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

[gymgal]

I had heard that they also bought Bull City and moved the FIF coaches there. Is that the case? I had also heard that one of the former owners of Bull City (the wife) works for the powers group

I don't know if that's the case but that would make so much more sense as to why they closed FIF's team down. Consolidation.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I don't know if that's the case but that would make so much more sense as to why they closed FIF's team down. Consolidation.

I don’t know the order of how things happened, but I did hear that about Bull city too. ‍ Shrug. I still think it’s crazy, because the 2 gyms are not exactly close. I could understand the idea of consolidating more if they were nearer each other.

 

[JBS]

$$$$$

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I'm really not sure how to feel about all this.

In the abstract, I support putting more resources into rec as opposed to competitive, especially on the women's side, which is what this company is doing. I also support sponsoring the chronically-underfunded men's elite program, which it sounds like this company is also doing.

..... but this seems like a very sinister way of accomplishing those things. Like, if I wished for those changes on a monkeys paw, this is what I'd expect the outcome to be.

 

[Dahlia]

I'm really not sure how to feel about all this.

In the abstract, I support putting more resources into rec as opposed to competitive, especially on the women's side, which is what this company is doing. I also support sponsoring the chronically-underfunded men's elite program, which it sounds like this company is also doing.

..... but this seems like a very sinister way of accomplishing those things. Like, if I wished for those changes on a monkeys paw, this is what I'd expect the outcome to be.

But is the best way to do that to sacrifice the women's competitive programs? Or is there a way to do all of the above?

I haven't seen this buyout happening in my area, but during/after covid many gyms cut team or cut dp and went xcel only and it was devastating for girls in the programs getting cut (especially optional girls). Not all could find new gyms or if they did the gym was not necessarily the same caliber as the one that cut team. So I can imagine how awful it would be to have your gym be like, "sorry, but no more team, goodbye and good luck."

 

[Aussie_coach]

The world has changed, this is not just a situation in gymnastics. It’s in everything.

During COVID many businesses that were in the edge ended.

The global cost of moving issue is now causing m at individuals and businesses to have to make changes and seek out more profitable ways of doing things.

As Gym owners and coaches, we move what we do. We have a passion for the spot and we want wants best for the gymnasts.

But, at the end of the day. This is also our job, where we need to make a living, and we need to ensure we are fairly compensated for the long hours we do. And as gym owners, we are business owners and at the end of the day we need to make sure our busy are financially secure.

Sometimes that includes making tough desicions.

 

[jamieintexas]

Does anyone have a list of gyms they’ve taken over? These are the ones I’ve heard of so far.

Rolland Ballard TX
First in Flight NC
Evo FL
Capital TX
Platinum TX
Oasis AZ
Tricounty NC

Estrella AZ

Houston Gymnastics Academy
Mazeika’s Elite

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

The world has changed, this is not just a situation in gymnastics. It’s in everything.

During COVID many businesses that were in the edge ended.

The global cost of moving issue is now causing m at individuals and businesses to have to make changes and seek out more profitable ways of doing things.

As Gym owners and coaches, we move what we do. We have a passion for the spot and we want wants best for the gymnasts.

But, at the end of the day. This is also our job, where we need to make a living, and we need to ensure we are fairly compensated for the long hours we do. And as gym owners, we are business owners and at the end of the day we need to make sure our busy are financially secure.

Sometimes that includes making tough desicions.

This pretty much sums it up. Passion doesn't pay the bills, money does. And coaches and gym owners need to eat and need to keep a roof over our heads.

 

[Anonymous Post]

We are at Bull City Gym in NC and Powers is the new management company for the gym. Until recently, based on threads like this and similar ones on a CGM FB page, most parents I know at our gym were under the impression that the woman who owns our gym was still the owner but that she hired an external group to help with HR and management. This is what she told us in an email. We are now learning that the group is Powers and that she actually took a job with their company in AZ or TX. The manager for our local gym apparently is now a regional manager for Powers working for many NC Powers gyms. On paper as listed with the NC secretary of state office for business corporations, Powers is not listed...just the LLC started by the original gym owners.

Do you know if they had the coaches sign non compete agreements? Apparently, at several gyms they purchased, one of their first actions was to have the coaches sign non competes. However, these gyms were also the gyms where they eventually dismantled the entire competitive program.
Click to expand...

