The 11 Cheer Expenses Nobody Warns First-Time Parents About (and How to Save Money On Them)

If you’re a first-time cheer parent, your wallet is in for some big surprises this season. 

Sure, your gym likely handed you an expense sheet when you registered your athlete for evaluations. Tuition? Check. Competition fees? Check. Uniform? Check. All the usual suspects for any competitive youth sport. 

(and if your gym DOESN’T give you an expense sheet before you commit… RUN. FAST.)

I remember during my daughter’s first season feeling like I was getting nickel-and-dimed with all of the little expenses that kept popping up. Team gear here. Comp gift there. Post-choreography snacks. 

As a first time cheer mom, you’re going to feel like you’re drinking from a fire hose as you learn the language of competitive cheerleading (‘hit zero’ is a good thing). There are Band messages firing off at all hours of the day. There are links to book stay-to-play hotels that you absolutely need to do as soon as humanly possible so you’re not stuck in a crappy motel 30 minutes from the venue. You’re barely keeping up with the day-to-day, so it can be hard to think farther ahead than this week, let alone figuring out what expenses may be coming 4 months from now. 

Now that my family is starting our 9th season of cheer, I’m sharing with you the 11 expenses that nobody warns first-time cheer parents about. To determine how much you should add into your budget, I’m going to assume your season has 6 comps, each of which is 2 days. 

1. Makeup

The lights on the comp stage are BRIGHT, so most female cheerleaders wear at least some makeup on comp days. Depending on your program, you might be given some general guidance like, “any pink lipstick that looks good on your kid” all the way to “you must buy this specific makeup kit from the gym so every athlete matches perfectly.” False lashes and spray tans may be ‘suggested,’ although my daughter has zero interest in either of those things (whew).

We personally love the Revlon Colorstay Liquid Lipstick (we’ve used both matte and glossy)- once it dries, it truly does not budge, and it runs about $15. In my opinion, any mascara and eye shadow will get the job done. Unless your kid is super into makeup, I’d try to stick with the least expensive but reasonably good quality items you can find. 

I’d set aside about $30-40 to invest in some quality comp makeup that can last a couple of seasons. 

2. Bows

The giant blinged out bow is practically synonymous with competitive cheer. While some gyms use matching scrunchies or other hair accessories, the large, stiff bows are most popular. In some gyms, like ours, these bows are included in the price of the uniform. In others, the bow must be purchased separately. This information is usually on the gym’s expense sheet, but not always.

In addition to the comp day bow, you may need to purchase a ‘practice bow’ to wear during, you guessed it… practices! Again, this is sometimes built into the practicewear cost, but other times you pay separately for it. In our gym, the teams don’t have to wear their ‘practice’ bow to every practice; instead they wear them for things like skills camp, choreography days, and fall showcase, when the coaches want them to look cohesive. 

If your comp day bow isn’t included in your uniform, plan to spend about $50 for it. Practice bows, typically less blingy/showy, may run around $15-20.

3. Comp day/sendoff gifts

I was completely unprepared for the amount of gift-giving that happened during my daughter’s first season in an all star gym. For each competition, a few families were assigned to put together a ‘sendoff gift’ that would be given to the team at the last practice before a competition. Sometimes the gifts were given on the day of competition after they performed- this is especially popular with the tiny teams where the athletes are mostly age 3-5 and benefit from the entertainment between their performance and awards. They often get some candy and a tiny toy, stuffed animal, or activity.

In her first season, Laurel received SO MUCH STUFF, much of which was personalized with her name: makeup bags, hair brushes, keychains, bows, bow storage boxes… and to my great surprise, she still uses a lot of it 7 years later. As she got older, her teams have moved towards doing a single gift towards the end of the season instead of smaller stuff for each comp. Last season, she received super comfy matching zip up hoodie and sweatpants with the team’s logo. She wears them all the time! My all-time favorite team gift she has received was a set of packing cubes (personalized with her name in bling, obviously). These also get a ton of use during comp travel. 

