Recently one of our Academy clients was able to attend a unique conference, the NFL Flag Football Summit. Sonja Luevano, owner of Revolution Sports Center in Casa Grande, AZ, and her daughter Serina, recently expanded their cheer gym and rebranded.
Now called Revolution Sports Center, Sonja runs all star cheerleading and tumbling as well as their newest program – flag football. Last year they began to look at some options to diversify their offerings at the gym and provide new opportunities for the community. As members of the Next Gen Academy, they worked alongside their coach to brainstorm their flag football league.
The program has seen tremendous success in their gym through their hard work and innovation. As a result of their commitment to continued education, they attended the conference. While at this conference, Sonja said it struck her as something missing in the All Star industry.
“It really just hit me that it doesn’t have to be this way,” she said referring to the rising cost of all star cheerleading. “We’re talking about the NFL! If they wanted to make this an elite sport and price everyone out of the upper middle class, they could.”
Sonja said the conference was insightful and brought to light that other industries truly have adapted to the rising costs of sports.
“The NFL knows that if they don’t raise their prices dramatically, kids will play the game. They will become fans, they’ll coach and then they’ll give back and grow from the sport itself,” she said. “Their message about inclusion was crystal clear.”
Sonja said it was incredibly enlightening to hear from representatives during a question and answer panel. There she listened to panelists from the NBA, NHL, MLS and NBA.
“All of them talked about not making these programs so expensive that the average and below-average kid can’t afford them. All of the organizations advocated for keeping it cost-efficient for athletes.”
Their mission, she said, is to build fans – thereby building communities.
“The NFL gives, free of charge, every single NFL flag football league 50 game tickets to share with their league families,” she said.
By making tickets affordable for the outside community, they can develop fans in their town, while also expanding the reach of the organization.
Not only did she find this information valuable for the flag football league at RSC, but she also later took to ASGA to pose the question about how we can make all star cheer more affordable.
Options like novice and prep have developed over the years, but there’s no question that some gyms continue to operate these programs much like their elite teams. By doing so, are we keeping all star cheerleading still out-of-reach for underprivileged children?
Over the weekend, Sonja was not only inspired, but developed a new personal mission to maintain a family-friendly affordable program at RSC. As a business owner, Sonja also realizes that it’s necessary to maintain profit margins so their gym can continue to thrive. Through this profit, owners can take care of their own families, their staff and their facility.