I have heard they are asked to sign a non-compete that apparently blocks employment at any other gym in any state that Powers owns gyms in. *note that this is heresay only...one of our most successful and longest standing coaches was fired within a week of the "new management company" coming in and has not returned to coaching. Word is that she cannot coach yet because of the non-compete she literally just signed before being terminated, and that she doesn't have the cashflow to fight it out in court. The coach has been very quiet about it and i have no confirmation on this. That said, i definitely believe it is true as I believe she otherwise would have been snatched up right away.

I don't know if that's the case but that would make so much more sense as to why they closed FIF's team down. Consolidation.

I don’t know the order of how things happened, but I did hear that about Bull city too. ‍ Shrug. I still think it’s crazy, because the 2 gyms are not exactly close. I could understand the idea of consolidating more if they were nearer each other.

Yes it is true that three of the FIF coaches came to Bull City last summer, one of whom is the main elite program coach, the second is her husband, and the third who seems to be focused primarily on beam and ballet (which is nice since we never had any real dance focus) and sort of seems like the wife/husband couple's little sister. I would hardly call it a "consolidation" of the two clubs as from what I can tell, only one or two DP kids from FIF came over initially, and have both since left. Four or five of the elite/HOPES kids came over with the coaches and then they added a few more to the group from the Bull City original group. Like @mom2newgymnast mentioned, BCG is 2+ hours from FIF so consolidation was unlikely the goal.


To speak to some of the other points in the thread, we are on our second tuition hike in less than a year as of next month. Went up $70/month the very month Powers took over and now 11 months later, went up another $80/month. For the same number of hours. Meet fees have been doubled or slightly more than doubled.

And with minimal notice, they just eliminated the evening optional program altogether. They did this after the public school lotteries for charter/magnets had closed (some of which allow kids to leave early for daytime gym, while the vast majority of the traditional districted elementary and middle schools do NOT allow kids to leave early), after the private school admissions were done, and without enough time for many of the families to be able to put aside enough money now not only for the increased gym tuition and fees, but for tuition for the "gym school" option (I think it is like $7000 or so). And apparently they did not send a team-wide universal notice to the evening kids whose parents anticipated their children training for level 6 for next season. Some parents got word to move to days directly from coaches in a curbsided whisper, others heard through the grapevine from other parents of current evening optional kids or from their kids.

With that, I suspect that the daytime optional program will be "safe" so to speak (ie will not be eliminated like it was at FIF) as they need optional levels for the elite/HOPES kids to compete in between the fancy meets, need people to pay tuition to basically fund the elite training and associated coaching/travel etc., and need to pay for the gym to run during the daytime as 90% of rec is after school hours. And they will likely keep the evening junior team kids (XB, XS, and XG then go to level 6) to feed the TOPS training group or the into the daytime optionals.

EDIT: Fixed underlined part above

 

[GymnastMomX2]

Yes, our tuition has gone up a couple times in the last year already, (at $700/month now) and our head coach mentioned to me that the goal was to have daytime as the only option for optionals in the future. My daughter is already in daytime, but funnily enough most of our 10s went back to evening/normal school this season. I can’t imagine it will go over well if they eliminate the evening program. This is assuming they don’t completely eliminate our optionals program, which is definitely still a worry in the back of my mind.

 

[Jenny]

This sounds like a very cold and calculated nightmare. My heart goes out to all those affected. Terrible situation.

 

[gym_dad32608]

Sounds like free market principles at work. Cold and calculating to maximize profit.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

We are at Bull City Gym in NC and Powers is the new management company for the gym. Until recently, based on threads like this and similar ones on a CGM FB page, most parents I know at our gym were under the impression that the woman who owns our gym was still the owner but that she hired an external group to help with HR and management. This is what she told us in an email. We are now learning that the group is Powers and that she actually took a job with their company in AZ or TX. The manager for our local gym apparently is now a regional manager for Powers working for many NC Powers gyms. On paper as listed with the NC secretary of state office for business corporations, Powers is not listed...just the LLC started by the original gym owners.

I have heard they are asked to sign a non-compete that apparently blocks employment at any other gym in any state that Powers owns gyms in. *note that this is heresay only...one of our most successful and longest standing coaches was fired within a week of the "new management company" coming in and has not returned to coaching. Word is that she cannot coach yet because of the non-compete she literally just signed before being terminated, and that she doesn't have the cashflow to fight it out in court. The coach has been very quiet about it and i have no confirmation on this. That said, i definitely believe it is true as I believe she otherwise would have been snatched up right away.




