Parents New trend in gym ownership? (The Business Side Of Gymnastics / Powers Gymnastics)

[gymgal]

The elite coaches and some of those training hopes/elite from FIF moved to Bull City. That’s HOW Bull city recently started doing elite training. Because the coaches and gymnasts moved there (plus new ones from Bull City of course) But like you said, they aren’t exactly close.

Now that makes sense! Bull City was never a super strong gym. They did well in JO but not elite training strong and then I noticed earlier this year that they had elites and I wondered why. Thanks for the info.

 

[ORgymmom]

It sounds like many of these gyms, that are bought, would have gone out of business if not bought up so these team gymnasts would have lost their teams anyway.

But this is the way our western world works. If businesses struggle, they go under. Employees who worked in those businesses all their lives may lose their livelihood, and have to start again.

A new owner may purchase the business, and they going to have to make changes in order to ensure their purchase is profitable. In the perfect world the business owner could put everyone’s individual needs as the priority, but they can’t.

But gymnastics in the US is very business and profit centred and this is the side effect.

In Australia less than half of gymnastics clubs are for profit businesses (mine is one of the few that is a for profit business).

Most are not for profit organisations, they have the benefit of being able to apply for grants and community funding, and the gym is run by a committee who can vote for changes. Could this be done in the US?

No, this would be rare or impossible in the US. We don’t really have community funding for sports or activities, and grants come from private foundations and are very different in size and purpose from grants than in the UK, Canada and Australia. There are some non-profit gyms and also ones run by city rec centers and YMCAs (a non-profit), but those are usually more focused on rec, AAU, and only sometimes Xcel and DP. Because of the expense, the non-profit or community gyms with competitive programs are usually located in very wealthy communities that would be able to support private gyms- I can think of some in CT, the north shore suburbs of Chicago, and central Ohio.

The big limitation in the US is liability insurance for gyms and lack of government sports funding.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

It sounds like many of these gyms, that are bought, would have gone out of business if not bought up so these team gymnasts would have lost their teams anyway.

Hmm that’s not how I’ve been reading into this, but maybe I’m wrong. Again, our gym was bought a year ago but we haven’t lost our team…. Yet.

 

[JBS]

Here it is in a different spot...

Powers Gymnastics raises nearly $17M in Series A funding round

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

Same as the Powers that are doing this?

Men's Program At USOPTC Shutting Down; EVO to privately fund much of team

Pretty sure they are the same group that buys out gyms and gets rid of their Women’s team programs except for Xcel (usually with no warning at all, I heard one gym had elite hopefuls and their program was cut before a big competition - NC). They also have no gymnastics classes available for boys...

gymnaverse.com

MAG Foundation USA

Empowering the gymnastics community through our Non-Profit Organization. Discover our mission to promote gymnastics excellence in the USA and more.

www.magfoundationusa.org

 

[JBS]

Interesting read here...

Grand Prix Series One of Many New Opportunities Breathing New Life Into U.S. Men’s Program

The U.S. men’s program has undergone a massive transition at its highest levels over the past few months. How will it help them stand out on the world stage?

thegymter.net

 

[JBS]

Has anyone had experience with Powers Gymnastics?

Pretty sure this is the Powers Gymnastics that is related to funding the new MAG training program... don't quote me on that though.

Funded Athletes

www.magfoundationusa.org

Coaching Staff

www.magfoundationusa.org

Leadership Team

www.magfoundationusa.org

 

[ORgymmom]

Pretty sure this is the Powers Gymnastics that is related to funding the new MAG training program... don't quote me on that though.

Funded Athletes

www.magfoundationusa.org

Coaching Staff

www.magfoundationusa.org

Leadership Team

www.magfoundationusa.org

You’re 100% right. Steve Butcher is a VP for Powers.

Extracting money from club purchases and growing rec programs in order to sustain and grow MAG is the plot twist I didn’t see coming. I would watch this as a Netflix movie!

 

[PippenMom]

You’re 100% right. Steve Butcher is a VP for Powers.

Extracting money from club purchases and growing rec programs in order to sustain and grow MAG is the plot twist I didn’t see coming. I would watch this as a Netflix movie!

I think you are right and meanwhile, they are disrupting the lives of competitive gymnasts by shutting down their programs to implement rec activities that are more profitable. What is crazy to me is that they are flying under the radar. You can’t find much on them by searching the internet. You can’t see how many gyms they’ve purchased because they do it change the name, they just create new llc with the same gym name.

 

[Aussie_coach]

No, this would be rare or impossible in the US.

The big limitation in the US is liability insurance for gyms and lack of government sports funding.

Wow, really. Does the government provide any funding at all for sports?

 

[gymgal]

Wow, really. Does the government provide any funding at all for sports?

