For Parents Meet fees

[tgc]

Are meet fees this crazy everywhere? My son had a level 5 meet a couple of weeks ago. We had to first pay an $80 Fee to enter him, then travel, then hotel, and then $15 dollars per adult and $10 dollar per child (under 10-year-old). For our family, that was an additional $55. (Our gym only charges about half that amount when we host a meet.)

 

[xstitchcarina]

My goodness. If it was like that with us, we wouldn't be able to afford dd's sport. We pay like $14 for 2 competitions. If you go on to semi final you pay about half of that and final the same thing. And we don't have to pay to come and watch at all. So, I guess we are really lucky in that sense.

Are the costs for training also very high?

We pay $34 per month for the 3 hours at our own club. And I am not sure exactly yet about the 2 hours at the other, but it will probably be a little less than that, but not much, cause they have a proper gymnastics hall.

 

[Aussie_coach]

It's not expensive like that in Australia either. Most competitions are around $35 to enter. The last comp I remember the spectator fee's were $2 for kids and $4 for adults.

 

[Billy]

We've only been to two meets so far but they weren't that expensive. The first one was $5 per adult and about $3 per child. Hilton Head was our second meet at that one was more expensive, $10 per adult and $5 per child. We did have to travel to Hilton Head so we had hotel costs, etc, too but that's our only out of town meet this season.

 

[melmonette]

It is that expensive here. Our meets at level 4 as they go up the meet fees increase in cost but Level 4 meets are usually 55-65 to enter and we always get charged at the door ranging from 5-15 dollars depending where the host meet is and sometimes we have to pay for the program just to get the sheets to write down everyone's scores... Our gym hosts 5 meets a year and we don't change much to get in... 5 dollars an adult, 3 for children 6-14 and nothing for the score sheet. Plus if we host it... Hubby can go help move gym equipment and we can get free tickets for the meet. As for meet fees... we can work for boosterclub stuff and earn money to use to pay for meets... I paid for 4 meets this year out of my boosterclub account and didn't have to slave away.
I love our boosterclub and it is the only thing that I am nervous about if we switch to a new gym. Our boosterclub just gives us tons of opportunities to earn money for our accounts to help with meet and uniform expenses... I don't want to lose that.

 

[bogwoppit]

Our qualifier meets cannot charge parents/sibs for entry. Meet fees are $45 for scolaire level and $100 for Provincial stream. The gymnix internationl charges $15 for adults and $10 for kids, they do give all competitors a free pass for the weekend, but it adds up even with only 3 of us.

Travel meets are another thing. Ours never involve airfare, and they are within Province, though in Canada of course towns are far apart and a local meet is often a travel meet. Though, unlike many of the US posters, we only do 3/4 meets a year.

I can see how it can really add up.

 

[awposey1]

That's about right for us. Meet fees are around $80 for entry then we pay a percentage of the coaches expenses (usually $900 at beginning of season is paid to cover entry and coaches expenses and then we make up difference at end of year...usually about $1400 by the time we are done). On top of that door entry is usually $10 to $15 depending on the meet and we have to cover our own hotel and driving/flight expenses. We do about 6 meets not including state, regionals and nationals. Welcome to comeptitive gymnastics!

 

[nettyinpa]

Our average price for each meet this year was $70-$75. Entry fees for spectators vary from $5 - $12. At our home meet last weekend family members got in for free. Our fees per session depend on the level. Unfortunately, we do not have a booster club. We also have to sign a contract that will committ us to so much fund raising during the year and a certain number of hours of working at the home meets. It is not a cheap sport but it's the only thing my dd does right now so we're willing to pay.

 

[ZJsMom]

I think meet entry fees are usually around 55-65 here for compulsories. Admission is probably 3-10 dollars. I thought states cap how much gyms can charge for entry fees. $80 for a compulsory seems pretty steep to me. And the admissions fee you mentioned are pretty high too. I'd let the head coach know that you'd prefer not to attend that meet again next year.

 

[canadiangymmom]

We pay $150.00 for the provincial stream. It includes 3 qualifiers and Championships(if qualified). Admission is $20.00/family (2 adults, 2 kids) or $8.00 per adult, $4.00 per child. The competitor is in free on any day of the competition.

Last year Rayna did 3 invitational competitions as a level 3 and they were $55/$60/$65. Admissions for spectators were the same. So, I guess it's better now!

 

[rjb765]

Most of our entry fees are in the 55-65 range--I think. We are given a total for the year that we then pay over several months. Door fees are usually $5 if it is at a gym's facility and $8 -$10 if it is at a rented facility. I do know that we were told when we hosted state what the maximum was that we could charge but other meets are free to charge as they see fit. i just look at the door fee as my "entertainment" for the weekend--it is still cheaper than taking the family to a movie!

 

[catesmom]

We don't pay for individual meets, but from looking at websites it seems they range from $65 to $110 for compulsory, higher for optionals. We too pay our own transportation/hotels etc, but the gym usually makes reservations for us at a group price. Our fees are $680 a year paid in 4 installments and we can fundraise through the booster club. We usually participate in 2 to 3 of the fundraisers and typically pay half of our commitment.

Admisssion fees at the meets we attend are from $8 to $15 for one day, and are usually held at rented facilities. I guess we too just plan it as our weekend entertainment. We compete in 8 meets(1 at home) plus states so it seems fair to me. Our head coach trys to keep coaches travel expenses to a minimum, and it is all finaced by our booster club. Our saving thing is that we typically host the level 8-9-10 State meet, and all the meet fees, food sales, etc go to the booster club. Without that meet our fees would be through the roof, we have les than 50 girls on team.

