High School Rules Regarding All Star Cheer And Hs Cheer

[HighSchoolCheerCoach]

Hi. I am a high school cheer coach and was wondering what your HS policy is regarding your cheerleaders who also do all stars. I have several who do both but only one who wants to miss the HS games/practices for all stars. She and her mom feels I should cater my practices around her all star schedule. I feel HS should come 1st. Please let me know your school policy so I can assure myself I am being fair. Thanks!

 

[cheermomforever]

Here it is the coaches choice if they can do both, luckily our AL coach figures it out for those who do. Few 2 day comps we have had fill ins the first day.

 

[MaineStar234]

Hi. I am a high school cheer coach and was wondering what your HS policy is regarding your cheerleaders who also do all stars. I have several who do both but only one who wants to miss the HS games/practices for all stars. She and her mom feels I should cater my practices around her all star schedule. I feel HS should come 1st. Please let me know your school policy so I can assure myself I am being fair. Thanks!

In Maine, the governing body of sports (MPA I think) has rules in place that prevent an athlete from missing a school sport commitment (even cheering at a game) for anything for a club sport. I wasn't aware of this rule until my senior year when a few fellow all star teammates weren't going to be able to make our extra all star practice because of a game they had to cheer at. My all star gym was always really good about scheduling practices around all of the local schools' practices and such because otherwise she'd lose a huge proportion of her senior aged kids, and the gym owner also happened to be a retired high school coach so she supported the kids being able to do both. So in a nutshell: in my state school sport is required to be first priority.


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[quitthedrama]

In our area it is coach's choice. Our state has the same rule as Maine for high school sports but since cheer isn't considered a high school sport here it is easy to get around the rule. Are you a new coach? From a personal perspective, I have no problem if a high school coach sets rules one way or another as far as all stars being able to cheer for their team or not, but if you are taking over a program and the previous coach had no issues with it and compromised with schedules, then it is unfair to come in and change that overnight. My daughter experienced this her junior year and the new coach was a complete jerk about it when she took over. You can benefit a lot from having all star cheerleaders on your high school team, but compromise on both the athlete and coach's part is the key to making it work!

 

[FTSP]

Our rules are the same as Maine's and are strictly enforced for all sports not just cheer. All star has to be secondary to high school cheer period.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

State allows our kids to do both.

I am learning to share better (I admittedly haven't always been good with it) but my biggest request is that you be honest and communicate with me EARLY what your schedule is like.

If you tell me beforehand (as in, the beginning of the season) that (example) you will be at US Finals on this day and need to miss this basketball game, I have no problem excusing it.

Don't tell me "Well, we do all stars but I won't EVER need to miss a game, so don't worry!" in April, then wait until basketball season to say "Oh hey I need to miss like 4 games because of Friday practices for Cheersport, sorry!" That's not fair to me because you most likely KNEW your gym was doing Cheersport in June.

My biggest rule is that all stars can't interfere with our comps or camp. You need to be able to be present for those if you want to try out.

I have good relationships with gyms around us, so HS practice is such that it starts and ends before the gyms start practice so I fully expect my girls to be at practice (we rarely go past 4:30/5 and all star practices near us start anywhere from 6 to 7:30.) If you need to miss or be late, use your demerits. If there is a repeated issue or some extenuating circumstance, it's okay to talk to me about it (ex: If you're snowed in at an out-of-state comp, there is nothing I can do about it. Just make sure you call or something so I know what's going on.)

I also have a rule re: missing games. This is school cheer. If you tell me you can NEVER cheer a game because of all stars, you're not really doing school cheer. You're doing all stars with some pep rallies and comps in it. All star kids are permitted to miss 2 games per season (2 basketball and 2 football.) Any additional games missed will earn demerits, unless you talked to me earlier in the season about games you needed to miss beyond that. (Our sports teams are not such that they make playoffs, so we do not have a ton of games.)

My biggest rule is that whether you're present or not, you're responsible for knowing the material. Ex: Even if you missed 3 summer practices, you still need to know the material to be ready for the game.

