All-Star Cheering In A Sibling's Shadow...

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

Question for all of you younger siblings out there, or parents who had 2 CP's in cheer at the same time. How did you feel about cheering in the shadow of your older sibling? I have 2 girls, 9 & 5, and the little one has decided to try cheer out this year (again...). However, with the age gap I wonder if it something she will actually enjoy, or if it will be frustrating for her to see her older sister always a few steps ahead of her. We don't have many sibling groups in our gym for me to compare to, and of the ones that we do have they are all pretty close in age, some are even on the same teams as their sibling. I just don't want their to be constant comparisons between them, as the division that the little one is going to be in (tiny), she will almost definately be a flyer due to her size, and her sister is a flyer as well. Any advice from BTDT people?

 

[Mamarazzi]

I'm not sure if I can add much to this because Little is the older flyer, and Mini is the younger boy base. But, I will say that when he started, he sort of expected to just have a full in a month. He didn't realize that his sister has been working her skills for years. I decided to try to keep them out of the gym together (for his sake, more than hers) for a while - and thankfully we live close. So, he would go one night, she would go the next, and I still don't let one go on the other's practice night. It just seemed to frustrate him that he didn't already have her tumbling skills. And it pissed her off that it took him like a half a second to get his tuck and she worked for a year to get hers. Until they're more equal in skill, or get along better, I'm sticking to keeping them apart as much as possible. He needs his own identity in gym (not being "Little's brother,") as much as she does.

 

[kylielynda]

well me and my sister are 3 years apart and there was never any type of rivalry between us. she was always on a higher level than me, but that never once frustrated me. it actually made it somewhat better because she could help me out with different things such as tumbling or stunting. for example, my sister has almost always been a backspot and last year i had to backspot for the first time ever and even though she will always be a more advanced/better backspot than me, she really helped me learn the best ways to do it. :)

 

[BuegeSmalls]

I'm a triplet, and have been cheering with my sisters my whole life. Its been fine except when I got a mental block and my mom would always be like "Gabs and Leah can do it, why can't you?" that was pretty frustrating. And then sometimes at home they would be like we could have team round off tucks if you could just do it! I got enough of that at practice, I don't need it at home. And for the record, at the time I was not the only one who couldn't do a round of tuck!! But otherwise it was fine. People never really compared us to each other too bad I don't think. Generally they just seem to think we do everything the same...

 

[Keep_Believing]

Question for all of you younger siblings out there, or parents who had 2 CP's in cheer at the same time. How did you feel about cheering in the shadow of your older sibling? I have 2 girls, 9 & 5, and the little one has decided to try cheer out this year (again...). However, with the age gap I wonder if it something she will actually enjoy, or if it will be frustrating for her to see her older sister always a few steps ahead of her. We don't have many sibling groups in our gym for me to compare to, and of the ones that we do have they are all pretty close in age, some are even on the same teams as their sibling. I just don't want their to be constant comparisons between them, as the division that the little one is going to be in (tiny), she will almost definately be a flyer due to her size, and her sister is a flyer as well. Any advice from BTDT people?

My CP's are 9 & 10 1/2. They cheer on the same team. I'm sure it depends on the individual kids, but it has been an awesome experience for my girls. They have really learned to work together. The team aspect has brought them closer together. They are truly best friends. My oldest shines in the area of tumbling. My youngest shines in the area of flying. They cheer and get excited for each others accomplishments. They are making amazing memories together that will last a lifetime. I have had other moms ask me my secret for my girls getting along so well. I give our Cheer Coach and their cheer experience a lot of credit for this! :)

 

[alexandra_ashleigh]

My sister is three years older than I am. When I began cheering, it was mostly because I wanted to be just like my big sister. My coaches never compared the two of us in a bad way, but only in a good way. My sister and I both have the same burst of power when we tumble, and my coach loved that- and as a little sister I LOVED hearing that. Not only did I look up to my sister, but I always wanted to be on a team with her. Her senior year that finally happened, and that is a season I will NEVER forget. We had a ton of fun together on that team, and won everywhere we went.

I think a big part that also helped is that my mom never compares us to eachother, so I don't feel the pressure to one up her!

