I still would like to know how many of the youth 5 kids are not crossing over to a junior team.... so far on this thread we have heard from one. I just saw a video from CEA save youth 5... I'm pretty sure I've seen most of these kids on junior so they are competing their doubles that they worked so hard to get. Restricting the y5 is not taking anything away from them!!
As a parent of a 10 year old with a double I can totally relate... But you gotta do what you have to to make it work. If that means traveling or changing teams then thats your choice. I truly think that restricting the division would make it more competitive. Ask yourself if your child was on Y5 and you spent thousands of dollars a year to compete against a score sheet time and time again would you want that?? What's the sense of gaining these skills if they only count once in a great while when you do come across someone in your division?
Tinytumblersmom:
I have asked myself that same question many times, and while no I don't "want" that, I recognize that it comes with the territory of having my child on a team like this. It does not bother me to go to a competition and have no other teams to compete against. When we do manage to attend one with other teams it is a bonus. Outside of major nationals, these kids don't expect to have competition. They are, however, unbelievably driven to get better every time they step on the mat.
My daughter is at CEA on a Mini 3 team and crosses up to Youth 5. She is not a flyer, she is not throwing doubles, and she is certainly not a main part of basing the tick-tocks that these kids are throwing on Y5. She does have some very good tumbling fundamentals that will set the stage to allow her to do these 'elite' tumbling passes. This year? Certainly not. Next Year? Maybe. The year after? Most likely. My point is that she will get there, but IN TIME. Affording her the opportunity to practice at the highest level, week after week, with some of the most elite 11 and 12-year-olds in the world of cheer is what this division is all about.
I go to just about every practice and watch closely what is being done. I can honestly say that not once have I ever felt uncomfortable or seen a situation where a tumbling coach at CEA (or the other two gyms we have been with, for that matter) have compromised her safety. These coaches at this level know their athletes and know what they are capable of. They are extremely patient in allowing the child to work through the skills. Do they encourage them and push them? Absolutely. Do they compromise the child's safety? Not that I have ever seen. I would expect that coaches at other gyms at this calibre would have the same values. If not, they have no business coaching children.
I think so many people get caught up in the pleasure of "beating" someone. If you are a cheer parent of a young athlete, and you have any interest in sticking through it for the long haul, you have to focus on how you can allow your child to continue to get better. If she is fortunate enough to be within proximity to a great cheer program, you do what you can for her to be in a position to make the final cut of a very strong J5 and then an S5 team when she is a teenager and when winning becomes more important to her. I feel that it is my responsibility as a parent to provide her with every opportunity to do just that. By not allowing her to be in an environment over the next two or three years where it doesn't really matter if she maximizes her ability (i.e. limiting Y5), to me, is a complete disservice and absolute backwards way of thinking.
I clearly understand the wear and tear and the rest/cross-training argument and I am an advocate for that, but that is where you need to trust that the coaches use common sense or intervene on your own accord.
Limiting the Y5 division will make it more competitive, only because you will be putting reigns on the difference makers on each team. I have a hard time believing that it will lead to more competition.
