Competitive Cheerleading for my 5 year old?

[tommygirl79]

I need opinions on this one. I posted this on the Community Board too.

We live in a small town (about 5000 or so) and a bunch of my DD5's friends (from both school and church or both) were in a new cheerleading group this past year. I was really wanting to get Aubrey involved because I thought it would be a fun thing to get her out and exercise, be with her friends, etc. So I talked to one of the moms and got her signed up for the team whose season starts again in June (after their last competition in May). One of the moms was just over and had heard that Aubrey was going to "tryout". She said that they were actually going to have tryouts this year to see what level the girls (ages 4-2nd grade) would be in. That's fine and good with me. But then she said that they really want to step up the competitive edge of the groups and do more competitions and stuff. She also listed all of their costs - $50 a week for practices (cheerleading and tumbling - an hour each to make a 2 hour practice one night a week) which is fine with me. However, their uniform cost is getting me. It's $150 for the uniform, $5 for their bloomers, $13 for a curly hairpiece, $40 for shoes, $5.00 for a hair ribbon and like $5.00 for socks. That's $218.00 for JUST their uniform. Then you add in hotel costs and competition stuff and it will be really expensive (for us at least). I have a kind of a problem with this amount but even that I could handle if I felt it was justified and would be great for my kid.

My problem, however, besides just the money is this: Do you all think it's necessary, good, okay or even detrimental for 5 year old girls having to be THIS focused and THIS competitive at this early of an age. A big part of me is wanting her to still be my little girl (Is that TOO much to ask this early in her life????) and not have to take something THAT serious. Competitions are mandatory (I understand the need for commitment - that's not the problem) and I'm afraid that - knowing 5 year olds - that my daughter might get into it, we'll pay all this money and make the commitment and she will either hate it or love it so much that we are "stuck" in this forever!

So, what does everyone think? We're really struggling with this one. We want the best for our girls, but sometimes keeping up the Jones' might not be the message we want to send to our girls this early in life.

Sorry, so long...I'm really struggling with this one.

[bjscheel]

I would skip it! I'm not too into committing my kids to activities anyway. My niece is huge into dance and it consumes their weekends and lots of money! I do think that 5 years old is too young. Just let her play and do her own thing.

For my 7yo DD school and church are about the extent of what she can handle. She feels like she is not home enough as it is. I let her do the 2 week session of drill team that the Y puts on and that was fun for her but not a huge commitment. Maybe you can find something else that's not so much time and money?

[katyjeka]

Hi! Our oldest DD swims for USA swimming, and has for two years. She just turned 11 and is having the time of her life. I've always tried to keep my opinions about this subject to myself, but you asked....I understand swimming and cheerleading are not the same thing, however we will not let our 2 youngest DD's compete in anything until they are ALOT older. I know alot of children that are "burnt" out by the age of 10, by keeping our daughter out of swimming until she was 9 1/2, she is so excited about her meets and even practice. I've heard many parents comment that they started to young and are paying for it now. Jess, our daughter, has caught up with the kids her age, that have been swiming for years, and has actually passed many of them. I believe this is because she was permitted to do what every 4,5,6 etc.. year old should do, play and have fun. Janice

[Mickey'snewestfan]

To be honest, I would skip it. I don't see any need to push that level of competition on children that young.

In contrast to that my son joined a soccer "team" at that age. The uniform was free with registration ($35 for the season) and consisted of a brightly colored Tshirt. I also had to buy shin guards -- $15 but I could have found them for less on ebay. The teams were created to include a balance of kids who had played before and kids who hadn't. They met once a week and spent 30 minutes "practicing" followed by a snack break and then a 30 minute game against another team. They actually played two small games -- half of DS's team against half the other team on one field, the other halves on the other field. There were no position, no goalies, and noone kept score. The highlight of the year was the time DS got the ball, dribbled it all the way down the mini-field and kicked a goal! Everyone cheered and no one pointed out to him that it was the other team's goal.

He enjoyed getting exercise, feeling like a big kid and making new friends. I enjoyed the sunshine and seeing my kid's smile. I really think that's all you need at that age. There will be plenty of time for competition down the road.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[jmhkd]

Doesn't matter who has this opinion or that. You know your child best. The biggest thing to consider in it all is "Does your daughter want to do it?" That is the thing that should matter the most. Unless of course it would break the family economically.