Primarily on the rec side, through local govt through parks and recreation funding but most of that is seasonal learning-team sports like soccer, volleyball etc baseball, basketball. Local business sponsorships and church groups help to fund the next level of sports that create competitive leagues like Little League for baseball, pop-warner for football, upward bound for a variety of sports. I think there may be some govt funding at this level too, through grants. The higher level competitive sports like specialized travel leagues, and individual sports like gymnastics, swimming, figure skating are almost entirely funded by parents, with some business sponsorships, and at the Olympic level some funding comes from the organizing body, like usage - none from the govt. Of course, if your were to dig deeper, you would find that most of these organizations are tax exempt so they aren't paying are much in taxes as other organizations so in technical terms, they are receiving assistance

 

[JBS]

Linking this thread in as it is relevant. Upper level teams usually don't make too much money...

WAG - Creating a Level 10+ Focused Team Program (Finances / Coaching / Athlete Selection / Facility / Etc)

This is a split from another conversation to help people (parents primarily... I guess) understand the difficulties of running a high level (Level 10+ / Hopes / Elite) gymnastics team. This team would be one that can consistently put athletes at Level 10 Nationals and understand the Hopes /...

chalkbucket.com

 

[Aussie_coach]

It does explain why these programs are shutting down the Elite and higher level competitive side of their programs.

A decentralised, totally user pays system.

Most countries fund elite sports and have centralised training venues for their elite gymnasts.

But the US dominates internationally, so your system is working.

But in a private gymnastics environment you need a lot of passion for gymnastics to run an elite program. The time, money, space and expertise it takes, means a lot less room for recreational gymnasts, paying top dollar per hour.

 

[JBS]

Another good link on how teams make money (or don't)...

Off Topic - Pricing A Competitive Team Program

We have had this on the forum before somewhere... but I figured now was a good time to bring it back up as we have had some threads talking about pricing. Here are a couple posts from USA Gymnastics back in the day... Jeff Metzger's Business Tips Pricing Your Team-Part I This month we will...

chalkbucket.com

 

[ORgymmom]

Wow, really. Does the government provide any funding at all for sports?

Now you know why collegiate sports in Olympic disciplines are such a big deal in the US!

Less flippantly: there is funding from national sports bodies (like USAG), but in most cases it is only once you make a national team. A younger friend is training to be selected to a national team in an Olympic sport that is entirely post-collegiate athletes. She competed in college on a scholarship, so she doesn’t have student loans to pay off. She has self-funded her training at a privately run training center that subsidizes her boarding and competition costs through a small corporate sponsorship. Most athletes at the training center have full or part-time remote jobs. If she is named to the national team, she will receive a small subsidy from the sport’s governing body and have all her training, travel and medical costs covered, but will not be paid enough to cover housing or other living expenses.

 

[JBS]

Wow, really. Does the government provide any funding at all for sports?

I could probably get a grant of something to build a public playground if I had the passion to do that... but for high level gymnastics... not that I know of.

If anyone here knows anything about US government sports funding / grants... link us to a site or something.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Now you know why collegiate sports in Olympic disciplines are such a big deal in the US!

Less flippantly: there is funding from national sports bodies (like USAG), but in most cases it is only once you make a national team. A younger friend is training to be selected to a national team in an Olympic sport that is entirely post-collegiate athletes. She competed in college on a scholarship, so she doesn’t have student loans to pay off. She has self-funded her training at a privately run training center that subsidizes her boarding and competition costs through a small corporate sponsorship. Most athletes at the training center have full or part-time remote jobs. If she is named to the national team, she will receive a small subsidy from the sport’s governing body and have all her training, travel and medical costs covered, but will not be paid enough to cover housing or other living expenses.

Another reason why International gymnasts tend to be So young. It’s not that older athletes can’t do it amazingly, but once parents are not longer paying the bills, it’s hard to afford that level of training.

And it’s unrealistic to work full time and train in Elite gymnastics.

 

[JBS]

Another reason why International gymnasts tend to be So young. It’s not that older athletes can’t do it amazingly, but once parents are not longer paying the bills, it’s hard to afford that level of training.

And it’s unrealistic to work full time and train in Elite gymnastics.

This is another one of those times when we need the 100% emoji. Totally agree.

 

[gymgal]

Linking this thread in as it is relevant. Upper level teams usually don't make too much money...

WAG - Creating a Level 10+ Focused Team Program (Finances / Coaching / Athlete Selection / Facility / Etc)

This is a split from another conversation to help people (parents primarily... I guess) understand the difficulties of running a high level (Level 10+ / Hopes / Elite) gymnastics team. This team would be one that can consistently put athletes at Level 10 Nationals and understand the Hopes /...

chalkbucket.com

While it's true that most upper level teams don't make money directly, they help create the reputation that brings in so many rec kids.

 

[JBS]

While it's true that most upper level teams don't make money directly, they help create the reputation that brings in so many rec kids.

Not really... Facebook Ads does that much easier and cheaper.

 

[JBS]

Not really... Facebook Ads does that much easier and cheaper.

My wife and I ran an all recreational club for years. It was one of the largest clubs in the city.