Parents When the monthly cost of gym equals a mortgage payment...

[justanothergymmom]

So many generous grandparents on here My girls are very fortunate as well, and theirs help us in many ways, but they wouldn't really be able to make a dent in what we need to pay each month. Too many grandkids on both sides for us...They are definitely a blessing to us nonetheless in so many ways!

I was just commenting to my lovely family, that this is the first Saturday in school time that we have no gymnastics, or any other sports! My son is in the big city working and supporting himself and both my girls are finished with gym for various reasons. Youngest will begin cheer, 4 hours a week Mom and Wed, next week.

THe money we are saving is HUGE and I think I am contemplating what to do with it. Funnily enough I upped my mortgage payment this month so we benefit long term

I know how you feel, we get pulled into gym so easily, it is fun, keep the kids fit, we make great friends. But it is expensive. My only advice is do not go into debt for gymnastics, in this economic climate it is a very tough hole to climb out of! Dunno's lemonade (sure DUnno!!) is not far off the mark, get the kids involved sell some old toys on ebay, and let them come up with small fundraising ideas, walking enighbours dogs etc.

Bog, this is a wonderful idea that I can move on right away... my girls have a lot of things that they no longer use...in the short term this could definitely help us. I also agree about not going into debt for gym. I really feel that this is not sound practice for anything in life that is not a necessity (food/shelter/clothing)...

You're right, the monthly tuition alone is a mortgage payment (we refer to it as "our ski house payment") ...I have had 2 in the upper levels for many years and that's why I work! With meet fees ,coaches fees,leos,and travel, it easily averages $2000 a month...they love the sport and it has been great for them (and us) but I live for the day when i can spend that on myself!!!

LOL! We call ours a "beach house payment"!!! I have read your posts and can surmise that my girls have reached optionals at about the same age yours did....so I know you can understand what we are going through! The big expenses that many families have when their girls reach optionals only last for 4-6 years...our girls hit the optional level in 3rd grade. Potentially we have many years left to endure this expense...for each of our girls!!!

We have 3 kiddos - one in gym, one in travel ball and one in swimming. On top of that, two of them are in music lessons and one is in hockey. it definitely gets expensive. We fundraise a lot and our family vacations revolve around out of town meets and tournaments. Grandparents help out sometimes and any money the kids get from birthdays/holidays goes into their activity funds. We are heavily relying on their smarts and /or talents for partial college scholarships. We have saved some for college but not nearly enough, especially for a private U. (though we have 6 yrs left for our first).

I secretly hope for the same, though realistically I know that we cannot depend on this...there are so many variables involved in both sports and academics! We have about the same number of years left for our 1st...

We have 3 in gym, 2 on the team, and oldest DD also does competition dance which costs just as much as the gymnastics. I used to work 2 days a week, now I work 5. I am now doing after school pick up to avoid paying an afterschool sitter. We just got rid of cable (kids are never home to watch it). Vacations are pretty much during Jan-March (meet season travel). We definitely don't have much extra money and should when you look at our income...it is mostly going to our girls' activities. I am pretty much working to pay for their gym and dance. But for me it is a worthwhile thing to work for. Much more worthwhile than expensive cars (DH has had his car for 6 yrs), electronics, all that. I believe that experiences are what you remember and what make your life worthwhile. I also firmly believe that my children are (for the most part) polite and well behaved, and I credit a lot of that to the discipline required in gymnastics and dance. I hope that when I look back some day at my empty bank account I will still feel that way.

I LOVE this! Experiences are SO much more important than "things"!

Thanks so much for everyone's input!

 

[Faith]

For us, the sports are a priority for our dd's. My DH and I are both into sport, so we don't drink, smoke, or have a social life which save a packet. We don't have a paid for tv plan, just the basic free channels.

I think here in the UK though you don't start out so hard and fast, so it's less money to start. Most clubs don't let under 7's do more than 4 hours a week, and 15 hours a week at 11 isn't unusual, even for elite track kids. They don't start competing til 7 either, and there's only about 2/3 meets a year as far as I can tell. Once they get to 14 or so and have a real shot at elite, you can usually get lottery funding, or in our area national standard kids get free access to sports facilities.

The catch we did find ourselves in though was if we wanted the DD's to do a lot of sport, it made it difficult for me to work and ferry them around after school- I don't finish til 6pm and practice starts at 5. If I'm not working though, where does the money come from...

