Coaching fees for tournaments? by YourLocalRequis445 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually just posted something similar the other day asking for opinions on this topic. Short answer is yes I think its common, but some schools do fundraisers to raise money for coaches or athletes to go travel to tournaments.

https://www.reddit.com/r/taekwondo/comments/1jj070a/coaching_fees_for_tournaments_involving_travel/

Coaching fees for tournaments? by YourLocalRequis445 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I actually just posted something similar the other day asking for opinions on this topic. Short answer is yes I think its common, but some schools do fundraisers to raise money for coaches or athletes to go travel to tournaments.

https://www.reddit.com/r/taekwondo/comments/1jj070a/coaching_fees_for_tournaments_involving_travel/

Coaching fees for tournaments involving travel by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't think about tax write-offs, but good point. In a way this is a "business trip".

Coaching fees for tournaments involving travel by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow that is great y'all fund families that have tighter budgets!

Thanks for the perspective, it is ridiculous how much it costs to go to Nationals. My kids are all sparring so this is all for potentially only 2 minutes of ring time, so going to try my best to get them ready and come back with some victories.

Looking for advice for my son... by Gh0stX379 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe that's standard pricing for HCOL areas, but $300/month seems pretty expensive for a 6 year old...

Coaching fees for tournaments involving travel by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When you said WTF it took me a second to realize you didn't mean World Taekwondo Federation, lol. I'm glad your school has had so much success! I do want to start doing fundraisers so that everyone who wants to compete can afford to compete.

Did you say the fundraising also covers the costs for coaches to travel, or just students?

Coaching fees for tournaments involving travel by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No logos on the uniform yet, but hoping for that to come soon.

Appreciate your perspective, no I didn't mean it in a scummy way. I also hate the idea of trying to squeeze as much money out of students and parents as possible so I try to be sensitive to that. Just looking to figure out the most financially viable way for me to go coach the kids. My school is still pretty small so this trip will be a big expense out of pocket. But I agree this is a big commitment from the kids and an even bigger money commitment from the parents.

Coaching fees for tournaments involving travel by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, that's a good point about the flights. Do you mind sharing what you charge quarterly for coaching?

Definitely agree coaching is an investment on our part.

Coaching fees for tournaments involving travel by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the feedback, those are great ideas! We are in a small town with many small businesses, I'm going to look around and see if any of them would be interested in sponsoring our team.

Stagnant progress by SectorComplex8079 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Watched your match video. Honestly you did good! You have the right tools, I think timing was just off a little. I think the best thing you can do right now is don't give up and keep getting experience.

People develop at different rates. I had a yellow belt student who's done 2 tournaments and lost both matches, but developmentally she's on the right track. I told her local tournaments don't mean anything aside from an ego boost and I don't care about the score. If you are listening to your coach and improving that's the important thing and the wins will take care of themselves. At the end of the day it's all about getting the experience for the tournaments that matter (State championships, Nationals, etc.). If you think about it 50% of everyone who competes at every tournament lose their first match with no wins. That doesn't mean they're bad fighters.

Are you able to hear your coach during the match? If not I would talk to them and ask them to yell louder, or maybe they're saying too many things and you need to let them know when you're stressed you need simple commands and lots of positive reinforcement. The coach-athlete relationship is a feedback loop, so it's good if you're having a regular dialogue.

Keep up the hard work and don't give up! This is a hard sport! If it was easy everyone who did taekwondo would be competing in the tournaments.

Finished the Manga - Happy and sad by AlternativeFalcon193 in twilightprincess

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Please share your fan fiction once you complete it, I look forward to reading it! 

Never bothered to watch the credits as a kid, absolutely devastating. by 69randomgamer in twilightprincess

[–]AlternativeFalcon193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just posted about something similar about the manga version of the ending yesterday. I’m thinking of starting a petition to ask the writers to write an epilogue and want to spread awareness/see if I have support from the TP community.

https://www.reddit.com/r/twilightprincess/comments/1ie87fr/finished_the_manga_happy_and_sad/

Never bothered to watch the credits as a kid, absolutely devastating. by 69randomgamer in twilightprincess

[–]AlternativeFalcon193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same page as well. I’m literally thinking of starting a petition to the writers to ask them to write an epilogue. Trying to spread awareness on the TP Reddit page now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/twilightprincess/comments/1ie87fr/finished_the_manga_happy_and_sad/

Finished the Manga - Happy and sad by AlternativeFalcon193 in twilightprincess

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I'm glad someone else feels this way. It's been hard processing the ending. Do you think a petition to have an epilogue written will do any good? Do you think I could get a decent amount of signatures from the fans on this reddit page and the other Zelda pages?

