All-Star 4-year-old Cheerleader To Be...

[Ren wyatt]

As far as "gym-ratting" goes, whether it helps gain kids skills really depends on the type of "gym-ratting" they're doing.

There is Good Gym Rat who is at open gym every day actually working for the entire 2 hours. Asking coaches who are there for tips, getting tips from more experienced friends, and are generally "in the zone" for most of the time working on skills. I am not generally a fan of kids being in the gym when it's not open gym or practice/private/class but these kids don't bother me.

Then there is the Annoying Gym Rat who is at open gym everyday for 2 hours, is all about "getting her full" but in reality, for a 2 hour open gym, she spends:

20 min - taking a selfie in her new sports bra and bow she just got.
30 min - talking to that boy she likes.
10 min - stretching while talking.
10 min - in the restroom
20 min - getting water after having not actually tumbled yet.
10 min- shooting youtube vids of her and her friends being silly on the tumble track.
5 min - actually throwing tumbling.
10 min - watching people tumble and being like "omg I want to get that sooooo bad."
5 min - saying how bad she wants abs.

These are the kids whom I have to personally walk up to and tell them that they need to either be working on skills or leaving because they are being distracting and taking up space from the kids who are actually in the gym, you know, WORKING.

I'm VERY guilty of this... haha. Some weeks i'd work my butt off and other weeks there were lots of selfies taken

 

[MissCongeniality]

And don't forget the gym rat whose mom drops her off at 10am on a Saturday for a 2pm private and picks her up at 6. That's my personal favorite.

But Little Susie just really wanted to be there that long. She would cheer every day all day if allowed. Susie lives for cheer. The fact that Susie's Mom got her hair done, shopping finished and a few cocktails was purely coincidental!

 

[TheVipersMom]

I don't think I would ever do it at any other gym but ours is like different.. I drop my kid off and leave. I personally aligned all her classes like this on Saturday so I can still go to work.

She has her tumbling class on Saturdays, that's also when open gym is, and because she is a flyer that is also when her stretch class is mandatory.

I go get her on my lunch break and drop her off at the gym before 10
She does stretch from 10-11, tumbling 11-12, open gym 12-115. I get off at 2 so she sits there for 45 mins! (I only work 5 mins away) she can do whatever in that 45 mins as there is no classes going on. There are coaches there doing privates and they do not have to watch my kid. She isn't a talker and doesn't walk around. She usually goes to the floor and sits in front of the mirror and watches.

Open gym use to be later so she had a break. I hate that they are all back to back now and was kind of upset the day they sent the email of the changed time.

Because usually during the break in between tumbling and open gym she would bring her lunch I packed and eat at the gym. However 9 out of 10 times she would text me and ask if she can go eat with another persons parents.. (There are multiple people who are there for classes, that leave and go eat and that would come back for open gym and so many people invited her I started sending her with just in case money but she had a lunch if not)

The day the email was sent about the changed time I went in and talked to the coaches and said now I have to move all classes to weekday nights and they were like do not do that! She can stay here! So it is what it is. I asked her if she hates sitting there that I could change her classes and she said no those are her favorite classes because of the coaches!


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[Mamarazzi]

@oncecoolcoachnowmom - Not gonna lie, I'm sure there has been a fair amount of abselfies, but more often, they either get pulled to fill in on a random team practice or they would watch and want a skill and practice it.
I try to remind them what they're there for, but when teens visit someplace with their besties, socializing will happen. Beats the street corner.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

@oncecoolcoachnowmom - Not gonna lie, I'm sure there has been a fair amount of abselfies, but more often, they either get pulled to fill in on a random team practice or they would watch and want a skill and practice it.
I try to remind them what they're there for, but when teens visit someplace with their besties, socializing will happen. Beats the street corner.

Oh absolutely! I get it. You can't be serious for an entire 2 hour open gym. This isn't the Olympic Ranch. You will fall, laugh really hard about it, make a youtube video, take a selfie. I know this. I'm more referring to "those kids" (you know some of them, most likely) whom you can see have been in the gym doing NOTHING for 2 hours. Like from the moment they walked in the door, they have been playing and for lack of better wording "getting in the way" of people who actually NEED equipment.

This is something we've really had to crack down on because kids were in open gym playing on the tumble track when Jenny needed it for a private. It also just looks unprofessional on the gym's part to have kids eating, playing, etc. during open gym time instead of gym-ing.

You can sit. You can watch practices. You can use an open section of floor to work on whatever. You cannot play tag on my tumble track, take repeated tumble track selfies while other people wait to use it, etc. You get the idea!

 

[SL&AM]

Of course talented kids can progress through the levels faster in cheer and there's nothing wrong with that! But sometimes I feel like it's not always "fair", because it also depends on if Becky's parents signed her up for tumbling class while Susie's parents didn't and Susie wasn't actually learning any new tumbling skills at practice, and Becky had privates but Susie's mom thought that was excessive... etc.

I guess it depends on the child, what they want to do and how much time they want to spend in the gym. There are no set rules what someone "should" do. Also what the parents can afford and how much driving they want to do.

