WAG Regarding Coaches Traveling to Meets

[wandrewsjr]

The bill for one kid to go to Nationals for the boys one year was over 1000 for the family, and that was just the cost for kid and coach, not for any parents that wanted to go. You have about a week to get that together. The kid didn't get to go because the parents couldn't do it. That's not great either. It is tough either way. our booster club, if you are a member, will cover the cost, but this family was not in booster club. It was really sad.

Made me sad reading that! And $1,000 even sounds like a low number...2 last minute cross country plane tickets, hotel and meals for 3 days..$2,000 would not be an unusual cost to send just an athlete and coach to nationals!

 

[skschlag]

It probably is. I just remember it being over 1000. It was very sad.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

there was a very big ME atmosphere in that gym ( "will this benefit me"..." how does this benefit me"..." this doesn't benefit me so I shouldn't have to" etc) versus the gym where it was all rolled in together where there was a definite team atmosphere

We have only been to regionals at our gym during our time there. And as a family we have gone to regionals and not gone. So I have paid more and not as much.

And I rather resent the implication that we don't function as a team because we do. Just not financially. Much like I don't expect to pay the same for less hours. It doesn't make us less a team player. If a kid is doing more time to prep for Nationals, say additional choreography or private time. Would you expect the whole gym to pay for that???? I wouldn't.

We have a meet potentially in the late spring that will be a big financial commitment. Some girls may qualify some not. We are already discussing it as a group and trying to think of ways to deal with the cost. And not one of the parents would expect the kids who couldn't go to pay.

I would expect if my kid ever makes it Nationals it would be expensive and I would be working a ton of overtime, planning and saving.

No I don't think rec kids or L4 kids should be financing Nationals. Its not about paying dues, but rather as your skill level goes up so does the financial commitment.

We were a team of about 100 ( levels 4-10) and each gymnast's "contribution to the nationals fund for being part of the team was about $25...I don't think that's an outrageous amount even if you never make it. And our team had options to use that fund coming in (TOPS) and going out (JOs)...and our gym also contributed to the fund as well.

I guess the size of the gym is a consideration as well. And really for some of the parents on our team 25 bucks can be more money then they can afford. As a family/team I wouldn't expect that parent to have to cover someone else's kid. But then in our gym if it was the kid with the parents who are stretched, we would figure out a way to make that happen. Not because we "have" to though but because we are a team.

 

[sevenatenine2]

I think the idea is that, because Level 3 and 4 have so many more kids and so many less expenses, that even if you charge travel/meet fees of $600 per girl in those levels and $900 per girl for Levels 7-10, if the expenses are $5,000 for compulsory season and $10,000 for optional season (including the national meets, etc.), then technically, the younger kids are paying for the higher levels.

It seems fair to me, and I never minded it when my daughter was a lower level.

 

[Sari]

Sometimes I'm still surprised by how expensive gymnastics is for you all.

I'd rejoice if I ever got paid for attending a meet with my gymnasts. Instead, back in 2014, I actually had to pay for them to compete and - because I didn't know I had to apply for a refund - lost that money. Parents never have to pay anything for meets.
As coaches, if we're lucky, we get free food and drinks.

 

[bookworm]

1. If a kid is doing more time to prep for Nationals, say additional choreography or private time. Would you expect the whole gym to pay for that???? I wouldn't.

2. I would expect if my kid ever makes it Nationals it would be expensive and I would be working a ton of overtime, planning and saving.

3. No I don't think rec kids or L4 kids should be financing Nationals. Its not about paying dues, but rather as your skill level goes up so does the financial commitment.
.

Point #1: this is all about coaches fees/assessments and nothing to do with monthly tuition or added things like choreographers or privates that you reference...you are correct, I pay for the additional hours my girls trained in the form of a higher monthly rate versus the compulsory levels , and any choreographer fees or privates are the responsibility of the individual gymnast family.

2. It would be expensive and just getting you or your kid there will be through the roof because you generally get 2 weeks notice upon making JOs to book things like flights....but we'll have to agree to disagree that the gym and team should ALL be participatory in making this happen in terms of funding for the coaches. In our gym, I'm only worried about getting us out there, and no additional costs , because I've paid my assessments over the past several months and the coaches are covered.

3. Again, we can agree to disagree here too...and some of those compulsory kids go off to Houston for TOPS testing so the upper levels are contributing to that as well and when the compulsories get to be upper levels, they benefit from the system they have been a part of...

I totally get the financial commitment of the upper levels as we've been in the sport for over 15 years , and been at Level 9/10 National meets since 2005 ....having experienced the 2 types of funding, I find the system at our first gym to be more family friendly in the long run..

 

[skschlag]

.

And I rather resent the implication that we don't function as a team because we do. Just not financially. Much like I don't expect to pay the same for less hours. It doesn't make us less a team player. If a kid is doing more time to prep for Nationals, say additional choreography or private time. Would you expect the whole gym to pay for that???? I wouldn't.

No I don't think rec kids or L4 kids should be financing Nationals. Its not about paying dues, but rather as your skill level goes up so does the financial commitment.
.

Fact is, rec and lower levels already subsidize team. That is the way it is. They pay more per hour to keep the costs of team down. So it is already happening.

 

[z2akids]

An extra $5/month in training fees at our gym would mean almost $6000 a year for our relatively small gym. That would easily cover most, if not all, of the travel expenses for our entire team for a season. Given that our rec team girls don't have overnight meets and our team only had a small percentage of 7+ going past States, some levels pay a bit more than their equitable share. That would be particularly true if many of the girls chose not to attend all of the scheduled meets. But, spreading those costs out (again, they are part of the gym's overhead) could mean the difference for many girls between missing away meets (thus costing everyone who goes more $$) and a whole team being together.

I think it would be awful if 2 girls made it to say regionals and the cost for the coach was going to be say $500. What if one girl couldn't afford the $250 and suddenly the other girl was responsible for the entire $500 on her own?

 

[bogwoppit]

Sometimes I'm still surprised by how expensive gymnastics is for you all.

I'd rejoice if I ever got paid for attending a meet with my gymnasts. Instead, back in 2014, I actually had to pay for them to compete and - because I didn't know I had to apply for a refund - lost that money. Parents never have to pay anything for meets.
As coaches, if we're lucky, we get free food and drinks.

I know, it is a whole other world isn't it.

I have shared rooms with the coach for meets, driven with her too. Anything to keep the costs down.

 

[Sneezyone]

Our gym spreads coaching costs out among all team members too and assessments differ slightly between compulsory and optional gymnasts. I don't know whether coaches share rooms but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. If you were in a spread out region w/fall compulsories and spring optionals (say, one that includes Alaska and Hawaii), you would especially appreciate this. Families already take a hit hy competing twice as many meets and adding out of state travel costs during the L5/6 or L5/7 transition year. A doubling (or tripling) of assessments on top of that would be crushing. It really does inspire more team and booster club camaraderie.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

An extra $5/month in training fees at our gym would mean almost $6000 a year for our relatively small gym.

For us it would be half that

 

[z2akids]

Okay, so perhaps yours might be a bit higher, depending on the number of meets thst require overnight stays, how many coaches, etc. But, you mention $25-$50 per meet per gymnast. Thst is a huge range. But, even at the lower end, it is a lot more that $5/month.