All-Star Discussion - Cheer Perfection Tlc

[ang_k_]

Can someone please explain this youth silver thing to me? Why does a kid working halves think her spot will be taken from a girl trying to learn a bhs? What level is this team?

It is a Youth level 2 team and it is the "prestigious" team due to the fact that the gym owner Alisha coaches the team. I don't understand exactly why girls with skills much better than a Y2 team are so worried about making it though...

 

[juscheerthatisall]

What really bothers me about the whole thing is just the way we as cheerleaders look. Though Dance Moms is a little too much for me, and I find the moms/storylines over the top and scripted- it makes dance look amazing. I have so much respect for the sport and the girls as dancers, and I don't know much about dance at all. Cheer Imperfection gave no light to the actual sport, and made a joke out of what many of us spend so much time working at.

I think some of that can be attested to the fact that you don't know much about dance. I think make it or break it makes gymnastics look amazing, but all my gymnast friends talk about how it showcases basic skills and calls them Olympic worthy. Watched this show today (which is why I'm late to the party) with someone who knew nothing about cheer, and though she thought it was stupid she was amazed at cambree's full while I was cringing at her form. And she was just as excited at the kids "flipping backward". Non cheer people don't know that the kid with the full and the kid with the bhs shouldn't be trying to make the same team. Most are still trying figure out why neither have poms. I think it's important to remember this show was not made for the cheer world and most people wouldn't even understand this conversation. They all can understand "stage moms " though and that is what is this show, t&t and dance moms is about.

 

[ImaDad]

The show is not about cheer, it's about MOM's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheer is just the backdrop. There is nothing that has been showed that makes cheer look bad, other than the CRAZY, Living through your child, "Status in the gym" moms. PERIOD.

 

[juscheerthatisall]

I think I figured out why this really bothers me...The name of this show is "Cheer Perfection" not "Cheer Moms" or "Cheer kids & Pom Pom's". It's name implies a serious show about competitive cheer. Go and view Patty Ann form CJA in this cheer show. This is a show that promotes the passion and dedication that was the reason we all fell in love with cheer to begin with! Is it perfect? No but it is something that would make me proud to say I am a competitive cheerleader.
episode 1

episode 2

This is a show that shows a coach with passion. She yells at her kids and not ONCE did I think she was being disrespectful or uncaring. I am willing to bet she is just as passionate about her lower levels too. If we want to be taken seriously as a sport this the image we want to project. One that shows kids and coaches with passion. A show that clearly states how hard these children work and what great athletes they really are.
If they want to market "Cheer Perfection" as a fluffy narrow view of Cheer Time Revolution of Arkansas maybe I can accept that. Call it "Tiny Cheer and Pom Pom's" or "Crazy Cheer Mom's from Arkansas" or any other name that infers it is a kitschy

Cheer perfection, because her pageant studio is called perfection studios--and the parents and kids showcased are members. I don't think is has any thing to do with this being a perfect example of cheerleading, and is just a play on words.

 

[HeatUniqueJ]

I actually enjoyed the Level 6 Routine! Especially the Pyramid part

 

[TinyBlondie15]

I enjoyed the level 6 routine! Just work on some timing issues and it'd be even better!

 

[juscheerthatisall]

I am a little conflicted about that part. Because at one point she was praising the little girl for doing the handspring by herself even though we never actually saw her do it. so I wonder if she had actually seen the girl throw the skill prior. I know as a coach once a kid executes a skill by themselves I will push them to continue throwing it by themselves. And I would be interested to hear from a tumbling coach who would say they have never had a kid freak out on a skill they clearly could do and fall. For all we know the little girl could have asked to try again right after that and landed it perfectly, that's the power of editing. Same thing wit Brooke she said on Facebook they told her to do a forward roll. It was edited to look like they said do standing tumbling and she did just did her forward roll. That's the thing about reality is, they only record what you say but they cut something you said yesterday and paste it with something you said today to make a whole different conversation. My point i will criticize the owner for subjecting herself and gym to the ridicule by signing up for the show but I don't think it's fair to consider the show a true depiction of her character or the gym is operated.

 

[notreallyhere]

To everyone comparing Cheer Perfection to Dance Moms, like the person said above, it definately does depend on the POV of the person watching it. We may think that although the moms are crazy (which they are) that they atleast show the passion about their sport to the audience. But, to someone who dances, they can instantly tell its just a bunch of bologna.

My friend, who competitively dances, says that Dance Moms is all staged. I asked if they actually make up new dances each week, new group routines, solos, trios, duets, and perform 5 times in one day. She basically told me that dance is similar to cheer in the sense that they make a routine in the beginning of the year and makes tweaks to it throughout the year to perfect it. She also says Abby lee is nice in person (though I don't know how true that is). Being on the outside looking in, it looks to us that dance is 'cruel' and that all people from all dance studios act like those moms, when in reality, it's the same as how Cheer Perfection portrays us.

Basically what I'm saying is that while everyone thinks Dance Moms at least shows the true meaning of dance, to some it may seem to harsh to handle, and others not so much. Same with this show. We know that this is all a bunch of poop while others may seem even more intimidated/disgusted with what they think actually happens at practice. It all depends on the POV.

 

[kristenthegreat]

I would also be weary of taking things from twitter to heart. A bunch of prepubescent kids/hormonal teenagers spilling their every thought to the world without censorship? Not the best idea. Considering I just read '19 People Who Owe Their Mom An Apology' on BuzzFeed- one of which was a person complaining about how their mother was a terrible person for bringing them WATER...yeah, don't take twitter TOO personally. These 'World Champions' also don't have PR teams. And may be 12. And left alone on the internet to monitor themselves...

