Daughter Trying Cheerleading

[New2this]

Hi everyone!

Daughter (7) comes from a dance background, particularly her passion was acro but she is very good at ballet aswell. Because of this, daughter's former kindergarten teacher sought her out to join the school cheer team and she loved it. So I looked into a cheer gym and contacted them for more information and she's trying it out on wednesday. They sent me the information booklet and I'm so confused. She's trying out a mini prep team I guess (the info package says this is to prepare them for all star), does she need certain skills for this? Any other help would be appreciated!

 

[dawgshow]

No skills necessary! A great attitude is all she needs. Welcome to the crazy world of cheer :)

 

[catlady]

Things that coaches often look for at the younger age levels: A good listener, has the ability to follow and repeat instructions, has the ability to participate and focus for 1-2 hours, is eager to learn and wants to have fun!

 

[DonnaM]

Mini prep will be doing forward rolls, cartwheels, roundoffs, back walkovers, front limbers, etc-and many of the kids won’t have those skills at this time of year. Depending on the gym, ages maybe combined for prep. Usually prep competes regionally only, possibly locally if you have enough competitions.

 

[New2this]

Things that coaches often look for at the younger age levels: A good listener, has the ability to follow and repeat instructions, has the ability to participate and focus for 1-2 hours, is eager to learn and wants to have fun!

Those are definitely her strong suit!

Mini prep will be doing forward rolls, cartwheels, roundoffs, back walkovers, front limbers, etc-and many of the kids won’t have those skills at this time of year. Depending on the gym, ages maybe combined for prep. Usually prep competes regionally only, possibly locally if you have enough competitions.

She seems good then, she only doesn't have a walkover, she can do a backbend but for some reason she has a hard time getting those legs over but I am sure she'll get it quickly with the coach's help.

Thank you everyone for the replies!

 

[New2this]

No skills necessary! A great attitude is all she needs. Welcome to the crazy world of cheer :)

I'm actually super duper excited, when I saw the stuff they were doing I realised that is exactly what she wants to do! How's the community generally? The dance community for daughter left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Son still dances (ballet and jazz) but no one dares mess with the only boy, but the parents will sabotage the other girls to get their own girl ahead.

 

[retiredl5cheer]

I'm actually super duper excited, when I saw the stuff they were doing I realised that is exactly what she wants to do! How's the community generally? The dance community for daughter left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Son still dances (ballet and jazz) but no one dares mess with the only boy, but the parents will sabotage the other girls to get their own girl ahead.

I think it depends on the culture of the gym. The best gyms nip any sort of parent drama in the bud before it can become a problem.

 

[quitthedrama]

I'm actually super duper excited, when I saw the stuff they were doing I realised that is exactly what she wants to do! How's the community generally? The dance community for daughter left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Son still dances (ballet and jazz) but no one dares mess with the only boy, but the parents will sabotage the other girls to get their own girl ahead.

You will see this behavior in any youth sport or activity. Cheer is no exception. Some gyms are better than others at minimizing bad parent behavior, but it exists everywhere to some degree. I hope your daughter has a great experience!

 

[New2this]

Daughter tried it out and loved it!