 

[TexasRose]

Wow! 3 on team!! That must be hard. I only have 1 child, my DD, who is in gym and dance teams and just for that we spend a crazy amount of money. I can't even imagine your costs. We have done some fundraising which has helped. We sold some discount cards- Samaritan Savers is what they were called. You had to pay $10 up front and sold them for $20. So I prepaid for 10 and sold them so we raised $100. We also have been asking for sponsors. The gym provided a letter for us. I've had much more success asking at local businesses rather than chain stores. We have only received 1 sponsor for $50 so far but every little bit helps. All of the chain stores I've asked at- Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, etc. say that they have to ask their corporate office and then never call you back. The other moms have had bake sales as fundraiser but they said that they really don't make enough at them for it to be worth it. I've printed several of the sponsor letters and have at least 1 in my purse at all times. I'm basically asking at almost every business we visit. The worst they can say is no.

 

[bogwoppit]

The only thing you have to be careful with when you solicit companies for sponsorship money, as opposed to bake sales and selling old stuff. Is that to be eligible for a college scholarship, NCAA, you need to have never accepted a single penny of sponsorship money. Now for most kids this is not an issue as the chances of a scholarship are remote, but if it is even in the back of your mind do not accept sponsorships.

I am sure Bookworm can contirbute to this part of the discussion as I know her DD is old enough, and at a level , where this is an issue.

 

[TexasRose]

The only thing you have to be careful with when you solicit companies for sponsorship money, as opposed to bake sales and selling old stuff. Is that to be eligible for a college scholarship, NCAA, you need to have never accepted a single penny of sponsorship money. Now for most kids this is not an issue as the chances of a scholarship are remote, but if it is even in the back of your mind do not accept sponsorships.

I am sure Bookworm can contirbute to this part of the discussion as I know her DD is old enough, and at a level , where this is an issue.

Thanks for the info! I didn't know about that. My DD is only 6 so we're a long way from thinking about NCAA, however it would be terrible if she did make it that far and couldn't get a scholarship. So any money- no matter what amount- makes them ineligible? This seems like a very rigid rule. Is it the same for other sports wiht the NCAA?

 

[bogwoppit]

As far as I know, any sponsorship money would make her ineligible. You should ask your coach. Feel free to repost and ask the question.

 

[gymgal]

The only thing you have to be careful with when you solicit companies for sponsorship money, as opposed to bake sales and selling old stuff. Is that to be eligible for a college scholarship, NCAA, you need to have never accepted a single penny of sponsorship money. Now for most kids this is not an issue as the chances of a scholarship are remote, but if it is even in the back of your mind do not accept sponsorships.

I am sure Bookworm can contirbute to this part of the discussion as I know her DD is old enough, and at a level , where this is an issue.

This is why setting up a booster club is so important. The sponsors go through the booster club who then distribute to the gymnasts. In this way the companies are not sponsoring individual gymnasts.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

When my DD was doing gymnastics, we solicited for sponsorships all the time, but it was a sponsorship for the gymnastics team, NOT the individual child. Worked great!

 

[gymgal]

When my DD was doing gymnastics, we solicited for sponsorships all the time, but it was a sponsorship for the gymnastics team, NOT the individual child. Worked great!

Yes, this is key - No money can go directly to the gymnast. It must go through the gym, team, or booster club.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Yes, this is key - No money can go directly to the gymnast. It must go through the gym, team, or booster club.

yes, that. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[SkiBumGymMom]

All NCAA sports have the same rules. It really evolved out of football and basketball players being recruited with houses and cars and the like and unfortunately it ends up hurting the "smaller" sports. Bri trained NCAA but had to retire before getting a chance to compete. She was a walk on and didn't have a scholarship. She was hoping to do well her first season and be rewarded a scholarship, but it just wasn't in the cards. The NCAA rules are very strict. Athletes have to register their cars and give their addresses (to make sure a big fan of the team isn't paying for them). Recruiting rules are even stricter, even though in gymnastics the best schools recruit the best girls by sophomore year, it's still an informal commitment and they can't sign letters of intent binding them to the school until senior year. There's also strict rules about how often you can be contacted, when a coach can directly call the girl (July 1 after junior year) instead of talking to her coach or school, etc. etc. Like I said, from everything I understand about it (through Bri and the kids at school where I work) the rules are so strict because of the egregious violations by football and basketball teams.

