All-Star Flyers

[Keep_Believing]

Being small & petite gives you an advantage in flying for cheerleading just like being tall gives you an advantage in basketball.

 

[lifeoftheparty]

I really dislike the word "fetus flyer".

I feel if the kid has worked hard and is within USASF age limits there shouldn't be a problem. A small flyer has to work just as hard to not stand out in a bad way. It take body control, awareness and flexibility at any size and age.

 

[SheCheers]

Not True there was a 10 year old on Ace I think it was Open 5 @ NCA. My friends daughter asked her how old she was and the girl said she was 10. She was wearing a jacket too, so her team won @ NCA. They took a pic 2gether! She was a cutie! Im no fan of "fetus flyers" but that little one stole my heart:)

My understanding is key word = open no lower age limit, plus can have up to 4? Or x number of boys. Other senior 5 is 12-18. Typing from one finger on my iPad...lol

 

[SheCheers]

I think sometimes as individuals we forget this is a team sport...it's hard to look at the overall picture. Tall Susie might be a better flyer than short Sally, but there is no better place on the team as a whole for Susie and Sally to be. Susie is probably a 10x better base/backspot and there is probably no where else to put tiny Sally...she has no height match to be a base, and maybe not the strength either, she's too short to be a backspot and no one else can fill that position. Hence for the team as a whole there is no other choice.

 

[we_stand_alone]

i think the reason people are backlashing so much now is because is HAS become a problem, i feel like a lot of people on here are thinking well if they are on a worlds team then they meet the requirements and thats that, but we have to remember the majority of cheerleading is not a "worlds" team, its the senior 2 teams im sure a lot of this is practiced in, and yes you can have a 9 year old flyer on your senior 2 team, which is so ridiculous. That isnt teaching the flyer or the bases anything, when they are 17 and picking up a 35 pound 8 year old. I believe ALL senior teams, not just worlds teams, should have a cap off age, personally i like 14, but ill take 12 if thats what they will give me, and i have to say, its getting sad when you're just impressed to see "normal" size flyers in the air!

 

[AllHeartxo3]

I want to say it's kind of offensive saying "normal" size flyers look better in the air. I am a tiny flyer. 5'1 and 95 pounds as a sophmore in high school and have been flying almost all of my cheer career. I work hard for my spot as a flyer and even though I'm tiny, I really do try to pull myself up and take as much weight off of my bases as I can. I do not match the height of my stunt group and you can't see me until I'm up in the air, but are you saying that looks weird? Are you saying I don't look just as good in the air as someone who matches the height of their bases and is taller then me?

 

[we_stand_alone]

I want to say it's kind of offensive saying "normal" size flyers look better in the air. I am a tiny flyer. 5'1 and 95 pounds as a sophmore in high school and have been flying almost all of my cheer career. I work hard for my spot as a flyer and even though I'm tiny, I really do try to pull myself up and take as much weight off of my bases as I can. I do not match the height of my stunt group and you can't see me until I'm up in the air, but are you saying that looks weird? Are you saying I don't look just as good in the air as someone who matches the height of their bases and is taller then me?

i never said it was "weird"
in fact, sadly, its the norm today to see tiny flyers with stunt groups that are twice the size as they are.
and im sorry you take offense to my opinion, but yes to me, it does LOOK more impressive to have a flyer that is the same size as her bases than one that is 30 pounds with bases that are 120 pounds.
and my discussion has nothing to do with small high schoolers, my discussion is about the senior 2 teams with the 8 year old flyers and 18 year old bases. Totally different story.

 

[AllHeartxo3]

i never said it was "weird"
in fact, sadly, its the norm today to see tiny flyers with stunt groups that are twice the size as they are.
and im sorry you take offense to my opinion, but yes to me, it does LOOK more impressive to have a flyer that is the same size as her bases than one that is 30 pounds with bases that are 120 pounds.
and my discussion has nothing to do with small high schoolers, my discussion is about the senior 2 teams with the 8 year old flyers and 18 year old bases. Totally different story.

oh no i wasn't talking about you! i just liked the way you used that term. i was saying how everyone else kind of morphed the thread into tiny flyers in general.