[Bird-Mom]

IMO, I would pass. I think that is way too much money and pressure for a 5 year old. My dd is 4, and I couldn't imagine her doing that next year. How does your dd feel about it? How about a dance class or town/rec center soccer league?

[Rai's Mommy]

Agree to skipping. I remember being in Irish step dancing when I was little and the pressure of competing took the fun out of an activity that I had been really excited about. Really shook my confidence at a young age and I'll personally be avoiding these type of activities until DD is older.

[Schmeck]

It depends - how are you about making commitments? Would you be willing to give it a full year? Would your daughter, even if she didn't like it? Sounds like they want to be serious about it! Is it something that you can bow out of and not cause problems?

Also, how safe is it? Do they use mats? How dangerous are the tricks? Cheerleading is the most dangerous sport at our local high school, beacause they are too dumb to use mats... :rolleyes: I can't believe they can get away without them, but they don't use them at rallies. Maybe they just pull them out for competitions. Anyways, if you think it's done safely, and you and your daughter want to make the commitment, I'd say go ahead and try it if you can afford it.

My DD, now 14, did competitive gymnastics at that age - preteam, 2 hours a week to start with. She loved it!

[PrincessNED]

Sorry I know Cheerleading is a big thing in the state but...

COMPETITIVE CHEERLEADING FOR 5 YR OLDS :sad2:

What do they cheer for??

" go elmo go " ?

" juice box, juice box , yeah yeah yeah , I didn't spill on my shirt today"


I'm all for kids getting out and being active but at 5 there's no need to compete. Heck you might as well enter em in a beauty pagent then.



Go ahead I fully expect some :furious:

[PrincessMommyof2]

Heck you might as well enter em in a beauty pagent then.



Go ahead I fully expect some :furious:
No flameage from me. I agree. Unless it's your daughter's choice and she understands the complete package (the stress on perfection, the cliques, the pressure for physical stature), then maybe you could look into an alternative, like a dance class. My DD was in dance class and it was structured, but not competitive, so she loved it. :yay: She actually approached me yesterday and is in the bargaining process to take another dance clase. :banana: Now I've just got to come up with an appropriate goal for her to reach! ;)

[plutolovr]

Cheerleading is a great thing for girls. My daughter cheered competitively since she was five. She stopped when she entered college. Cheerleading stresses teamwork more than any other sport I think. The girls won't feel the pressure, they're just having fun. :Pinkbounc
And getting the girls used to the tumbling and stunting at a young age is great because they don't exhibit much fear at that age. When they get older, 7 or 8, the fear usually sets in and they can have mental blocks when learning to tumble and stunt.

As far as the costs, get involved, start fundraisers. My daughter always fundraised, paid for most of her trips. As far as the uniforms, try to get a sponsor. Sometimes sponsors will pay for uniforms. Shoes you're on your own, bloomers also. We had a mom make our team's bloomers because they were "special". If you can't get a sponsor, then have a uniform buy-back program. So when your daughter either grows out of that uniform, or leaves the squad, the team will buy back the uniform at a set price.

My daughter's team didn't have to buy uniforms, we had a sponsor, but we had to buy warmup suits and practice uniforms duffle bags. Didn't need hair pieces. They fall off during competition, we just curled the hair. Also, have the team buy in bulk. If they purchases sneaks, socks, bloomers, etc. from a cheerleading supply company, they usually discount for large orders. Parents can get together at practices and make hair bows. I always did this and it was fun. Cuts the costs down. Find a wholesaler for ribbon.

But please stress to people running the program that they need to look into fundraising opportunities for the girls. It really does help a lot.

:cheer2: :cheer2:

[tommygirl79]

Doesn't matter who has this opinion or that. You know your child best. The biggest thing to consider in it all is "Does your daughter want to do it?" That is the thing that should matter the most. Unless of course it would break the family economically.

With all due respect, I don't base all of my decisions on whether or not my 5 year old WANTS to do it. That's why I'm called the parent. At 5 years old, they do NOT have the reasoning abilities to know what is "right" or "wrong" for them all of the time. I mean, my 5 year old REALLY wants to live at WDW. I'm thinking that's not happening. She would really like to eat pizza and chips for every meal but that's obviously not the best thing for her. I think this attitude of "If the child wants it/wants to do it, then we'll do it!" without consideration of the whole picture is what is hurting kids this age - they getting whatever they want everytime they want it. :confused3

I didn't mean to flame and maybe you didn't mean your statement like this but this is a subject near and dear to my heart and probably the reason why I first asked it in the first place. :)

[HockeyDadof2]

I took the statement to mean make sure the child wants to do it and that it isn't one of those situations where the mom wants it.