Back on topic, finances have always been hard for our family. My husband was killed by a drunk driver when my daughters were 5 and 3, the year after we'd moved to the mountains. We received some insurance money, but his best friend and the girls godfather who was paralyzed in the accident, came and lived with us and a lot of that went towards medical bills. I've been completing my degrees as I go through work and didn't finish my masters until the girls were in elementary school. During the school year I teach but on breaks I also am an adaptive ski instructor. In the summer I'm a raft guide. The cost of living where we are is very high since it is a resort town, most people have more jobs than I do. We pay four times minimum the amount in utilities as my in-laws do who live in the same state but in Denver. That said, Bri's gym was very inexpensive. It was set up through the town's recreation district and on top of training being affordable, they didn't have expensive leos or warm ups and up until optionals meets were only in state and very low key. My youngest daughter also latched onto her one activity early. She did figure skate but we have ponds open all winter and two hockey rinks for a relatively small population so it was inexpensive. When she got higher up the levels meets and ice time became more expensive and she decided to stick with dance. She danced with the local dance studio in town, and the classes were very reasonable. Her

We did a lot to save money though. I drive a used Subaru that's great on gas mileage. We packed lunches and snacks. Both girls started working part time at 16. We had a lot of hand down clothes, from Bri to Maddy and from other cousins to Bri. Our community is very close knit so we tried to carpool as much as possible. From work the entire family got ski passes for free, and because of that all of our family time was cheap or free. We hiked, skied, cooked dinner and watched movies at home, etc.

Like someone else said I believe the experience of live is the most important part and really worked hard to give my girls (and my son, he's 14 years older than Bri and things were even harder financially when he was at home and he eventually got a full ride to Georgetown) as many opportunities as possible. That said I think it was very important to teach them that things do cost as well as the value of hard work and family time (I sound like an old fuddy duddy now eh?). Honestly if either girl had been at a gym or a studio that had them there 20 hours a week at age 9 spending $500 on uniforms/costumes, etc. I might not have supported that. Not just because the cost would be out of our reach but because the strain on our family, to me, wouldn't have been worth it.

`

 

[bookworm]

All NCAA sports have the same rules. It really evolved out of football and basketball players being recruited with houses and cars and the like and unfortunately it ends up hurting the "smaller" sports. Bri trained NCAA but had to retire before getting a chance to compete. She was a walk on and didn't have a scholarship. She was hoping to do well her first season and be rewarded a scholarship, but it just wasn't in the cards. The NCAA rules are very strict. Athletes have to register their cars and give their addresses (to make sure a big fan of the team isn't paying for them). Recruiting rules are even stricter, even though in gymnastics the best schools recruit the best girls by sophomore year, it's still an informal commitment and they can't sign letters of intent binding them to the school until senior year. There's also strict rules about how often you can be contacted, when a coach can directly call the girl (July 1 after junior year) instead of talking to her coach or school, etc. etc. Like I said, from everything I understand about it (through Bri and the kids at school where I work) the rules are so strict because of the egregious violations by football and basketball teams.

Honestly if either girl had been at a gym or a studio that had them there 20 hours a week at age 9 spending $500 on uniforms/costumes, etc. I might not have supported that. Not just because the cost would be out of our reach but because the strain on our family, to me, wouldn't have been worth it.

`

***and to your point above Coterpandguidgirl..I don't think when it all started that I ever envisioned that the hours and money required would be what they are ...it was something that just kind of evolved and by the time it was happening, we were immersed in it...

The only thing you have to be careful with when you solicit companies for sponsorship money, as opposed to bake sales and selling old stuff. Is that to be eligible for a college scholarship, NCAA, you need to have never accepted a single penny of sponsorship money. Now for most kids this is not an issue as the chances of a scholarship are remote, but if it is even in the back of your mind do not accept sponsorships.

I am sure Bookworm can contirbute to this part of the discussion as I know her DD is old enough, and at a level , where this is an issue.

Well thank you for the compliment Bog..and you're right , my daughter just went through this whole recruiting process last year and it is a nightmare..from my standpoint, the nightmare was the unknown..where will she end up, will she like the school, will they like her, everyone else is already signed so are all the scholarships gone etc etc...and then to top it off, with the recruiting process starting so early, the financial burden is (again!) on the parents to make these visits in their sophomore and junior years because if you do wait until senior year, the scholarships are pretty much scooped up. With that said and back to Bog's point, an individual gymnast cannot accept any individual money or products and be NCAA eligible...booster club money or money that goes to a "team" (like when your level 10 team wins a cash prize at a meet)are okay because it does not benefit any individual gymnast. The NCAA has a whole website that athletes register at when in the recruiting process (the NCAA Clearinghouse) that basically goes through the whole thing and the athlete has to sign off that they have never accepted money or individual sponsorships. In the end, it all worked out for us ...she signs her NLI (National Letter of Intent) this November

 

[bogwoppit]

she signs her NLI (National Letter of Intent) this November

That is very exciting! Statistically speaking there are few gymnasts who make it this far, congrats.

