You might wanna tell the Stingrays and CEA bc I don't think they got your memo. So what's the appropriate age to become competitive then? I mean, these parents are spending money for their kids to compete, not for play time (but before you go all spaz on me, our tiny's and mini's do have a blast bc we have some really great coaches). If your child was really not focused enough or couldn't pay attention, etc., why would you continue to pay money to keep them in a competitive sport? Safety could be a huge concern for someone that age who isn't paying attention or can't seem to learn anything, it could put the team and the athlete at risk. There are other programs for cheerleading that are not competitive for this age (and they're really good), so why not put the kid in one of those programs?