[new_mouser]

In the back of my mind, it seems like there is something else to consider besides whether or not your daughter wants to do this. The fact that some of the moms want to make this team super-competitive leads me to believe they will be those horrid parents. You know the ones I'm talking about. While Aubrey may view this as something fun to do, one of the other parents may take this cheerleading thing a bit too seriously and end up taking all the fun out of it. Cheerleading - or any other activity at the age of 5 - should be fun and something to look forward to.

What I would suggest is seeing if they could divide the girls by ages. Let the older girls compete and keep the younger ones on a recreational level.

[Cynt]

What do they cheer for??

" go elmo go " ?

" juice box, juice box , yeah yeah yeah , I didn't spill on my shirt today"



:rotfl2: :cheer2: :rotfl2: :cheer2: :rotfl2: :cheer2: :rotfl2:

[Cynt]

With all due respect, I don't base all of my decisions on whether or not my 5 year old WANTS to do it. That's why I'm called the parent. At 5 years old, they do NOT have the reasoning abilities to know what is "right" or "wrong" for them all of the time. I mean, my 5 year old REALLY wants to live at WDW. I'm thinking that's not happening. She would really like to eat pizza and chips for every meal but that's obviously not the best thing for her. I think this attitude of "If the child wants it/wants to do it, then we'll do it!" without consideration of the whole picture is what is hurting kids this age - they getting whatever they want everytime they want it. :confused3

I didn't mean to flame and maybe you didn't mean your statement like this but this is a subject near and dear to my heart and probably the reason why I first asked it in the first place. :)

Diddo, Diddo, Diddo.

[Mom to Jordan]

So glad to see you making the decision and not a five year old. Of course her feelings count but this is too big a commitment to let her decide. I really think that 5 is too young to get into this type of commitment. Too much stress for EVERYONE in the family. DS has friends that play tounament ball and they are always missing parties, church etc because of the games. I too worry about the dangers involved. I would look for a low key, fun cheerleading class if you daughter wants to and just try that for now. YOur local YMCA is a good place to look. In our area we have UPWARD Bound. It is a Christian sports association that also offers cheerleading but keeps everything in moderation. MY DN did that program and loves it.

You are smart to question this and you will know what is right for your child. AND remember it is ok to say no even if she begs to do it!!!!!!

Jordnas' mom

[XYSRUS]

My oldest son has been in USA swimming for 5 years, swims on a rec. league and plays baseball for the community. Every coach thinks that their sport should take precident. It's hard on team sports b/c everyone does count on each other to make up a good team. We just don't let the sports run our lives. We decide which meets to swim in and when and which ball games will fit in our schedule and let the coach know beforehand. Every sport is expensive! I've found that out after a while. Just let your little one know she is there to have fun, not always win. That said, I do make my kids finish a season and not quit. If they don't want to go back to a team, they don't have to, but they may :teeth: not abandon their original commitment. The sports programs these days are horribly competative...more the parents than the kids. Stay out of the politics and just have fun. And above all, if momma ain't happy, ain't noone happy. Keep it real.

[littleladykaty]

I started cheering competitively when I was just four years old...mind you I am from Texas where cheerleading is practically mandatory for girls! (I also did pageants!! :rotfl: ) Cheerleading IS expensive, especially competitive squads. You just have to accept it as a fact of the sport. I will say that As a small girl I really DID enjoy cheerleading...it was a lot of fun and very social...I continued to cheer competitively all through middle school, high school and college...ESPN people!!! Cheered professionally for four years...GO SEAHAWKS!!! I was DEEP into it. Now that I'm a grown up...well sort of...(and a social woker) and coaching a high school squad and a middle school squad, I am seeing a lot of the Pee Wee squads at the competitions. I was a little shocked to hear the coaches shouting "STICK IT, YOU HOLD THAT ASHLEY! HOLD IT OR YOU ARE DOING 20 PUSHUPS"...stuff like that and worse...stuff you hear from hardcore teen squad coaches...I was also a little shocked at the direction to "flirt with those judges, pretend they are a boy you like, bat those eyelashes..." WHAT?! These are 4 and 5 year olds!!!! It rather disgusts me when the sport of cheerleading is turned into a "flirt fest" especially for little girls! I mean you hear that stuff at pageants but then all you are being judged on is how you look. Cheerleading IS a lot about presentation and personality, but it is a SPORT and you are judged more on your athletic abilities and precision than you are anything else...and the PeeWee squads seem to be relying much more on the pagentry than the athleticism. I realize that young girls aren't all that athletic anyhow and they ARE super cute and that is part of it, but it just flat grosses me out to think of little girls being told to FLIRT with the judges. It demeans them. I think parents need to be VERY careful when putting their young girls on a competitive squad. You need to watch a couple of practices and make sure that your little girls are not being put into a situation where they need to even know what "FLIRT" means. A little pressure is okay, but massive pressure to win at very young ages will burn them out quickly. It needs to be fun at the 5 year old level and not so much about the pressure. They are learning teamwork and social appropriateness with peers...but just be sure that the fun element is there and that there are not inappropriate concepts being taught to your kindergartener! Just my two cents!!! :cheer2: :cheer2:

