All-Star Chasing The Ring

[L5cheermom]

CP will be screwed then for college cheer since we will not allow him to do HS because of where they practice.

It MIGHT be different for boys since many HSs don't have coed teams and the pool of talent tends to be smaller.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

 

[Cheer Dad]

It MIGHT be different for boys since many HSs don't have coed teams and the pool of talent tends to be smaller.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

true

 

[Cruella]

I think HS cheer has different significance in different parts of the country. Where we are, it really isn't a thing. Most squads are VERY sideline and don't do anything that would be considered athletic. My daughter cheered HS football her freshman year and that was it, because it was embarrassing to her. I don't feel that would or wouldn't have any bearing on her college search - at least not at NCA colleges. Not sure if UCA is different, since we haven't really looked at any of those.

 

[BlueCat]

Your daughter is making the right choice in cheering for her high school. I have noticed more and more colleges requiring explanations/waivers if a cheerleader wants to cheer in college but didn't cheer on their high school squad their senior year.

Sources please. Insinuating that being in all star will HURT your chances to cheer in college compared to HS is a big thing to just throw out there without a little explanation. You are the only person I have ever heard say this. I'm not saying you are necessarily wrong, that is just the polar opposite of the college coaches we talk to. I saw the UT one for the pom squad I think - are there others? Do you know of even a single athlete who was not allowed to try out because of this? ("requiring explanation" is not the same as "forbidden to try out")

 

[BlueCat]

Back in the day I would have said yes but now it would be a "no". Maybe if she was attending a college close to her "dream team" and the pieces fell into place I would even pay for it. As much as we love this crazy sport of ours, the rest of the world could care less. Read some of the freshman profiles for A&T...Baylor mentioned Kiara's World Championship as an afterthought but loved the fact she was a Olympic level power tumbler. Even cp has decided that she will do high school cheer because that will mean more on her college app than all star.
Once they graduate and leave all star no one cares if they were a "cheerlebrity" or won Worlds 3x in a row.
In fact I'm imagining some of those kids will be nightmares their first semester (at least to their roommates).

A&T is not a big fan of the whole USASF/Varsity/AACA/USA Cheer/STUNT conglomerate. (with good reason, I might add) I'm surprised they mentioned her USASF title at all.

 

[Dixie]

Okay, had to check because at one point you sounded like a parent then sounded like a coach/owner whose responsibility it would be to advise kids/parents the potential downfall of a long commute.

Would your perspective change if the commuters were just that good and even having them just one day a week dramatically increased the teams and your CP's chances of winning gold?

Yep to me it's beyond my team parent duties, but it's what I was asked to do so I'll do it.
I would say no. Most of them ARE that good and even practice at their local gym when they don't make the drive. But this isn't an individual sport. Yes they are making themselves better which will benefit the team, but not learning about being a member of the team. (Plus its really hard to work stunts/pyramid when your missing every other practice)


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

 

[gymcatmomx2]

Sources please. Insinuating that being in all star will HURT your chances to cheer in college compared to HS is a big thing to just throw out there without a little explanation. You are the only person I have ever heard say this. I'm not saying you are necessarily wrong, that is just the polar opposite of the college coaches we talk to. I saw the UT one for the pom squad I think - are there others? Do you know of even a single athlete who was not allowed to try out because of this? ("requiring explanation" is not the same as "forbidden to try out")

I don't believe I insinuated that all-star would hurt your chances for college cheer. And I don't think I stated that a candidate would be forbidden from trying out if they didn't have game day experience. If you can do both that would be the ideal situation. If a college has a competitive squad then having all-star experience would be ideal; if they only have a game day squad then having high school cheer experience would be a plus.

University of Texas has this statement on their cheer website:

All prospective cheerleader candidates must be a current member of their school's spirit group (ie. cheer squad, pep squad, etc.). If the candidate is not a current member of the school's spirit group, they can apply for a waiver by providing a letter of reasoning to the Head Coach for approval. Please include this letter in your tryout packet.

Obviously you have much more in-depth information since you have spoken to college coaches and have been in the business for years. I am only going off of the college's websites. In addition, I am only looking at schools that have game day squads.

 

[gymcatmomx2]

I don't believe I insinuated that all-star would hurt your chances for college cheer. And I don't think I stated that a candidate would be forbidden from trying out if they didn't have game day experience. If you can do both that would be the ideal situation. If a college has a competitive squad then having all-star experience would be ideal; if they only have a game day squad then having high school cheer experience would be a plus.

University of Texas has this statement on their cheer website:

All prospective cheerleader candidates must be a current member of their school's spirit group (ie. cheer squad, pep squad, etc.). If the candidate is not a current member of the school's spirit group, they can apply for a waiver by providing a letter of reasoning to the Head Coach for approval. Please include this letter in your tryout packet.

Obviously you have much more in-depth information since you have spoken to college coaches and have been in the business for years. I am only going off of the college's websites. In addition, I am only looking at schools that have game day squads.

