All-Star It's Just An Extracurricular Activity!!

[Cheer Observer]

Rules are set in place for a reason, I have always wondered how the extremely big programs handle situations like this and do some owners tolerate it because of money.

Unfortunately my guess would be yes :(

 

[Cheergrandma]

I was searching to see if there was a thread about this before opening up a new one. We are a small gym (44 cheerleaders in total, 4 teams) where recruiting is not easy and having a 1 /2 season or less competitive team is not possible.
We have 2 very talented cheerleaders (sisters) who are on a L5R team of 12 girls who missed about 35% of practices because of another school activity. The owner canceled the team from going to a comp because of these girls who would MIA for another activity. :eek:
Would it be tolorated at your gym? Should the talent of the cheerleader be taken into account? As a paying customer it frustrates me and the other girls because of level of committment in not there as mentioned in previous posts.
I know how I feed. Just interested in other's views especially coaches and owners.
Thanks!

 

[mybabywantstotumble]

I was searching to see if there was a thread about this before opening up a new one. We are a small gym (44 cheerleaders in total, 4 teams) where recruiting is not easy and having a 1 /2 season or less competitive team is not possible.
We have 2 very talented cheerleaders (sisters) who are on a L5R team of 12 girls who missed about 35% of practices because of another school activity. The owner canceled the team from going to a comp because of these girls who would MIA for another activity. :eek:
Would it be tolorated at your gym? Should the talent of the cheerleader be taken into account? As a paying customer it frustrates me and the other girls because of level of committment in not there as mentioned in previous posts.
I know how I feed. Just interested in other's views especially coaches and owners.
Thanks!

um, NO. we pay a lot of money and this is a year round committment. if they can't commit then perhaps they should join an open team that only practices once a week.

 

[Babs]

I was searching to see if there was a thread about this before opening up a new one. We are a small gym (44 cheerleaders in total, 4 teams) where recruiting is not easy and having a 1 /2 season or less competitive team is not possible.
We have 2 very talented cheerleaders (sisters) who are on a L5R team of 12 girls who missed about 35% of practices because of another school activity. The owner canceled the team from going to a comp because of these girls who would MIA for another activity. :eek:
Would it be tolorated at your gym? Should the talent of the cheerleader be taken into account? As a paying customer it frustrates me and the other girls because of level of committment in not there as mentioned in previous posts.
I know how I feed. Just interested in other's views especially coaches and owners.
Thanks!

I've heard policies and threats but have only seen limited follow through. The follow through I've seen have only been for higher level teams, particularly Worlds teams. In the case of canceling a competition due to absences I've heard the threat that those who caused the cancellation need to pay the competition fees of the rest of the team.

 

[12stepCheermom]

I was searching to see if there was a thread about this before opening up a new one. We are a small gym (44 cheerleaders in total, 4 teams) where recruiting is not easy and having a 1 /2 season or less competitive team is not possible.
We have 2 very talented cheerleaders (sisters) who are on a L5R team of 12 girls who missed about 35% of practices because of another school activity. The owner canceled the team from going to a comp because of these girls who would MIA for another activity. :eek:
Would it be tolorated at your gym? Should the talent of the cheerleader be taken into account? As a paying customer it frustrates me and the other girls because of level of committment in not there as mentioned in previous posts.
I know how I feed. Just interested in other's views especially coaches and owners.
Thanks!

It shouldn't be tolerated. And if they're not going to enforce the rules don't put them in place to begin with or engage in empty threats,

And I'll step off now before I get myself going.

 

[newcheerdad]

This is the part where I play devil's advocate, and say that yes, cheer is an extracurricular activity.

Because if it's a choice between a major school activity (recital, science fair) and cheer, school wins.

If it's a choice between a major family event and cheer, the family event wins.

Does that make me a bad cheer parent? Maybe. But I hope it makes me a good parent overall.

Because here's the deal - as important as cheer might be, it's not everything. I can't allow it be to everything to my daughter, even if she wanted it to be. (and thankfully she's not wired that way) I want her to have opportunities to try other sports, play a musical instrument, or be in the science fair. And yes, some of those things are going to conflict with cheer every once in a while. We try to make sure that they don't, but if they do, I'm not going to say that cheer always wins or that it even should.

Now that being said, I don't subscribe to the idea that a kid who could go to practice blows it off because they don't want to. Or parents schedule some kind of vanity trip around a cheer competition. There's a difference between trying to raise a well-rounded kid and having one that blows off their commitment to the team.

But at the end of the day, I want my kid to experience more of life than the inside of a cheer gym. And if that means that a stunt doesn't go up at a practice in mid-January because my daughter's playing in an orchestra concert, then so be it.

