Well just as you have a right to an opinion, I do as well. I don't need to justify my opinion and neither do you. But I will since you're so passionate about what I have to say. I'm not saying pick the biggest girl on your team and tell the bases to deal with it. But I'm also saying don't pick a child that could really be on a Mini or Youth level team to be on a Senior level team for the purpose of being a flyer because they are tiny. I am speaking from my OWN personal experience which is why I began that sentence with the disclaimer that it was my personal opinion. I have a 9 year old who feels fat because she's an inch taller than the other flyers on her team. I am 5'10 and 123 lbs. The idea that my child would ever in this lifetime become fat without the presence of maybe a thyroid problem is laughable. At the beginning of the season her stunt group complained that she is heavy. Her gym owner felt she was too big to fly and thankfully her coach fought to keep her in the air. There hasn't been one competition this year that my CP hasn't hit every last one of her stunts. She's the most consistent and dependable flyer on the team. So from my own personal experience, I know what it's like to be at a gym where the stigma is all the flyers have to be 4 ft tall and 50 lbs and I have to deal with the consequences of that every day. On the other side, I have an 8 year old neighbor on a junior level 4 team who sits with my 9 year old during competition because there are not enough girls her age on the team that she relates to. Not to mention she had no level 3 or 4 flying skills and had not mastered level 4 tumbling skills prior to the season. If you can come up with another reason for her to be on a J4 team, I'd love to hear it.
And if you're going to respond to my direct quote, be clear on what you're responding to. I said the athlete is chosen for the main purpose of flying. I never stated that is solely what that athlete does on the team. Last I checked, those two words held very different meanings. My 8 yr old can do everything the older girls do. Your example of 16 yr old flyers and 12 year old bases doesn't hold water with me. Their daily situation is too similar to use in this discussion. They both have lockers, switch classes 6 or 7 times a day, and a surely more interested in boys among other things. Explain to me how a 7th grader relates to her team mate whose in the second grade aside from the sport. Go ahead, I'll wait..... I'm not trying to discredit what these athletes do. My issue isn't with the athletes, it's with the owners and coaches. I have seen plenty of flyers that are the same height and general physical size as their bases. To me there is no excuse to have a flyer 6 years younger and literally half your height and probably a third your weight. If high school cheerleaders can do it, you can't tell me that All-star can't. High School cheerleaders base flyers that mirror themselves size-wise more often than not. Then it comes down to flexibility and who is better at flying and basing. While I respect what you have to say, I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one because I could go on and on trying to explain my original post. I'm not fanatical about cheer. Sure I cheered in high school and my CP cheers now. However, it's just cheer bows and glitter to me. I can name 4 nationally wait 5 nationally renowned (if not world renowned) teams. I am unable to rattle off a list of gyms and teams for more than 2 seconds. If the athletes name isn't Ramya, I probably wouldn't know who you were talking about because at the end of the day, it's not that serious to me. When I speak on my own personal opinion, please trust that it is not to be considered a professional opinion. My opinion doesn't have to be adopted in to law and is surely doesn't have to reflect popular opinion.