Here is another example of a college "recommending" that a candidate have school cheer experience:

This is from LSU's cheer website:

If you do not cheer on a high school squad and you are on a competitive team only, please consider getting a private coach to assist you with "game day" cheerleading. Being talented is important but you must also know how to "lead a crowd" and cheer in front of fans, not just judges. Yelling loud with natural collegiate cheering expressions, sharp motions and good motion placement is all very important!!.

I will reiterate that if an athlete can participate in both all-star and game day cheer, they increase their chances of making a collegiate squad considerably. Having all-star cheer experience is a must in our area if you want to make the Varsity squad. There are a few cheerleaders that make the squads that haven't been an all-star cheerleader, but that is rare. I forgot to mention that needing to have game day experience for college doesn't apply to male cheerleaders. Male high school cheerleaders are still very rare in our area and all-star gyms are the only places to learn partner stunting.

 

[12stepCheermom]

CP will be screwed then for college cheer since we will not allow him to do HS because of where they practice.

If he's intending to cheer for a college that needs a waiver to understand what Allstar cheer is.....I'm thinking that's not a very well educated program in the first place.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

 

[Just-a-Mom]

If he's intending to cheer for a college that needs a waiver to understand what Allstar cheer is.....I'm thinking that's not a very well educated program in the first place.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

I don't think it's to "understand" allstar. I think it's because they're getting all these allstar cheerleaders that can stunt and tumble but you put them out there on game day and they're lost. I think it's reasonable for a college cheer team to expect someone to have done something similar to what they do to prepare them.

Everyone posts on here all the time about how school cheer and allstar are not the same thing - so y'all can't turn around and get mad when colleges say "Allstar cheer and school cheer are not the same thing." Cheering in college usually involves cheering at games. Not many allstar cheerleaders are prepared for that if they've never done school cheer.

That being said I'm sure it depends on the school and what type of cheer they do. Schools with a strong game day presence and that actually *cheer* are obviously more apt to want to see someone with school cheer.

The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

 

[Just-a-Mom]

Oh... @12stepCheermom only the first sentence was to you. The rest was general you and general y'all. :oops:

The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

 

[L5cheermom]

I'm a little confused about this waiver requirement. Is it required to try out? I can sort of see the purpose in that situation. If I was a college cheer coach I would perhaps want to weed out kids who have never cheered before by having them document why before showing up to try outs. Providing documentation that you had cheered Allstars for years prior would certainly suffice in my opinion. Nothing is guaranteed until try outs anyway.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

 

[BlueCat]

I don't think it's to "understand" allstar. I think it's because they're getting all these allstar cheerleaders that can stunt and tumble but you put them out there on game day and they're lost. I think it's reasonable for a college cheer team to expect someone to have done something similar to what they do to prepare them.

Everyone posts on here all the time about how school cheer and allstar are not the same thing - so y'all can't turn around and get mad when colleges say "Allstar cheer and school cheer are not the same thing." Cheering in college usually involves cheering at games. Not many allstar cheerleaders are prepared for that if they've never done school cheer.

That being said I'm sure it depends on the school and what type of cheer they do. Schools with a strong game day presence and that actually *cheer* are obviously more apt to want to see someone with school cheer.

They are different skill sets, absolutely. I'm not arguing that it would be wrong for them to require school cheer experience if they wished, I'm just saying (in my experience) that the overwhelming majority of them do not.

 

[Just-a-Mom]

They are different skill sets, absolutely. I'm not arguing that it would be wrong for them to require school cheer experience if they wished, I'm just saying (in my experience) that the overwhelming majority of them do not.

That's why I like Fierce Board. Because I like seeing what other people have experienced, since I only see a tiny fraction of it. My cp is going to attend a smaller school where cheer is nothing - but their football and basketball teams have started moving up in the world and have made it to a few play-offs, so maybe that will change. :chestbump: They were only interested in her sideline skills (and barely even that - I think they were more interested in her looks, judging from the tryout packet we got :rolleyes: ). It's interesting to hear from someone who actually deals with the bigger schools. I would have guessed they would require school cheer (which is why I made cp do it - she hated it!).

Question - do most people who don't do school cheer and only do allstar have some kind of coaching before college to prepare for sideline/game day cheering? Or do they just figure it out when they get there?

 

[Cheeranswers]

similar to what @CheerMom69 said, i dont understand the "the rest of the world doesnt get it" argument. why do care how others judge the thing you or your CP love? if you're worried that no one understands if why are you doing it in the first place? chances are the world isnt going to sudden 'get' cheerleading any time soon, but that doesnt mean we should let that affect us. personally i dont 'get' horseback riding but if someone told me they won a super important championship id be excited for them! I obviously dont have a CP so this could change but if they had the chance to be on their dream team i'd do whatever to make that happen in a heartbeat. just my opinion