All-Star Is It A Failure To Not Progress?

[quitthedrama]

I finally brought myself to read this thread. I can only respond with 2 acronyms - STFU and CTFD....
That and there is no such thing as failure to progress. We all progress in our own ways. I can't think of a single athlete who hasn't progressed in some way, shape or form during each season.

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[xtremeteal4life]

I just read through this entire thread, wondering who bumped it! It is amazing to see how many familiar posters are still on here but in significantly different places from when they originally posted.

I haven't read through the entire thread, but I thinks it's pretty safe to say I'm one of them and don't mind saying so and why.

It took my CP's second year, on a mini 2 team, breaking two bones in her arm during a two man stunt, and requiring two surgeries at the ripe old age of 6 that made me do a double take. My husband didn't want her to cheer the following year after that, and I didn't want her to fly again. I thought she didn't want to either (fly again), but she actually asked and changed her mind. She missed most of her 2nd season due to the injuries.

Reluctantly we allowed her to continue, until shortly after her 3rd season when not only was safety still a concern, but her emotional well being involving behaviors/attitudes/incidents that she experienced from teammates as well as coach. After an unsuccessful attempt to peacefully resolve it, we left bc that's def not what we signed up for. My daughter no longer wanted to cheer anymore, period.

I can say that I fully believe safety was an issue all 3 (well tech 2 1/2) seasons, but I didn't want to be "that" parent who questioned the coaches decisions (despite my CP being dropped on her head too many times to count during the stunt that eventually was the cause of her broken arm). I did finally speak up and attempt to try to discuss it with her coaches. I couldn't understand for the life of me that after two broken bones the previous year the coaches had her on new bases (as literally new/inexperienced) yet the one(s) who had the experienced bases didn't have any problems.

I was told that my daughter could "potentially fly with/on anyone" unlike the other 2 girls, who actually needed all the help they could get" :confused: on a level 3 team- after missing most of her second season..bc she broke 2 bones in her arm.

So yes, my views regarding progression def changed after that. I could blame the coaches bc it's their job to know, but ultimately I blame myself for not pulling her sooner. It's my job as a parent to keep her safe and I didn't plain and simple. I didn't listen to my gut when I should have. In reality, most of the kids there do not progress as quickly as most would have you believe. And def not w/o privates- not that there's anything wrong w/them bc my CP did them as well. But the reality is that not most of the athletes there (at least at that location) progress to the next level yearly- or even every two years, and most of them do privates. Certainly not all of them, as there are many very talented athletes there to which it comes more naturally and/or progress quicker.

 

[AScheer]

As the role of Devil's Advocate, in the sport of AS Cheerleading, shouldn't all athletes participating want to reach for the highest level possible in the sport... the reason I initially looked this post up of progress* because exactly, is being a L5 athlete should be everyone goal in AS Cheerleading and if you know that you do not have the goods to reach that level, why not try something else... I was just wondering? IS AS Cheerleading a SPORT or just a FUN activity to do to stay fit and socialize with your friends?:D

I know you're just provoking conversation, but to this point; do all gymnasts want to be Olympians? Doubtful. Is it a failure if they're not? Are the Georgia, Alabama, LSU gymnasts failures? Do all kids that play baseball want to play in the majors and actually set out to? Are those D1 college athletes failures bc that's as far as they'll get. Gymnastics and travel ball are just as expensive as cheer. Are they wasting their money bc their kid won't become a major leaguer or an Olympian? Why can't it be a sport and be a fun hobby/activity at the same time? I believe any youth sport is both.

Edit: clearly I didn't read through the thread before I posted and realized almost everyone else said the same thing! Oops!
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[xtremeteal4life]

I know you're just provoking conversation, but to this point; do all gymnasts want to be Olympians? Doubtful. Is it a failure if they're not? Are the Georgia, Alabama, LSU gymnasts failures? Do all kids that play baseball want to play in the majors and actually set out to? Are those D1 college athletes failures bc that's as far as they'll get. Gymnastics and travel ball are just as expensive as cheer. Are they wasting their money bc their kid won't become a major leaguer or an Olympian? Why can't it be a sport and be a fun hobby/activity at the same time? I believe any youth sport is both.

Edit: clearly I didn't read through the thread before I posted and realized almost everyone else said the same thing! Oops!
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It doesn't matter, it's still your opinion lol!!! :)

 

[Cheer Dad]

Playing Devils Advocate here...

