at the old gym that didn't even cover all expenses. The booster club did some minimal passive fundraising that required zero parent effort or expense and helped to offset post-season meet expenses. It was great.

Now the booster club at the new gym has decided to try bingo and I am very unhappy about it. The club is very transparent about the source and distribution of all fundraising proceeds so I don't think we're going to get scammed, but I believe the club is overly optimistic about how much money we are going to raise and I am not happy that I have to take off work early and stay out past my bedtime on several weeknights to work my shifts. Plus that, we have no say in shift scheduling and there is no good way to trade shifts if a schedule conflict arises. I would much rather have the booster club run a meet. That would only be one weekend, and if I'm going to have to "volunteer" I'd rather be spending my time on something that is directly related to the sport. I did not sign my child up for gymnastics so I could spend my evenings selling bingo daubers.

 

[John]

We moved to a gym with no booster club....tuition 350 a kid, 200 for a leo, assessments of 1200, and no extra fees for states, regionals or nationals...we paid what we owed, period and weren't slaving at meets for pennies. Give me this gym any day.

This is exactly what DD's gym does now. If the home meet makes enough money, January meet, the rest of the year's fees are waved. Making the 1200 assessment more like 700-800.

 

[twinmomma]

Yeah...we have no assessments.

Assessments = Meet fees

 

[skschlag]

Assessments = Meet fees

Yeah..I know. But our club pays those, we don't pay them to the club

 

[twinmomma]

Yeah..I know. But our club pays those, we don't pay them to the club

Wow. That's rare. Is your tuition higher than the norm for your area? I don't see how that's sustainable with a large team. We have over 200 between our boys, girls, and T&T teams. The gym would go bankrupt paying all our meet fees unless the tuition was sky high.

 

[Gymmommy71]

I agree with a previous poster that the booster club won't really change parental involvement. We've been at 2 gyms that have them and 1 the doesn't. The gym that doesn't is run very well and the costs are much lower than the clubs with a booster. To encourage parental involvement, parents are required to either volunteer at home meets or pay ($25 or $50 per meet I can't remember). They should almost charge a little more because it sounds like a lot of people just pay the fee. BTW, the gym without the booster is also bigger, cleaner, and has much nicer equipment.

There is a booster club in my area that fines its members $400 per meet if they do not work.