 

[SheCheers]

i think there are two separate issues here:

1) young girls on senior teams
2) small people getting to fly when there are taller people willing/able

i'm not a fan of young girls on senior teams, but it's ok by the rules, so if you don't like it, petition to change it. it often makes me extremely uncomfortable to watch a very small young girl getting thrown all around on a senior team, but i dont consider it a "problem" because it doesn't break any rules and i don't know the circumstances upon which that particular flyer was put on the team.

it is pretty offensive to make blanket statements about short flyers, it really takes away from any talent they have or it implies that all small flyers are undeserving or lack talent or couldn't do it if they were taller. It still requires balance and flexiblity and core strength to be a flyer no matter what your size.

i'm sure there are instances where small underage flyers get put up for that very reason, but i would bet it's not as common of a reason as logistics and skill.

 

[we_stand_alone]

oh no i wasn't talking about you! i just liked the way you used that term. i was saying how everyone else kind of morphed the thread into tiny flyers in general.

sorry for the misunderstanding :)

 

[notimeforthat]

As there are tiny flyers there are gigantic bases and back spots... Is that fair? It's how the team looks on the floor. As another poster said if a child has the skills to be on the team ....MATURITY to be on the team....and is small and has no one to base opposite what shoud they be doing??
Don't hate on the tiny fliers and we wont hate on the giant beast girls.... lol;)

 

[cheerstalker2]

I think sometimes as individuals we forget this is a team sport...it's hard to look at the overall picture. Tall Susie might be a better flyer than short Sally, but there is no better place on the team as a whole for Susie and Sally to be. Susie is probably a 10x better base/backspot and there is probably no where else to put tiny Sally...she has no height match to be a base, and maybe not the strength either, she's too short to be a backspot and no one else can fill that position. Hence for the team as a whole there is no other choice.

The other choice is to be on a Junior team if there is one and she is age eligable.

 

[cheerstalker2]

i never said it was "weird"
in fact, sadly, its the norm today to see tiny flyers with stunt groups that are twice the size as they are.
and im sorry you take offense to my opinion, but yes to me, it does LOOK more impressive to have a flyer that is the same size as her bases than one that is 30 pounds with bases that are 120 pounds.
and my discussion has nothing to do with small high schoolers, my discussion is about the senior 2 teams with the 8 year old flyers and 18 year old bases. Totally different story.

we stand alone-Thank you for understanding where I am coming from. Most people on this message has turned flyers into meaning level 5. I am talking level 2. If they are not jr age eligable then they should start on senior 2, otherwise that is why we have mini, youth and jr teams. Are youngest flyer this year was 7, though she did good she was also a primary jr 2 flyer.

 

[F!erceBiddie013]

If the girl deserves to be on that team then I don't think she should be counted out because she is younger. She still deserves it because of her tumbling, jumps, dance, and technique most likely. If a smaller gym doesn't have a junior level 4 team, but there is a younger girl who is tumbling and stunting level four then she shouldn't be on it? Also, smaller flyers usually get the smaller bases. And then would it be an "unfair advantage" to have tall back bases if it is an "unfair advantage" to have small flyers ?
I'm not denying that young flyers are typically easier, but that's not always the case. Little girls often have no body control and bend their legs, have no form... etc. I would rather have a flyer that is my size and is tight than a little girl who is a noodle up there any day!
also a thing to remember is some girls are senior aged but young and small. a flyer who was on my team looked WAY younger than she was. she literally looked 8 and she was 17.

OK, with that all said, I do believe that tall flyers look better in the air.

I agree. Im about 5'6 ( i backspot for the stunt sequence) and my bases are maybe around 5'3 or 5'4. Im relatively short for a backspot(normally I base) and my bases are actually normally flyers. Though you may think having a smaller, younger, flyer is a great advantage, it has its downsides. My flyer is the youngest girl on our team(13) and though she has flown on a senior 5 team before, she's still to young to understand body awareness and is very timid when she's in the air, as most young flyers are. She doesn't show the aggression needed to master level 5 stunting skills, though she tries very hard. She really is too young to understand specifically what she is doing wrong and how to fix it. When she falls, its hard to get mad at her because she's the baby of the team and the smallest, its like yelling at a little puppy when it has an accident on your carpet:) Since she is the more unexperienced and alot younger then the other flyers on our team, she really does work her butt of to be at their level and she has made much improvement. I do love my baby flyer though:)

 

[FamUsM0m]

Ok what if the flyer is younger HOWEVER, she's as tall as her bases? my cp is 11 and was on senior 4.2 this past season, she was almost the same height as both her side bases, of course her back base was a little taller. But that was the same for all of the stunt groups.