 

[CheerBank]

I could write a book about this...my younger cp followed my older one into cheer, and for years has been known as "older CP's little sister". We are at a new gym this season, one which my older daughter never cheered for, and since only my younger one is doing all star now, no one at the new gym knows her except by her own name. And she couldn't be happier about that!

 

[Mom2Cheergirls]

I have 3 cheerleaders. My older 2 have been on the same team and now are on separate. They challenge each other to develop skills and technique. They are the biggest fan of each other (especially of the littlest - they go GA GA after her as do there friends) - they are also able to say to each other (you need to do x,y,z to make this look like that or you can do this). MOST of the time constructive criticism is taken well by each other. At times I have to remind them that the youngest is just starting and while it is great to help sometimes they need to just be a big supporter and let the coaches know when to push (especially with 2 big sisters doing it at the same time - it can be a little much at times). I actually fine that while my kids get along very well they get along even better regarding cheer - it has certainly created a special bond between them that I never expected and am so happy to have.

 

[cheermomforever]

I think the most important thing is to NOT compare siblings to each other. One may be a better flyer and one may be a better tumbler. That is the story at our gym. The younger one I think will always be a slightly better tumbler, but the older one flies better and has the best facials, and xtra "shine or spark" when she flies! If a coach compares the 2 to each other than stop it asap.

 

[creator13]

Personally as a coach and former competitor under the shadow of 1 older sister and 1 younger sister. It only pushed me to be like them, better than them.

I love coaching siblings, the support and drive they reflect on each other really benefits each.

Just don't let jealousy get ugly.

Sibling comparison is part of life, as long as you give the support to each child equally and encourage them to encourage there sister/brother, i think it will work out.

 

[ErinS]

Its not really the same thing (and no personal examples because I am 9 years older than my younger sister) but my sister (17) and niece (7) cheer at the same gym...its my nieces first year in all star and she really looks up to my sister...A few months ago she was struggling with her FWO and I said "Camryn, if you can get a FWO you will be able to do something Ter can't do". Lo and behold Camryn got the FWO and got in Ter's face and was like "Oh yeah, I can do a front walkover...you can't".

At that point I was glad they weren't close in age; that camryn didn't have a sibling that cheered that was close to her age...and that Teryn didn't burst her bubble and say something like "but I can do a standing tuck...bye"

 

[creator13]

Yikes, IMO, I personally don't feel like that is 'positive motivation'. The kids I coach know exactly what would happen if they through a' in your face comment' young or not. Siblings or not.

Luckily your older sister let it roll of her shoulder....

If someone did that to me, every time they performed that FWO, instead of being proud, I would replay in my head "I can do a FWO you can't."

 

[xomckenzieee]

My sister and I cheered together for years (she's only 14 months younger than me). I was always way more into cheerleading than her and was an overall better cheerleader and she'd admit it but we also played soccer together for a long time and I will be the first to admit she'd kick my butt any day at that. Did we fight and argue? Yeah all the time but at the end of the day there was never really an issue. She based me for awhile and I based with her too. I loved being in the same group as my sister cuz we always just clicked.

 

[cupieqt]

I am lucky to have 4 sets of sisters in my program. I'm lucky because they are all about 4 years apart. They are so helpful and encouraging to each other. The younger sisters are all SIGNIFICANTLY better at tumbling and stunting than their counterparts bc their older sisters play around with them doing cheer stuff at home. And I think it's absolutely adorable when the younger sisters are near the stage screaming "that's my sister!" when they're about to perform.
I used to coach some sisters that were close in age and there was more competitiveness between them.

I've never compared sisters. Ever. My sister and I were so completely different that I just don't expect siblings to ever be the same. I'm glad that's easy for me to see since it could be very detrimental to the least "talented" sibling.

I think sisters in cheer is a blessing.

 

[12mowerd]

My sister and I played three sports together, were one grade apart so we always were on the same teams. She is an amazing athlete and got athlete of the year at my high school. Anyway, I never really compared myself to her, I always went to her for advice and help. We were in the same stunt group for her senior year of cheering. It was a blast!