[carone0318]

This is just my opinion, coming from a mother of a competitive gymnast:

If you are not sure of the commitment and the cost (can understand the uniform cost - dd's competition leotard was $150) you may not want to do it yet. But if you think that in a year or two that she would like to do cheerleading, maybe just enroll her in the tumbling class. For cheerleading, where girls start off behing the other if they start later is the tumbling. Most gymnastics gyms offer tumbling classes geared soley for cheerleading, but at the tender age of 4 she might have to settle for a regular gymnastics class. If she shows talent, they might want to recruit her for the gymnastics team ;) Trust me, if you think cheerleading is expensive, don't go the route of gymnastics - more money!

[Schmeck]

But gymnastics isn't as expensive as figure skating and horseback riding :rotfl: My girls have done the first two, (think $500 for a pair of figure skates that DD grew out of in less than a year) and I was heavily into the horses... Too bad money doesn't grow out of horse poo and zambonis!

[Tink1999]

I don't know where you live and what kind of options you have. IMHO the early school years k-4 are when they do the town rec programs, or Boys/Girls club, YMCA, etc. to get exposed to different things. Along the way they will like and dislike activities, and eventually decide on one or a couple to focus on. It may be competitive cheering, soccer, dance, softball, chorus, scouting, painting, etc.

If you put them in something very competitive too young and then they burn out, it will be more difficult to pick up something new that they've never been exposed to later on.

These moms that want the stepped up competition for 5 year olds sound pretty scary. When they were teens they were probably like the mean girls on "Carrie".

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I don't know where you live and what kind of options you have. IMHO the early school years k-4 are when they do the town rec programs, or Boys/Girls club, YMCA, etc. to get exposed to different things. Along the way they will like and dislike activities, and eventually decide on one or a couple to focus on. It may be competitive cheering, soccer, dance, softball, chorus, scouting, painting, etc.

I agree wholeheartedly, by using this approach DS7 has had a chance to try lots of different things. In the past couple of years he's done a little bit of basketball, skiing, swimming, soccer, rock climbing, drama, art, gymnastics and piano lessons. Starting next week he's going to take a science/nature class for six weeks, and this summer he'll go horseback riding and play baseball at camp and maybe take Tae Kwon Do. There's plenty of time for him to figure out what he likes and decide where to focus his energy as he gets older.

If he did one sport several times a week for the whole year, he'd miss out on lots of other opportunities to explore things.

[pweyl36]

I KNOW THIS IS NOT A SPORT,BUT WHAT ABOUT GOOD OLD GIRL SCOUTS?
MY DD8 HAS BEEN IN BROWNIES FOR 3YRS. SHE LOVES IT,THERE IS NO PRESSURE ON WHO'S THE BEST AND THEY LEARN TO BE THEM SELF INSTEAD OF WHO HAS WHAT.THEY DO THINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE AND LEARN TO WORK TOGETHER. JUST MY OPINON :goodvibes

[bopper]

I think this sort of decision I would take into account my daughter's wants. It seems as though the mom wants to get her daughter involved in cheerleading as a social and physical activity. However, if my daughter was not begging to do this, I would not consider such an intense, expensive activity because most of the burden will be on you, the mom!

Are there more "recreational" (that is, not so competitive) cheerleading groups she can be in to see if she likes it? Then maybe if she is really into it she could get into the competitive group when she is older.