Yes it is true that three of the FIF coaches came to Bull City last summer, one of whom is the main elite program coach, the second is her husband, and the third who seems to be focused primarily on beam and ballet (which is nice since we never had any real dance focus) and sort of seems like the wife/husband couple's little sister. I would hardly call it a "consolidation" of the two clubs as from what I can tell, only one or two DP kids from FIF came over initially, and have both since left. Four or five of the elite/HOPES kids came over with the coaches and then they added a few more to the group from the Bull City original group. Like @mom2newgymnast mentioned, BCG is 2+ hours from FIF so consolidation was unlikely the goal.


To speak to some of the other points in the thread, we are on our second tuition hike in less than a year as of next month. Went up $70/month the very month Powers took over and now 11 months later, went up another $80/month. For the same number of hours. Meet fees have been doubled or slightly more than doubled.

And with minimal notice, they just eliminated the evening optional program altogether. They did this after the public school lotteries for charter/magnets had closed (some of which allow kids to leave early for daytime gym, while the vast majority of the traditional districted elementary and middle schools do), after the private school admissions were done, and without enough time for many of the families to be able to put aside enough money now not only for the increased gym tuition and fees, but for tuition for the "gym school" option (I think it is like $7000 or so). And apparently they did not send a team-wide universal notice to the evening kids whose parents anticipated their children training for level 6 for next season. Some parents got word to move to days directly from coaches in a curbsided whisper, others heard through the grapevine from other parents of current evening optional kids or from their kids.

With that, I suspect that the daytime optional program will be "safe" so to speak (ie will not be eliminated like it was at FIF) as they need optional levels for the elite/HOPES kids to compete in between the fancy meets, need people to pay tuition to basically fund the elite training and associated coaching/travel etc., and need to pay for the gym to run during the daytime as 90% of rec is after school hours. And they will likely keep the evening junior team kids (XB, XS, and XG then go to level 6) to feed the TOPS training group or the into the daytime optionals.

That's really tough about eliminating the evening group with such short notice. I don't know what I would do in that situation. I mean I get what some others are saying about things being "business decisions", but it's still a crappy thing to do with no regard to the impact on families that have likely stood by and supported the gym and/or coaches for years. I'm sorry for all those affected.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Yes, our tuition has gone up a couple times in the last year already, (at $700/month now) and our head coach mentioned to me that the goal was to have daytime as the only option for optionals in the future. My daughter is already in daytime, but funnily enough most of our 10s went back to evening/normal school this season. I can’t imagine it will go over well if they eliminate the evening program. This is assuming they don’t completely eliminate our optionals program, which is definitely still a worry in the back of my mind.

I hope that everything works out at your gym. I know the uncertainty must be difficult.

 

[Aussie_coach]

That's really tough about eliminating the evening group with such short notice. I don't know what I would do in that situation. I mean I get what some others are saying about things being "business decisions", but it's still a crappy thing to do with no regard to the impact on families that have likely stood by and supported the gym and/or coaches for years. I'm sorry for all those affected.

It may be a business decision. But just cutting things with no notice is rarely a good business decision.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Sounds like free market principles at work. Cold and calculating to maximize profit.

Must.... resist.... urge.... to.... go.... on.... sociopoliticaleconomic.... rant.... on..... CB.......

Suffice to say I agree with you and think this is an inevitable result of systems currently in place in most of the world

 

[GymnastMomX2]

Just saw on FB they closed down all team programs at Estrella, Oasis and Scottsdale today. I feel awful for those gym families affected.

 

[JBS]

Just saw on FB they closed down all team programs at Estrella, Oasis and Scottsdale today. I feel awful for those gym families affected.

Where was this on FB?

 

[Tiger93]

Where was this on FB?

The Crazy Mamas of Gymnastics

 

[PippenMom]

This is the list of gyms currently owned by Powers. There are still a couple missing because of the way Powers masks ownership. The majority of these gyms have all seen Powers shut down their women’s XCEL and JO programs. Some with very little (if any) notice. Several of the previous owners of these gyms now work for Powers.

COLORADO (1)
Tigar Gymnastics

NORTH CAROLINA (2)
First in Flight
Bull City

Florida (1)
Evo

TEXAS (5)
Capital
Platinum
Houston Gymnastics Academy
Rowland Ballard
Mazeika’s Elite

ARIZONA (3)
Oasis
Scottsdale
Estrella