For us, twice a week practice is enough so no tumbling class for CP6. But she did have her very first private yesterday... and she loved it, said she wants one every day! Sorry kid. Me and her dad agreed she can do one every other weekend.

I had a fellow Cheer Mom announce in front of an entire waiting room of parents that if I signed my CP up for something, she would HAVE to sign her's up too. I had only inquired about the cost of a LVL 1-4 tumbling clinic that was coming up, but in this particular mom's head she could not fathom my CP getting more attention/better than her CP. So keep in mind, some parents it's more about themselves and how their CP looks, versus the CP herself/himself.

I also think, sometimes, life just isn't fair. I grew up dancing, and eventually went into all-star dance; and sadly, it's the same as cheer. You either put the time in or you don't/can't. Those who can may flourish, those who can't may never achieve their full potential. But it's a life lesson that I think any sport can teach a child; hard work and dedication go a long ways, and even though a child can't be in the gym daily, especially as they age, there is a lot they can do at home to help them in the gym.

I totally agree with you that it's about what the child wants, without their drive it's not worth it.

 

[SL&AM]

It just blows my mind that five year olds can have that long of an attention span. I refuse to do hour long private lessons with anybody under the age of twelve because they seriously just can't focus for that long, which is fine. It's just the age group, and of course every child is different but that's just what I've found to be true in most cases.

When I was in gymnastics at age twelve, we practiced every week day in the summer for five hours. Then I had an hour long private lesson after every practice. It was something I wanted, but I believe that it contributed to my burn out at age thirteen for sure.

At one of the gym's CP was at this summer (yes, she went to two different ones) there is also competitive gymnastics and they all had team kids doing 17 hours a week. The youngest team kid is about a month younger than my CP and it was an 6 hour, 6 hour, 5 hour rotation 3 days out of the week.

As for my CP, if you met her on the street you'd question how she has the attention span for privates---she's a very off the wall, goody, energetic little thing; put her in a class, and she becomes very serious. She's also golden in school (go figure). But we did start off with 30 minute privates for a while before I let her go to the hour long ones, and I also found which coach I used made a huge difference. I found 2 coaches that I absolutely loved and who worked really well with her; had I used anyone else, I'm not sure it would have yielded the same results.

 

[Cheer Dad]

I had a fellow Cheer Mom announce in front of an entire waiting room of parents that if I signed my CP up for something, she would HAVE to sign her's up too. I had only inquired about the cost of a LVL 1-4 tumbling clinic that was coming up, but in this particular mom's head she could not fathom my CP getting more attention/better than her CP. So keep in mind, some parents it's more about themselves and how their CP looks, versus the CP herself/himself.

I also think, sometimes, life just isn't fair. I grew up dancing, and eventually went into all-star dance; and sadly, it's the same as cheer. You either put the time in or you don't/can't. Those who can may flourish, those who can't may never achieve their full potential. But it's a life lesson that I think any sport can teach a child; hard work and dedication go a long ways, and even though a child can't be in the gym daily, especially as they age, there is a lot they can do at home to help them in the gym.

I totally agree with you that it's about what the child wants, without their drive it's not worth it.

I think I would have told her you signed cp up just so she spent the money.

 

[123jump4!]

I forgot to say, another tiny cheer class mom told me that it's important that they learn BHS as young as possible, because then the child is more likely to end up with a college cheer scholarship. I just nodded and smiled.

 

[Pebbles49]

I forgot to say, another tiny cheer class mom told me that it's important that they learn BHS as young as possible, because then the child is more likely to end up with a college cheer scholarship. I just nodded and smiled.

OMG, you met Jocelyn's Mama... Let me be real clear to you, RUN!

 

[123jump4!]

OMG, you met Jocelyn's Mama... Let me be real clear to you, RUN!

Haha, was that the child from the 3-year-old BHS thread? But, she must be older now, that thread is a couple of years old. This child was 3. Maybe her little sister then. Mom also said she used to cheer but she never did ANY tumbling because she was a flyer and she was just up in the air like ALL THE TIME. That's why she didn't get a college scholarship.

 

[TheVipersMom]

I'm actually am friends with her on facebook. She is real laid back now!


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[123jump4!]

I'm actually am friends with her on facebook. She is real laid back now!

Really? That's great that she's laid back. The child must have been talented (nevermind if her mom was pushy or not). Is she cheering now?

 

[TheVipersMom]

Really? That's great that she's laid back. The child must have been talented (nevermind if her mom was pushy or not). Is she cheering now?

She has not progressed very far but I'm pretty sure she is still cheering.


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[MissCongeniality]

I forgot to say, another tiny cheer class mom told me that it's important that they learn BHS as young as possible, because then the child is more likely to end up with a college cheer scholarship. I just nodded and smiled.

That's awesome news! CP learned hers really young and is currently applying for college. I will have to make sure she adds something to her essay about the age she learned her backhandsprings!!! Woo hoo! I can feel that full scholarship already! </sarcasm>

Seriously though...anyone doing cheer solely for the potential of a future scholarship needs some basic financial guidance.