SL&AM
Cheer Parent
- May 13, 2014
- 7,081
- 11,625
That's what I was thinking that could have been the case. But didn't want to give out wrong information.
My explanation kinda sucked so I'm glad you got what I meant. I feel like, on one hand it needs to be more fun for these kids because the coaches are literally building their love for the sport, the love of the performance, and competitions...etc. CP came from 2 years of dance, and she quit that because she thought it was too slow and boring. When the local all-star program decided to open up a Mini team I figured what the heck, do you wanna try it? She said yes, but I don't think she truly fell in love with it until the first time she stepped foot on the floor at a Mardi Gras Spirit competition. After that competition, everything became about how she was doing, getting better, practicing, knowing when the next 'stage day' was...etc, etc. She's been doing it for her 3rd year now and it's been those founding years that have kept her interest and dedication to it.
On the other hand, I also feel like it's a competitive sport and it needs to be treated like that at an age appropriate level. And, I think challenging these kids is a great thing too. Last season, CP got challenged in class and in tumbling, but I never felt the actual routine was challenging and I watched how that effected her team. It did bother them, despite their age. So far, she's really loving the challenge of this new team even though she's basically brand new to the gym and coaches. She came out of her second practice, after realizing she was going from flying (which she was doing) to basing and said, "Mom, I know I'm built to fly, but now I gotta build myself up to base. I can't let my flyer fall." She's 6.