Local Small Gym Or Bigger Gym

[darlingsmomx4]

Hi... I'm a newbie mom. A month ago I knew nothing about cheer, but after watching practices and hours of googling and youtube I now know at least a little bit! It looks like so much fun. :)

I'll try to keep this as short as I can. My 6-year-old girl has done gymnastics for a few years. At our local gym they also have a cheer all star team. So, my daughter decided to quit gymnastics and start cheer instead! This was about 3 weeks ago. Because gymnastics level 1 is pretty simple on floor, she had never really attempted back walkovers or even bridge kickovers (can do bridge though). She does great cartwheels and has picked up roundoffs too in no time. She can also almost do a full split. And forward rolls to standing. She's getting pretty good at basic cheer routines including "toe touch" jump. Working on backbend but not quite there yet.

Now, at her cheer, they have a gang of girls who competed together last season. They range from age 5 to 11 and they will all be in Youth level 1. And then they want to put my CP plus 4 other girls age 5-6 in a new Mini level 1 team. Three of the girls can not do a cartwheel at all, they look like complete beginners. I feel my daughter is way above their level, having done gymastics and having some natural athletic talent... maybe. Plus, is 5 girls even enough for a team? What happens if one leaves? I don't want to pay competition and uniform fees when the team's future looks uncertain. And she might be bored.

Then I checked out this other gym nearby, which is bigger and more successful and has all star teams all levels. They told me my CP can come to practice with their Mini level 1 this Tuesday! I said yes but now I'm freaking. They are probably really good! I was told no set skills required. What does this mean? That if they see some potential in my CP she might be able to join the team?

Can anyone tell me what you think will happen at this practice, what skills the girls will do and if they will want my CP to join.......... I know you don't have crystal balls but any comments will be appreciated! It's not a necessity for her to join by the way, if not then we might just do tumbling classes this year.

thanks in advance!

Mini level 1 is ages 8 and under and no experience required. My 5 year old is a mini and she can do her cartwheel, round off, bwo, bridge kickover and has her middle and left/ right split forward/ back roll. However because this is a beginner group some of the 8 year olds do not have all these skills and that is perfectly okay. Based on your daughters skill set it seems like she is right where needs to be. In choosing a gym for my daughter we had to choose between a small 7 person team or a larger 16 person team. We chose the larger team because thinking ahead it would give her more opportunities for other team placement for next year. Good luck, I am sure you will make the right choice for your daughter.

 

[123jump4!]

Wow! How did your 5-year-old learn all those skills? On her cheer team or could she do it before? I have a 4-year-old also who's starting Tiny cheer class (not team) soon. She can do rolls & handstand, and cartwheels are almost starting to resemble real ones, but still more like frog jumps. She also does gymnastics. She likes it but I see no future in that, the practice times are just too long if you're on pre-team or team. Cheer has a better practice/life balance!

 

[Pebbles49]

Wow! How did your 5-year-old learn all those skills? On her cheer team or could she do it before? I have a 4-year-old also who's starting Tiny cheer class (not team) soon. She can do rolls & handstand, and cartwheels are almost starting to resemble real ones, but still more like frog jumps. She also does gymnastics. She likes it but I see no future in that, the practice times are just too long if you're on pre-team or team. Cheer has a better practice/life balance!

I tell you 123jump4 it depends on where you at, yes, in your world, your daughter seems to be a head of the pack in her tumbling skills, but when you step into bigger gyms you will be astounded to see what talented 5 year olds are doing. I can tell you, I know many 5 years old who are able to do bhs, multiple bhs and tucks, which at 5, my daughter was able to do all lvl 1 skills and had many of her lvl 2 skills and was working on tucks. So when I read your initial post I was not surprise that your daughter was placed on a lvl1 team and being on a Mini team and at many gyms at 5 she will be in the middle of the pack and she still have a lot of work and being in a non-stressful environment, she can be working on lvl1 specialty passes - like connecting tumbling skills like ro, bwo, cartwheel, fwo, etc... in a routine - But at 6 yo, she has a lot of time to work on her skills and not have pressure placed on her shoulders this can lead to a burned out 7 year old...

