A Little Nervous....

[CoreMom]

I am new here, but looking for some advice.

My daughter is 8, and is wanting to do All-Star Cheerleading. Several days ago I called/emailed several of our really good gyms and didn't hear back.

Today, I called a gym and someone actually answered! woo hoo! We talked for awhile and the person on the phone was really sweet. She was honest, and said that her cheer gym is brand new, with this past season being her very first reason. She said that with being so new, and so many large gyms around us, she doesn't have those large teams, and in turn she doesn't have the luxury of really having teams based on skill. She has to do them by age right now.

She seemed very open and honest (which I appreciate) about how one day she wishes she had more athletes but for now, since she is smaller she really is able to give all the athletes on each team more personalized attention and feels like she can really focus on their progression.

I have seen her older kids on youtube cheering and....I guess I wasn't that impressed. Now, don't get me wrong...as a mom I know it takes hard work for those kids to do floor tumbling and when you get lots of new high schoolers it's hard. I get it. The stunts were more on the line of a "decent" high school team verses an actual all-star team. This particular team was her highest at level 3, with not many - but very noticeable athletes who were late on their times, jumps were not that high and the stunts were shaky with even a fall or two. I felt A LOT of it had to do lack of confidence from the athletes than inability, and I've chalked that up too some of them being new to preforming and cheer overall, so nerves got the best of them. She had teams placed 2nd, 4th, and 8th this past season at Nationals, but how many other teams they were up against I don't know. They do to go comps and Nationals...well, they did this past year and they plan on going for the next upcoming 2nd season.

The gym has a lot of summer fundraisers which would help us financially...and I'm thankful for that. I am also glad the coach/gym owner seems like a nice person.

With that said, I live next to some DARN good gyms. One is not "fabulous" but I would say they are 2nd best in the area for sure. They went to worlds this year! But didn't win top 20 for their division. The other gym is AMAZING. They won 3rd at worlds in their division this year and it was they 7th time that gym has been won in the top 5 at Worlds for their division. They even had two teams go this year, so I'd say in the area they are definitely the best of the best and elite of the elite.

Just as I agreed to have my daughter see what the small gym is like, I got a call on the other line and it was that really good gym. I could tell the coach was busy.

I know that the really good gym probably wouldn't be as flexible if anything happened financially and they probably would be a little more pressure on her than the smaller gym. Even though both are the same price. The larger, really good gym also doesn't do half as many fundraisers.

I have decided that for this first year, we will go to the smaller cheer gym since my daughter is new at all this...it will give her a chance to cheer this year and see if it's something she really wants to continue doing, and if she likes that pressure for comps and stuff. I am thinking, depending on how well the teams are excelling and how well my daughter excels at this gym with her tumbling, etc... that we may switch to the larger, really good gym next season if she feels like she's not getting enough advancement. I have my fears about a smaller gym, and the only thing I really fear is down the road she will be stunted with her progression by a lack of levels/lack of advancement.

Although, I feel for her being non-experienced and only 8, with her personality, a small gym at first will be the best thing . I just want what is best for my daughter.

What do you all think? Okay to start off at a small gym - commit to this season and see how it goes? If we feel like the opportunities are not there switch to a larger gym that offers more?

Have any of you started, or started your children in a smaller gym to see how it goes?

I guess i'm a little nervous starting with a small gym :)

 

[Dj_Drew]

IMO the large gym would be a better choice. The large gym is large for a reason. They are obviously doing something right to have such a large clientele. Plus she will be placed on a team with kids her age and skill level, in a small gym she could be placed with kids up to 14 years old.

 

[CoreMom]

Yeah, I think we are going to have to go to the larger gym because it's closer and my husband doesn't want me having to drive farther right now than what I have too. Not only that, but as nice as the coach was...they had team pictures taken by an amateur this past year and the pictures turned out so awful I wanted to cry... Please don't get me wrong, it's not about the pictures... but honestly I feel like there might be a reason why I am having so much doubt right now and I feel like perhaps my daughter just won't get the experience she is wanting for the price I am paying (and knows I would be paying!) for her to do all-star cheer. It doesn't have anything to do with small gym vs. large gym at this point. I'm just feeling perhaps this new gym just don't have all it's ducks in a row quite yet and for the amount of money I'm going to spend I want to be ensured my daughter will be really taught...I don't know. I'm confused...The only thing right now wanting me to put my daughter in this tiny gym is how many fundraisers they do which is appealing since we all know how expensive this sport is.

 

[MommaBear]

I went through the same thing with CP last year. She's also 8 :) The reason I left new small gym was because they had people drop out, add for a month or two or not show up for practices and with the enrollment being so inconsistent we ended up not competing until late March. ONCE through the entire season. Ridiculous waste of money as far as I'm concerned. You may spend more on large, established gym, but they are going to be consistent and enforce attendance rules, which will result on her building skills sooner. Your daughter will grow with a larger program and never get lost in the "we have mini 1 and junior 4, since she's 9 but can't even BHS she's going to compete at an inappropriate level". Don't look for the team that is the "best", look for the team that offers the most in terms of advancement, will she get lost in the program, etc. At the end of last season I looked at a few different gyms in the area and based my decision on what would be best for her long term. Good luck!!

 

[CoreMom]

After my daughter going to the larger cheer gym I feel confident in my choice. Of course, sitting there I felt like there were some cons but I don't ever think there is anything such as a "perfect gym". I think each gym will always have it's pros and cons. I realized yesterday though, that the larger gym is truly the REAL DEAL. :)

 

[CheerBank]

After my daughter going to the larger cheer gym I feel confident in my choice. Of course, sitting there I felt like there were some cons but I don't ever think there is anything such as a "perfect gym". I think each gym will always have it's pros and cons. I realized yesterday though, that the larger gym is truly the REAL DEAL. :)

The longer you are involved in all-star cheer, you as a parent will start to realize what is important for you and your cp, and which aspects of a gym are just a deal breaker. Kudos to you for trusting your gut about the smaller gym and for looking at the bigger program before making a choice. As far as fundraisers go, there are quite a number of threads on here about ones that you could probably do on your own. Also, pm @sharkdad to add you to the Parent's Forum, lots of great parents over there who have been doing this for many years who have tons of advice to offer. Good luck to your cp on her first season!

 

[CoreMom]

Thank you, Cheerbank!! One pet peeve for me personally, is that this gym doesn't have good parental seating. The kids switch from area to area throughout the gym, and so if you want to watch your child you have to get up and move across the gym a few times a practice, with very limited seating. Parents are having to sit on the side of the gym. Also, there are multiple teams practicing on the same floor at once so it can get really loud, and the athletes can have a hard time hearing. As well, coaches have to wait for the other coach to get down with their counting otherwise kids get mixed up. Ideally, I wish the gym was large enough to where each team could practice more privately without all the hustle and bustle of the other groups. A gymnastics center in my home state was set up beautiful to where the parents seating was above and looking down, so that parents didn't have to be in the way and they could watch their child practice regardless where they were at in the gym. But alas, nothing is really perfect :) Thanks again for your advice!