Parents Let's talk boosters...

[skschlag]

We pay $430 for 24 hours a week, and the meet fees including coaches fees, coach travel,and meet fees was $2500 (they have 3 travel meets)

 

[reluctant]

It would seem like the gyms with lower assessments or meet fees would have higher monthly payments. Doesn't the money have to come from somewhere? Doesn't word get around if two gyms in the same area have a vastly different fee structure? We have a booster club and I wish we didn't. It doesn't feel equitable. It feels like forced membership in a club you don't want to join. I am happy to pay for my kids fees, but I don't really want to be responsible for the fees of her teammates.

 

[skschlag]

The money for our booster club comes from fundraising..

 

[MILgymFAM]

DDs current gym has a booster club, which I believe is a non-profit (that’s what the team handbook says anyway), and I know they pay out the meet fees for the gym because I had to pay my fees to them instead of the gym itself. Seems weird and kind of pointless to me. Since we don’t host a meet I didn’t see the point in a booster. There is no fee to join though, and everyone is automatically joined if their kid is on team (it covers girls JO/Xcel, boys, and jump rope). I don’t even know what our assessments are yet- DD asked and was told they’re due two weeks prior to each meet but that they haven’t been figured out yet. I think that’s a strange (and stressful for paycheck to paycheck families like us) way to do it, but as long as it’s not as overpriced as we’ve had in the past I can deal (yes, I think some gyms overcharge on assessments). We only have four meets and they’re all local so I’m hoping the assessments aren’t too bad. I also hope to figure out at some point what it is that our booster actually does. The only thing I’ve seen so far is a wreath sale where the gym only gets $8 per ($35) wreaths. Obviously I’m just not getting it. Ha.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

What is your monthly tuition? I pay about $350 for level 9 (20 hours) and then we pay something like $1500 for the meet fees and coaches fees. (6 meets including state).

We pay approx $600 per month. This is for level 9/10 and HOPES, she practices 25-30 hours per week.

 

[John]

$600 ouch!!

 

[Gymmommy71]

Wow, our gym is definitely in the minority I guess. We pay no assessment fees at all to the booster club, the booster club pays ALL our meet fees and coaches fees, up through nationals. And while the parents work at meets and do fundraisers I would say that the amount of hours that each family puts in per year on booster club activities is around 15-20 total. And the booster club posts the financial records and meeting minutes every single month (booster club meetings are open to all members, we have them once each month) so the parents can see exactly how much money was raised and where it is being spent.

This is so nice and how it should be... I wish there was a way to affect change at our gym, but anyone who even questions why stuff is so much money and why we have to work so hard at these meets and fundraisers and still have to pay $2000 in assessments and $400 in apparel, gets the side eye and labeled a troublemaker. It doesn't help that all the board members are best buddies w/ the owner and work at the gym too (there's never elections or votes - just people announced to the board and they hold meetings w/o the regular members). It's so political you don't even know... I hate it so much but so helpless ...

 

[flippin out]

I would take a club with no booster club (or at least no mandatory one) any day!! I’d say if I were gym shopping and I was considering between 2 similar gyms and one had a forced booster and the other didn’t.....hands down pick the other!!