I would say that this is a bit much for a 5 year old. She should be playing and trying out various sports and activities. When she is a little older maybe she will choose this as her thing.

[HockeyDadof2]

I would add that different kids have different levels of commitment to sports. My youngest son started playing "travel hockey" at 6 years old. They practice 2 or 3 times a week and he never complains about it because he loves it so much. Here's a link to a story about his team aired a couple of months ago. He is one of the kids interviewed. Believe me I could save a huge sum of money if he would just play house hockey, but he loves it and the family does too. http://www.nbc5i.com/video/6373207/index.html#

My point is try it and if she doesn't like it give it up.....after the initial commitment of course.

edited to add: He doesn't do this at the expense of other sports, he also plays soccer and baseball. He said he wanted to play football next fall, when we explained that was fine but if he plays football he won't be able to play travel hockey because the seasons overlap he chose not to play football.

[Becky2005]

I would skip this one too.

My daughter is a competitive gymnast (through the park district) and *we* don't even pay that much! We have no traveling expenses, we just compete against other park districts that are probably in a 50 mile radius (although we have never had a meet more than 30-45 minutes away, it's *possible* but we haven't had to go farther in 5 years!) She has been doing this since she's been about 6-7. The competitions are about $30 each (they were cheaper but they changed formats this year). Even so, I would not have wanted to be involved in traveling issues. It's hard enough for us now when she's in full season and trying to coordinate with other family members and we are only going to places that are about 30 minutes away!

We just signed her up for the cheerleading that is done with one of her gymnasts coaches, it's the same format as her gymanstics for the competitions. The competitions were $12 ea. We had 3 of them and then our "state" meet. We cheered against 1 other team at state...it's that low-key. It's new in our area though and we only had to rent the uniforms not buy them (we just went and got our own white shoes & socks! The coach provided the hair ribbons.)

[littleladykaty]

:rotfl: I was in girl scouts for years!!! (My aunt was some sort of grand pubaa of girl scouting and I sort of had to be in it for much longer than I would have liked! lets just say I started fibbing to my friends about a mysterious activity I was involved in... :rotfl2: )

It's a great organization though and I wholeheartedly endorse it!!!

[Deb & Bill]

Gee whiz, what ever happened to letting kids be kids???? They will have plenty of time for competition when they get to high school, college and the workforce.

I may be totally out of it, but pagents, cheerleading competitions, etc sound a bit crazy to me.

Don't little girls play with baby dolls anymore and have pretend tea parties?

[disneyfreakjackie]

That is a HUGE committment for a five year old, my dd's didn't start competing competitively until 3rd grade and that was Pop Warner, so not much money involved!

My dd15 starting all-stars in 6th grade, $180 per month, $800 start up costs (uniform, warm-up, socks, coreography camp, etc.), traveling expenses ... the list goes on!

My dd9 year old wants to do all-stars now since our Pop Warner organization is now a HUGE embarrassment!! I'm in the same boat as you, is she too young for such a HUGE committment?? I definately wouldn't have had her try out as a five year old.

[SarahKate]

I have gone through this with my DD almost 4. I don't think I'm going to dive into this at this point in time. Considering the cost committment, I think it's too much.

As far as the competitive piece goes, the 4-5 age group really is more the "cute factor". Don't get me wrong, they do lots of practice and go to competitions, but it doesn't really matter what they do.....they can stand up there and say "go ______" and shake their hips and it will still be too darn adorable.

You said $50 a week which really seems expensive to me but I live in Illinois so maybe it's not as expensive around here.

You have to decid what's best, no one else can. But just my opinion, it seems like the time will come soon enough where you'll be taking her to all sorts of events, practices, etc. And there are SO many other things she can participate in without really going competitive.

My DD goes to a Cheer and Gymnastics place once a week. She does a back to back 40-minute dance class (ballet/tap) and then a 40-minute "cheer tykes" class where they do a little tumbling, cheer routines, etc. It ends up being $63 a month. I can't imagine paying $200 a month if she started to do it competitively! Yikes. There's SO many things your DD could do for that amount of money....swimming, dance, gym/tumbling, martial arts, funshop, etc.

Good luck, and only you know what is best for you and your DD!!!

[tommygirl79]

My DH and I decided not long after I asked this question that it just isn't right for our DDs. We want them to enjoy being little girls - not that she wouldn't enjoy this at all - but there is always time for this kind of stuff and we would rather have our family be free to do truly family stuff and spend the money on that than one concentrated thing at this time.

