All-Star It Is That Time Of Year...tryouts!

[Pebbles49]

Not in my school district.


In our school district plenty of parents have talked their way into GT programs without documentation. At one point almost 50% of the students at CP's elementary school were in the GT program. I imagine that this corrects itself once those kids hit middle and high school and the work is more challenging. Currently, I know of parents in other states that say that they get to choose their child's placement. So just b/c it's a rule doest mean that it is enforced.

On the flip side, I know of families who have documentation from multiple sources that their child qualifies for special services and they don't get it. I myself was in a 504 meeting and was told by my child's teacher that "I don't believe that your child really has this diagnoses" Letting an inexperienced teacher who is not qualified to make diagnoses override a medical doctors official opinion isn't legal either. But it happened.

Well, I am not going to go all lawyer on you, but @cheer25mom is so correct with all that documentation is needed and if a child has documentation from medical professionals and their rights to services are denied,:eek::eek: the family can sue using all kinds of IDEA 2004? laws that govern the rights of special education students and win hefty sums of money from the school district, and the school district must pay to make up for the services denied, plus, lawyer fees. Matter of fact, I just received an email from my supervisor cautioning us about specifics when writing IEPs and developing Goals & Objectives for students because a school district just lost a suit for denial of rights and noncompliance, this districts must paid over $250,000 in back tuition, tuition for Parent's school of choice and lawyer fees. So, this is not something to take lightly.

But tbh, in many school districts, (my included), Gifted Education (GE) is provided but not really included under the umbrella of Special Education when it comes to funding and the school receives little funding for the program and matter of fact, it is often listed as enrichment classes, so that is why it is so easy for a school district to place students in GE programs without documentations. Furthermore, the GE is not monitored as closely as the traditional Special Education programs, so are often supplemented by special grants and are often the first programs eliminated when the school are going through budget crisis. js

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Also, remember that at times, your kid is indifferent about her placement but will FEED ON YOUR REACTION.

Example:

Child is totally okay with being on Mini 2 a 2nd year.

Parent: "I'm not paying for another year on the baby team!"

Child: *goes to first practice* "This sucks. Mini 2 is the baby team! I don't wanna cheer anymore!"

 

[CheerDivaMom88]

Yes!

My favorite videos are the ones with Minis/Youth flying Level 5 and Level 6 stunts with COLLEGE STUDENTS and imitating Worlds team sequences.

Tagging staff like their kid just cured cancer like "Omg so proud I could cry! @CoachIAmTryingToImpress"

Like, okay Barbara it's awesome that Mini 1 Suzie can fly World Cup's elite with 22-year-old coaches and be all fierce like "on fire and I know it."

.....but any flyer looks amazing when they are 45 lbs and their bases are on IOC5/6 teams.

How about that level appropriate prep she's supposed to be working on?

This!!! i came from a city where there wasn't anywhere to do flying Privates it really wasn't a thing. Every now and then we'd get a coach who would come in and do some coed stunting here and there, but for the most part cp learned higher level stunting when she made that team. Now we are at a gym where everyone does flyer Privates and a good chunk multiple times a week. My daughter has done about 5 in 2 years and it was mainly to work on higher level baskets. I will never understand the ones doing level 5 and 6 bc honestly they are just for fun, when you get given age and size appropriate bases, the flying you do with them is the most important. I hear sooooo many times, but Lil Susie can hit that in her privates, its her bases fault.... um no lil Susie doesn't know how to fly without someone double her size holding her up. Rant over.

 

[alpaca]

I hear sooooo many times, but Lil Susie can hit that in her privates, its her bases fault.... um no lil Susie doesn't know how to fly without someone double her size holding her up. Rant over.

Yes, my kid was backing a flyer that weighed literally 75 pounds less than her. She is more than double the flyers size/weight. And the flyers mother thinks her kid is super fantastic and doesn't give credit to the rest of the stunt group. Even the gym owner treats this flyer in a special way (which is a whole 'nother story) . My kid tells me "we basically hold her up the whole time, she doesn't bear her own weight"

 

[RileyElizabeth99]

This!!! i came from a city where there wasn't anywhere to do flying Privates it really wasn't a thing. Every now and then we'd get a coach who would come in and do some coed stunting here and there, but for the most part cp learned higher level stunting when she made that team. Now we are at a gym where everyone does flyer Privates and a good chunk multiple times a week. My daughter has done about 5 in 2 years and it was mainly to work on higher level baskets. I will never understand the ones doing level 5 and 6 bc honestly they are just for fun, when you get given age and size appropriate bases, the flying you do with them is the most important. I hear sooooo many times, but Lil Susie can hit that in her privates, its her bases fault.... um no lil Susie doesn't know how to fly without someone double her size holding her up. Rant over.