@pebbles49, are you just looking for justification to tell your CP her cheer career is over because she is not further progressing as a Y5 athlete?

Does gymnastics not also have kids that use their time to make friends, socialize, and have fun?

 

[Pebbles49]

Hey Cheer Dad, quite the contrary, my cp is progressing rapidly without putting in the amount of work that I think is expected... and in particularly, she is regarded as a beast in stunting and dancing on her team... To be honest, through my ignorance of AS cheerleading, I actually was hoping that AS cheerleading would have been a passing fancy for my cp and after 1 year, she would have wanted to return to gymnastics, but my daughter's progression is going great and I am learning, understanding and loving this sport every year my cp is involved... I truly see my daughter rising to one day to be a Shooting Star...seriously! Go, WC teams at World!!! (Sorry for that!):cheering:

Cheer Dad, I cannot speak for all athletes' parents involved with gymnastics, but it seems, once a child is chosen to train and be on a team, the socializing cuts down... When my cp was in regular gymnastics classes, the instructor was not as focus and I saw more playing and using obstacle courses to teach, but once they were selected, which happens in most gymnastics... The children are selected for the additional training and coaching and in retrospect, maybe gymnastics became more like bootcamp to my daughter, she got turned off fast...Today, really, I asked her why she wanted to do AS Cheerleading and she just said, It is so much fun and she is doing all the things she loves in a sport and she working on a new tumbling pass for tryouts... She is so excited for the upcoming cheer season...
**Off Topic**:confused:
Being a new poster and member of this message board, what is bothering me most is the feelings of when a poster is not free to wonder or even disagree without eliciting such off topic attacks, name calling, etc... Like I said before, I rather a poster disagree with me on a topic and addressed my fallacy on that topic... but when name calling and off topic attacks are made that is not pushing the topic forward, what it does is shut it down quick...Just saying!:confused:

 

[Cheer Dad]

The socializing does not end as they get older and move on to upper level teams. It is one of the things that creates team unity and keeps the athletes sane. Cheer is a team sport and anti-socialism does not help a team. CP's best and most trusted friends are his teammates.

Her statement about it being fun is critical. If it no longer stays fun there will be no desire to progress. You may not like the lack of effort being put forth but if you try to force it I can almost guarantee it will drive you nuts and may drive CP away from trying to go further. That is a line I have seen parents cross and very talented athletes walk away from a sport they once loved be it cheer, hockey, baseball, etc...

Is it worth keeping a kid in an expensive sport/activity if they are not able to work towards being on a Worlds team (kind of what I think you were saying) and progress every year? Yes, it is depending on the kid and scenario. IMHO it is unmeasurable the friendship, commitment, life lessons learned by participating in something a kid can embrace and make their own. To put in perspective would you tell a kid who only skates through school (k-12) they can no longer attend because they don't want a PHD? Not likely.

 

[LabbyGirlMOM]

@pebbles49 As someone who is still very much a newbie on the boards and in allstar cheerleading I will never ever believe that failure to move to the next level is failure.

Totally off subject I think you started this post thinking everyone would agree with you and when people have not and have tried to have a conversation with you about their OPINIONS you are getting defensive. But hey just my observations.

 

[Cheer Dad]

Hey Dawgshow, I am kind of stumped by the comments you made about kids not wanting to progress to the next level... Isn't this suppose to be 'Competitive' cheerleading? Why would anyone be content to stay at the same level year after year, and furthermore, if this is your child, why not put them in a sport that is less expensive and can be more like a hobby ('Recreational' Cheerleading)... Additionally, I still consider myself a newbie in this sport- (2+years), Explain why a child who was progressing level to level each year will need to backtrack at some point...I can see, reaching level 5 and hitting a ceiling, but needing to back track...I just do not get it!!!:confused:

All sports are competitive by nature and definition. It is how much an individual puts into it that determines just how competitive they and only they are.

 

[Pebbles49]

@pebbles49 As someone who is still very much a newbie on the boards and in allstar cheerleading I will never ever believe that failure to move to the next level is failure.

Totally off subject I think you started this post thinking everyone would agree with you and when people have not and have tried to have a conversation with you about their OPINIONS you are getting defensive. But hey just my observations.

