All-Star Little Fish Big Sea Vs Big Fish Little Sea

[mom24girls]

My daughter has only ever cheered at a small gym because we have no large gym anywhere close to us but I am pretty sure I would prefer a large gym. For me cheer is a team sport and with a large gym you can be more competitive. While being the star is great your not going to win with 3 great girls and 17 mediocre and while winning isn't everything it sure is nice. Of course since we've never experienced the large gym it may just be a case of the grass is always greener on the other side.

 

[kristenthegreat]

Are there not some highly competitive gyms who choose to remain small? I know it's become the Era of the Mega-Gym but I was curious if there still were any..I'm sure there are but I don't know :D

I was with a small program, and while I'm sure it can be difficult when forming teams, the atmosphere was wonderful. I think you'll get a lot of people preferring large gyms on here, only because most small gyms probably don't know about the fierceboard lol

 

[SheCheers]

I'm just going to say I'm not a fan of blanket statements. Maybe not everyone is outright saying all small gyms hold kids back, but that's the overall impression I'm getting on this thread. Im also getting small gyms make kids stars, where big gyms treat everyone equally. We've been at 2 small gyms, even a crappy one and my cp has never been held back. I don't even understand why a gym wouldn't want their athletes to improve/grow...it makes no sense. I also believe a small gym wants ALL their teams to succeed all the time. And I also believe every gym/coach has the potential to have favorites or spotlight athletes, it's just way more obvious in a small gym where you know everyone. So it's probably not fair to say it isn't as likely to happen at a big gym when it's really just human nature. That being said, at our small gym I've sometimes noticed a kid or two is well liked by a coach or something, but it has never affected their placement in a routine or on a specific team. I think those sorts of things depend mostly on the philosophies of the coaches and owners and less on the size of the place.

 

[SheCheers]

Are there not some highly competitive gyms who choose to remain small? I know it's become the Era of the Mega-Gym but I was curious if there still were any..I'm sure there are but I don't know :Dl

Our small gym is highly competitive and no, no one has heard of the fierce board (and vice versa...lol)
In 2009 they took 4 teams to UCA and brought back 4 National titles. I doubt many big gyms can say all of their teams took first at a single competition. ;)

 

[Emily Jane]

Are there not some highly competitive gyms who choose to remain small? I know it's become the Era of the Mega-Gym but I was curious if there still were any..I'm sure there are but I don't know :D

I'm not sure they choose to remain small, but Green Bay Elite?

 

[PghxCheer2]

Are there not some highly competitive gyms who choose to remain small? I know it's become the Era of the Mega-Gym but I was curious if there still were any..I'm sure there are but I don't know :D

Three Words: Spirit.of.Texas.

They get HUGE gym results and probably have under half the amount of kids that every single one of their competitors has.

For what it's worth, I think FCA does pretty well for being smaller. They have under 200 kids and have taken home a 4th place finish at worlds as well as MULTIPLE Jamfest and Cheersport titles. They have come home with near clean sweeps at these major nationals multiple times. I guess it all comes down to what you define as "small" though. I'm sure FCA and SOT are twice the size of some of the gyms you guys are talking about.

 

[Mo-Lissa]

When I think small gym.....I thought we were going with the 75 kids cap like the competitions. I would never think of under 200 as a small gym.

 

[PghxCheer2]

When I think small gym.....I thought we were going with the 75 kids cap like the competitions. I would never think of under 200 as a small gym.

and I agree. I was just indicating that putting them next to Cheer Extreme (800+), Cheer Athletics (500+), World Cup (500+), Stingrays (500+), etc. at Worlds, they would be considered a "smaller" worlds contender gym. They produce the same, if not better, results with a much smaller pull of athletes. I completely understand what you're saying, I was just giving an example of gyms that everyone knows, that aren't nearly as big as their biggest rivals at competitions in the upper level divisions.