Email: Understanding The Whole Business Of Cheerleading

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Andre

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We received this email over the weekend from Jackie. Would anyone like to offer her an intelligent response? I’m not fully understanding the whole business of cheer-leading. I see that it is real big bucks business for owners of cheer and dance schools and companies who cater to this industry. I don’t understand the draw [...]
 
I am completely dumb-founded at the ignorance of some. Maybe ignorance truly is bliss.
 
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I kind of see her point. But not every parents of a football player or basketball player pours all that money into the sport because they think their kid will get a scholarship. Neither do most parents of gymnasts.

All-Star cheer tends to attract more middle-upper class families because of the expense. MOST of these families are not one health crisis away from financial ruin - and even if they are, not spending that money on cheer doesn't mean that they will all of a sudden be able to pay the high costs of cancer treatment, for example.
 
We have been around lots of families in a variety of youth sports over the years and I am always personally amazed when they would say the reason for putting their 5 - 10 YO in travel/competitive sports is so they can get that college scholarship.
 
90+% of children's activities do not result in scholarships. Does that mean all athletic, artistic and specialized children's activities should stop?

For that matter, should adults stop golf, softball, dance, etc because they can't get a financial return on their investment?

Please.
 
Dear Jackie,

Thanks for reaching out with your questions and opinions! Allow me to respond.

Cheerleading (no hyphen between the "cheer" and "leading",) for many, offers an excellent opportunity to build relationships, gain confidence and participate in a more-than-adequate physical fitness regimen. Many parents don't spend as much as you apparently think on the sport - for instance, we don't buy "photo packages" and our family participates in numerous fundraising opportunities. Further, there are scholarships available for Stunt and Tumble, which has a strong basis in all-star Cheerleading.
Hope this clears up some of your confusion.
On a personal note, you may want to speak with your family physician about some injections of glitter, or sense. Either way is fine.

Sincerely,
:rolleyes:
 
90+% of children's activities do not result in scholarships. Does that mean all athletic, artistic and specialized children's activities should stop?

For that matter, should adults stop golf, softball, dance, etc because they can't get a financial return on their investment?

Please.

Oh Gosh, I should stop playing golf if this is the case. I'm terrible, terrible I tell ya.
 
Show me a parent who has their child in a sport solely for the scholarship opportunity and I will show you a parent who is going to be extremely disappointed!!!!
Sometimes it is the organizations that pump up the parents. There was a bit of a bruhaha from a competitive softball organization that broke away from ours in a hostile manner. We were at a community meeting - where they were seeking use of the same softball fields we used. Parents from the new organization were literally tearing up before the community board - because this new organization was promising training for softball scholarships and this was the only way their child was going to go to college.
 
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