Feeding off of this a bit... I have never cheered all star cheer due to a time commitment and financial commitment that was too great for my family but the past two years I have been taking tumbling classes at a local all star gym so I could gain some new tumbling skills before I tried out for college cheerleading. Upon learning that the college I was trying out for had gone coed I decided to look into a flying class since the high school that I cheered for was an all girl team and I was not a flyer on my high school team my senior year. The class is a college prep class and for the first few classes it was 3-5 girls, all juniors and seniors in high school. We worked with a former UK cheerleader and with a coach at the gym who tried out for UK this year and made it. I was only there to learn the basics since that was what I needed for tryouts and the team. Then, the former UK cheerleader left and the class dropped down to just 3 girls. This went on for about two weeks before a large group of younger athletes joined the class as well as another coach. I'm talking 11+ kids and two guys. Only three of us were actually there for the college prep that the class was intended for and the others were 4-8 year olds doing exactly as you described. After a couple of complaints this situation was remedied and the class size has shrunk, however I am the only person in the class that is over the age of 13 and it is still a bit frustrating at times especially since the majority of the girls in this class are the Suzy's that you described with their wild moms.

 

[CheerBank]

Feeding off of this a bit... I have never cheered all star cheer due to a time commitment and financial commitment that was too great for my family but the past two years I have been taking tumbling classes at a local all star gym so I could gain some new tumbling skills before I tried out for college cheerleading. Upon learning that the college I was trying out for had gone coed I decided to look into a flying class since the high school that I cheered for was an all girl team and I was not a flyer on my high school team my senior year. The class is a college prep class and for the first few classes it was 3-5 girls, all juniors and seniors in high school. We worked with a former UK cheerleader and with a coach at the gym who tried out for UK this year and made it. I was only there to learn the basics since that was what I needed for tryouts and the team. Then, the former UK cheerleader left and the class dropped down to just 3 girls. This went on for about two weeks before a large group of younger athletes joined the class as well as another coach. I'm talking 11+ kids and two guys. Only three of us were actually there for the college prep that the class was intended for and the others were 4-8 year olds doing exactly as you described. After a couple of complaints this situation was remedied and the class size has shrunk, however I am the only person in the class that is over the age of 13 and it is still a bit frustrating at times especially since the majority of the girls in this class are the Suzy's that you described with their wild moms.

You'll find that at a lot of the TCLM clinics as well. SMs sending their 10 year olds so they can stunt with college aged and sized bases.

I've seen though quite a few coed teams - at big gyms - where their flyers look like they are 12 as of August 30th with 18 year old bases. Really, what's the difference? That's what fuels the fire for these moms.

 

[quitthedrama]

You'll find that at a lot of the TCLM clinics as well. SMs sending their 10 year olds so they can stunt with college aged and sized bases.

I've seen though quite a few coed teams - at big gyms - where their flyers look like they are 12 as of August 30th with 18 year old bases. Really, what's the difference? That's what fuels the fire for these moms.

Exactly this! Look at most coed teams now, especially in the large coed division. You have 12 year old, 70 pound flyers based by 17-18 year old guys. It's the trend gyms are taking to remain competitive, but it's not much different than the stunt privates taking place in the gym.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Exactly this! Look at most coed teams now, especially in the large coed division. You have 12 year old, 70 pound flyers based by 17-18 year old guys. It's the trend gyms are taking to remain competitive, but it's not much different than the stunt privates taking place in the gym.

It is also really hard to explain to Suzie's Mom that her 6 year old stunting with a college kid is NOT an indicator of:

*Being a future college cheerleader.

*Being a future Cheetah or Wildcat or whatever else.

To be blunt, a monkey looks good when it is stunting with a college-aged male.

 

[DonnaM]

Pulling up an old post

What gets me is that my CP is perfectly happy being on the same level/team next season that she was on this season. She’s coming off a big growth spurt and a tumble block, and is finally getting her confidence back.

Practically every parent in the gym who has asked her about tryouts has tried to tell her that she should go for a higher team, that she’s good enough. And that their CP will be devestated if she’s on a different team than CP, because friends should stick together. And, arguably, she is one of the strongest bases/backspots on her team. But she would rather take another year and really get her higher level tumbling solid before she has to throw it on the mat. And every time someone does this, her coach/her tumbling instructor/the gym manager/I have to reassure her that it is perfectly fine to want stay on the same level, that it’s good that she’s able to evaluate her own skills and comfort level, and that they will take that into account when making placements.

