College College team or All star Club

[wjules]

My daughter is keen to study in the US and we are starting the very long process of narrowing down her initial choices. Do most athletes who want to cheer do this with the college/Uni team or do some join an all star club close to the Uni? Uni cheer, whilst growing here in the UK tends to be at a lower level than All Star clubs can offer. We have a list schools/colleges that complete NCA/UCA as well as sideline cheer but I wonder if she would have more options looking at All Star clubs in the cities too - thank you :)

 

[Momager]

University cheer is often at a lower level than all star clubs but not all of them. For example, the University of Louisville teams are closely affiliated with an all star program and many of the athletes do both. There will probably be all star gyms near many universities. It can be challenging to balance school and all star cheer.

 

[twincheermom]

My daughters did all-star for 9 years and high school for 4 years. They currently cheer for a division 1 program that competes at UCA. They love cheering college and said it is much different than all-star. If they had wanted to continue in all-star, I believe that the closest gym is at least 30 minutes away from their school and we live 2+ hours from school, so I'm not sure how that would've worked for summer practices. Although they have a car on campus this year, they didn't as freshmen, so that would have been difficult too. I think the constant travel would've been difficult as well in addition to being costly and we're already paying a lot for college so not sure we could really swing all-star cheer as well. While college cheer can still be physically challenging at times and they have not lost any of their elite tumbling skills, I think their bodies are happy for a break from the grind of all-star.

 

[wjules]

My daughters did all-star for 9 years and high school for 4 years. They currently cheer for a division 1 program that competes at UCA. They love cheering college and said it is much different than all-star. If they had wanted to continue in all-star, I believe that the closest gym is at least 30 minutes away from their school and we live 2+ hours from school, so I'm not sure how that would've worked for summer practices. Although they have a car on campus this year, they didn't as freshmen, so that would have been difficult too. I think the constant travel would've been difficult as well in addition to being costly and we're already paying a lot for college so not sure we could really swing all-star cheer as well. While college cheer can still be physically challenging at times and they have not lost any of their elite tumbling skills, I think their bodies are happy for a break from the grind of all-star.

Thank you - good to have the perspective and what other costs to consider

 

[wjules]

University cheer is often at a lower level than all star clubs but not all of them. For example, the University of Louisville teams are closely affiliated with an all star program and many of the athletes do both. There will probably be all star gyms near many universities. It can be challenging to balance school and all star cheer.

Thank you - yes one of my concerns is about balancing both. If my daughter could do 50/50 cheer/study she would be happy. I think she recognises that it will be different cheering at Uni than an All Star club but good to know there are options to do both sides, if distance/facilities allow

 

[Kentucky Girl]

My daughters did all-star for 9 years and high school for 4 years. They currently cheer for a division 1 program that competes at UCA. They love cheering college and said it is much different than all-star. If they had wanted to continue in all-star, I believe that the closest gym is at least 30 minutes away from their school and we live 2+ hours from school, so I'm not sure how that would've worked for summer practices. Although they have a car on campus this year, they didn't as freshmen, so that would have been difficult too. I think the constant travel would've been difficult as well in addition to being costly and we're already paying a lot for college so not sure we could really swing all-star cheer as well. While college cheer can still be physically challenging at times and they have not lost any of their elite tumbling skills, I think their bodies are happy for a break from the grind of all-star.

Which college is it? Let me guess, it's Pitt State?

 

[Keep_Believing]

My daughters did all-star for 9 years and high school for 4 years. They currently cheer for a division 1 program that competes at UCA. They love cheering college and said it is much different than all-star. If they had wanted to continue in all-star, I believe that the closest gym is at least 30 minutes away from their school and we live 2+ hours from school, so I'm not sure how that would've worked for summer practices. Although they have a car on campus this year, they didn't as freshmen, so that would have been difficult too. I think the constant travel would've been difficult as well in addition to being costly and we're already paying a lot for college so not sure we could really swing all-star cheer as well. While college cheer can still be physically challenging at times and they have not lost any of their elite tumbling skills, I think their bodies are happy for a break from the grind of all-star.

The dead mat that college cheer uses was rough on my daughter's knees, ankles, etc.

 

[kayemm]

My daughter is keen to study in the US and we are starting the very long process of narrowing down her initial choices. Do most athletes who want to cheer do this with the college/Uni team or do some join an all star club close to the Uni? Uni cheer, whilst growing here in the UK tends to be at a lower level than All Star clubs can offer. We have a list schools/colleges that complete NCA/UCA as well as sideline cheer but I wonder if she would have more options looking at All Star clubs in the cities too - thank you :)

Hey! Is she looking to study in the US for her full degree or just one year as part of an exchange? I'm from the UK and did a study abroad year but ended up not cheering - I couldn't get to the nearest Allstar gym easily without a car and didn't have the tumble skills for the college team either. Plus the tryouts for the college team were waaaaay early - I don't even think I had my study abroad place fully confirmed by then! If you have an idea of the locations she wants to go to, it's probably worth getting in touch with both the local allstar gym to check what teams are available and the college programme and checking when they do tryouts and what their requirements are. What level does your daughter cheer at here?

 

[twincheermom]

Which college is it? Let me guess, it's Pitt State?

Sacred Heart
I had wanted them to look at Pitt, but that's a much farther drive for us so it was out.

 

[twincheermom]

The dead mat that college cheer uses was rough on my daughter's knees, ankles, etc.

Yes, the dead mat is rough. Luckily, they were used to it from cheering high school as well as all-stars, so that was not a big adjustment for them.

 

[wjules]

Hey! Is she looking to study in the US for her full degree or just one year as part of an exchange? I'm from the UK and did a study abroad year but ended up not cheering - I couldn't get to the nearest Allstar gym easily without a car and didn't have the tumble skills for the college team either. Plus the tryouts for the college team were waaaaay early - I don't even think I had my study abroad place fully confirmed by then! If you have an idea of the locations she wants to go to, it's probably worth getting in touch with both the local allstar gym to check what teams are available and the college programme and checking when they do tryouts and what their requirements are. What level does your daughter cheer at here?

Thank you - it will be for a full degree and she is currently cheering level 4 and has been on Team England. I have seen try outs are really early for some colleges - taking a year out after A levels is an option and we may be able to fit tryouts around family trips in the year she is hoping to join. Your idea of contacting the college and local cheer clubs is a good one - we are still on a long list of 20 so need to narrow it down a little more first!

 

[Momager]

Some teams allow video tryouts or individual tryouts around your availability.

 

[wjules]

Some teams allow video tryouts or individual tryouts around your availability.

Thank you - once we have the short list I will be contacting the Uni’s/Colleges to see if this be an option. I see there are lots of tryouts now for starts this August - gives us an idea of tumbling requirements etc