WAG Competition fees

[mamaS]

I was wondering how many meets most gyms do a year and what are the competition fees. We do 8 plus an in house starter meet. I paid around $1400 this season. The leo was $150 and the warmups $120. I was told by a mom at another gym that her daughters fees were $800 and the Leo, warm ups, and gym bag came to $250. We are close to $1500 with everything while the gals next door are more like $1000. Our fees range from $85-$105 per meet. The rest is coaches expenses.

 

[OzZee]

Totally not relevant as we are in Australia but around $70-100 per comp. That includes coaches/judges fees. Our competitions are generally fairly local (we live in the city, I know it's different for country people) so no other costs.
The girls attend maybe 3-4 competitions they need to attend (eg state trials) and maybe 2-4 others?
So I guess the maximum would be $800 but usually more like $400. Plus leo etc.
Interesting as I've never thought to add up the competition costs as we just pay as you go.

 

[sglemon]

Comp fees here range from $75 to $110. I see a lot of meets are asking for team fees on top of the athlete fees, so that adds about $5 to some of the meet fees. The higher fees are usually at a rented venue and a large invitational, while the smaller fees, are meets usually held in someomes gym. State and sectioals are the exception, they are $75. We pay a yearly coaches fee on top

 

[wallflower]

I don't know how much each meet was, but we paid $1200 for 5 meets and then state was seperate. I haven't gotten the bill yet. That includes meet entries and all coaches fees and is paid up front. The optionals, which now includes DD, paid $2500. We won't do all the meets so ours should be less.

Her leotard, warm up and bag were $682. Then I had to also buy 2 shirts, 2 shorts and shoes. I don't remember the cost of those.

So yours sounds like a bargain to me! The price will vary from gym to gym because coaches fees should be divided amongst the girls. A larger team should have more girls to chip in. It also depends on how much the coaches are paid per session. I think our coaches are paid pretty well by session. From what I've heard from one of DD's coaches she is paid twice the amount per session that she was paid at her old gym. More money for us, but hey these coaches give up every weekend and work 12 hour days or more for meets. I happy to pay them well.

 

[mamaS]

Wallflower... OH My Goodness! $2500? Where do you live Beverly Hills? LOL
I don't feel sorry for our coaches at all. They receive a heavy stipend, food and a hotel room. They are doing the job they love! I'm grateful for them

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

We are also in the $2500 range for optional which includes 8-10 meets depending on level and whether you make Regionals and Nationals. This includes one airfare for gymnast, all entry fees, coaches' travel, stipend, hotel, food. This amount doesn't 'cover' all expenses, so we do general team fundraisers in addition to each level's fees. Leotard /warmup is separate (every 2 years) - that bill was about $550.

 

[MeetDirector]

mamaS -

Hold onto your wallet when you get to the optional levels. Optional entry fees are higher (they average $125 per gymnast), leos and all that are higher (more bling, more professional looking), coaches fees are higher, etc, etc. Oh, and just wait for the travel meets. We only have 2 in-state meets this year and the rest are travel. With the increased cost of traveling in general, we average $3000 per weekend. This is not a sport for the weak of wallet. A word of advice - you have got to make the travel weekends into mini-vacations and explore the surrounding area a little. I remember a few years ago we went to a meet in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma; we took the time to explore and that trip is now one of our fondest memories.

Good Luck.

 

[Quadqueen]

mamaS -

Hold onto your wallet when you get to the optional levels. Optional entry fees are higher (they average $125 per gymnast), leos and all that are higher (more bling, more professional looking), coaches fees are higher, etc, etc. Oh, and just wait for the travel meets. We only have 2 in-state meets this year and the rest are travel. With the increased cost of traveling in general, we average $3000 per weekend. This is not a sport for the weak of wallet. A word of advice - you have got to make the travel weekends into mini-vacations and explore the surrounding area a little. I remember a few years ago we went to a meet in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma; we took the time to explore and that trip is now one of our fondest memories.

Good Luck.

Fortunately, meets are not more expensive for optional levels here. They increase in Level 5 (over Level 4 meet fees), I believe because that's the first level where two judges are required, but for us, meet fees are the same for L5-10. We don't do far-away meets either, so I guess we're lucky in that sense

 

[Moxiegrl83]

Our meet fee's are anywhere from $40-$60 per meet, and the week after the meet coach's fee's are due. Those are usually $50-$60 dollars, depending on where it is and how many coach's go. They usually do 5-8 meets a season. The leo's are $100-$150, warm up suits are not required, but most get them anyway. Once they hit Optionals, the meet fee's are a little more, usually $60-$80 a meet, and coach's fee's might go up a little more. Not sure, because Optionals haven't started competing yet, so I haven't taken any of those payments.

I know some gyms have to pay coach's fees up front, but we bill ours after the meet.

 

[Ingwe]

Our fees this year were $2800. This includes coaches fees, 6 meets, plus regionals and nationals, 1 flight and apparel fees. (we got new leos only this year)

I am not sure how it all breaks down between the coaches fees and meet fees as we are given a bill then just pay in monthly increments starting at the end of August-March (no booster club)

 

[gymgal]

This varies so much based on the type of meets you go to (small gyms vs large invitationals), how many on the team (share of the coaches' fees), distance to the meets (coaches' travel expenses) and how many meets are scheduled. I think this year, ours is around $1600 but we didn't need to buy leos and warm-ups this year ($300). And that doesn't include regionals, which would be another around another $150 if she qualifies. So around $2000.