 

[cheer25mom]

This is my first time being on the other end of tryouts as s coach. This is also the first year we have required at least a BHS for varsity. We have 2 seniors that do not have the tumbling and have made no effort to get it. They are going g to be replaced by younger girls that have the skills. I am hoping against hope that we don’t have major fallout.


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[alpaca]

CP's tumbling instructor has already said that they will recommend at try-outs that she stay on level 2 next year. She is 100% fine with that. This year her running tumbling was weak so she didn't get a tumbling pass. Next year she will be able to participate in all aspects of the routine. She is fine with the level but we hope that there is a senior team for her. She will still be age eligible for J2, but being the oldest on the team with so many young kids isn't as much fun. She didn't like it this year at 14, and she wont like it any more at age 15.

 

[tumbleyoda]

My personal thing with our athletes is to always plan to spend two years in a level. The first year you are learning it, mastering it, understanding the nuances of it. The second year you should be crushing it and having the time of your life because you have mastered it. You hold yourself to a higher standard. While it won't hold true in every case as there will always be outliers on both sides of the two year figure, this seems to be a reasonable program template for us to have. Please note we also have gymnasts and power tumblers so I strive for something that fits all instead of one select group. Some will make the skip safely and properly in a year and that is great. But to make it be a standard for everyone is dangerous.

The issue is so many equate it to like being in school and think of repeating a level as being held back. They think they are being punished. They see those who have innate abilities, little to no fear who progress quickly and want to be with them. Or has it has been mentioned above, it is about being with their same age friends, regardless if the skill set, work ethic, attitude, etc is vastly different. This is why we see so many upper level athletes unable to do basic Level 1 or 2 skills - because they rushed past them. Now that some super wonderful and amazing team has put it in a tumbling or stunting sequence and our coach wants to do it - we have train-wrecks and disasters waiting to happen along with the ever present - I never learned a back walkover type excuse.

Once we remove our focus off repeating a level being a punishment, and see it more as the way for the majority of all of our athletes to excel together, it works very well. As we say "do you want to be the exception or exceptional?"

 

[Cinn124]

I'm kind of glad we don't have to go through "regular" tryouts this year. Because of my daughter's surgery last year she is physically incapable of tumbling. So we know she'll be on level 2 again. She can base any level except 5 so who knows if they'll put her on a team just for her basing. Time will tell.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I have not commented much on tryouts for my (HS Varsity) team this year as I've really switched things up and it has ruffled feathers.

I can tell you that people start to freak out when you go from a traditional tryout model (with clinics leading up to it) to more of an "evaluation throughout your clinic week and open gyms and results on Saturday" model.

What they don't realize is that I've/we've ALWAYS been watching during the week, just that now, what I/we see affects whether you'll make it.

You can't give half an effort all week, then wow me on Saturday anymore. You also cannot chuck your tuck that day, get lucky, and get full points for tumbling. It requires sustained effort now and that makes athletes and parents uncomfortable. But it gives us all a better picture of a candidates:

*true abilities.
*true coachability (for the incoming girls I have never coached.)
*ability to be a team player.

On a sidenote: coupled with changes in the process, at least 80% of this year's JV is doing Varsity evals and trying to move up. Background: JV and Varsity are by skill and not grade. They also have separate eval weeks. JV is sideline only with one comp and exhibitions so it is a true JV (meant for those who maybe are gaining experience.) It is also tumbling optional. A third of them come onto the team with a BHS but there are many girls who come onto JV in 9th with no tumbling and work super hard over the next 2 years to prep for Varsity. This year, there are some hard working girls going into 10th and 11th who are HUNGRY to move up and have been taking privates and classes to get their tuck or series running to tuck. I've seen a few of them at JV BB and they're solid. Solid enough to knock off a few of my veterans. Esp. a few who have actually LOST skills since our last comp. Ex: I have one coming back from an injury who has had an off/on mental block since her return, and is now not tumbling at all. This is going to be interesting.

 

[cheermomforever]

This is my first time being on the other end of tryouts as s coach. This is also the first year we have required at least a BHS for varsity. We have 2 seniors that do not have the tumbling and have made no effort to get it. They are going g to be replaced by younger girls that have the skills. I am hoping against hope that we don’t have major fallout.


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Make sure u document that they make no effort to improve.....then u have something to show parents when they come to you.