Booster Club

[littlegymchampsmom]

JBS, tx for your input as well. Can you give me an example of what a successful (in the 5%) booster club would be in your opinion? Our gym is only a year old and I am not certain of how well it is doing. The coaches "brought" a lot of their team w/them when they came...

I am not sure I understand

"You are paying for a service, gymnastics. Pay for it...don't waste 8 hours working a car wash to earn $25 towards a meet."

How would the booster club make money w/out fundraising? Are you saying the fees should be built into the monthly fees of comp gym? - which btw, would be ideal to me. I am going to talk to a couple of other parents later today and just get an idea of how the T&T Booster club works at our gym, so I am sure I will have even more ?'s after - lol.

[Megley]

Quote:
Meg, do you know if the $500 is an initial pay "in", or is it annual? Also is there a monthly fee you pay as well? When you find out/join, I am curious to know if there are more out of pocket expenses you incur during meet time. For instance, does this cover the gymnasts lodging - or only coaches?

LGCM, it's an annual fee but you can "work it off" by volunteering for bingo or other fund raising activities or you can pay it on an installment basis so that you don't have to come up with the $500 at one time. There is no monthly fee to pay unless you split the $500 into monthly installments. I know for certain that travel expenses for the gymnasts are not paid so we would need to pay gas, hotel and meal expenses for away meets. Fortunately, there are only two travel meets in the Level 4/Level 5 compulsory schedule. Once you get into optionals, the costs are much higher and there are more travel meets. We have lots of compulsory gymnasts but not so many optionals. Last year, I think there were 20 Level 4s, about the same number of 5s, maybe 15 Level 6s. It drops off in optional Levels with probably a total of 20 girls in Levels 7 through 10.

At least in our area, there seems to be a high demand for bingo so the booster club does fairly well with that fundraiser, though I believe there are others, and corporate sponsorship as well.

I am not really in the know about the financial status of the booster club, but it seems to be doing pretty well and is supported by the gym owners. When I find out more, I will be sure to add the information. Good luck to you with starting a booster club. It's good that there is one already existing for T&T. It seems like that would be a good place to start and to get input.

Meg

[JBS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by littlegymchampsmom JBS, tx for your input as well. Can you give me an example of what a successful (in the 5%) booster club would be in your opinion? Our gym is only a year old and I am not certain of how well it is doing. The coaches "brought" a lot of their team w/them when they came... I am not sure I understand "You are paying for a service, gymnastics. Pay for it...don't waste 8 hours working a car wash to earn $25 towards a meet." How would the booster club make money w/out fundraising? Are you saying the fees should be built into the monthly fees of comp gym? - which btw, would be ideal to me. I am going to talk to a couple of other parents later today and just get an idea of how the T&T Booster club works at our gym, so I am sure I will have even more ?'s after - lol.

Exactly...I'm saying the parents should just pay for everything. A successful team program should be able to sustain itself financially...or it's obviously not successful.

I'm just saying that working all day to get ONLY $25 is crazy. Meetings, fund raisers, etc...is it really worth it for the amount of money you earn. I'm the parent that would pay the dues in full and do nothing but watch my child have a good time.

A successful booster club is one that is achieving it's goals and meshing well with the ownership of the gym...set your goals low and keep a clear line of communication with the owner (coaches don't count in this case, must be an owner). A booster club is like a business...start small and grow over time.

KISS = Keep It Simple, Stupid (some people prefer Silly)

[gym law mom]

Ok, JBS you and our gym owner need to talk. He claims there is no way the rec program at our gym plus what we pay for monthly tuition for team will cover all team expenses. This is not a small gym. Main gym with 3 other locations all of which offer rec classes. Have a boys competitive program at one of the other gyms(about 3 yrs old)--girls pre-team, team and Eagles all practice at the main gym.

We have paid "for everything" since my daughter moved to team as a Level 5 and again this year as a Level 6. Can we afford it if she moves to optionals---I don't know. We opted not to do bingo which did cover all meet and coaches fees for those that did. Several reasons on the bingo were the parent in charge is just plain obnoxious, one parent would have to commit to basically a job after work(doing bingo IS work) 2 nights/month and we all needed some family time rather than running to bingo.