 

[123jump4!]

That's awesome! 5-year-olds doing BHS etc. So how do they learn this? They've been in Tiny cheer since age 3-4? Or they're just amazingly talented... or both. I'm not being competetive (honest... not much anyway... lol), just curious.

I never said my cp should be anything else than Mini 1 and I do expect her to be one of the least advanced on a better team. She just has some basic skills that she learned at gymnastics, that's all.

As for my younger girl (4-yo), she might be able to do a BWO at age 5 but BHS no way, but that's totally fine. :)

 

[amy1k]

Young kids tend to learn tumbling quickly. We had a mini 2 team last season (maybe this season, too, I'm not sure) and we're fairly small.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Everyone has to start somewhere and most cheerleaders come to the sport with zero experience and gain skills throughout their first season. Many of the younger kids may gain enough skills their first year to be on a level 2 team their second season, so you are back to square one with having the level 1 teams with mostly beginners with absolutely no experience. So those with some experience, whether that be gymnastics, dance, rec cheer, etc, will be those that are better, especially at the beginning of the season.
This may not be the case with every team/gym in the country, but it could definitely be the case as to why your CP is one of the "better" ones right now, but you really can't compare anyone only 3 weeks into a team. As others mentioned, your CP may gain no or minimal skills this season (hopefully and probably not, but that is a possibility) and other kids could surpass her easily, I guess I'm just trying to say that everyone has to start somewhere and that is usually level 1. I think you will be amazed at how fast young kids can progress, especially in tumbling. I think you will learn a ton from experience and actually being in a gym and seeing kids progressing, instead of just watching youtube videos.

 

[Pebbles49]

That's awesome! 5-year-olds doing BHS etc. So how do they learn this? They've been in Tiny cheer since age 3-4? Or they're just amazingly talented... or both. I'm not being competetive (honest... not much anyway... lol), just curious.

I never said my cp should be anything else than Mini 1 and I do expect her to be one of the least advanced on a better team. She just has some basic skills that she learned at gymnastics, that's all.

As for my younger girl (4-yo), she might be able to do a BWO at age 5 but BHS no way, but that's totally fine. :)

Luv2Cheer92 said it correctly in her response to your inquiries about your daughter's progression in only 1 area of the sport of cheerleading. Right now, your daughter maybe ahead of the pack and that is merely because she received some training, but many of the inexperienced Minis once receiving proper training can learn quickly and catch up and surpass your daughter or nah! haha

But every child progress at their own rate and time. Yes, it is possible for a child to not be doing any type of gymnastics or cheerleading and at 5 are able to rapidly learn skills, but it is up to that child. In my situation, my child at around 4, started doing cartwheels, round-off and secretly try to kill herself by doing a tuck off the coach by mimicking gymnasts on TV and then I enrolled her into tumbling classes. (to save her life) So there I saw little girls in advanced tumbling classes doing some amazing things. But the one thing I have to say, many of these really young athletes who peak early tend to taper off quickly in skill progression or burn out early because too much pressure is placed on their shoulders...

PS: It is okay to be amp about your child and what parent is not... But do not compare what your child is doing at this age to another child's ability...

 

[123jump4!]

Like I said, I was just curious! Trying not to compare, just want to be inspired... my CP definitely notices what more advanced kids do and she wants to learn it too. I think that's good, but at the same time I am telling her not to be upset if she can't do it straight away, those girls have been doing cheer longer than you, etc.

Tonight is the tryout practice at the other place! If my CP loves it, it's a no brainer. If she's not sure then we'll probably stick with where we are now.

 

[darlingsmomx4]

Wow! How did your 5-year-old learn all those skills? On her cheer team or could she do it before? I have a 4-year-old also who's starting Tiny cheer class (not team) soon. She can do rolls & handstand, and cartwheels are almost starting to resemble real ones, but still more like frog jumps. She also does gymnastics. She likes it but I see no future in that, the practice times are just too long if you're on pre-team or team. Cheer has a better practice/life balance!

