Money!  The Board understands that parents work hard for it and want to know what costs they will incur with competitive gymnastics.  The following is what to expect:

(1) Tuition-This is the monthly fee you pay to the JCC for the use of the facilities and coaches’ instruction

(2) Equipment fee-This is the annual fee you pay to the JCC for the maintenance and updating of the equipment

(3) USAG membership fee-This is the annual fee you pay to the JCC which in turn registers your gymnast with USAG.  This membership is required for all competing gymnasts.

(4) Uniforms-Approximately every 3 years the coaches will select new competition leotards.  Also, as gymnasts grow, they will need larger uniforms.  The Board has facilitated used uniform sales in the past which help parents defray costs.  Currently, any new uniform sales have been facilitated through the JCC Pro Shop.

(5) Booster Club membership fee-This is an annual fee of only $25 per family.  This fee helps pay for all administrative costs of the Booster Club (i.e. office supplies, stamps, etc.) and is paid directly to the Booster Club.

(6) Meet registration fees-For each meet that the coaches select, there are registration fees charged by the hosting gym.  These fees are set by Texas USAG for qualifiers and state meets, or by the hosting gym in the case of invitationals.  These are not determined by the board.  if you notify the coaches and the booster club treasurer at least one month in advance that your gymnast will not be at a certain meet, your account will not be billed the registration fee for that meet.  Registration fees are paid to the Booster Club.

(7) Coaches fees and expenses:  For each meet a coach attends, they are paid a session fee plus reimbursement of expenses which include mileage, hotels. meals, and any other reasonable cost.  For local meets, a coach is paid $75 for a single session, or $150 for multiple sessions a day.  For out-of-town meets, a coach is paid $100 for a single session, or $200 for multiple sessions a day.  These costs are divided among the parents and paid directly to the Booster Club.  How the costs are calculated is explained in the “Budgeting” section.

Budgeting of Coaches’ Fees and Associated Policies

As discussed above, the coaches are paid to attend meets and are reimbursed for their expenses.  The Booster Club is responsible for budgeting what these expenses will be for the competition season, collecting the estimated amounts from the parents, and paying the coaches in a timely manner after each meet.

The budget is based on the number of girls expected to compete; which coaches will be attending the meets; how many different sessions might we need to attend at different meets; mileage to the hosting gym, and, if necessary, hotels, airfare, meals etc. This is clearly a complicated projection, but the board tries hard to get it as close to the actual cost as possible.  Once the budget is calculated, it is gone over with the gym director.  It is extremely important that the Booster Club collects enough from the parents to cover the coaches’ fees and expenses.  If the Booster Club does not collect enough from the parents, it is extremely difficult to go back and ask for more money.  Conversely, if the Board determines after the season is over that too much was collected, credits will be issued to each gymnast’s account.

Each gymnast is required to pay coaches’ fees and expenses in full regardless of the number of meets in which she competes.  This is the policy of the Booster club primarily because the coaches’ expectation is that all gymnasts compete in all meets.  Another reason is due to the complicated nature of budgeting as discussed above.  There are many estimates without adding individual schedules to the calculations.  However, because the Booster Club understands that issues such as injury or skill development can keep a gymnast from competing a full season, if a gymnasts chooses to compete in one meet, the coaches’ fees and expenses will be prorated.  No proration will be provided for two or more meets.  If a gymnast competes in only one meet, it is suggested but not required that the meet is the Houston National Invitation.  Any decision to compete or not compete should be made with the coaches.

The collecting of all fees is obviously very important or the Booster Club cannot pay the coaches.  Since the Board tries to estimate the coaches’ fees and expenses as accurately as possible, any uncollected amounts not only affect the coaches, but also the other paying parents as they would have to cover any uncollected amounts.  Because of this, the Booster Club policy is that no gymnast will be registered for competition unless their account is up-to-date.  After carefully budgeting for the season, a payment schedule is implemented which divides up the membership, coaches’ and registration fees.  Parents are notified of the upcoming seasons’ costs as soon as possible.