I actually enjoyed both segments and was extremely happy that I refrained from commenting initially about Gabi Butler. When I was watching the first segment, my immediate thoughts were we are seeing athletes who have been living a whole competition season in a fishbowl and what we are seeing is exactly how much toll these young athletes are going through, particularly, Gabi Butler, who whole life have been turned upside down for this sport. I look at my daughter and how tired she is come April and how the happy-go-lucky cheerleader has all but left the building, and believe me, if my daughter is like this. I can only imagine what Gabi Butler experience when this end of the year exhaustion hits, it is probably 1000 times more. As a Mom after watching this young lady, Gabi Butler, If I were the Mom, I really would have already moved back to Florida and keep the family together. This young lady, Gabi Butler should not have to deal with being in the middle of an odd situation. So I was not looking at her as a brat, which some people were calling her, but I saw a child, who is shouldering too many adult responsibility and not ready for the responsibility. When Gabi Butler keep saying that she does not know if she will return, it appears to me, that this is a cry from her that she wants her parents to step forward and make this decision for her--Staying in Florida.
At the end of the competition season I notice that all the athletes are exhausted and drained and looking forward for the end of the season and some time off, many are handling it well, but Gabi's whole existence is caught up in this cheer world. As I watched the Nightline 2nd segment, it had become clearer to me that Carly and Michaeleddie still had a family around them, friends away from the cheer world and had opportunities to go to school and have other interests, but Gabi does not have the same opportunities and she needs to have some normalcy and other interests. JMO