All-Star How Are Your Lower Level Teams Treated?

[cccheermom]

CP cheered at a small gym for many years. Spent most of those years on a level 1 team. Always felt that the level 1 team never got at much practice time/attention/kudos from coaches as the level 3. I understand that they deserve it. But always felt the younger/lower level CP's need so much more because at some point you want them to be filling your higher level teams. CP is now at a big gym, I see some of the same issues but not nearly as bad. Just curious how others felt.

 

[SmileCat]

At my old gym, all the coaches coached all the teams. From Youth 1-Senior 5 all the coaches help with each team. The only exception being Minis and Tiny's. Every team and athlete was treated with the same attention.

 

[NJ Coach]

While my gym is no longer considered a small gym, I feel like we still have that small gym mentality. All of our teams, from levels 1-5, mini through senior, are treated the exact same way. Same practice time, same coaches, same everything. We were built on our lower levels. They're our pride and joy.

 

[Fierce_Elite]

Is it possible this is maybe because the lower level teams (mini) and maybe some older lower level one teams aren't as competitive? Please correct me if I'm wrong but its more of a question as well.

 

[TheVipersMom]

At our gym I do not in any way at all think our youth 1 is treated different from restricted 5! I think this is something great about them. At our old gym I felt like our s4 was given more attention and flown in choreographers and our minis were given in house choreo.

At our gym we have top notch choreographers brought in for every team and I appreciate that! It's a lot easier to accept your kid being on a level 2 or 1 knowing they are being treated the exact same!

 

[hawkeye87]

At my previous gym, all teams were treated the same and had the same amount of practice time. The coaches tended to have their own teams to coach but the older teams were told and expected to set an example of sportsmanship etc. It was also extremely common for most of the senior and open age kids to be at youth, mini and tiny practices helping out, teaching and cheering them on. It was so much fun to be honest!

 

[cccheermom]

Is it possible this is maybe because the lower level teams (mini) and maybe some older lower level one teams aren't as competitive? Please correct me if I'm wrong but its more of a question as well.

I'm sure that may be part of the reason. But if your junior 1 is paying the same as your senior level 3, shouldn't they essentially receive the same attention? At some point you will need them to fill your level 3, right?

 

[Fierce_Elite]

I'm sure that may be part of the reason. But if your junior 1 is paying the same as your senior level 3, shouldn't they essentially receive the same attention? At some point you will need them to fill your level 3, right?

That's very true. But I'm taking it as because of the fact that they are level one, it will take them quite some time for them to get to the higher levels so there is no need to rush skills and such?


I'm not completely sure, I'm more of a fan of all star with little cheer experience. I'm not the one to really be judging :)

 

[omgitssydthekid]

I head coach the youth 1, youth 2, and junior 1 at my gym and I believe that they all get the same amount of attention from me. I assistant coached our Junior 3 this summer (but was asked to move to our youth 2 as head coach in late August) and even then, I gave all my teams the same amount of attention. Our mini 1 practices for four hours a week, our youth 1/senior 1 practice for one hour a week (they are prep teams), our youth 2/junior 1/junior 3/senior 4.2 all practice for 5 hours a week, and our senior 4 practices for 8 hours a week.


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[SL&AM]

At our old gym, the younger team was definitely treated easier than the older two teams. That mentality changed when the coaches changed and it was far more even across the board. That program was super small.

CP is now at a bigger gym, but we haven't been there long enough to assess it. I will say, just watching the first five or six 8 counts of her routine, she's doing things I had only wished her prior gym would try. And it appears that all of the coaches are used in some way for all the teams, so it seems more like a huge conglomerate instead of individual coaches for each specific team.

 

[TheVipersMom]

I'm sure that may be part of the reason. But if your junior 1 is paying the same as your senior level 3, shouldn't they essentially receive the same attention? At some point you will need them to fill your level 3, right?

Yes they should get the same coaching and be just as competitive. This isn't a show team or for fun team. It is a competitive team! I definitely agree with you! They deserve the same experience!

 

[TheVipersMom]

I head coach the youth 1, youth 2, and junior 1 at my gym and I believe that they all get the same amount of attention from me. I assistant coached our Junior 3 this summer (but was asked to move to our youth 2 as head coach in late August) and even then, I gave all my teams the same amount of attention. Our mini 1 practices for four hours a week, our youth 1/senior 1 practice for one hour a week (they are prep teams), our youth 2/junior 1/junior 3/senior 4.2 all practice for 5 hours a week, and our senior 4 practices for 8 hours a week.


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Why the huge gap from some teams getting 4 hours of coaching a week and some getting 8? I understand if a certain team has injuries/replacements/ issues to get them in for some extra coaching because it is your job to make them competitive but why does senior 4 get so much attention all the time?
I'm not questioning you or saying yall are doing it wrong im just simply curious why it's such a drastic difference.

 

[SL&AM]

Is it possible this is maybe because the lower level teams (mini) and maybe some older lower level one teams aren't as competitive? Please correct me if I'm wrong but its more of a question as well.

I do think the younger teams aren't quite as competitive because the kids themselves look at competitions differently from the older kids. At least, in my experience---CP always wants the biggest trophy and knows that won't happen without hard word and practice. She has a drive for it, but I don't think she's capable of having the same drive and reasoning as a child a few years older than here. However, each comp we went to, her team (at the younger levels) were always up against 5+ teams with one comp literally doing a A and B because there were 14 teams total---so I don't think they deserve to be ignored based on not being as competitive. At those competitions, those younger teams generally have the most competition because there aren't a lot of break up's in them...Tiny is only Tiny 1 or Tiny 1 Prep, Mini is Mini 1, 2 or 1 Prep. And, in my experience, Mini 2 wasn't as popular where we were so it was always Tiny 1 and Mini 1. Versus Youth 1-5, Jr 1-5, and Sen 1-5.,,etc,

 

[Fierce_Elite]

I do think the younger teams aren't quite as competitive because the kids themselves look at competitions differently from the older kids. At least, in my experience---CP always wants the biggest trophy and knows that won't happen without hard word and practice. She has a drive for it, but I don't think she's capable of having the same drive and reasoning as a child a few years older than here. However, each comp we went to, her team (at the younger levels) were always up against 5+ teams with one comp literally doing a A and B because there were 14 teams total---so I don't think they deserve to be ignored based on not being as competitive. At those competitions, those younger teams generally have the most competition because there aren't a lot of break up's in them...Tiny is only Tiny 1 or Tiny 1 Prep, Mini is Mini 1, 2 or 1 Prep. And, in my experience, Mini 2 wasn't as popular where we were so it was always Tiny 1 and Mini 1. Versus Youth 1-5, Jr 1-5, and Sen 1-5.,,etc,

That's what I was thinking that could have been the case. But didn't want to give out wrong information.

 

[omgitssydthekid]

Why the huge gap from some teams getting 4 hours of coaching a week and some getting .. I understand if a certain team has injuries/replacements/ issues to get them in for some extra coaching because it is your job to make them competitive but why does senior 4 get so much attention all the time?

I don't know all the details as I don't always have teams in the gym when our senior 4 is practicing but I believe that they pay more in tuition. I know several families are involved with their church and have obligations to their church during the week but I can't say for sure if that had an influence on their practice schedule.

And our mini 1 has 4 hours of practice because they are a very young team and any longer than two hours for a practice and they tend to lose focus and their tuition is also cheaper.

Our youth 2, junior 3, and senior 4.2 have had varying schedules between 5-8 hours of practice per week because of injuries, people quitting, and just needing some extra practice. I believe all three of those teams are back down to 5 hours as of early December, I know that my youth 2 is back down to 5.


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