 

[12stepCheermom]

I would also be weary of taking things from twitter to heart. A bunch of prepubescent kids/hormonal teenagers spilling their every thought to the world without censorship? Not the best idea. Considering I just read '19 People Who Owe Their Mom An Apology' on BuzzFeed- one of which was a person complaining about how their mother was a terrible person for bringing them WATER...yeah, don't take twitter TOO personally. These 'World Champions' also don't have PR teams. And may be 12. And left alone on the internet to monitor themselves...

I'd shimmy you 1,346 times if I could. I think people, in general, get their feelings hurt first (about lots of things, where their kid is in a routine, why the coach called them out rather than Suzy, hating on a forward roll) before they ever consider the source and their motivation behind saying it. Stepping back, taking a breath and considering WHY it was said could save a great deal of heartache if people would count to ten and think before they fire back......which is why twitter is a cesspool of never ending drama.

 

[addicted2cheer]

I enjoyed the level 6 routine! Just work on some timing issues and it'd be even better!

I agree, not a bad level 6 routine at all! there are some overall routine issues that show up in the lower levels such as the rushed choreography and not finishing and cleaning motions and stunts. I thought their baskets looked great! The fulls are too balled up and need better form. But the overall routine has great potential. I will be watching for this teams videos for sure this upcoming season to see if any of that will be corrected.

 

[kristenthegreat]

I'd shimmy you 1,346 times if I could. I think people, in general, get their feelings hurt first (about lots of things, where their kid is in a routine, why the coach called them out rather than Suzy, hating on a forward roll) before they ever consider the source and their motivation behind saying it. Stepping back, taking a breath and considering WHY it was said could save a great deal of heartache if people would count to ten and think before they fire back......which is why twitter is a cesspool of never ending drama.

And why I still don't have one :D

 

[drewpate]

the level 6 routine is not bad. (especially when comparing them to most of the "just for fun," not-going-for-a-worlds-bid level 6's i have seen at local comps)

just out of curiosity, how many of these kids are homegrown?

Depends upon how you define homegrown since the gym isn't that old.
All of the tumblers cheered at one time or another at either CCU cabot or Little Rock, and there is a former coach from each of those gyms on the team. At least 3 of us were directly coached by one of the stunters, and the two best boys for a long time. (center standing tumbling also cheered at CA for one year for panthers when they won small senior) A handful of the kids cheer at CTR still, a few are local college cheerleaders (from in and out of state) theres the owner of TNT cheer and one of his former athletes, and RD ended up filling in. I'd say Lewis ahs coached near half the team at one point or another. Several of us (myself included) coach at seperate gyms as well.

PS. I'm the one with ugly tumbling who's shoe comes off at 1:39 in the video.

 

[cheermominar]

Hey, I never thought of it until I saw the video posted but both of cp coaches still cheer -lol- I do recall hearing that once and never thought much of it or for whom. It is nice to see some of these coaches from different gyms work together. Okay, I did watch the one episode of CP, the bottom line did Dance Moms turn people off from dancing? My daughter wanted to give pageants a try after watching Toddlers and Tiaras and if it wasn't for that show, she may never have given it a 2nd thought (wouldn't have hurt my feelings). I never watched the other cheer shows I hear posters talking about "Cheer Nation" etc... Where they more or less drama? How long did those shows last, if they where less drama my guess is someone figured maybe more drama would make a show more entertaining? If CP does come back maybe they'll change it up a bit, showing some skills and featuring other teams (that CP competes against). DH didn't think much of cp wanting to-do cheer (I also had my hesitations), that is until he saw the stunts she learned (lay out the 1st year) and how firm it made her. I do think my gym would be pretty boring drama wise -lol-. As for some wishing it was a bigger gym being featured, just because your from a small gym doesn't mean your are bad. My cp gym is small, we won all our comps except once, then it was 2nd (granted for some on this board those comps wouldn't be big enough to satisfy them). Or, wanting to see a higher level/older girls, you gotta start somewhere and work your way to the top. I don't see anything wrong having that part being showcased either. I do feel a bit bad for the girls featured on the show, my guess they didn't know the full repercussions of it. Personally I think that "Honey Boo Boo" is gonna be way worse, that family isn't going to make us Southern folks look good -lol- :)

 

[12stepCheermom]

granted for some on this board those comps wouldn't be big enough to satisfy them

One thing you will quickly discover about this board is that it is very heavily focused on level 5 teams, worlds level 5 teams at that, and also very heavily focused on the 10ish major mega-gyms that have a long history of producing amazing teams that eat globes for breakfast. I don't see anything wrong with that (and i dont come from one those gyms and my CPs are not on a level 5 worlds team) the people here are hard core cheer lovers and for the most part want to have authentic, specific conversations about the technical aspects of competitive Cheer.

Those conversations, involving those teams, and those programs usually end up focusing on the industry's elite competitions. Come nationals season there will be whole threads devoted to NCA, CHEERSPORT, Indy and UCA with pages of posts from updates and discussions of how teams (usually those level 5s from the large programs) are doing. That's where you can really learn about the sport...reading those threads and watching the associated videos.

I don't think the smaller regional competitions are "unsatisfying" to the posters here, but they just don't produce the kind of conversations something like NCA does (and ive never been to NCA) and if a competition doesn't have a worlds bid offered its not going to get any substantive discussion, that's not because it's not "satisfying" (most gyms have smaller regional competitions in their schedules for a variety of reasons) it just doesn't have any effect on the bottom line this board focuses on...and that's Worlds.

I don't see any of that as a dig on small gyms, or non level 5 gyms or small competitions...but folks who are passionate about Allstar cheer at its most elite level, just tend to focus on those programs, competitions and teams that are at the elite levels already.