Who we are: We are the parents of the gymnasts competing on Atlanta North Star’s Girls Competitive Gymnastics Team.
What we do: We support our gymnasts financially, emotionally, and structurally. We strive to create a fun, supportive atmosphere at the gym and at competitions. We take on NON-COACHING duties to give our coaches more time coach. These NON-COACHING duties include financial planning and accounting, fee collections, meet organization, travel organization, fundraising, celebrations, information distribution, etc. We support our national governing body, USA Gymnastics, by complying with the rules and guidelines that provide a safe, regulated sport for our daughters.
How we are organized: We are an all-volunteer organization that takes volunteers for positions that are created to fill a need. Every year, at the end of the competitive season (in late May), we create volunteer positions and seek individuals to fill them. Volunteers are asked to serve for one year, concurrent with their daughter’s one-year commitment to the team.
How we act: As representatives for our daughter’s team, we act with the highest level of professionalism and decorum at all times. We are tolerant of our differences and respectful of the dissenting opinion. We acknowledge that we are all at different places in our tenure as a booster club member, so we respect those with experience and welcome those with new ideas. We strive to act in such a way that our coaches can concentrate fully on coaching our daughters, without interruption or distraction.
ANSG would like to welcome you and your family to our competitive team program. You are about to embark on a very exciting journey into the world of competitive gymnastics. Through this handbook we hope to give you more insight into how our program works and answer any questions. We all must function as a TEAM bringing together the gymnasts, parents and coaching staff to give our gymnasts a fantastic experience striving to achieve their dreams!
-Susan Stein, ANSG co-founder and booster club prez
Practices (Workouts)
Each gymnast attends workout (practice) with girls working on similar skills to compete at a similar level. Gymnasts must come to their own workouts and may not come to any other workouts except as specifically invited by a coach. There are no make-ups for missed workouts. Gymnasts may not hang out at the gym; we ask that you drop your gymnast off no more than 15 minutes before her workout time and pick her up promptly at her scheduled departure time. Workouts are financed by your monthly tuition payments to Atlanta North Stars Gymnastics (ANSG). The booster club is not involved in monthly tuition payments.
The coaches determine each gymnast’s competitive level at the end of summer for fall competitors, and at the end of fall for spring competitors. Each gymnast is required to attend all of the local meets scheduled for her level. Travel meet are recommended but not required due to their higher costs. Local meets are within driving distance and are usually within the metro Atlanta area; travel meets may require an overnight stay at a hotel.
Levels 3/4/5/6 are called the “compulsory” levels of gymnastics because every gymnast does the same compulsory competition routine on each event. Level 3/4/5/6 gymnasts start competing at meets in late August and finish competition by mid December.
Levels 7/8/9/10 are called the “optional” levels of gymnastics because every gymnast competes her own, customized routine on each event (and has the “option” of what skills to do). Level 7/8/9/10 gymnasts start competing at meets in January and finish competition in May.
Training 3 Prep Op gymnasts also compete in the January-May timeframe, depending on individual and team readiness and interest.
Some of the fees associated with being a member of the competitive team are paid directly by you.
Monthly tuition
Travel costs for you and your gymnast (transportation, food, lodging, entertainment)
Grips, tape, personal support gear, etc.
Monthly tuition is due the first week of the month. A $10 late charge is added to all unpaid accounts on the 8th of the month, and a $15 late charge is added to all unpaid accounts on the 15th of the month. Gymnasts with overdue accounts will not be entered in meet and may be asked to sit out of workouts until payment arrangements are made.
Most of the fees associated with being a member of the competitive team are collected by the booster club then paid out on your behalf. The booster club does not make a profit and pays out all of the fees that are collected, in an equitable and fair manner. The following fees are collected then paid on your behalf, by the booster club:
Meet entry fees
Coaches travel fees
Booster club expenses
Summer Team Camp
Uniform purchase
USAG Membership fee
Banquet (includes end-of-year coaches gift)
Meet entry fees are paid to the host gym months in advance so the host gym can plan for the correct number of gymnasts. Individual gymnast meet entry fees are approximately $40 to $100, with an additional $20 to $40 for the team entry (per age group). For budgeting purposes, we estimate approximately $75 per gymnast per meet for compulsory and T3 meets, and $100 per gymnast per meet for optional meets. Compulsory level gymnasts compete in 4 local meets and 2 travel meets, and qualify to the state championships. Optional level gymnasts compete in 4 local meets and 2 travel meets, and may qualify to the state, regional, or national championships. T3 level gymnasts compete in 4 local meets and 1 travel meet, and qualify to the state championships.