Hey LabbyGirl, on the contrary, I did not start this post, in fact, it was started more than 3 years ago...Someone mentioned about CEAs ideology about lack of progression and failure, I pondered that question and wondered, what are everybody ideas on progression when it comes to AS cheerleading... Cheer DAD actually, crystallized the idea that I poorly stated in my initial postings, "Is it worth it to keep a child in an expensive sport/activity and when should we considered changing activity?"
BTW,
I never write in hopes that people will agree with me and that is not my purpose for posting... My desire for writing is to learn from people and again, I learned the most when people on message boards disagree and can back up their comments with logical reasoning... I have not become defensive in any of my comments and in fact, there are comments in here that were defensive towards me and did not lend itself to promoting the topic, so I chose to not addressed those comments...
LabbyGirl, since you mentioned I became defensive, I challenge you to find any defensive statements I made in this and where I refused to have a productive conversation on this matter... Please post them for me...thank you!

 

[Pebbles49]

The socializing does not end as they get older and move on to upper level teams. It is one of the things that creates team unity and keeps the athletes sane. Cheer is a team sport and anti-socialism does not help a team. CP's best and most trusted friends are his teammates.

Her statement about it being fun is critical. If it no longer stays fun there will be no desire to progress. You may not like the lack of effort being put forth but if you try to force it I can almost guarantee it will drive you nuts and may drive CP away from trying to go further. That is a line I have seen parents cross and very talented athletes walk away from a sport they once loved be it cheer, hockey, baseball, etc...

Is it worth keeping a kid in an expensive sport/activity if they are not able to work towards being on a Worlds team (kind of what I think you were saying) and progress every year? Yes, it is depending on the kid and scenario. IMHO it is unmeasurable the friendship, commitment, life lessons learned by participating in something a kid can embrace and make their own. To put in perspective would you tell a kid who only skates through school (k-12) they can no longer attend because they don't want a PHD? Not likely.

I love these statements, particularly about the fun part... I think, I might be guilty of being a Type A personality and I may be pushing my wants onto my child... Lack of Progression and Failure is a poignant topic particularly around tryout time because it forces the athletes to set new goals for themselves and my daughter is progressing, but the funny thing is, because of her age, she will be doing Y5 again...hahaha

 

[dawgshow]

You may not realize it, but your entire tone of posting replies to people comes across as defensive. Probably unintentional, but since so many seem to agree you may want to reread what you have written to see why.


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[Cheer Dad]

Hey LabbyGirl, on the contrary, I did not start this post, in fact, it was started more than 3 years ago...Someone mentioned about CEAs ideology about lack of progression and failure, I pondered that question and wondered, what are everybody ideas on progression when it comes to AS cheerleading... Cheer DAD actually, crystallized the idea that I poorly stated in my initial postings, "Is it worth it to keep a child in an expensive sport/activity and when should we considered changing activity?"
BTW,
I never write in hopes that people will agree with me and that is not my purpose for posting... My desire for writing is to learn from people and again, I learned the most when people on message boards disagree and can back up their comments with logical reasoning... I have not become defensive in any of my comments and in fact, there are comments in here that were defensive towards me and did not lend itself to promoting the topic, so I chose to not addressed those comments...
LabbyGirl, since you mentioned I became defensive, I challenge you to find any defensive statements I made in this and where I refused to have a productive conversation on this matter... Please post them for me...thank you!

where was this mentioned?

 

[LabbyGirlMOM]

Hey LabbyGirl, on the contrary, I did not start this post, in fact, it was started more than 3 years ago...Someone mentioned about CEAs ideology about lack of progression and failure, I pondered that question and wondered, what are everybody ideas on progression when it comes to AS cheerleading... Cheer DAD actually, crystallized the idea that I poorly stated in my initial postings, "Is it worth it to keep a child in an expensive sport/activity and when should we considered changing activity?"
BTW,
I never write in hopes that people will agree with me and that is not my purpose for posting... My desire for writing is to learn from people and again, I learned the most when people on message boards disagree and can back up their comments with logical reasoning... I have not become defensive in any of my comments and in fact, there are comments in here that were defensive towards me and did not lend itself to promoting the topic, so I chose to not addressed those comments...
LabbyGirl, since you mentioned I became defensive, I challenge you to find any defensive statements I made in this and where I refused to have a productive conversation on this matter... Please post them for me...thank you!

I apologize I was seeing the banner that says thread op on your profile picture when using the mobile app.

It appears to me that anytime you quote a post you are defensive I am not going to go back a quote all of your posts. Again it seems to me that you are defensive. It could be the way I am interrupting what you are writing.

 

[Just-a-Mom]

where was this mentioned?

It's the actual topic of the thread. The whole first post was a quote of a post by csp in the cea questions and answers thread.

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