All-Star Outsider's View Of Cheer

[JumpingJackFlash]

The beach is the beach though. It's not downtown in the heroin capital of the U.S., where you make one wrong turn and you are in a really, really bad part of town. There is Baltimore's famed area knows as "The Block" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Block_(Baltimore) not too far away, not to mention on the weekends there are plenty of highly intoxicated people all around. Baltimore has strip joints mixed in among bars and it's just bad news. When I was younger I never cared to go there and party.

I thought it was the murder capital of the US, but hey, they win for heroin!
Baltimore is a big cesspool, but most cities have there share of disgusting places and people. Dress you're kids appropriately when you leave the venue. While in the venue, know where your kids are and what their doing...Predators are everywhere. They too can pay their $10.00 or so and watch the "show".

 

[Icclove]

how about requiring that the uni actually fit. cp should not get measured at an adult medium and be allowed to order an adult x-small. :rolleyes:

 

[PullandPray23]

better question; why is like every big competition in like the most ghetto places ever (sorry for thread jacking but like seriously...other than like UCA and Worlds...Im always concerned Im going to get hit with a stray bullet at big comps)

 

[REA Dad]

When I lived in Anchorage PETA was doing one of their infamous ads, right smack in the center of downtown. "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" really takes that statement to a whole new level! :eek:

Ok, sorry I got off topic..carry on :cool:

Off topic but I wanna know more about Anchorage! Don't know why but for some reason I'm fascinated with Alaska and all the Alaska reality shows on TV. haha

 

[ntlgnt1]

better question; why is like every big competition in like the most ghetto places ever (sorry for thread jacking but like seriously...other than like UCA and Worlds...Im always concerned Im going to get hit with a stray bullet at big comps)

Because most if not all convention centers are downtown in the heart of the city, which is most likely is where all the activities takes place!

 

[12stepCheermom]

Like the above poster said, that is the beach though. There are appropriate dress codes for different locations. The office? Shirt and tie, blouse and skirt. School? Casual wear. The beach? A bathing suit. The streets of an urban downtown area? .........Crop tops and micromini skirts? Probably not.

Just because we perform in a certain outfit does not mean it is appropriate once we leave the performance venue. Do you think VS models leave their fashion shows in the million dollar "Fantasy Bra" and matching underwear and parade the streets? I'm guessing not...

Gotta agree with this. I think we get desensitized to it because it's just the culture of the cheer community even though it's NOT the culture of the community at large. Inside our culture it's acceptable to be dressed like that. Outside of it, its not to those outside the sport.

Example, cheersport nationals. We're at a restaurant downtown eating dinner. I didn't pay much attention to a group from another gym because it just didn't phase me other than one of the parents who was getting sideways with the hostess because the size of their party doubled to like 30 people and they were unhappy to not be seated together. While I'm blandly looking around I realize the looks they're getting from everyone else.

That's when I looked back and realized the girls were wearing spankies.....and ONLY spankies....and sports bras with a jacket over them (although most had the jackets unzipped to below the sportsbra line). It's like walking around a restaurant in your underwear and they were absolutely unphased by it as we're their parents (and frankly I didn't even notice being in the "cheer mode" that I was). The girls we're walking through the restaurant to the bathroom in groups...I their spankies and sportsbras...in downtown Atlanta....at 10pm

 

[12stepCheermom]

I'm probably the type of person that is being referred to...

My daughter almost never wears anything but her uniform all day. She usually wants to keep it on so I let her. We would get there early with her being fully dressed. She would keep her uniform on all day and if she was cold which usually never lasted more then 5 mins she would put her warm up jacket on just like this...

But besides that my cp would wear it out to eat or whatever. We would usually come back to the competition later to see our senior 4 and my daughter would still be fully dressed. The coaches would always let her go to warmups with those kids an even go on stage to their awards. Jaylen was like their little sister and beside her being smaller then them she completely fit in. I think she wanted to keep it on when they had theirs on because she would pretend she was on sr 4.

My thing is I don't see nothing wrong with it. It's just a uniform and she is a cheerleader. I think the real problem here is everyone is referring to cheerleaders in crop tops. I see millions of kids every weekend at the mall and stores after they got done playing baseball or soccer and still in uniform..and no one is complaining about that. In reality it is no different then baseball/soccer players keeping their uniform on. So I say it's a parents choice and if I'm ok with my child like that then you should be ok with the decision I have made for my child. If you don't like it then don't let your child wear their uniform but if my baby wants to wear hers out to eat then she should be able to.

I see a lot more kids who are dressed terribly sloppy and in clothes that don't fit and that have parents that don't brush their kids hair. Although it makes me sad for these kids that have parents who don't care about their child appearance it is not my place to tell them they should dress their kids differently.

I'm thinking that society's rules don't always apply equally. While I do see baseball, football, soccer uniforms etc out at the mall etc. I don't see swimmers, wrestlers and gymnasts out in public in just their speedos, singlets or leos. I think depending on the amount of coverage a uniform has it may place it more in one category than the other.

 

[GreatWhite92]

That was my problem at worlds last year. I thought i was walking around in an underwear store because there were so many people walking around in spanks and a sports bra. My mom takes her middle school band on trips to disney all the time and can you imagine being there with a bunch of 8th grade boys with girls dressed like that EVERYWHERE! It happened last year! She ended up taking the earlier this year to ensure it wouldn't happen again and lo and behold it was UCA weekend and she said it was the worst trip she has ever taken because of how rude all the cheerleaders were. She swears shell never go to disney on another competition again and now asks me to look up dates before she plans her trips. And she has been around this for 12 years and still feels that way about bringing her middle schoolers on one of these weekends. Is that really how we want to be represented?

