How to find the "right" gym??

[GymAunt]

Sorry to revive an old thread... but I had some questions.

Glad to hear Cally is happy again! My niece trains at what I would definitely consider a small gym. She took a pre-school class when she was 2 and due to financial problems didn't get back into it until last year. They did the same thing with her.. started her in the beginner class and next thing we knew she was competing in L3. This year she's doing PREP Optional and loves the new stuff she's learning. She's been learning skills from L4 & L5 for her upcoming competitions and is having a blast. We've discussed moving her to a bigger gym, but watching some of the coaches at the area gyms interact with their girls at competition has us a bit concerned. They seem to be all about the scores.. and while Ash loves getting high scores, we're afraid of the other coaches taking the fun out of it for her. Plus the smaller gym has smaller classes and more one-on-one instruction. They also strive to keep things as affordable as possible for the parents, spending less money on competition leotards and warmups. It kinda makes them look bad at the competitions though, they're the only ones wearing short sleeves (they don't get those until either L4 or L5) and they don't have team warm-up suits. Although most of the girls got sweatshirts this year for Christmas with their names on the back.. so they look more like a team now. The main thing that concerns us is they don't seem to explain to the girls what to watch for in competition as far as deductions, which results in her gym placing quite low in team competitions. But Ash has always kinda been the "star" of her gym and routinely places higher than her teammates. So that makes her feel a bit better. If her parents would chip in some money, she'd probably move to a different gym, but right now her grandparents are paying the bill and it's a little tight with all the entry fees and stuff.

Just curious, what are most of you paying for gym dues and competition gear?? None of the local gyms post these fees on their websites... and we would like to get an idea of the norm for comparison shopping purposes. Grandma would like Ash to have the best chance at advancing, but can't afford some outrageously high-priced gym. She's made a promise to keep her in it as long as she can possibly afford it, since Ash has set her goals around gymnastics. She wants to go to the Olympics (don't they all?) and own her own gym some day. This girl isn't the type to give up.. and puts everything she has into acheiving her goals once she sets them. I'd hate to think the money alone would keep her from making her mark some day.

[JBS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by GymAunt Just curious, what are most of you paying for gym dues and competition gear?? None of the local gyms post these fees on their websites... and we would like to get an idea of the norm for comparison shopping purposes. Grandma would like Ash to have the best chance at advancing, but can't afford some outrageously high-priced gym. She's made a promise to keep her in it as long as she can possibly afford it, since Ash has set her goals around gymnastics. She wants to go to the Olympics (don't they all?) and own her own gym some day. This girl isn't the type to give up.. and puts everything she has into acheiving her goals once she sets them. I'd hate to think the money alone would keep her from making her mark some day.

I have a few different roles. I think very differently when I am acting as Program Director as compared to Coach. Here is the Program Director view:

Not posting prices is a very good business decision...it forces potential customers to come in and see the gym/program. It forces the personal relationship. It helps stop the comparison shopping...which as a customer, you really need to do. I suggest calling all the other gyms, if they are good, they will try not to give there prices over the phone either...usually you can get it out of them. As the Program Director, I regularly go the other gyms in our area and pick up price sheets. I know we are better, for this reason, I always price about the other gyms in the area. Price means nothing about the quality of a program, but look out for gyms that don't seem to be financially stable.

Recreational prices will always be more than team if you base it on an hourly rate. Overall, prices vary greatly. Check out this post, average price are highlighted in red about half way down:

Hours in the gym?

[Megley]

Our gym is right about in line with the prices that JBS posted. I have a son and a daughter in preteam - 3 hours per week for him and 6 hours per week for her and the total right now is about $240 a month. Both of them are on track to compete Level 4 next year so our costs will be rising. The cost per hour goes down, though, the more hours you are paying for. As for competition expenses, our gym requires either a $500 payment per family per gymnast or you can work bingo nights to raise your portion of the money. That pays for team leos (very fancy long sleeved leos with lots of sparklies), team warmups, at least one or two team workout leos, plus gifts like sweatshirts and teddy bears that the kids get after each meet. I am not sure how other clubs work the competition bit. I expect that many have booster clubs that do fund raising to help pay for team expenses. Best of luck to your niece. I hope she achieves her dreams.

[Masters_Gymnast93]

I would suggest at least trying a different gym.
Even if it's smaller, if the focus is more on the actual gymnastics (which is your main reason for going) than it would be better for the DD anyway. My gym has two locations, and I'm at the smaller but i still progress at the same rate as the other girls who are in my level at the bigger gym. The only unfortunate part about being in a smaller gym is that your DD would have to work a lot harder to get the skills because of lack of equipment.

[maddiekate]

I only know a few of the rates at our gym:

Level 3: 2 hours a week, 88$ a month
Preteam 4: 8 hours a week, about 200$ a month
Level 4: 12 hours a week, IDK how much.