Disney tournaments or trips

[brymolmom]

I have a friend whose very young daughter has been 'invited' to participate in a cheering tournament at Disney. This is a pretty big expense for this family. The team, of course, is doing lots of fundraising. I have a problem with being asked to contribute to another family taking a vacation and I think that if my kid participates in a sport that I should be willing to pay for its fees - but that's not my main issue right now. My question is - do any of you actually enjoy this type of thing? I mean - obviously, being there whenever is fun. But I just can't imagine spending what would be for this family their entire yearly budget for their family vacation to attend a few days of watching a cheer tournament and a couple days of touring parks with a ton of other families.

I guess I could see it if we lived in driving distance and thus was able to keep the prices significantly lower and also possibly be in a position to do something like an annual pass to make it 'cheaper' to return for a family visit.

I would be (and likely will be one day as my kids get older) so mad if any of their teams want to do this type of thing. Is it ever a choice? Could I opt out of having my kid attend this? Is it always disclosed before we get on the team in the first place? Have any of you ever voted against it and were you given the evil eye by the rest of the parents?

The part that gets me is that some of these parents actually think that they are 'lucky' or 'elite' to be chosen. I mean - everyone can get invited - it's just a money maker - they want any type of team who is willing to spend the money. I just hope parents aren't duped into it this way - I mean, it's one thing to know 'everyone gets invited but it's fun so let's do it' but another to think 'it'll be tight with finances but their team qualified because they're so good'.

 

[ElenaRN]

A co-worker of mine and her daughter go every year for a cheer compitition in Dec. They enjoy it greatly. The DD gets to enjoy her sport and enjoy Disney with her teammates.

Many sports teams around here do fundraising every season. If you don't feel comfortable contributing, simply don't.

My DD is too young to be involved in sports, but I can't imagine that something like this is required. You could certainly not participate, if you child's team was going.

 

[Southern Bell]

I know what you are saying. No matter if your children cheer, play ball or play in the band it can get expensive.Different years school bands are invited to play in the parades. My niece went to New York. My daughter played sports. It could get a little expensive when she was on a traveling team in the summer or went to a tournament. We would have to pay for our own hotel and eats. It did seem a little crazy at times but she loved it and we did it. We never asked for money from other people though. We helped raise money for the teams and the kids helped, doing car washes, selling candy , doughnuts, rumage sales, donations from local business for advertisement at games. What ever we could think of. I see parents now standing on the sidewalk with a sign asking for donations for different activities and I have recieved letters asking for donations from people who are not family or I don't know very well. Not to sale me anything just to give. Sometimes I have a problem with that, too. We never did that. We and the children worked it out. If someone couldn't afford shoes or to go we raised enough for that too. For that reason our recreation dept tries to keep expenses down for the sports activities so all the children can participate in the area.The school has a group of parents that meet and try to raise extra money for the sports. The band sells fruit at Christmas and has fund raisers. But if your child tries out and makes it on a a AAU team or traveling team in the summer with your kids it can be expense out of your own pocket. Just depends how much your child loves it and how far your willing to go with your time or pocket book in some cases! LOL!

 

[mjkacmom]

When my kids travel with band or choir, I just send in a check, and the kids go. For dance competitions, usually I bring just the girls. When ds went to Cooperstown, he got a ride.

It's been my experience that the kids stay together for the school sponsored trips, and for the dance trips, they're all about dance, and pretty stressful. Next year they're going to Disneyland - not dragging the whole family - too expensive when a vacation is not the purpose.

 

[Suzanne033]

As someone who has been to Disney twice for athletic competitions (AAU Nationals), I would have to say it is an individual choice a family has to make with their and their child's best interest in mind. My DH and I made the decision to allow our DD13 go to Nationals the past two years knowing full well it would be expensive. However, we also know people who only allow their children to participate on Regional teams, as opposed to National teams, because of the cost. Again, it's an individual decision.

OP asked about opting out of Nationals and of course that is an option. However, I would caution you to research any club, no matter the sport, your child is interested in to see if they have National level teams. You will only get the 'evil eye' if your child commits to a National level team then backs out of actually going to Nationals.

The way I see Nationals is it's a way to reward the girls for all the hardwork they put in during the year. Practicing 3-4 days per week and competing in 10-12 tournaments between February and June is a committment our club rewards with the opportunity to compete at Nationals.

As far as doing fundraisers for our fees, we know there will be people opposed to paying for our 'vacations' and that it fine. However, ask my DD if this is a vacation and she will completely disagree. No matter the 'reward' aspect of the trip, she is there to win. She is there to better herself and complete against the best team in the country and sometimes the world (this year the Chinese National Team competed in the 18 Open Division).

 

[njmom47]

As you can see in my signature, 1 of my WDW trips was for Pop Warner Cheer and the other for WWOS baseball tournament. We have done a LOT of traveling for both. For cheer, only dd2 and I went but for baseball, our whole family traveled together, and we made family vacations out of it. Ds's baseball team was like a family as well; the kids played together since they were 9. We have some great memories from those trips!
We were notified way early in the season that XYZ tournament in ABC could be possible, and we planned and saved and fundraised accordingly.
Our kids have never opted out of anything to do with cheer or baseball, but there were kids who didn't go to every baseball tournament.
I guess it depends on how you look at it....we loved the total experience, but maybe not everyone does.
As far as contributing, you could always just decline, or give a modest amount towards the trip. Is there a way you could contribute specifically to the child's travel account (as opposed to "paying" for the family's trip?).

 

[Maggie'sMom]

While my DD is in dance, she hasn't hit the level yet where they start traveling to perform. So I can only answer this from the side of being the child who participated in trips. I was in marching band in high school. We were invited to march in holiday parades in major cities and my senior year, we marched in the Magic Kingdom. In these cases, it really was honor to be able to participate. Our band director had to apply, send tapes of our performances, and be selected to participate.

It was absolutely worth the expense for me to go on these trips. They were some of my best memories from high school, especially our trip to WDW. Anytime I enter the MK, I flashback to marching down Main Street playing Christmas music. And I also remember the rest of our days spent touring the MK, Epcot, and MGM. We were in Epcot on New Year's Eve. We were there the first year MGM was open and there wasn't nearly as much there as there is now.

I was never athletic and didn't have the experience of succeeding in team sports, but being successful in band competitions and being invited to march in televised parades and in the MK gave me a feeling of accomplishment that I wouldn't have otherwise had.

But my parents never traveled with me on these trips. They spent the money so I could go, but they didn't feel it was necessary to tag along. They were more than happy to turn on the TV and see our band marching in a major Thanksgiving Day parade or watch our parade in the MK on videotape after we got home.

Generally, parents know before they sign their children up for these activities whether these trips are a part of the experience. That's the point at which they make the decision as to whether the cost is worth it or not. If your child is a participant in the activity, they are expected to participate in all the events involved, and that includes the trip. It would have been a problem for our band if some members opted out of the trip. Our formations were dependent on everyone being there and we participated in a marching band competition while we were there in addition to the MK parade and the Citrus Bowl parade.

 

[Suzanne033]

I was never athletic and didn't have the experience of succeeding in team sports, but being successful in band competitions and being invited to march in televised parades and in the MK gave me a feeling of accomplishment that I wouldn't have otherwise had.

Don't sell yourself short: Band can be just as grueling and require the same time committment (if not more) as athletics. Congratulations!!! That's a great accomplishment!!!