 

[coachbd]

better question; why is like every big competition in like the most ghetto places ever (sorry for thread jacking but like seriously...other than like UCA and Worlds...Im always concerned Im going to get hit with a stray bullet at big comps)

Maybe because it's cheaper to hire venues that are in worse areas/less central? At least that's the case here in Aus. It's getting better now (most of our big comps when held in NSW are held in the Olympic Gymnastics Centre now), but they used to be held out at these dodgy halls in Penrith... :confused:

 

[mom24girls]

My cp's gym requires you be in full uniform for awards but my cp can't wait to get out of her uniform. She says it's uncomfortable so as soon as awards are over we head to the restroom and she changes into her warm up outfit. She would love it if it was changed to everyone wearing warm ups at awards. I do think it looks better to be in full uniform for group pictures with trophies though so I don't know.....

 

[aggie1983]

I really don't understand the gyms that allow the "corruption" of the uniform. I don't have a problem with cps walking around in just their uniforms (most uniforms, some I have no idea what the gym owners were thinking,but that is another topic) IF they are in complete uniform. But, I saw girls at Battle at the Beach walking around in uni tops and skimpy shorts on the streets. Our coach would kill. He doesn't even allow the skirts to be worn over uniform warm up pants because he thinks it looks trashy. Our old tops that had high necks that had zippers at the back of the neck were not to be unzipped in public. And don't you dare walk around in the uniform and have a belly button piercing in. It is simply a matter of having pride in the uniform and representing your gym in an appropriate manner. Who in the world thinks spanks and a sports bra are appropriate attire anywhere? But this is usually where I go into my "what are the mothers thinking" mode. Do you want your cp looking like trash? This goes well with what I witnessed when I took my girls prom dress shopping and I actually heard mothers telling their teenage daughters "oh, you look so sexy" :eek: or asking the salesperson if they could get the slit a little higher or the neckline a little lower (yes, I really did hear all that.) Rant over.

 

[UEAcheerchick]

In general, I think that it's plain sad that things can't just be. Instead of being able to just enjoy the $300+ uniform and the competition etc. we have to worry about who might be watching, weather we're safe or not and so much more. Smh if only things were simpler.

 

[12stepCheermom]

I really don't understand the gyms that allow the "corruption" of the uniform. I don't have a problem with cps walking around in just their uniforms (most uniforms, some I have no idea what the gym owners were thinking,but that is another topic) IF they are in complete uniform. But, I saw girls at Battle at the Beach walking around in uni tops and skimpy shorts on the streets. Our coach would kill. He doesn't even allow the skirts to be worn over uniform warm up pants because he thinks it looks trashy. Our old tops that had high necks that had zippers at the back of the neck were not to be unzipped in public. And don't you dare walk around in the uniform and have a belly button piercing in. It is simply a matter of having pride in the uniform and representing your gym in an appropriate manner. Who in the world thinks spanks and a sports bra are appropriate attire anywhere? But this is usually where I go into my "what are the mothers thinking" mode. Do you want your cp looking like trash? This goes well with what I witnessed when I took my girls prom dress shopping and I actually heard mothers telling their teenage daughters "oh, you look so sexy" :eek: or asking the salesperson if they could get the slit a little higher or the neckline a little lower (yes, I really did hear all that.) Rant over.

Exactly how our gym rolls. You have two options, your FULL uniform or the assigned practice attire of the day (whatever shirt and short combo they say) and you shall NOT mix the two. They'll let our team warm ups go under the skirt when it's cold getting into the convention center but as soon as you're inside.....it's your full uniform OR your warm ups and assigned practice clothes. We have full unis with the turtlenecks and they also want them zipped if you're in uniform. Ive seen some sneak down the top zipper if the neck is tight but ive NEVER seen one of our kids with the skirt unzippedI think they know our coaches would kill them. No tees over uniforms, no mismatched anything, and you're competition ready for awards or you forfeit anything you might have won.

Over the last three years they've also trained our kids to do other crazy non standard things.....like stand (as a program) and applaud EVERY team in every division that wins first place. Including those that just beat you.

Basically none of the new image rules apply to us because we already do the vast majority of them. Maybe the natural hair part...some of our boys (mine included upon occasion) like to hit the red spray :) we have a blingy choice for eye makeup, but it's a choice. The coaches actually prefer the silver eyeshadow without the silver sparkly crystals over top. So if the makeup thing goes, they won't be bothered by that.

 

[bellalexi]

I hate that our gym actually allows athletes to wear Uggs with their uniform. They sell the personalized blinged out boots with the gym logo on them, which I don't mind as much, but the girls wear every style Ugg imaginable, in any and every color and I think it looks horrible! I don't understand why they allow this. Is it so horrible to wear your cheer shoes around the venue? They're pretty strict in every other aspect.

 

[Ashley]

I hate that our gym actually allows athletes to wear Uggs with their uniform. They sell the personalized blinged out boots with the gym logo on them, which I don't mind as much, but the girls wear every style Ugg imaginable, in any and every color and I think it looks horrible! I don't understand why they allow this. Is it so horrible to wear your cheer shoes around the venue? They're pretty strict in every other aspect.

For what it's worth - uggs are warmer than cheer sneakers at a convention center. I wear my uggs as long as possible, but usually with a pair of yoga pants or leggings, not just my uniform (which is shorts).