£370 for gymnastic fees ridiculous?!

[sarah8484]

My son has been offered a place at a gymnastics club. The fees are £370 every 3 months. For a 3 hour lesson once a week. He is really gifted in gymnastics and would love him to do it but the cost just seems so extortionate. So stuck with what to do. Anyone else's children do gymnastics? Can i ask what you pay?

Wow that's a lot. £120 per month so £30 a week - £10 an hour?

My ds is a swimmer and although his club is on the cheaper side compared to others it's £45 a month for 6 training sessions which is 8 hours a week!

My daughter is on a squad- she uses to train 15 hours a week but now 9 as school commitments. She does competitions- I would say do do it if he enjoys it! So so good for their confidence, fitness, making friends outside school, going away on trips, learning new skills that are really impressive.

Op,you said it was 370 per three months initially. Then changed it to monthly. Which is it?

At 370 for three months this seems reasonable.

It's 120 a month. Or 30 quid a week. Or a tenner an hour.

I would be saying no to the place you have been offered as it seems very expensive

It's only two pounds an hour more than you pay.

@MissMarks your right! Just re read the email. Its 3, 3 hour lessons. So price doesn't seem as much (even though it is ).

£10ish an hour is cheap, considering the facilities, the insurance, the qualified staff costs, five week months and all the other expenses they'll have - it's a third of the cost, if not less, than instrumental lessons.

We pay £50 a month for three hours a week development squad. We’re only a short journey from Telford it that helps.

@Bluntness100 £370 per month.

We pay £80 a month for 6 hours a week of training at the lowest competitive level. So about £3/hour. British Gymnastics membership extra, competition fees extra, etc etc.

At that rate £10 does seem pricier than some.

If it's a '9 hour development group' are you sure it isn't 3x3 hours a week? Or heading that way? 9 hours is typical for kids in competitive squads although if he's little they may be starting with 3 hours and working up.

9 hours a week for £120 a month would be more like what we pay.

370 a month ridiculous. I would find another squad.

Park Wrekin?

I will say though if he does stick at it costs tend to go down relative to the time.

Lots of clubs “top out” so once you’re paying about £150/month the fees never rise, even if they are doing 30 hours a week and training for the olympics.

Ask what the pricing is going up the ranks- that will give you an idea how much more expensive it might get if he is talented.

Also other clubs may be cheaper, but the may not have the same facilities or capability of coaching top level. If he wants to do recreational that’s fine, but if he wants to take it as far as he can you need an elite club.

Although I have a friend with 3 kids in gymnastics- he pays £750/month . No sibling discount either! The kids are all very very good though, and are there every day.

We pay £41 per month for 11 hours per week! Our competition squad is so cheap but the people who do 1 hour lesson per week pay virtually the same. I’m shocked at these prices. I knew ours was a bit of a bargain but didn’t realise people pay hundreds a month!

I pay about £170 for 1.5 hours a term, so I'd say that was roughly comparable,

@Bluntness100 £370 per month

£370 a month? For development?

That has to be a typo. Question it.

I would guess it is 370 per term of 10 weeks

The fees are £370 every 3 months.

That's hardly ambiguous phrasing or a typo. Make your mind up.

@Micah yeah, Park Wrekin. Looks a really good club.

I was also about to post and say that it sounds more like 3 3-hour sessions a week, given the name of the group. That would be slightly more reasonable - over £100 per month for 3 hours a week would be ridiculous.

I have two DC doing gym - one competing at elite level, and one just starting to compete. The older one was doing 15 hours per week for £140 per month. He has now moved clubs and is doing 16 hours for £110 per month. The younger one does 3 hours per week for £60 per month - so a big difference per hour cost.

In both clubs, the cost per hour reduces as they add more hours. All the squad sessions are cheaper per hour than the rec classes, as no-one would be able to afford for their children to keep going if they were paying rec class rates multiplied by anything between 15 to 26 hours per week. The rec classes in most clubs subsidise the squads.

Yours is on the pricey side, but as long as the cost per hour comes down as he professes, it's not outrageous. I'd be more concerned about him going straight in from essentially nothing to 9 hours per week. DS1 was doing 8 per week at age 7, but he'd built up over 3 years, rather than jumping straight in.

If he's keen to do gym, I'd be looking at any other local clubs before committing to this one.

Sorry, £370 per month?! That can't be right, surely. You'd be paying more than three times what we pay, for less than two thirds of the hours.

I pay £100/month for DD7 to do 9 hours per week. Plus BG insurance due this month (£60). Plus competitions cost anywhere from £20-40 (that’s not including travel, obviously). Plus leotard, handguards, etc. We’re in the SE.

£175 a term for 2 hours a week.

In the south east.

We’re the south east. My two girls have have just given up gymnastics. We were paying £10 a hour, one was doing 1 hour a week, the other 1.5 hours a week, so roughly £100 a month for the pair of them.

Ours are £350 - £400 for 3 months for 1.5 hours a week!

My daughter gave up last year but trained for 16 to 20 hours a week. It goes down the more hours you do but that sounds about right. They had two level 4 coaches and two level three plus a few lower and junior coaches. They have to pay their wages.