At our gym we always laugh that we hope our dd's make it to level 8, thats when we get to travel to the WARM meets, in Texas and Florida. >My dd's a level 6 so our big travel meet this year was to Michigan in January!!! Our monthly gym fee is about $240 for 16 1/2 hours per week, higher or lower based upon level. I think it tops out at $285 for 5 days at level 10.

 

[kristilyn73]

For optionals here our least expensive meet was $75. Most expensive was just over $100.

Entries run around $8 - $10 per person. And of couse the obligatory $4 - $6 Program.

We travel 2 + hours for all our meets. Add gas, food and occasional lodging on top of Coaches fees. Each meet has an average cost of $200.

Every time I look at getting a new car my husband says, tell your dd to quit gymnastics and you can go buy whatever you want....Havent quite done that yet...LOL

We love this sport

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

my dd meet fees so far have run $60-$75 each. We have one coming that is $95. These fees include a $15 coaches fee tacked on to the actual meet fee. - it is broken out on the paperwork so we know the meet fee and coaches fee and total. meets are usually $5-$10 per person to enter plus program $2-$5.

We have only had two meets where we had to get a hotel so that was not too bad. Our gym does not host any meets yet, but we would like to . We have a pretty small gym and small team - but I like that. We have 6 L3's, 5 L4's, 3 L5's and 1 L8.

next year if dd moves to L4 our monthly tuition will go from $110 to $140. right now she goes 6hrs per week @ L4 she will go 9. I think the tuition is very reasonable for the amount of time they have in the gym and they don't spend any time waiting for equipment because the team is not very big.

 

[Blackie6]

This was my daughter's first year doing L4, and while it was explained to us at our team parent meeting what fees would be expected at this level I had know idea how much it all adds up! Invitational meets run at about 60-$75.00 depending on the gym hosting. Admission fees are usually about $5/adults, less for children and program/score sheet another 1-$2. Sectional and State meet fees are a little higher, can't remember what I paid, but more like $75.00 with admission prices at about $10.00. Coaches fees for us have ranged anywhere from about 15-$25 per meet depending on location and amount of girls going. Our Level 4 and 5 team will not travel farther than about 2 hours so that saves on hotels. However, since my daughter had a Sunday 8am session for states over an hour away we did flip for a hotel & shared it with a teamate. But serious travel won't start until L6 for us. Our gym goes to Maryland, Boston, Florida (last year) and doing the Hard Rock in AZ this year.

Our gym does have a Parent Association that allows us to work meets hosted by our gym. They host about 9 meets per year! You can do set-up, clean-up, work concessions, door, ect....and depending on what you do & time spent, you can accrue money into your daughter's team account. Now that we are done with our L4 season, I am trying to work meets to prepare for next season & hopefully by Sept will be able to lessen the financial burden. It helps that I've already bought the comp leo & warm-up too so that would be another $300.00 I will save, LOL

With boys, I know here in NJ they travel alot because there just isn't enough boys teams. Not sure what state you are in but maybe that has something to do with the expenses? Is there a booster club or parent assoc in your gym that might help you with the expenses?

 

[Ingymmom]

My dd is not competing yet, but I am aware of all of the fees & expenses as we traveled to many of the meets to support dd's teammates. All of the meets that our gym attended this year seemed pricey. Fees ranging from $45 to $95. $200 per session for coaches fees (split between every gymnast) + coaches travel/room. Each meet would cost between $180 - $300. + many of our meets were travel meets where at least one night was a must. Fees to get in have never been less then $10 for adults and between $5-$8 for children. Concessions were available and reasonable at some while completely ridiculous at others.... we attended one where the non-beef hot dogs were $3.50 each LOL. While each meet differed from the next, they were all very nice meets (with the exception of one) and very well organized & fun. BUT WHAT AN EXPENSIVE SEASON!!!!

 

[bogwoppit]

I have noticed that the meets I see on youtube, that are in the US, hand out a lot of awards. For example medals all the way out to 10th place, trophies for individuals and teams. This would really change the cost of running a comp.

Here our comps there are medals for the top three and ribbons to 8th place. The gyms have to rent all the equipment, warm up gym and comp gym, from Gymnova which is about $4000 for the weekend. There are about 400 girls who compete over the weekend who pay $100. The venue also has to be rented, but they cannot charge an entrance fee. They can sell food etc, but most do not.

We also tend not to do more than 4 meets a year, and that's all gymnasts, not just mine. In the US girls seem to do many meets including travel ones that are really for fun, not for qualification to anything. We do 3 qualifiers and one invitational, that's it that's all.

By the way, we love hotels, we'd live in one if we could. My kids just love the thought of a travel meet!!!

 

[gym law mom]

Our booster club offers bingo as a way to cover all meet/coaches fees plus travel for the optional girls(airfare/hotel). We had resisted at our old gym, but with gymmie now a L7, I'm glad we do take advantage of it. Meet fees are $85-115 per meet. Admission to meets varies, If its a meet held in the host gym's facility, not too bad at $5-6. When they have them at university gyms or resorts then admission runs about $10 and up.

To the OP---were you by chance at a meet in CO that charged the $15 per session? We all heard about a local meet and how their admission fee has shot up this year and thought it was a little out of line.

 

[Megley]

Like gymlawmom, our booster club does bingo and that covers all meet expenses, including coaches fees and travel for optional gymnasts. It also covers the leo and warm ups. Meet fees are in the $70 to $75 range for compulsories and higher for optionals. Interestingly, there is no charge around here for entry to girls meets. The boys do, however, charge. Our gym will host the boys' state meet and we will charge admission to that. I think it is in the $5 range.

Meg

 

[bigtiny]

Meg,
There is a charge for entry into meets when they are at any outside venue (i.e. there will be an admission fee for the Judges Cup, to be held at a high school), but no admission fee for meets held at gyms....

P.S. Hope to see you there!