All-Star Pressure On Small Gyms

[xpressjag]

I think the pressure depends on the location. If you are in a spot that has a "name" or bigger gym within a reasonable distance, there's going to be more pressure to do well right away then if you are located further away. The pressure comes from trying to keep people in the gym. If you can't build loyalty within the program, or have competitive teams so that there's a place for the kids, you'll lose them. That whole "grass is greener" thing...of course the grass is usually the exact same shade on both sides ;)

Exactly!!!

 

[TheUltimateFan]

What am I missing here? If this is all true, why are the same 7 or 8 gyms named here in every poll, every thread? Even threads asking what feature you like about any individual gym....how many people didn't even list what they like about their own gym, just because it isn't a giant?
;)

I think a small gym can hold their own. But unless they are located in the middle of nowhere I think they have to work a lot harder to keep their athletes and make competitive teams out of those 50-100 athletes than a gym does that has 1000+ walk in the door at tryouts. It's never going to be equal effort/equal opportunity at every level.

 

[Madison Ford]

Completely agree, they just have to work that much harder and if they have an injury, its much harder to find a replacement.

yeah, the injury thing is an issue. If you have a team that really has their heart in it, they'll go far. No doubt about it. <3

 

[idrive]

There is no doubt that a larger gym has more resources when it comes to talent and typically money. There is something attractive about being associated with a larger named gym that the smaller gym cannot compete with and unfortunatley parents sometimes only look at the name and not at thier child first.

 

[Reallycoolcheermommy]

Not trying to hijack this thread- but I've always wondered why they separate small and large gyms. I totally understand small vs large teams but not small vs large gyms. I would think that there are advantages for both and like others said, if your teams are leveled correctly for their skills and size then all teams should be equal??? What am I missing? We have been in a large and small gym and I could name just as many pros vs cons for both size gyms being successful or not.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

I know somewhere in here someone said that should a small gym HAVE to compete in the small gym category when offered. I can understand from all of the points brought up in this thread that I can see the point.. a well coached team at the proper level has just as much as a chance as anyone else...

Thoughts? When you get your performance order and see you are in the "small gym" category, can you ask to be switched to the regular one? That is my question.. I don't coach all-star anymore but that thought is also on my mind!

 

[pctmom]

Conversely, how about the pressure on the athletes at a large gym. If they don't win they get ripped on Twitter, FB etc. because they are "expected" to win, with all the resources in the world. Competition is pressure, period.

 

[acxjags]

I feel the Small Gym division is un-necessary. I am a small gym (ACX) we have had strong seasons the last few years but it wasn't always like that. Going against the "Bigger" named gyms made my kids and coaches step up their game. However another reason I feel this way is......the small gym division is loaded. Most of the lower level teams in that division would whoop the bigger named gym because they dont have higher level teams so the few level 5 kids and level 4 kids they have compete on their level 2 and 3 teams which makes them SUPER strong. Where as the "Bigger" gyms use those higher level kids on the higher level teams which leaves the lower level teams a little weaker. (There are a few exceptions i.e Stingrays, Cali, Cheer Athletics, etc. to name a few) But for the most part "bigger" gyms focus on the higher level teams for their more talented kids. I think there are already too many divisions and splits. I would like to see less. I would much rather go to a comp and have 20 in my division than split it into Small A (18 or less) small B (18 or less) Small A (19-20 kids) Small A (19-20 Kids) Medium A (20-22 kids) medium B (20-22 kids). Just make it Small and Large.

I also think the term "Small Gym" is a little demeaning. It's almost like saying they are JV (when they clearly are not). No gym needs that label.

I remember when Cheercorps started out as a small gym ans they were a force to be reckoned with then ---they are still as strong, just have more kids and every year they have higher level teams. They are an amazing program and a perfect example that if one coaches and set your teams up properly ----anyone can hang with any gym big or small.

 

[acxjags]

BTW---I mean ACX is a small gym as in we only have 120 kids in Columbia, 100 in Charleston, and 30 in Myrtle Beach that are in the AS program. There are several gyms with 200-900 all stars. We are not even close to that. (We are not considered a small gym by USASF. Just wanted to clarify.)

 

[hopskipandjump]

Small gym ECM - 45 participants ages 4 to 14 that make up 4 teams - Tiny, Mini, Youth and Junior. And an Open team which fluctuates numbers from week to week, but let's just say 20 at any given time. We are a true small gym. And frankly, there is quite a difference in how we field our teams against those with 100 plus athletes....not that I mind going against the big names, as we are getting there in holding our own.

 

[gymcatmomx2]

As I have mentioned in several threads with regards to small gyms competing against large gyms... in Texas the high schools are separated by divisions based on school population. The pool of talent that is available to a school with over 5000 students versus a school that has less than 1000 would never be considered competitive let alone fair. A 2A football program would never compete against a 5A football program for obvious reasons. That's not saying that a 2A school can't beat a 5A school...I'm sure that can happen but the odds are against them. It's clearly a numbers game and the higher the number the better the odds.

