All-Star Team Moms at gyms

[cheerbear2x]

I just realized how old this post is. I was about a.. year late. B)

 

[Mrs.CheerExtreme]

ask SharkDad! he is an amazing team dad who could probably help you out! i've never heard any complaints about him!

 

[SharkDad]

I just realized how old this post is. I was about a.. year late. B)

Most of the information in this thread is appropriate every year.

Thanks Mrs. Extreme, that's very sweet especially coming from you.

 

[SharkDad]

I was just working on something else and came across a few things that might help people out.

"Team Parent Guide" - I did this to help out new team parents or give reminders to old ones from lessons I had learned

"USASF Parent Guide" - the USASF Parent Action Committe created this as a handy guide for all star parents and we updated it this year. It is very useful as a team parent to hand out and we've gotten great feedback from experienced parents as well.

PM me if you'd like a copy of either and I'll e-mail them to you.

 

[5-6-7-8]

I have a question for other team parents (or anyone technically gifted!) I have a MAC, and use Mail. Is there a way to set up a distribution group? I finally found a great app for my iPhone for sending out emails and group texts at competitions, but I would love to set up a group on my own computer. Thanks in advance!!

 

[SharkDad]

Two low-tech solutions that work on any device are to have a "test" or draft e-mail with everyone's address in it that you can "reply all" to. Be careful with the test one though because it adds to the spam count.

Another option is to use any type of document. Notes page, excel spreadsheet, word, etc with the list of all your e-mail addresses. This way you can cut and paste it into the "To" block of any e-mail (I usually used the "bcc" option to prevent people spamming each other with "reply alls"). You can also text, or email this to your phone and have it with you on the road

 

[cheerislove8]

I have a question for other team parents (or anyone technically gifted!) I have a MAC, and use Mail. Is there a way to set up a distribution group? I finally found a great app for my iPhone for sending out emails and group texts at competitions, but I would love to set up a group on my own computer. Thanks in advance!!

You have to use the separate "Address Book" app that is on your computer. You can create a group in there, then go into your email and start typing the group name into the To line, and it should work!

 

[5-6-7-8]

I just checked my "Address Book" app on my computer, and the app I bought for my iPhone already added my group in there. I am good to go now, thanks!!

 

[powerXbaby]

Our team mom made us stockings with little goodies in them before vegas this year and made us all sweat pants that said "love power" on the side like the "love pink" pants at victoria's secret. Unfortunately mine were like 4 sizes too big and just fall right off so I can't wear them...so make sure you know everyone's sizes or at least how the pants will fit haha

 

[MissBee]

I don't have anything about Team Moms, just that everytime I see this thread title I read it as "Teen Moms at gyms"

 

[Cheeranamo]

Our team mom made us stockings with little goodies in them before vegas this year and made us all sweat pants that said "love power" on the side like the "love pink" pants at victoria's secret. Unfortunately mine were like 4 sizes too big and just fall right off so I can't wear them...so make sure you know everyone's sizes or at least how the pants will fit haha

I saw those sweat pants, they were so cute!

 

[powerXbaby]

I saw those sweat pants, they were so cute!

I liked Envy's better :) They said LOVE ENVY on the side instead of power

 

[Cheeranamo]

I liked Envy's better :) They said LOVE ENVY on the side instead of power

I think those were the ones I saw, not the power ones..I just noticed some girls with the black and pink writing on them with power tops. They were very cute and followed the victoria secret "love pink" trend with some personalization :)

 

[cheerforeverever]

I'm not a team mom or mom for that matter, but I have made lots of things for my team that were "made by my mom"...LOL. She's not very crafty but I love it! Here's my list of goodies I've made/recieved:
-Team picture with decorated frame(teammates can sign the frame also)
-Team hair ribbons or team bows (hair ribbons = cheaper and easier but get the same excitement typically)
-Crazy shoelaces
-Team fleece scarf (great for competitions in winter)
-Team Knee Socks
-Team "Spa" Towel (towel with a pocket sewed on & filled with body wash/travel stuff,rolled up like a sleeping bag and tied with tuile)
-Personalized Team Shower Towel(towel with elastic and a velcro square at the top so you can wear it as a dress.Name was embroidered on it. Great for overnight stuff or camp when you have multiple cheerleaders sharing one bathroom)
-Cheek Tattoos that go with your team theme
-Mini teddy bears with felt team uniforms(felt and fabric paint uniform)
-"Magic" Spirit dust( a little jar of mixed glitters and a sticky label on it:"Sprinkle a pinch on your shoes, and good luck will appear, you just need to believe, and success will be here")
-Travel tags (SO CHEAP & EASY! I make them every season before we fly somewhere. Make a 2 by 3 design on the computer..one for the back and one for the front of the tag. I found clipart of a cheerleader doing a scale, used photoshop to make her wear our team uni, and then saved 3 versions of it(changed the hair color each time to blonde hair, brown hair, black hair). Printed them out according to how many girls of each hair color were on the team, cut them out and used double sticky tape to put both sides on cardstock. Wrote the name of the girl on their corresponding hair color tag.Then used self laminating strips from walmart to seal the tags, hole punched the top and tied a ribbon through.)
-Hershey's Candy Bar cover (make on computer, replace front with the team name and the ingredients section with team members names)
-Team pillowcases
-Team mini travel pillows(found cheap mini pillows in team color, fabric glued a big bow to it and painted the kids name on it)
-Decorated water bottles
-Team Charm for a necklace or bracelet(special if there is a special meaning to the charm)
-Team keychain(ours was a pretty key to "unlock our potential" at the first competition)
-Homemade fortune cookies(with your own team fortune of course and dipped in chocolate and team color sprinkles!)
-Team colored popcorn mixed with team M&Ms(expensive but not when you split one bag of m&m's into 36 bags with popcorn as the filler! A popcorn place by us did them for 1 dollar a kid.Yummy!)
-Door knob hangers (for hotels, but don't put names, just team and gym beacause hotels don't allow names outside doors for security reasons)
-Competition signing shirts(plain white shirts that everyone on the team signs and writes words of encouragement/inside jokes/etc....then have the kids change into them after competing for kids from other gyms to sign! We even ahd a competition for who could get the most signatures from different gyms. So fun and a great souvineer)
-Glow necklaces from the dollar section of target("it's your time to shine bright")
-LOTS of FOOD/CANDY with cheesy phrases....
(red hots=we're red hot, milkyways=we're outta this world,minty candy="mint" to be champions,blow pops=blow away the competition,pop rocks="___"rocks, strawberry candy=we're the "berry" best,pay day= do your best and it will pay off, Reese's Pieces= you're an essential piece of this team,Kisses=kiss the competition goodbye,ring pops=ring in a winning preformance,Twizzlers/licorice=rope in first,gobstoppers=nothing will stop ____today ,mini candy=there's nothing mini about our talent,swedish fish=the judges will get hooked on your preformance,cupcake=winning for you will be a piece of cake,razzle dazzle candy=dazzle the judges)

 

[SharkDad]

Those are all great ideas for others to use.

I've had a few takers on the Cheer Parents 101 and Team Parent information. They are great things for Gym owners/coaches to hand out. Let me know if anyone else wants them.