College Cheer Scholarships: What Gym Owners Tell Families

Every gym owner gets the same question eventually. A parent pulls them aside in the lobby and asks whether their daughter could cheer in college, and whether anyone would pay for it. Tara Rall answered that question for close to three decades at Maryland Twisters, a program she founded and grew from roughly 50 athletes to nearly 800. Her answer has two halves. The opportunity is much wider than most families know. There is Acro and Tumbling, a match format at Baylor, Quinnipiac, Oregon and roughly a dozen other schools where athletes are treated as athletes within the school. There are D1 game day squads, competitive squads, spirit squads and club programs. But the funding varies wildly. Some schools offer tuition assistance. Some offer a stipend. Some cover travel and apparel and nothing else. Some offer nothing at all. As Tara puts it, go to a school that provides whatever major you are pursuing, and if cheerleading covers some of those expenses, that is a bonus. For gym owners, the operational piece is smaller than you would expect. Tara never built a formal recruiting service. She sent a blanket email to senior-team parents saying that if you want to talk college, let us know. She hosted college info sessions when a school like Delaware offered one. She walked the floor at night asking juniors and seniors where they were applying, right up to the December 1 deadline, until the kids saw her coming and knew what was next. When Baylor came to the gym to watch two athletes, a junior and a sophomore, both eventually went there. The work is consistency and follow-up, not a program. The harder part is the honest read. A parent messaged Tara a year ago with a list of three schools that all require fulls for an athlete who does not tumble. Tara told her the truth and then redirected her toward co-ed programs without that requirement. That conversation is the job. Tara also covers why college coaches want to speak with the athlete rather than the parent, what happens to a package an athlete accepts and then walks away from, and why the same opportunity exists in dance, pom and most other youth sports. Chapters 00:00 The quiet hope most families never say out loud 01:31 Why parents start calling in eighth and ninth grade 02:29 Different paths, different kinds of money 03:07 Acro and Tumbling explained, and why the format matters 05:09 Game day, competing, or wanting both 05:36 Tuition, a stipend, travel, or nothing at all 06:45 When to start, and what a freshman is allowed to do 09:05 What changed for parents between 1998 and today 10:21 How likely is it, really 12:29 Of the ones who go, how many actually get paid 14:20 The co-ed misconception and the realistic read 16:17 The blanket email, and why parents should not call the coach 19:03 Colleges at the gym, and the Baylor visit 20:33 Telling a parent the skills are not there yet 26:04 Dance, pom, and the same opportunity in other sports 29:26 Application season and going for it anyway Building Good Cheer is a show about the business of youth sports and what it takes to build a program that lasts. Hosted by Kevin Pedini with Tara Rall, founder and longtime owner of Maryland Twisters. New episodes every Tuesday. Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or find every episode at onsidehero.com/podcast #collegecheer #cheerscholarships #gymowner #youthsports #buildinggoodcheer