The gift giving culture in some gyms is EXTRA. I’m talking mega-bling sports bras, Stanley water bottles (are those even cool anymore?), and Lululemon shorts. If that’s your gym, plan for $200 in comp gifts. We spent $60 last season, which I think is pretty reasonable, especially since it was for something she wears regularly. 

4. Coaches' gifts

While we’re on the topic of gifts, you’ll likely be asked to contribute to coaches’ gifts. The team parent will probably ask for contributions around the holidays and for the end-of-season banquet or celebration. I’ve seen everything from personalized journals or jewelry to a framed team photo signed by all of the athletes to fully blinged jean jackets. Our gym tends to favor giving the coaches a Visa gift card with a smaller item such as a tumbler filled with candy. 

Most likely the contributions will be combined and given from the entire team, so it’s usually pay-what-you-wish contributions. I’d plan for $20 around the holidays and another $20 at the end of the season. 

5. Spectator tickets

Ok, this is my #1 biggest beef with the cheer world. I absolutely HATE having to pay to walk in the door to watch my daughter at every competition. 

Oh, you thought you already paid your comp fees to the gym? Yeah, that was just for your athlete. 

Spectator fees, wristbands, or tickets cost anywhere from $25 to $50 per person, per day. PER DAY!! For a 2-day comp that charges $50 per person per day, my family would be paying an extra $400 if my husband and I attended with both of our younger kids. I’m sorry, but that is batshit crazy to walk in the door for just 1 comp weekend. We stopped bringing our boys to comps and have just 1 parent travel to every comp because it’s just too expensive for us to do otherwise. 

Estimate $40 per person per day for every comp- if you have 6 events, all of which are 2 days, and bring just 1 parent, that will come to $480 for the season. 

6. Food during comp weekends

Even though your athlete’s routine is 2 minutes and 30 seconds, you’re probably going to spend 4-6 hours in the venue each day of the comp. You’ll need to arrive early enough to get performance ready (full makeup and uniform), watch other teams from your gym perform, warm up, and attend awards. When you spend that much time in the venue with a tired athlete, you’re inevitably going to give in to convenience and buy food from one of the vendors, or order DoorDash when you’ve made it back to the hotel and feel completely exhausted. 

There are tons of ways to save money on food while traveling for comps, including bringing groceries for your hotel room, booking hotels with free breakfasts, and even packing an Instapot or panini press to make dinner. But at some point, you will pay $10 for convention center french fries. Your wallet (and stomach) will regret it. Sorry, it’s just how this works. I don’t make the rules. 

If you’re the kind to plan ahead and do light meal prep/grocery shopping, you can spend about $100 for you and your athlete over a 2-day comp. If you’re the kind of person who favors convenience, you could easily be spending $200+. This will vary depending on where you are traveling and how many people you’re feeding, but if you have just your athlete and 1 parent traveling to 6 comps, I’d plan to spend about $1000 for food over the season. 

7. Parking at competition venues

If you’re lucky, most of your competitions will be within a reasonable driving distance. While some venues have free parking, most of the time you’ll have to pay. The best way to save money on parking is to find a hotel with free parking that’s within walking distance to the venue.  In some areas, this is super easy, but in other areas you might be searching for a unicorn. Start looking at hotels as soon as you have your comp schedule!

If you’re flying to a competition, you’re going to have to decide between renting a car or using Uber/Lyft to get around. Even if your hotel is within walking distance, you’ll need to get from the airport to the hotel somehow. As you’re comparing those costs, don’t forget to factor parking into the equation (both at the venue and your hotel). 

For parking at venues, I’d estimate $15 per day - with six 2-day comps, you’ll need to add $180 into your travel budget. 

8. Practice wear

When my daughter started cheer, I assumed she would be given a certain color to wear each practice (maybe black on Mondays, red on Wednesdays). I didn’t realize that there would be a specific practicewear set that everybody needs to purchase. These may be a matching sports bra and shorts, or perhaps a t-shirt with the gym’s logo. 