 

[Cheergrandma]

[ I want her to have opportunities to try other sports, play a musical instrument, or be in the science fair. And yes, some of those things are going to conflict with cheer and every once in a while. ]
Just curious and I don't want to start a war but why not let her experience a less committed team like rec or 1 /2 season instead of a full competition team? There are cheerleaders who take competitive cheer very seriously much like olympians not to mention the financial and time committment. My granddaughter dedicated 9 of her 14 years developing her skills only have her team weakened because of the lack of committment of others. Is it fair to those girls who have to rely on others who are "dabbling" (lack of a better word) in cheerleading?

 

[LabbyGirlMOM]

My daughter has missed 3 practices total in a little over a year since we started all star cheer, 2 of those she was so sick and still tried to go and wanted me to carry her to the car and the into practice, the other absence was because we had a funeral to go to.

I guess because of all the money and time I have put into this sport I don't understand missing for anything, I am a single mom who has an ex who thinks cheer is stupid but he still supports our daughter in what she wants to do.

We are the complete opposite of some of these parents in where we will miss a school function and we will miss family events for cheer because it's what my daughter wants and to be it is far more important then what some grown adult wants or what some crappy school district wants.

 

[SheCheersIPay]

This is the part where I play devil's advocate, and say that yes, cheer is an extracurricular activity.

Because if it's a choice between a major school activity (recital, science fair) and cheer, school wins.

If it's a choice between a major family event and cheer, the family event wins.

Does that make me a bad cheer parent? Maybe. But I hope it makes me a good parent overall.

Because here's the deal - as important as cheer might be, it's not everything. I can't allow it be to everything to my daughter, even if she wanted it to be. (and thankfully she's not wired that way) I want her to have opportunities to try other sports, play a musical instrument, or be in the science fair. And yes, some of those things are going to conflict with cheer every once in a while. We try to make sure that they don't, but if they do, I'm not going to say that cheer always wins or that it even should.

Now that being said, I don't subscribe to the idea that a kid who could go to practice blows it off because they don't want to. Or parents schedule some kind of vanity trip around a cheer competition. There's a difference between trying to raise a well-rounded kid and having one that blows off their commitment to the team.

But at the end of the day, I want my kid to experience more of life than the inside of a cheer gym. And if that means that a stunt doesn't go up at a practice in mid-January because my daughter's playing in an orchestra concert, then so be it.

I think point was not that cheer is everything, nor should it be. Common sense says that cheer should NOT come before a child's education or important family events. The point is if you can't be dedicated on days that there are no school events or family functions then don't join the team. A stunt going up in mid January isn't that important compared to a school concert or family gathering, but blowing off practice just because is definitely unacceptable. Cheer isn't everything, but like any sport you play give it 100% or don't participate.

 

[mybabywantstotumble]

newcheerdad i do agree with you somewhat. if it is FOR school, school wins. if it is to go and watch the talent show, then no. our gym does consider recitals, plays and things like that as excused.

as for other sports, if they conflict with comp season then a decision needs to be made as to which sport to play. you simply can not committ to a full year all star team if your heart is not in it.

 

[newcheerdad]

newcheerdad i do agree with you somewhat. if it is FOR school, school wins. if it is to go and watch the talent show, then no. our gym does consider recitals, plays and things like that as excused.

as for other sports, if they conflict with comp season then a decision needs to be made as to which sport to play. you simply can not committ to a full year all star team if your heart is not in it.

But what doesn't conflict with cheer? Seriously, when we try to figure out sports to sign our daughter up for, inevitably we either have to accept the fact that she's going to miss most of the practices and/or games, have her miss the occasional cheer practice, or just not have her play at all. And this is for any sport, whether it's during the comp season or not. Now add in the fact I have a son who plays sports of his own, plus school commitments, plus work commitments...

Look, if a kid is one a level 5 world's team, I can see where restrictions on non-cheer related activities would be appropriate. There's a level of commitment, both short and long-term, that those athletes have. But an elementary school-aged kid? Not so sure - I'd think for their sake, those kids should at least have some flexibility to explore other interests and not be burned out on cheer by the time they're in middle school.

So the counter-argument to that premise might be "well, cheer isn't right for her" or "cheer is only for the most committed". And that's fine, and there may very well come a time when the rubber meets the road and we have to make that choice. But maybe we can head that off a little bit by not pushing every youth or mini team to adhere to the exact same rules of engagement as your senior 5 team.

 

[SheCheersIPay]

But what doesn't conflict with cheer? Seriously, when we try to figure out sports to sign our daughter up for, inevitably we either have to accept the fact that she's going to miss most of the practices and/or games, have her miss the occasional cheer practice, or just not have her play at all. And this is for any sport, whether it's during the comp season or not. Now add in the fact I have a son who plays sports of his own, plus school commitments, plus work commitments...

