All-Star Tiny Level 1 Question

[rdavis4]

I'm just curious: what does your gym's tiny team typically look like age wise? My CP started cheer last year at 5 and in Kindergarten. Her team was small, with 6 girls. Four were in K, two were in pre-k. Every competition we went too it seemed like the tiny teams were so much younger than our team and we smashed the teams at every competition but 2.

We changed gyms after the season due to several reasons, but the tiny team at our new gym is very similar. With the age change, all of the girls (13) are 6 and in 1st grade, with the exception of one 5 year old. Of the 13, only one is brand new to cheer. The others have been cheering 2-3 years.

However, I have been lurking around the boards (still so much to learn!) and noticed that it seems most tiny teams are in the lower age range with a lot less difficulty in their routine. Our gym actually split all of the tiny age kids; she has a show team that is made up of kiddos 4-6 (the six year old has never cheered before). I'm just curious to see if tiny teams are still not as competitive and younger or with the new age changes if they will look more competitive and be made up of older kids this year.

I really feel for the six/seven year olds who are on a team with 3/4 year olds

 

[123jump4!]

I've seen everything from super sharp tiny teams that look better than some mini and youth teams... to "please don't pee on the mat" type performances. I'm also wondering if tiny teams will generally look better this season with the new top age.

 

[SL&AM]

When CP was on Tiny's at our original gym all of the girl's were 5 years old when the age cut off was 5. Though CP was 'cheer age' 4 because of her birthday. I would say their routine was in the middle range of difficulty and they placed all over the place all season long.

I don't count when she did half-season Tiny because half-season cheer isn't full season cheer, but on level of difficulty their routine had harder stunts than she had ever done, but an easier dance and transitions.

This year we're at a new gym and they do a tiny exhibition and tiny competitive model so that all ages can be included while being given different levels of difficulty. I truly believe Tiny's this year is going to be largely different because you can stack the Tiny team with 6 year olds and 7 year olds with the right birthday.

My CP turned 7 in September and had we stayed where she did half-season right after we moved would have been on a Tiny Exhibition team with 3-4 year olds. I didn't need to say no to that because she said it herself and refused to cheer there; she had me e-mail the coach before the first practice after crying over the reveal party. That gym didn't even field a Mini team at all so our options were limited and I found a place for her to move to and she was placed on a mini team.

 

[BlockHead]

We have 2 tiny competitive squads at our gym. I think they both have about 14 kids each. I am not sure of their ages, but I think they are all 4 and 5 year olds.

 

[King]

CPs tiny team is 5 and 6 yos. CP is the youngest in the gym (second year in a row). The gym tends to put a floor on the team to make sure the kids are age appropriate and ready for competition.

 

[NerdMobile]

Our gym has two tiny team- one that seems younger and new to the skills and the other that seems older and with some skills/ability already showing. They are both so incredibly cute! We also have a mommy and me team with uniforms and a routine- I can't wait to see them on the mat.

 

[rdavis4]

I hope that's the trend we see this year! We are in Kansas, so the comps. we go to either usually don't have many tiny teams, or they have tiny teams with younger kids. I would say our team is definitely still in that beginner stage, in terms of the way the gym runs it's program, but still fairly advanced compared to what I saw from other gyms last year.

Our stunts seem easier to me than the stunts we did last year, but we do have a pretty impressive pyramid. However, this year my daughter is learning all of those little basics that make a big difference and that's important to me! She has all of her level 1 tumbling skills on both legs (required at our gym), yet still has to work on things like not putting her hand down on the mat from a fr, etc. Little things that are a bad habit that were never addressed at previous gym. I'm so thankful the owner placed her on tiny rather than mini to fix that stuff. Cp was upset at first, but she's realized that she gets to do harder things in the routine and is up front more, so she's happy. First competition is Saturday, so we'll see how it goes!

 

[emo_wifey]

Last year was CP's first year and we just had a tiny prep team. They had nine girls with the oldest turning 6 in I think October and the youngest turning 3 in September. Their routine wasn't as difficult as some teams that they competed against but they won all but one competition.

This year we have a second location so we have a tiny prep at one (CP's team again) and a tiny all star at the other. Ours is 3-6 and again, not a very difficult routine. Even less difficult than last year so I'm not expecting much from competitions. Not sure about the other location's age range but I know they have quite a few who are in kindergarten and a much more difficult routine than ours.

 

[purplecheer]

I think tiny teams should be all about giving your best, even if it's not that good. If you have very advanced tinies you might want to put them on a mini team.