All-Star Listen To The Pain!

[dawgshow]

I was just going to post this in the parent's forum but feel that everyone needs to see this. Quick story: A very talented, very young (under 12) girl has been driven hard by mom to get better, tumble more, be the best since she was about 8. This girl has been on multiple teams for at least the last 3 years and tumbling 2-3 times a week, plus conditioning with a personal trainer 1-2 times a week. About a year ago, she started complaining of back and hip pain. The family's motto is "no blood, no broken bones, get back out there." Long story shortened...she landed wrong on some tumbling and couldn't get up. Went to many doctors and they discovered that a couple of vertebras were rubbing together. This poor thing isn't allowed to stand for more than 10 minutes at a time and is out of all activities for at least 3 months. Who knows how she'll recover or what she will be able to do? The saddest thing is that this could have been prevented if an adult listened to her complaints a year ago. Parents and coaches, please listen to complaints of pain. Athletes, please listen to your body. Think about what we are trying to accomplish by always pushing for more, harder, longer. Is it really worth it? Cheer lasts for a few years. Your body needs to last a lot longer.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

YES.

Further, I think cheer athlete/coach/parent culture at large needs to stop praising kids for "pushing through" and performing in boots/casts/with broken hands/feet/whatever.

Every time I see a "YASSSS my Suzie nailed her double even with a sprained wrist and they won grand champs!" I cringe a little.

 

[notimeforthat]

I am really surprised a " personal trainer" didn't see a red flag... Aren't they supposed to be in the know with that kinda stuff?

 

[dawgshow]

I am really surprised a " personal trainer" didn't see a red flag... Aren't they supposed to be in the know with that kinda stuff?

Knowing this kid, by the time she started working out with her she had learned to stop saying anything, or downplaying it. Plus, I don't know the trainer she was working with so who knows if she was any good or not. I've worked with trainers that knew how to work me hard but had no clue how to make accommodations for my knee issues.

 

[Helen uk uni cheer]

At my first all star gym I went to they were great with injuries, they made people sit out, gave people advice and didn't hesitate to stop a routine. The gym I was on last season not so much I got hurt twice in warm-up not major but she would't let me get ice until after we performed I just got told push through the pain.

I never used to tell my parents anything or coaches as I wanted to cheer that badly but I have learnt it really isn't worth it. I think some coaches and parents need to realise athletes have a life outside of cheer.

At nationals in July I saw a girl who looked in pain and asked if she was ok. She told me she broke her foot 2 weeks before nationals and had just competed doing everything apart from tumbling with out her boot because her coach needed her. She refused first aid so I got ice myself to get swelling down. Turned out she fractured it again just because she didn't wait.

 

[Mndl]

Gah! I don't understand why parents don't listen to their kids when they continually complain about pain in a certain area. Back pain is nothing to mess around with, and why put your child at risk for permanent damage and pain, just so she can be a level 5 by 10. It makes no sense to me at all!

 

[Official OWECheer]

That is horrible and sad. This could affect her for the rest of her life.

 

[SL&AM]

Ugh! Sometimes it's not even pain from a break or sprain, sometimes it's even worse like a tumor. Thoughts to the young girl who is effected by this!


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[Deleted member 41136]

This is all so awful. It's the mom's dream not her's. I would and could spend every hour in the gym, except if it meant I was sacrificing my health. I have a question and I don't want to derail this thread. How many hours do you think is too much, given the girl's circmstances? I don't think that anyone should spend more than at most 15-18 hours if they are in excellent health and older than like 13.

 

[mecheermom]

A cheerleader I know about 4 years ago was asked by a coach at warmups to take her boot off a week earlier than she was supposed to and throw her tumbling pass at a competition. Fast forward to this season and she is in a boot-- same ankle has been bothering her off and on. The orthopedic said its due to an old break that never healed correctly. The only fix is surgery.

For now she can do palliative care and wear a boot and do PT when it flares up. So...she has to hope it won't flare during worlds or nationals season. Hopefully they can get the surgery done over the summer.

Coaches need to follow doctors orders. The kid was 10-11 when it happened and this particular coach is intimidating. When a parent is sitting in the audience and sees their kid who went back to warmups in a boot tumbling on the mat they are helpless.

The cheerleader is no longer with the gym where this situation occurred.

 

[MOPSMommy1]

When my daughter was 11 she was still a flyer, but that year she grew a little bit and we had the arrival of several younger, smaller flyers at our gym. CP was having back and hip pain while doing BWO and needles. Long story short, after going to Drs, a chiropractor and a PT she was told that she needed to accept that her lower back was losing flexibility (too long of a story to go into) and that pulling body positions as a flyer was probably not in her future. She was devastated and I was sad for her, too, but after being disappointed for a bit she threw her whole self into basing and now she is a bad-booty base and loving it. I know that there are moms in my gym who would have continued to push their daughter instead of helping her to accept the disappointment and redirect her energy. I'm sure there were parents who thought I was letting her be a quitter but that wasn't it, because the pain was real and not worth it! We are their parents and it is are job to protect them, not make them "stars"! It is more important to me that my daughter be able to walk and be a functional member of society than to be point flyer and a Cheerlebrity.

 

[purplecheer]

Ignore

 

[purplecheer]

It is more important to me that my daughter be able to walk and be a functional member of society than to be point flyer and a Cheerlebrity.

AMEN. I probably won't be able to cheer past 30, but I will have to do other things like working and (hopefully) parenting. (I have no idea what my life will be like in the future!(I'm a teen))

 

[seein_starz]

I competed in a boot, it was a small local competition and it was our last competition of he season, I did not tumble or jump (of course) but I did stunt and dance (I had the floor part which made it pretty difficult) but one of my teammates earlier in the season broke the exact same bone I did but was in a boot much longer because her break was more severe, anyways she had a boot during spirit sports and had to take the boot off to compete, she had taped her foot, put on the most heavy duty ankle brace she could find and then taped over the brace to compete, she was in the boot right up until we walked into warm ups and the coaches brought the boot with them back stage so she could immediately go back into it. Luckily for her she didn't injure anything more but this could have been easily avoided if the competition would have let her wear the boot. They didn't let her compete in it because they said it was a safety issue (which I get but still) she would have been a lot safer in the boot

 

[dawgshow]

I competed in a boot, it was a small local competition and it was our last competition of he season, I did not tumble or jump (of course) but I did stunt and dance (I had the floor part which made it pretty difficult) but one of my teammates earlier in the season broke the exact same bone I did but was in a boot much longer because her break was more severe, anyways she had a boot during spirit sports and had to take the boot off to compete, she had taped her foot, put on the most heavy duty ankle brace she could find and then taped over the brace to compete, she was in the boot right up until we walked into warm ups and the coaches brought the boot with them back stage so she could immediately go back into it. Luckily for her she didn't injure anything more but this could have been easily avoided if the competition would have let her wear the boot. They didn't let her compete in it because they said it was a safety issue (which I get but still) she would have been a lot safer in the boot

I swear I'm not picking on you, but the bolded part is exactly what I'm talking about. She would have been safest not competing at all! Potential permanent injury is not worth a trophy. I'm glad it worked out, but know that repeated impact on an injured body part can cause serious damage.