High School Urgent Advice Needed

[Official OWECheer]

I don't know how you could possibly uphold a "contract" at the high school level. There is no AD or Principal in my area that is going to tell a parent that their kid HAS to cheer even though they have blown off homework or are doing poorly in school because they signed a contract at the beginning of the season.

Hence why contracts also require a kid to maintain a certain GPA in order to stay on a team.

 

[Tealxblack25]

Thanks for everyones input, this is for my middle school rec team but literally every time I post in that thread I get nothing lol..

We only have 1 more competition left and 2 weeks to practice so I am waiting until tomorrow to see if she shows up to practice and if not I will be bumping someone up.

 

[NJ Coach]

Thank you for the advice guys! She ended up competing but her mother is not happy with me.
She does appreciate the "patronizing guilt trip" about a parenting decision.

She said its sad that one person can ruin something for the whole team. That simply isnt true - ruined isnt the correct word. Its just that they would suffer and be stressed out. Its actually a compliment because her daughter is such a great cheerleader.

Unfortunately, because she was allowed to compete yesterday she is pulling her from the next competition as a punishment but luckily we have 2 weeks until the next comp. Still stressful and wrong but it gives me breathing room.

I actually had this happen to me a few years ago, and convinced mom to let kid to compete in the comp that was in a few days, in return for not competing at the next comp so that I would have time to rework the routine. Worked out for both, I didn't have to stress over the comp, and kid still got punished.

 

[Labegg]

Hmmmm here is a different perspective. School district/state has a minimum grade policy for athletes to be eligible play/compete. (Missing assignments lowers grade)

HS cheer coach can choose as many or as few cheerleaders as she wants to be on the team. HS cheer coach chooses 12, because she likes small teams. Comes times for grade check/eligibilty and guess what? 2 cheerleaders don't make the grades. Competition is in another week now the whole team suffers because the 2 cheerleaders couldn't be bothered with doing homework AND because cheer coach didn't bother to consider that grades are a "thing" and there is no rearranging a routine with 10. In this instance it was also the coaches fault for not having a plan B.

Also, in the scenario, the coach has to be a school employee and has access to the grades, maybe coach should have been checking to make sure cheerleaders were grade eligible regularly?

They are a team...if one isn't pulling their weight, then yes the WHOLE team suffers, it is the nature of a team.

 

[Twinklestars]

Hmmmm here is a different perspective. School district/state has a minimum grade policy for athletes to be eligible play/compete. (Missing assignments lowers grade)

HS cheer coach can choose as many or as few cheerleaders as she wants to be on the team. HS cheer coach chooses 12, because she likes small teams. Comes times for grade check/eligibilty and guess what? 2 cheerleaders don't make the grades. Competition is in another week now the whole team suffers because the 2 cheerleaders couldn't be bothered with doing homework AND because cheer coach didn't bother to consider that grades are a "thing" and there is no rearranging a routine with 10.

Ouch!

Is cheer a sport at your school/in your state? No alternates with grades to be brought in?

 

[Labegg]

It's Texas so not a "sport" just yet. But the school districts does specifically state that it follows ALL UIL rules for any sport or fine arts EC. No alternates to bring in, just poor planning on the coaches part IMO. There is always a cheerleader or two that doesn't make grades.

 

[Twinklestars]

It's Texas so not a "sport" just yet. But the school districts does specifically state that it follows ALL UIL rules for any sport or fine arts EC. No alternates to bring in, just poor planning on the coaches part IMO. There is always a cheerleader or two that doesn't make grades.

That just bites. Our team overall has the grades, but they don't compete. They have issues pulling homecoming routines together and have a coach that thinks they don't need to practice during basketball season.

Will they allow extra work to be done to pull up grades or is that grade check the final say?

 

[Labegg]

The grade check is the final say until the next grade check, I think is it every 3 weeks and I think there is a "7 day grace period". There are a lot of rules (and loopholes) ie. if you were passing the last 9 weeks but failing this 9 weeks you are still eligible. It's not a issue that we have had to deal with in our family so it is not completely clear to me. Just know that these 2 cheerleaders were unable to make it work.

 

[Doctorcheer]

I don't think you should place the blame on the coach. Sometimes the number thing is an integrity of this cheer squad thing as in if we add more people we are really suffering on talent. Also, it's not her job to baby kids and check up on them. It is the kids responsibility to know their grades. Its all on the kids. The coach should rework or create a new routine with 10 people