In our gym, the elite teams level 3 and up have practice 3 days a week, while the level 2 and below teams practice twice a week. Our teams typically go to The Summit as our post-season event, and teams get new practicewear sets to wear then. This set then rolls into the next season as one of the 3 required sets. So we purchase 2 sets at the beginning of the season (think June/July) and a 3rd set in March/April. If your athlete is new to level 3, you’re going to be buying all 3 sets at the beginning of the season. 

Hopefully your gym re-uses practice sets for more than 1 season. If that’s the case, get into the buy/sell/trade group for your program (this may be a separate Band or Facebook group) to find a used set. I’ve seen sets selling for about 50-60% of the original price, which really adds up! You may also be able to find a used uniform which can save you HUNDREDS. 

Our practice sets are typically $100 for the bra/shorts, so if you need 3 sets you’re looking at $300. 

9. Replacement shoes

Kids grow, even (especially?) athletes. Cheer shoes are pricey and no matter the brand, seem to fall apart far faster than we would like. If your kid has a mid-season growth spurt, you may need to buy yet another pair of very expensive white sneakers (that turn gray almost immediately). 

Now, I’ve seen some cheerleaders get very attached to their ratty old shoes. They may have holes and the sole is pulling away from the toes, and yet the athlete refuses to trade them out for a new pair until the end of the season. You might see duct tape or rubber bands holding the shoes together by the end of the season. I’ve seen shoes fly off mid-routine more times than I can count. 

Most brand-name cheer shoes run about $130 per pair, but there are lots of options in a lower price range. If you’re not sure what brand to buy, ask a returning parent in your program or someone in the pro shop. 

10. Choreography fees

Lots of all star cheer gyms outsource the choreography of their routines to full-time professionals. In our gym, each team gets about 10 hours with the choreographer over a 2-day period in the early fall. That way, the choreographer can get a good sense of the team’s overall skills and each athlete’s abilities to create the strongest possible routine. 

A majority of gyms I’ve looked at bundle choreography and music fees into the tuition payments, but there are some places that list these out separately. This should be explicitly listed on your expense sheet, so read it closely. The choreo fee may cover the choreographer’s fee, coaches’ salary for the hours spent working during choreography sessions, and the use of the facilities for the 8-10 hours beyond normal practice. 

In gyms that have a separate line item for choreography, I’ve seen fees ranging anywhere from $150 to $700. A safe guess would be about $400.

11. Private lessons

I’m going to be real with you. This may not be news you want to hear. 

Your athlete will NOT be learning new tumbling skills during practice. 

Tumbling during practice will be for perfecting skills used in their routine or at that level. End of story. 

So how can your athlete ever move up a level? Well, group classes and clinics are an option offered in many gyms. But honestly, a lot of athletes who are super motivated to level up are doing regular private lessons, year-round. And some families are doing multiple privates each week! 

If you have the money available, and your athlete is motivated, then hey, knock yourself out with private lessons. But that’s not in the cards for my family for many reasons. First, and probably most importantly, Laurel is very happy learning new skills and moving up at her own pace. Second, on top of our already heavy cheer practice and comp schedule, one of my boys is also a competitive gymnast and dedicated musician. Our schedule feels tight already, and we want to make sure our kids have time to actually relax on the weekends. And lastly, we simply don’t want to spend the extra money. Period.

If you decide to get your athlete into regular private lessons, coaches may charge you from $70-100 per hour, depending on their experience. If you do 30 privates over the course of the year at $80 per hour, that will be $2,400 for the season. 

The Big Picture

Now that you’ve uncovered these hidden costs, you’re more prepared for the real financial commitment of all star cheerleading. If you add up all of the expenses above, you’re looking at $5,080– that is in addition to the tuition you’re paying the gym, comp fees, and travel to the comps. While some of this is truly optional, it may feel ‘optional 😉’ when you hear other moms in your gym talking about them. 

If you’re ready to map out your spending for the whole season, grab the original My Cheer Budget template and let Google Sheets do the math for you. With cheer-specific categories already listed for you, plus tons of room to customize, you’ll be able to see at a glance your estimated spending by month, by category, and for the whole season. By thinking ahead, you’ll be able to make decisions based on actual numbers, not ✨vibes ✨. 

Cheers,

♥️ Lexie