So in summary, advance notice and communication = EVERYTHING.

 

[HighSchoolCheerCoach]

Thank you so much for your replies. This is my 3rd year coaching. The coach prior did not allow the kids to miss HS for all stars but I have this freshman come in this year and her mother thinks I should just let her miss whenever without consequences. My daughter also cheers for HS and does all stars as do 3 other girls. No one makes a stink but this one kid. I try telling her HS is not any less than all stars but just different. She thinks otherwise. Hopefully this next coming season will go better than the one that just ended! Thanks again guys. Great advice.

 

[quitthedrama]

Thank you so much for your replies. This is my 3rd year coaching. The coach prior did not allow the kids to miss HS for all stars but I have this freshman come in this year and her mother thinks I should just let her miss whenever without consequences. My daughter also cheers for HS and does all stars as do 3 other girls. No one makes a stink but this one kid. I try telling her HS is not any less than all stars but just different. She thinks otherwise. Hopefully this next coming season will go better than the one that just ended! Thanks again guys. Great advice.

If that is the case, the parent and student are wrong. You can't please everyone!

 

[shorttpai]

For us, the allstar coaches will give a little if the high school coaches give a little to create a balance. If there are 4 collisions in games/practices, the girl will miss 2 AS practices and 2 HS practices. However, you are not allowed to miss the 2 practices before a competition or you get kicked off the team.

 

[AngelsMum24]

Also look at your state guidelines. Not all states consider High School Cheer a sport (most don't) and it is actually a club. Therefore the rules preventing them from playing a club sport don't apply.

 

[czy4cheer]

My daughter's HS football cheer team has quite few AS and it is told to them that HS practices take priority over AS. My daughter opted to cheer in HS for both football and basketball over going back to her AS team - which surprised me :)

 

[CheerBank]

My daughter's HS football cheer team has quite few AS and it is told to them that HS practices take priority over AS. My daughter opted to cheer in HS for both football and basketball over going back to her AS team - which surprised me :)

But I am sure delighted your bank account!

 

[ARajamin]

Here the kids can do both if the coach allows it... I personally let them do it and just ask that they give me their schedule early. I know a lot of coaches in the area don't allow them to but I coach all stars as well so I have a different perspective. Plus we have a 51% policy at our school which means they need to be a school cheerleader 51% of the time. As long as they make all practices and mandatory events we let them participate in other activities. We have volleyball players, ASB leaders, speech and debate champs, dance team members, and a worlds cheerleader on our teams... It's hard but I like the diversity.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

Here the kids can do both if the coach allows it... I personally let them do it and just ask that they give me their schedule early. I know a lot of coaches in the area don't allow them to but I coach all stars as well so I have a different perspective. Plus we have a 51% policy at our school which means they need to be a school cheerleader 51% of the time. As long as they make all practices and mandatory events we let them participate in other activities. We have volleyball players, ASB leaders, speech and debate champs, dance team members, and a worlds cheerleader on our teams... It's hard but I like the diversity.

Do you compete w/ the high school team? If so, how serious? Local/state/national? I ask b/c that is a HUGE balance of people and we would never have a full team practice if I was that lenient.

 

[ARajamin]

Do you compete w/ the high school team? If so, how serious? Local/state/national? I ask b/c that is a HUGE balance of people and we would never have a full team practice if I was that lenient.

Yes we do compete. I have a JV, Varsity, and Competition team is pulled from these two groups. We do not travel however we do compete once a month roughly (level can vary depending on the year). Its a balancing act but we make it very clear up front that practices and competitions are mandatory. I just do my best not to sign up for competitions on dates that there is something else huge going on. The hardest schedule to coordinate is my all stars but we've done ok. Luckily the kids at our school know when their competitions are wayyyy in advance. The 51% policy does require I keep a detailed calendar but we essentially get together with each cheerleader and come up with a monthly calendar of events that they must attend (i.e. if they have to miss x football game they need to go in uniform to y water polo tournament and help out). It encourages them to participate in every area of school.