 

[Reallycoolcheermommy]

Small gym ECM - 45 participants ages 4 to 14 that make up 4 teams - Tiny, Mini, Youth and Junior. And an Open team which fluctuates numbers from week to week, but let's just say 20 at any given time. We are a true small gym. And frankly, there is quite a difference in how we field our teams against those with 100 plus athletes....not that I mind going against the big names, as we are getting there in holding our own.

Wow! To me, that seems like a lot of teams for so few athletes.
This must be the part I don't understand. It would seem to me that you are spread really thin and to make that many teams with so few athletes, you would need almost everyone to cross or only have 10 person teams? When we were at a small gym we only had 3 teams (I think, mini, Jr and LrgSr) and that was having approx 65ish athletes. (There was a 4th Rec/satellite team that was large and was made up of POP W's after their season was over. They brought in additional income but weren't part of the reg program and couldn't compete on the regular teams) There is a small gym that some of my cps' friends cheer at now that has 2 or 3 teams. They basically end up with teams that look like this: strong Sr3, with maybe only 1-2 sr aged girls with mostly Jr and youth but all strong 3's(most are probably 4's) and then they might have a strong Jr2 with mostly mini, youth and a couple Jr.

Those types of teams do/can give large gyms a REAL run for their money! Large gym teams are usually closer to the actual level and age of the division. Not many jr teams with Mini flyers and such or level4 tumblers on lvl3 teams at the larger gyms. Large gym coaches can also be spread thinner when having to coach and choreograph for so many teams. (Although it looks like with a scenario like yours, where you have so many teams and fewer athletes, I can now imagine a small gym coach being spread too thin also.)

I guess I still am missing something about how the small gym division is helpful in giving an advantage.


Reallycoolcheermommy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hopskipandjump]

Wow! To me, that seems like a lot of teams for so few athletes.
This must be the part I don't understand. It would seem to me that you are spread really thin and to make that many teams with so few athletes, you would need almost everyone to cross or only have 10 person teams? When we were at a small gym we only had 3 teams (I think, mini, Jr and LrgSr) and that was having approx 65ish athletes. (There was a 4th Rec/satellite team that was large and was made up of POP W's after their season was over. They brought in additional income but weren't part of the reg program and couldn't compete on the regular teams) There is a small gym that some of my cps' friends cheer at now that has 2 or 3 teams. They basically end up with teams that look like this: strong Sr3, with maybe only 1-2 sr aged girls with mostly Jr and youth but all strong 3's(most are probably 4's) and then they might have a strong Jr2 with mostly mini, youth and a couple Jr.

Those types of teams do/can give large gyms a REAL run for their money! Large gym teams are usually closer to the actual level and age of the division. Not many jr teams with Mini flyers and such or level4 tumblers on lvl3 teams at the larger gyms. Large gym coaches can also be spread thinner when having to coach and choreograph for so many teams. (Although it looks like with a scenario like yours, where you have so many teams and fewer athletes, I can now imagine a small gym coach being spread too thin also.)

I guess I still am missing something about how the small gym division is helpful in giving an advantage.


Reallycoolcheermommy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I actually don't care about having a small gym division. I sometimes think that is a tougher division!
Breakdown: Tiny (6)
Mini (14)
Youth (20) 5 crossovers from Mini and 6 crossovers from Junior so as you can see, without the crossovers,
Youth would have been a team of 9 (ALL NEW)
Jr. (18) 1 crossover from Mini, 6 from Youth

I really hate crossovers BUT last year, we had a tiny, mini and large junior. It was tough giving attention to some girls who needed more development on that junior team. They were SOOO young. So, this year we broke them out in order to really focus on each girl. It has made a huge difference in their confidence and how we place.

 

[Reallycoolcheermommy]

I actually don't care about having a small gym division. I sometimes think that is a tougher division!
Breakdown: Tiny (6)
Mini (14)
Youth (20) 5 crossovers from Mini and 6 crossovers from Junior so as you can see, without the crossovers,
Youth would have been a team of 9 (ALL NEW)
Jr. (18) 1 crossover from Mini, 6 from Youth

I really hate crossovers BUT last year, we had a tiny, mini and large junior. It was tough giving attention to some girls who needed more development on that junior team. They were SOOO young. So, this year we broke them out in order to really focus on each girl. It has made a huge difference in their confidence and how we place.

1. I really appreciate you taking your valuable time to explain and show these details as a great example of some of the logistical challenges that some small or newer gyms may face.

2. I really think you must be an incredible business owner/coach by making your focus on whats best for each kid that you have and all the extra effort and work that it takes to do this!

3. I am never envious of the owners and coaches during tryouts and team selections!!!! The logistics of trying to choose and distribute the talent to make all your teams equally balanced and strong (while trying to make everyone somewhat happy) has got to be one of the most difficult parts of your job!!!

Good Luck to you and all your athletes!

I agree that those small gym divisions are really tough and usually have more competition in them too!



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