 

[mamaS]

Holy cow! Our families are eating ramen noodles to pay the 1500. We do not have flights included though. I did launch some great booster club activities that raised $20,000 dollars this year. It helps... a couple of families paid off their comp fees and others got rid of 50-75% of it. Very worthwhile if people are motivated. We are going to be able to pay for new equipment this year too.

 

[Granny Smith]

I pay for meet fees as the meets are posted. For the optional levels, they are usually around $100-$115 and that is adding in the "team fee" for the meet as well. The girls get new comp leos every year, costing approximately $200 each. This year the girls are using the same warm ups as they did last year. As for coaches expenses at meets and such, I pay a "Coaches' fee" every month, year round and it's $125 per month, in addition to all of the above. Regardless if my dd makes it to Regionals or Nationals and even if she is the only one, I do not pay more. I guess if you add that all up, it's about $3500 a yr, not including travel and honestly... I really don't want to add it all up!

 

[wallflower]

Wallflower... OH My Goodness! $2500? Where do you live Beverly Hills? LOL
I don't feel sorry for our coaches at all. They receive a heavy stipend, food and a hotel room. They are doing the job they love! I'm grateful for them

The optionals go to 4 meets that require air fare, hotel etc. Then all of the other meets are out of town, but within a driveable distance, with the exception of 1. I'm guessing that's why it is $2500.

 

[Bajanswife]

We are lucky in a way - our Gymnastics Association usually pays meet and team fees, plus coaching fees. We only pay a nominal fee for membership to the Association. We usually only pay to get to the meet, stay there, eat there etc. However, before your jaws drop with envy, consider this: every meet except our home meet in April involves airline travel to another country, at least 2 nights' accomodation, various transportation expenses and food! A meet to Trinidad (the nearest meet - 1 hour's flight away) will cost maybe US$1,800; a meet in the US will cost maybe $2,000 - $2,500, depending. If a gymnast and 1 parent go to only 2 overseas meets a year it could be $4,000 plus!! We all have to attend at least one meet per year, otherwise why be on the competitive team, so our minimum cost is usually $1,800 if we just go to Trinidad once. Some of us can cut costs here and there by staying with family/friends or using airmiles to pay for flights, but generally speaking this is a very, very expensive sport for us.

 

[wallinbl]

All I can say is move to a state with more gyms/meets so you (and your coaches) can just drive to your meets!

 

[Flossyduck]

Wow, wow and wow - you guys have to be so committed!

We have four competitions scheduled from Feb-April - they will each cost the equivalent of @$40 entrance fee. Slightly more expensive if they get to nationals when I think it's about $70. The club pays the coach travel and fees.

Three of them we can easily drive to, within a hour and a half. The furthest is about three hours drive and we might stay over - so $100 dollars for a family room with breakfast for that one.

Competition leotard was $90. I thought that was extortionate. Bag is the same as the normal kit bag they use for training. Tracksuit, she has from last year, but new that was another $90. Warm up leo I got second hand and it was $40.

There are a couple more comps in October - similar entrance fees.

Total spend this year will be: $470 (plus petrol) for six comps, inc kit, all in!

I really don't know how you do it?!

 

[bogwoppit]

Wow, wow and wow - you guys have to be so committed!

We have four competitions scheduled from Feb-April - they will each cost the equivalent of @$40 entrance fee. Slightly more expensive if they get to nationals when I think it's about $70. The club pays the coach travel and fees.

Three of them we can easily drive to, within a hour and a half. The furthest is about three hours drive and we might stay over - so $100 dollars for a family room with breakfast for that one.

Competition leotard was $90. I thought that was extortionate. Bag is the same as the normal kit bag they use for training. Tracksuit, she has from last year, but new that was another $90. Warm up leo I got second hand and it was $40.

There are a couple more comps in October - similar entrance fees.

Total spend this year will be: $470 (plus petrol) for six comps, inc kit, all in!

I really don't know how you do it?!

Are all your coaches paid? I hear of a few clubs in the UK where the staff are volunteers.

 

[cbifoja]

Wow! I feel downright lucky compared to some of you! I don't know how you do it other than as the one parent said....living on ramen noodles!!!!

We have 10 meets (5 in state, 4 in adjacent states, and 1 in Florida) and came in right at $1000 with comp fees, coach's fees, and USAG fees (we pay ours and a portion of all the coaches' fees). We are in our second year of the leo so no cost there and are using our warm up for the next two years again so no expense there since Bella didn't grow.

I don't have any idea how well our coaches are compensated for their travel except that our head coach frequently doesn't pay herself to help keep costs down. :-(

 

[gymmomtoo]

I actually don't have a great idea of total meet fees. Our booster club makes enough money that we pay for all meet fees right now (hopefully that will continue--based on how much we make each year in fundraising, obviously). Optional meets are $100-$150, compulsory meets $60-$100 here, on average. Our coaches fees are divided out amongst the girls too--more girls on the team means less per gymnast. Can get expensive if you're paying travel fees for the coaches too.