 

[bookworm]

That is very exciting! Statistically speaking there are few gymnasts who make it this far, congrats.

Thanks again! And we are SO excited for her! and excited for me to be able to stop writing those checks to her gym anymore!!and those "statistics" are what made the whole process such a nightmare as you just never know what a particular coach or school might be looking for...

 

[Bajanswife]

I have 2 DDs. The younger one has been interested in gym since she was 5, and is now training level 5 at age 8. My older DD, who just turned 10, has done lots of recreational gym and enjoys it too, but it doesn't compare to her first love - ballet. She has tried out for the team, and she has trained with the team coaches at gym camp (they'd take her on team tomorrow - the HC keeps begging for her!) but she's on the fence. I have been torn about whether to encourage her - she's a little bit timid about going after what she wants and I was worried that she'd really like to be on team but was afraid to say so. However, I think I am coming to terms with the fact that it's better for our family that we have only 1 child on team, and financial reasons are a big part of it. Our gym isn't terribly expensive (you couldn't even rent a decent apartment here for our monthly cost, so it can't compare to a mortgage payment by any means) but it's still tough for us to manage sometimes. Luckily dance classes are cheap in comparison, so my 10 year old can dance all she pleases!

 

[SkiBumGymMom]

***and to your point above Coterpandguidgirl..I don't think when it all started that I ever envisioned that the hours and money required would be what they are ...it was something that just kind of evolved and by the time it was happening, we were immersed in it...

Bookworm, sorry if my comment came off as negative. I understand completely starting this crazy journey of gymnastics with no idea of what it would morph into! I never imagine Bri would end up in the gym 20 hours a week, traveling around the country whenever possible for meets and being consumed by this sport when I signed her up for preschool classes! I do feel very lucky that she was able to have these great opportunities with less cost from our family, financially and time wise. Not every gym is the same though and many girls still benefit from it! I think I was thinking more of parents allowing their 7 year old L 4s and L5s to train almost 20 hours a week, missing school and other activities. At those early levels I would be wary of such an expensive and lengthy commitment. But you're absolutely right, as it goes on you just get sucked into it. We still ended up spending most of our weekends at meets and a pretty penny on travel, leos, doctors, gym fees, you name it! However it was absolutely worth it.

And congratulations to your DD!!!!!!!!! Signing a NIL for gymnastics is such an AMAZING accomplishment. Best of luck to your DD, I hope we'll be able to watch her compete next season. What school has she signed to, if you don't mind my asking?

 

[my4buffaloes]

Well - I got a job. As soon as the kids all started school I got a part time job. Dh and I decided that if we were going to continue in gymnastics then I needed to start working to help pay for it. i work from home so it isn't as bad as it could be. I can work as many hours as I want, so if we have a large bill coming up we can cover it. I set aside our tax refund each spring to cover meet fees. I now have 2 on team and I know it will only get more expensive!

 

[TexasRose]

Yes, this is key - No money can go directly to the gymnast. It must go through the gym, team, or booster club.

Oh ok. Our gym has the "sponsors" make the check out to the gym, not to the child or parent. So would this be ok? I also forget to mention another fundraiser that we've had success with. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Scentsy- it's a smelly wax burner thing, lol . I love them and they smell really good. It's a direct sales company like Pampered Chef. You can host a fundraiser show and you get 25% of the sales back. They send you a check. It was easy to sell and we made a couple hundred doing it. Just an idea.

 

[TexasRose]

In the end, it all worked out for us ...she signs her NLI (National Letter of Intent) this November

[/QUOTE]

That's awesome!!! Congrats!!! What school is she going to if you don't mind my asking?

 

[bookworm]

Oh ok. Our gym has the "sponsors" make the check out to the gym, not to the child or parent. So would this be ok? I also forget to mention another fundraiser that we've had success with. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Scentsy- it's a smelly wax burner thing, lol . I love them and they smell really good. It's a direct sales company like Pampered Chef. You can host a fundraiser show and you get 25% of the sales back. They send you a check. It was easy to sell and we made a couple hundred doing it. Just an idea.

As long is the check is made out to the gym, you are fine because it benefits all.