Coaches travel fees (expenses including transportation, food, lodging, hourly wage, etc) are collected and divided among the team members supported by that coach. We make every effort to keep coaches expenses low by booking hotels in advance, carpooling when possible, and choosing meets where many levels of our gymnasts can compete in the same weekend. All gymnasts share equally in paying their coaches expenses for their level, whether or not they compete at that specific meet. Based on past years, coaches’ fees are about $250 for compulsory levels and T3’s, and about $750 for optional levels.
Booster Club fees of $100 per gymnast per year cover expenses including cards, celebrations, injury gifts, flowers, website fees, postage, bank fees, abandoned accounts, etc.
Summer Team Camp is a one-week camp hosted at our gym. Team Camp is usually held in June and when paid separately (in past years) costs about $200. Invited guest gymnasts (those who have not paid into the booster club) pay the full fee to attend summer camp.
Uniforms are ordered and paid for approximately three months before competition. The full competitive uniform for compulsory levels includes a competition leotard, warm-up suit, footwear, and gym bag, and costs approximately $300 when ordered new. Compulsory level gymnasts also purchase a sleeveless performance leotard for approximately $40. The full competitive uniform for optional levels includes a competition leotard, warm-up suit, footwear, and gym bag, and costs approximately $300 when ordered new. The full competitive uniform for our Training 3 Prep Op level includes a competition leotard, warm-up suit, and gym bag, and costs approximately $150 when ordered new.
Fortunately, a uniform usually lasts two full competitive years. The team changes uniform styles and designs every other year, so a used uniform is usually available if you are joining the team (or moving to level that requires a different uniform) on the second year of the uniform’s use. New uniforms are paid through the booster club account. Used uniform purchases are private arrangements between the buyer and the seller and do not involve the booster club, although the booster club will provide a list of people with uniforms for sale.
The USAG membership fee of $49 for Levels 4-10 is paid at the end of summer for the following competitive year. Level 3 and Training 3’s pay a reduced introductory membership fee of $15.
The end-of-year banquet is held in May, and costs about $30 per person. We budget for two attendees per family (the gymnast and one parent). We welcome other family members for an additional fee.
All of the required fees are estimated at the beginning of each new booster club year in May. The summed fees are then divided up into manageable chunks so that the cost of your child’s competitive season is spread out over many months. Fall-competition-season (Compulsory) gymnasts make four installment payments beginning in June. Spring-competition-season (Training 3 and Optional) gymnasts make four or five installment payments beginning in August. Each gymnast has an individual account that’s credited or debited according to payments/ expenditures. Our goal is for each gymnast’s account to have a tiny credit at the end of the year, which will be rolled over into the next year.
Monies paid are non-refundable. However, in the event of long-term injury, we can sometimes avoid a meet entry fee by NOT entering your gymnast in a meet if we know months in advance that she will not be competing. As an all-volunteer, all-parent booster club we are well aware of your expenses since we pay them too! In the event of a family move or extreme change in a family’s personal situation we will work with you to refund whatever money can be saved, but in general all monies paid to ANSG and ANSGBC are not refundable.
Mobility (Moving up to the next competitive level)
The coaches decide what level is the best competition level for your gymnast. Competition level is completely the coaches decision, and it is not influenced by how much time you contribute to our gym, or how many private lessons you are willing to pay for, or any other parental input. Our coaches carefully look at each gymnast as an individual and as a member of our team. They consider the gymnast’s skill level, her age, her maturity, her peer group, her potential and readiness to move to more advanced skills, her continued success and enjoyment in gymnastics, and the number of gymnasts working out in each group. Many gymnasts could be successful in more than one group, so it is very common for a gymnast to do at two years at each level (“one year to struggle, one year to succeed” at each level). Level assignments are evaluated in May for summer workouts, and again at the end of summer for school-year workouts.