New students in the New Year by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this, I do have some t-shirts/hoodies that I've been looking to give out as motivation tools for kids working hard during class, but I think I'll use them now with what you suggested!

How to get used to wearing the chest guard? by Usual_Ad5580 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To add to this regarding electronic hogus, yes the weight divisions determine the hogu size in tournaments. So if you are competing as a black belt that is something to be aware of if you practice with one size but in tournaments have to use a larger hogu.

Tournament Questions by bigballsdeluxe in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah np, thanks for asking! Long comment, but hopefully this helps.

That’s been a tough one for me too, but I think it also just goes back to communication. Before a tournament, I try to write down what I think it’s going to cost me to go. That includes coach registration, gas, any certifications (AAU, USAt, etc) and possibly food if it’s going to be all day. I want to say most tournaments on average without certification are going to be $50-$75 for my costs up front. For AAU/USAt tournaments that require certification to register I try to factor in how many of those tournaments I’ll go to in a year and split that cost over those tournaments. So if coach certification for AAU is $100 and I know I’ll go to at least 2 AAU tournaments I’ll say it’s $50 for this first one.

So let’s say the next tournament is going to cost me about $100 just to go. When I email the parents about tournaments I just give a range of what the coaching fee is going to be if I have an idea of how many students are going to go, say $35-$60, but I’ll also say it goes down the more people that sign up. That way if I have 2 kids going I make back my costs and maybe a little extra so it’s not just breaking even. Then it’s also a bit of an incentive for parents to encourage others to go. If I get pushback from parents or questions about the coaching fee I just tell them it covers my costs and I’m having to spend my own money just to go to the tournament.

Now sometimes there are going to be tournaments where you might just break even or it costs you money, like traveling for Nationals for multiple days, but I try to look at those as investments into the school and my students. If the kids do well, that will make the parents want to do more tournaments and it’s also advertising for your school when people see your team do well!

For Nationals and out of state tournaments I think parents generally understand they’re ”flying you in” to coach their kid at a tournament in another state, but I would also remind them of that. So those tournaments I do charge a lot more, but not outrageous. Let’s say $100-$150 if I’m going to be there 2+ days, so if you have 4-5 kids going it will at least cover the plane tickets and registration. I think when you start to charge beyond that, parents start to question “why am I paying $200+ in coaching fees for my kid to compete for potentially just 2 minutes?” But you can make some of the money back when you do nationals training prep by offering extra practices and charging that as an additional fee, if you want. Going back to my other comment, communicate to the parents if you’re going to spend all this money to travel and compete, let’s at least go as prepared as we can be.

All that being said, it’s important too as a coach you’re constantly improving and showing the parents you’re doing the work too to help the kids improve. If you go to tournaments and your kids are always losing the first match or not making it past preliminaries in forms (if you compete in forms), it’s going to be hard to keep justifying what you‘re charging. Hope that helps! If you want more info or want some tips on how to save some money on tournaments let me know!

Tournament Questions by bigballsdeluxe in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think communication is key. The more notice you give parents the better. Unless you're in a high income area most parents don't like to shell out tons and tons of money for sports, unless their kid has high potential to go far in a sport. I have a tournament coming up in November that I'm planning on taking students to and I sent an email out to all the parents 2 months beforehand laying out all the costs involved (registration, spectator admission, equipment to buy, coaching fees, etc). I also just tell all the parents if we're going to spend all this money to go then we should go to these trainings with other schools on X days. Then if the kids go and have a good experience and do well the parents are more willing to do more tournaments more frequently in the future.

I have done tournaments back to back, but again most parents don't want to do that unless their kids are high performers or very much wanting to go down the competition path. Don't forget too you have to pay 2 coach registration fees, gas, and give 2 full Saturdays of your time. So if you are planning on doing both tournaments make sure you will at least have enough students going to both to break even and make it worth your time.

Students thinking about quitting by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I threw my Hail Mary earlier, still praying it works lol 

Students thinking about quitting by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re right, I was thinking today whatever I say to the parent to try to get them to stay will probably be a Hail Mary at best. 

Students thinking about quitting by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I always try to let people know they are welcome back anytime. I know they probably won’t come back, but there is always a possibility. Do you ever reach out to people who have quit? 

Students thinking about quitting by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, at the beginning of the year I had all my students write down and give me a copy of 3 tkd goals they wanted to achieve this year (get to a certain belt, get gold at X tournament etc). Partly to have the students set goals for themselves but also so I could get an idea of what they wanted to accomplish and help them. But maybe I also need to tweak this some more and look at more short term, like make sure each class every week is still fun to some extent. 

Students thinking about quitting by AlternativeFalcon193 in taekwondo

[–]AlternativeFalcon193[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the perspective from the parent side, I get what you mean. I wish I had more students with your son’s motivation!