Many gyms are offering student rates which I think its still a lil steep though I agree that this is a huge pool to tap into.And they are also forgetting one type of student, which are the university students. Franky speaking,in Singapore, one other type of student who are available for such activities would be people in the U.and the student rates are only applicable to those under 21 which I think is ridiculous. most guys came out after the army would not be eligible for the rate while still being bodily active. Moreover, going to the U after the army would meant having more of free time since sch is only a few days unlike sec schs and polys,but with lil money having to pay sch fees etc. The purpose of this post, by any chance, a trainer or owner, would take these points into consideration and come up with better rates or including students >21 to be eligible for it.
Don't NUS & SMU have Muay Thai clubs? They maybe a good option to try as they must have Student friendly rates also CC's. Keep in mind for these full time Muay Thai gyms its a business and however nice it may look to have a gym full of students paying a lower rate it ain't going to pay the bills especially if its packed and that stopped the Employed folks from joining. I spoke with an owner of a gym the other day and they said they barely cover costs with the group classes and its only the privates that help them to make any money.
exactly, think about it - you wanna train somewhere with nice bags (few hundred bucks a piece), gloves (100 SGD a pair), good pads (200 SGD a pair) , mats (000's) and a ring? (0000's) but dont want to pay for it.... unlike most other martial arts, your thai instructor does it FULL TIME, he has fought (unlike most kung fu or other martial arts) and if he is a decent normal trainer he knows how to pad you (a skill in itself and something that takes years) so its worth paying for....
the only reason its cheap in thailand is cost of living is sooo much lower....
rent in singapore is expensive as is all of the above - so paying for a good trainer who looks after you is worth the money....
having a discount incentive for students is worthwhile...or get the Uni to fund part of the cost via some sort of bursary - but otherwise it makes no financial sense for a gym.... you arent going to be a full time fighter in singapore and make the gym money (and therefore its worth investing in you)
thats the reason....
Ya, they should totally come up with better student rate packages.
I agree that it costs money to upkeep the gym and equipment. but gyms can actually apply these students rates to only days and timings that are less crowded. like a 3pm weekday. most of the time it is pretty quite during those hours and students who have ended lessons can also head over to the gym for practice. So rather than allowing their gym to stay empty and quiet, why not earn some extra bucks buy coming up with student rates, not just based on age groups.
I agree that gyms need to think a little more on their pricing as its critical for the sport to encourage youngsters and students to particpate. But the issue still comes down to the fact its very much a business in Singapore and with a lot of gyms if there extending their hours they would rather have early mornings or lunch times to cover for the working population. Also, keep in mind a lot of the time its tough on the trainers doing more than 3 to 4, 2 hour trainings a day. So they do need to take that into account. Again I would refer back to my earlier post and look at the clubs at SMU, NUS and CC's for lower cost training.