To make the process less subjective, our coaches have implemented the following guidelines:
To advance from L3 to L4, the gymnast must score a minimum of 36.0 at two L3 meets.
To advance from L4 to L5, the gymnast must score a minimum of 35.5 at two L4 meets and have a technically correct kip and handspring vault.
To advance from L5 to L6, the gymnast must score a minimum of 35.5 at two L5 meets.
To advance from L6 to L7, the gymnast must score a minimum of 34.5 at two L6 meets and be ready for giants (strong cast to near-handstand).
Placement in the Optional Levels (L7-L10) is solely the coaches’ decision.
These guidelines can be overridden by the coaches, however it is understood that gymnasts who advance without achieving these guideline scores will probably have a difficult time succeeding at the next level.
In addition to our team guidelines, USAGymnastics has age rules for competitions, and minimum scores for advancement. USAG requires that a gymnast be at least 5 yrs old to compete L3, at least 6 years old to compete L4, at least 7 yrs old to compete L5/6/7, at least 8 years old to compete L8/9, and at least 9 yrs old to compete L10. Additionally, a gymnast must score at least a 31.0AA to progress out of levels 5/6/7, and at least a 34.0AA to progress out of levels 8/9. (Note that USAG’s advancement scores are quite low at the compulsory levels and are intended to assure only minimal skill acquisition for progression, usually after injury or in rare cases when a gymnast needs to move quickly to the next level).
Georgia gymnastics requires that a gymnast compete in at least three meets during a competitive season, and achieve a minimum qualifying All-Around score in at least two of those three meets, to participate in the Georgia State Championships. The qualifying scores are announced at the beginning of the competition season each year. Historically, most of our gymnasts qualify to compete at the State Championships.
ANSG offers private (and semi-private) lessons to our team gymnasts. Private lessons are intended to be an occasional option for the gymnast who is working hard in her regular workout but needs some one-on-one time with a coach to get over a fear of a skill or to focus on a specific skill or event that is lagging behind.
Private lessons are NOT intended to make up for a lack of hard work during the regular workout. Only gymnasts who give their best effort during their regular workout should ask for private lessons. The majority of gymnasts learn and progress by doing their best during regular workout, so private lessons should be rare.
Gymnasts are not eligible for any type of private lesson unless their ANSG and ANSGBC accounts are paid in full. The gym collects only $10 from each private lesson, with the rest going directly to the coach. It is your regular account that pays for the operating expenses that keep us in business, so you must be current with your regular account before a private lesson is scheduled.
Private lessons are offered only during the regular operating times for our gym. Our coaches are not allowed to open the gym for your child’s private lesson due to the high cost and security of our facility.
It is our experience that having a private lesson every week for your gymnast does not result in faster skill acquisition or foster a love of our sport. Gymnasts who have frequent private lessons are less likely to work hard in their regular workout, sometimes feel they spend too much time in the gym, and may suffer overuse injuries. Your coach might suggest an occasional private lesson, but if too many private lessons are needed then your child should be revaluated for a more suitable level placement.
Although private lessons are arranged between the parent and the coach, the front desk must be informed (via the private lesson book) that a private lesson is going to happen. Other gym activities (maintenance, cleaning, private parties, etc) cannot be interrupted by the unplanned private lesson. Please try to schedule private lessons at least 48 hours in advance.
Private lessons must be paid for at the time of the lesson --- no exceptions! The rates are as follows:
One gymnast Two gymnasts
30 minute lesson $35 $50
45 minute lesson $45 $65
1 hour lesson $60 $75
($10 of the fees listed above goes to the gym, the rest goes to the coach).
Cancellations must be made directly with the coach at least 12 hours in advance. If the lesson in not cancelled at least 12 hours before the planned time, then you must pay for the scheduled private lesson even if your child is unable to make it.