Right now, everyone pays a monthly tuition which of course goes up as your child moves up each level, USAG fee(1x/yr), $200 team fee---paid to the gym every summer and is put in their "equipment account" to help repair/replace old equipment, new team leos/warm ups when needed, $500 in meet entry fees(an estimate) plus about $200 in coaching fees for meets. Our complusory girls do not go out of state for meets---all are usually under 2hrs driving time. Big difference with optional. Meet fees are normally higher and this past season our optional teams went to 3 out of state meets that required flying, hotels etc. Then of course if your daughter has a good state meet, there is the possibility of regionals, sectionals etc.

Some families simply don't have the money to pay for all of that. We do participate in some of the other fund raisers and have paid for a few things with money in my daughter's account. So, JBS, what would you do if a parent came to you and said we can't afford competitive gym(I know you don't have a comp program) and since your gym doesn't have any fundraising, we're going to have to either leave and find a gym that has it or she'll have to quit?

[JBS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by gym law mom Ok, JBS you and our gym owner need to talk. He claims there is no way the rec program at our gym plus what we pay for monthly tuition for team will cover all team expenses.

I don't think ANY of the rec. fees should go towards team. This is a big argument in the gymnastics world. Every program in a gym should be able to sustain itself. There are very few gyms in the country running this way...but it is possible.

Some owners also think it is not possible to run a gym without a team. They think the team pulls in all the rec. kids. HA HA...our 2 locations house 1700 gymnasts, 34,000 sq. ft., and an annual gross revenue nearing $2 million.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gym law mom So, JBS, what would you do if a parent came to you and said we can't afford competitive gym(I know you don't have a comp program) and since your gym doesn't have any fundraising, we're going to have to either leave and find a gym that has it or she'll have to quit?

I am a coach and a businessman. This is my life and my profession. I have a family to support. If someone could not afford it, I would fill their spot with someone that could. That's life. You have to remember that there are thousands of kids that never get to try gymnastics just because the sport, in general, is too expensive.

Sounds cold...but that's the truth.

[bogwoppit]

I have to say at our gym, we do one small fundraiser a year, funds always go to new equipment. Rec fees do not pay for team. Parents pay every penny for their team girls. No family discounts etc. The fees are assessed at the begining of each year, you can pay in 4 post dated cheques or one full cheque. The fee includes all coaching, comp fees and for any coaches hotel rooms. Extra comps, suits, warm ups are charged extra, if you don't pay your child does not compete.

Works really well, and as it has always been this way nobody has ever quit for financial reasons, often some do not begin team because of it though. Some girls train less hours to make it more affordable.

Unfortunately gymnastics is not a cheap sport, and any sport that is pursued past rec levels is going to get pricey. It does suck that it becomes difficult to afford, but that is the way it is in amateur sports. My kids would love a horse in our field, but we can't afford it, so they don't have one.

I tend to agree with JBS, I also would rather pay the money for a clean, bright facility with excellent coaching and leave it there. I do not want to help with bingo etc. Though I am happy to offer my time if I see a need, please do not "volunteer" me or my time.

It has been very interesting to read how clubs differ in this way, none are wrong, all are different. What works is fine, what doesn't perhaps wshould be changed? Thanks for sharing you points of view for me to read!

[JBS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by bogwoppit It has been very interesting to read how clubs differ in this way, none are wrong, all are different. What works is fine, what doesn't perhaps wshould be changed? Thanks for sharing you points of view for me to read!

Nicely said!

[gymbabisMom]

In a perfect world....
In my imperfect world, my kid made team when we could afford it. Later I was able to afford it because the gym we went to had a really good fundraising program. Now, my kid is still keeping up her grades, is still dedicated to the sport, and still trying her heart out. By the strictly business point of view, it would be to bad, so sad, you have to quit because your parent's can't afford it! Thank God everyone doesn't feel that same way, but now because of circumstances, that is probably exactly what I will have to tell my beautiful and talented child..

[gymgramma]

Why don't you try to find "sponsors" for your daughter to help w/gymnastics expenses? there is a girl at our gym who's mom sends out sponsorship letters to all their family and friends and she raises most of her child's expenses that way - meet fees, camp fee, leos, etc

[gymbabisMom]

That's funny, my husband and I were just talking about that very thing.