She had never done a single skill until the end of May when she decided to try cheer and she tried out not knowing a thing, not even a forward roll. But then she literally practiced non stop at home because she fell in love and we would actually tell her to stop practicing at bedtime. With her in 8 weeks it was insane, she had them she can also do her fwo. She just turned 5 the end of April but she is a very hard worker. My daughter also practices jumps and basing with her older sisters, it is cute. So as long as she loves it we will continue.

 

[123jump4!]

1hr into the practice and I have mixed feelings. She has already improved from mediocre falling down flyer to pretty bad but staying up flyer... lol. The girls are pretty good but not super awesome level 1s. Not sure if the coaches are warm enough for her, she's used to that. She probably gets more individual attention at the old place. I'm leaning towards old place but will see what cp says when it's over.

 

[Cheer Dad]

1hr into the practice and I have mixed feelings. She has already improved from mediocre falling down flyer to pretty bad but staying up flyer... lol. The girls are pretty good but not super awesome level 1s. Not sure if the coaches are warm enough for her, she's used to that. She probably gets more individual attention at the old place. I'm leaning towards old place but will see what cp says when it's over.

Small usually is a more family feel atmosphere.

 

[123jump4!]

Ok... now for the verdict. Thanks for the shimmy, my first! 1 looks better than 0. :)

CP said she absolutely loved it. She was a flyer again towards the end, first sitting on her butt with her legs out, then standing up quite high. Probably prep level? (I'm still learning these terms.) She LOVED it, the smile on her face was totally beaming. At the old place there is no way she'll be a flyer. Really she should be able to get a chance to fly this year, as she should be the smallest in Mini. Then next year and the year after, maybe not. And then if/when she joins Youth maybe again. So............... if she loves it, how can I say no? She's already learned the main cheer routine. The 1-2-3 arm movements and some different jumps and then ending with a roll. The coaches were pretty tough but she said she liked them. And apparently the main one said she could join if she wants to. I did not get the chance to talk to them as we left early while the other girls were getting their practice outfits. Will contact them and see what the deal is.

 

[darlingsmomx4]

Ok... now for the verdict. Thanks for the shimmy, my first! 1 looks better than 0. :)

CP said she absolutely loved it. She was a flyer again towards the end, first sitting on her butt with her legs out, then standing up quite high. Probably prep level? (I'm still learning these terms.) She LOVED it, the smile on her face was totally beaming. At the old place there is no way she'll be a flyer. Really she should be able to get a chance to fly this year, as she should be the smallest in Mini. Then next year and the year after, maybe not. And then if/when she joins Youth maybe again. So............... if she loves it, how can I say no? She's already learned the main cheer routine. The 1-2-3 arm movements and some different jumps and then ending with a roll. The coaches were pretty tough but she said she liked them. And apparently the main one said she could join if she wants to. I did not get the chance to talk to them as we left early while the other girls were getting their practice outfits. Will contact them and see what the deal is.

 

[darlingsmomx4]

Ok... now for the verdict. Thanks for the shimmy, my first! 1 looks better than 0. :)

CP said she absolutely loved it. She was a flyer again towards the end, first sitting on her butt with her legs out, then standing up quite high. Probably prep level? (I'm still learning these terms.) She LOVED it, the smile on her face was totally beaming. At the old place there is no way she'll be a flyer. Really she should be able to get a chance to fly this year, as she should be the smallest in Mini. Then next year and the year after, maybe not. And then if/when she joins Youth maybe again. So............... if she loves it, how can I say no? She's already learned the main cheer routine. The 1-2-3 arm movements and some different jumps and then ending with a roll. The coaches were pretty tough but she said she liked them. And apparently the main one said she could join if she wants to. I did not get the chance to talk to them as we left early while the other girls were getting their practice outfits. Will contact them and see what the deal is.

Oops sent I black response because my cp is sitting here kicking me trying to practice. I am glad that your cp liked it that is the most important part! My cp loved the more stern coaches too and that I think added to her achieving more in a short amount of time. I hope she loves her first cheer season!

 

[123jump4!]

Thanks! Yes she seemed to respond well to the stern coaches too. Like "stand clean and no talking!" and "CP, pay attention, you're next!".