Look, if a kid is one a level 5 world's team, I can see where restrictions on non-cheer related activities would be appropriate. There's a level of commitment, both short and long-term, that those athletes have. But an elementary school-aged kid? Not so sure - I'd think for their sake, those kids should at least have some flexibility to explore other interests and not be burned out on cheer by the time they're in middle school.

So the counter-argument to that premise might be "well, cheer isn't right for her" or "cheer is only for the most committed". And that's fine, and there may very well come a time when the rubber meets the road and we have to make that choice. But maybe we can head that off a little bit by not pushing every youth or mini team to adhere to the exact same rules of engagement as your senior 5 team.

You do realize it's optional, correct? So of it conflicts with "your normal life" then opt out. It's actually pretty cut and dry.....either you can or can't put in the time and dedication. If you can, have your kid cheer, if you can't then don't. That way the other people who don't have such an active life and can bring their children to practice can compete with other children who can also make it to practice. If the extracurricular activity proves to be "too extra", then don't do it.

 

[LabbyGirlMOM]

But what doesn't conflict with cheer? Seriously, when we try to figure out sports to sign our daughter up for, inevitably we either have to accept the fact that she's going to miss most of the practices and/or games, have her miss the occasional cheer practice, or just not have her play at all. And this is for any sport, whether it's during the comp season or not. Now add in the fact I have a son who plays sports of his own, plus school commitments, plus work commitments...

Look, if a kid is one a level 5 world's team, I can see where restrictions on non-cheer related activities would be appropriate. There's a level of commitment, both short and long-term, that those athletes have. But an elementary school-aged kid? Not so sure - I'd think for their sake, those kids should at least have some flexibility to explore other interests and not be burned out on cheer by the time they're in middle school.

So the counter-argument to that premise might be "well, cheer isn't right for her" or "cheer is only for the most committed". And that's fine, and there may very well come a time when the rubber meets the road and we have to make that choice. But maybe we can head that off a little bit by not pushing every youth or mini team to adhere to the exact same rules of engagement as your senior 5 team.

I respectively disagree with not pushing an elementary school kid to follow the same rules as a level 5.

At our gym each team is treated the same and each team is expected to adhere to the same rules, we as parents expect that our children get quality coaching and attention paid to our kids then the coaches in turn expect that our children put the same effort and commitment into the teams as their older counterparts.

 

[Cheergrandma]

Seriously, when we try to figure out sports to sign our daughter up for, inevitably we either have to accept the fact that she's going to miss most of the practices and/or games, have her miss the occasional cheer practice, or just not have her play at all. And this is for any sport, whether it's during the comp season or not. ".

It's true, choices have to be made. But in soccer, softball, basketball, etc there are enough team members to field a full team and still have a few on the bench to rotate in for missing team members. Not so in competitive cheer. You might have an occasional girl from another team fill in for a sick/injured girl but I've never seen a team field more than the number taking the stage. Each girl has a role and no "bench time

 

[Ashley]

But what doesn't conflict with cheer? Seriously, when we try to figure out sports to sign our daughter up for, inevitably we either have to accept the fact that she's going to miss most of the practices and/or games, have her miss the occasional cheer practice, or just not have her play at all. And this is for any sport, whether it's during the comp season or not. Now add in the fact I have a son who plays sports of his own, plus school commitments, plus work commitments...

Look, if a kid is one a level 5 world's team, I can see where restrictions on non-cheer related activities would be appropriate. There's a level of commitment, both short and long-term, that those athletes have. But an elementary school-aged kid? Not so sure - I'd think for their sake, those kids should at least have some flexibility to explore other interests and not be burned out on cheer by the time they're in middle school.

So the counter-argument to that premise might be "well, cheer isn't right for her" or "cheer is only for the most committed". And that's fine, and there may very well come a time when the rubber meets the road and we have to make that choice. But maybe we can head that off a little bit by not pushing every youth or mini team to adhere to the exact same rules of engagement as your senior 5 team.

I get your point. Most of the best cheerleaders are those who started young, but how can you expect a 7 or 8 year old to know that this is what they want to do? I don't think that you're advocating being able to miss practice whenever you want, but it comes down to letting a kid try out different activities.

I don't have any kids, but I know that I'd like to put mine into cheer, probably at a young age. And my boyfriend (hopefully future husband/baby daddy) would like to put his kid into tennis, his sport. While they're still young, I don't think it's unreasonable to want to get your kids exposed to multiple sports and activities. Then if they decide to leave cheer, they know it's because they like something else better, not because the grass *might* be greener on the other side.

And speaking of my boyfriend, the tennis player, probably the most individual sport you can do, he still doesn't understand, after 5 years together, why I can't go away on a long weekend (we practice Sunday nights). "You can't miss one practice?" he says. No, I really can't. But I wish I could, I hate that at 25 years old my cheer schedule dictates my life.