I know of a gym in Orange County who gives half off their tuition if you have a standing tuck, full or the like. And it's NOT OC All Stars.....

They had to figure a way to keep their kids in the gym and not taking off for other gyms. But I think they only have 2 or 3 teams at this point. And NOTHING over level 3.

If the comments about making teams at the end of summer are to me, that does not apply at our gym, the teams are made. I actually think that sounds like a good idea!

Hey I was wondering if everything worked out okay?

Do you mean that in the end you will have gotten your way....or that you "should" have just wanted what was best for the gym as a whole to begin with?

I think you're teaching your child a valuable lesson by sticking with it. Good job mom.

cheer owner wrote:

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One more thing, at leat at our gym, there's a much better profit margin on rec tumbling classes than on All Star teams... per hour of instruction, All Star is the cheapest program in the gym. Yet we put our best coaches, our "prime" floor time, and our money into things that are good for our all star teams-- they are our top priority.

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AMEN TO THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My daughter was also affected by team changes and contracts this year. My daughter had cheered with one particular gym for the past two years. This year she is entering high school and really wanted to cheer for her school with her sister and friends her own age. Being she had been cheering since she was 5 and had probably the second best tumbling skills she would of been placed on the Varsity team. She was on the senior and junior team with the all star team last year and a junior the year before.

It was a very hard decision for her to make. She and I literally stressed out on it for weeks. I'm pretty sure the coaches knew she had wanted to do the high school team since they are also part of the gym program. All star try-outs came first. She tried out and was placed with the Seniors. She then had another week to decide what to do before signing the contract and putting down a deposit and pay for uniforms. The school team try-outs came after so we had to decide what to do before that.

After much discussion she decided she would stay with the all-star team where we thought she would have a better chance to further her skills and being she was placed on a Senior team she felt she would still be with friends her own age.

In the meantime high school try-outs came and went. Then shortly after the all-star teams were announce and she was placed on a Junior team. No warning, no discussion...she was devastated. Her first thoughts were didn't deserve to make that team(even though age and tumbling level didn't seem to be a factor in the way the teams were placed). I know this happened to a few kids at our gym this year.

When I talked to the coaches I was givin reasons like it was for the good of the team, my daughter was put there to be a leader...blah, blah. Now I coached cheerleaders for 5 years. I understand all that...but when your paying so much money for something I think they could look at what the kid is looking for also.

I heard later they were leaving room on the teams for another gym that might come over and then that it never happened and they changed the teams around again. I don't know if all that is true, but it seems unfair to make placements on something that might not even happen and make so many kids that were already a part of the gym unhappy.

My daughter didn't want to go back so I'm down $1100 with nothing to show for it and my kid is left with nothing. I can't afford to start her up at another gym now.
We tried to get her back on the high school team but it was already full. Her only hope now is someone leaves that team.

Just wanted to share my story. I don't know what the solution could of been except to force her to stay where she wasn't happy. I normally don't condone quitting, but I just didn't blame her for wanting to do that.

I realize gyms need to be able to support themselves and plan ahead, but contracts just suck in my opinion. I signed ours thinking I knew what we were getting into but it came back to bite me in the butt. I hope someone can come up with a better way.

You wouldn't happen to be from Quakes, would you......

I bet that you can sell the things you had to purchase (maybe not the camp clothes, if camp is over or about to being). Most gyms will take new cheerleaders throughout the season, if they present themselves, and in many cases may be willing to "buy back" your daughter's uniform/shoes/whatever else to use in the future - although you may lose some money on it. But it's better than just having all that stuff you won't use.

If the gym has a message board, you may just try making a 'uniform for sale' post - list what you have and the sizes and maybe someone who has outgrown their uniform or would like an extra pair of shoes will contact you!

As far as the rest of the money goes, the poster above is right - they can try to go after you for it, but they'll lose in court if they try. The law doesn't allow them to collect money they aren't "out", contract or not.

To "My Daughter Quit", I probably missed something in another post, but if your daughter was on two all-star teams before, why wouldn't she have done high school and all-star? One team on all-star, one team in high school? Also, I thought it was a general rule with high schools (but obviously I'm wrong) that freshman are not allowed on Varsity teams (like in their football program). I know the high schools in our area have that rule. Doesn't matter how good you are, if you're a freshman, the highest you can go is JV. Anyway, just curious.

I agree with the last post, can she go back (since the other gym thing never materialized)? If not, and she ends up taking a break for a year, perhaps she could take tumbling lessons and work hard, setting personal goals for herself, and next season she'll be stronger than ever.