SarahKate - I had to laugh - I live in very rural ILLINOIS too!!!! So it is REALLY high IMO.

Deb & Bill - that's our point exactly. Our DDs DO still plays with dolls and do tea parties and dress up all of the time and are quite content with that at this point.

I know the competition at this stage probably isn't pushed that hard, but why put up so much money FOR the competitions when they would have just as much fun practicing together and just doing a couple of performances at the high school and middle school games locally?

We have decided to go the tumbling/gymnastics class route for her. One place (even though it's an hour away) has a summer session (much less time involvement should she happen NOT to like it) for $140 with flexible commitment for the summer. They even have Mommy and me class that my 2 year old and I might do too this summer and they probably will enjoy this even better. And I'll be happier since the complete focus will be on the athletic and physical fitness side instead of all the added "glamour", shaking their hips, competing, etc.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I appreciate everyone's outlook on this and I'm glad to know that many have dealt with this decision as well.

Thanks DISers!!!! :Pinkbounc

[diswith2]

I haven't read through all the replies, yet. That said, I think I would skip anything competitive at age 5. Both my girls (3 and 8) do dance and gymnastics and swim, but none of it is competitive. Although, there are competitions in the gym group- my girls just don't do it. I find the environment hostile (at least in my area) when competition is involved.

As for costumes- that actually sounds about right whether it's comptetitive or not. We pay that much for dance costumes, at times, not including regular practice tutus and leotards and such.
Cheer is a funny thing. Either your dd will love it or hate it (I imagine) and I wouldn't jump right in to an expensive group right off. Maybe try the YMCA for younger girls cheer (peewee cheer) for a lot less of a price. If she loves it, you could join the other next year. Or see if you can get a trial run with the cheer group before purchasing costumes.

[diswith2]

I just read your reply. Tumble sounds great for her and will prepare her a little more for tryouts if she ever decides to do cheer in the future anyway. Have fun!

[scrapbookworm]

This is so strange- we are debating the same thing for our 6yo dd. So I'm glad I found this thread, and want to show it to my DH. My husband's boss is a peewee football coach, and is pushing us hard to sign her up for cheer. BUT, DD already takes karate, and we are having trouble getting her to the minimum amount of classes a week (30 miles away, signed her up last year before the gas price hikes).

For us it isn't so much the cost ($150 uniform and $25 signup, which is a lot cheaper than karate), it's the time. Practices are 3-4x a week from 6:00-7:30, and then games on Saturday evenings. I don't get home from work until 5:40, and I can not imagine coming straight home to take her to the practice field for 90 minutes! And I do believe that they mentioned going to competitions as well, but I didn't get the details on that.

But then there is the whole guilt/peer pressure thing if we don't do it. I told DH that sometimes we need to make choices that aren't necessarily the most fun, but are the ones that are right for our family. I know that DD would make a good cheerleader, and I'd love to see her out there so super cute, I think it would be a huge stressful mistake for our family at this time. DD will be in first grade next year, and I'm sure there will be homework. I can't see DH picking her up from after school care, rushing home to do homework and eat supper (or at least a snack), then going up there, rushing back home for bathtime and bedtime. Factor in that we are in a contract on karate, and she would be doing something FIVE-SIX days a week. When I look at it like that, it sounds like WAY too much for a 6 year old. Especially one who 'needs' some cartoon time in the evenings. With that kind of schedule, she would have to sacrifice that. And I can't see that happening.

Karate will be over in January (well, contract will be up), and we intend to take a break. I'm thinking that we will be saying no this year to cheerleading, and will talk about it next year.

When I was a kid in the 80s, in our very rural area, we had nothing like this. I really wanted to take 'something'- like dance, baton, etc. But there just wasn't (and still isn't) where I grew up. However in the small town we live in about 25 miles away from there, we are bombarded with signups for all sorts of activities (and DD begging to do them ALL!) LOL.

[aubriee]

I just wanted to say I think you made the right decision. There are just too many activities out there for kids to do, to limit them to one activity. Let her do gymnastics, swimming, t-ball, tennis, karate, little dribblers, soccer, etc.

The other thing I wanted to say is that your daughter's name really caught my attention. I have a 9 y/o GD named Aubriee. I use it for my signature both because I like it and because it is so unusual. I've never heard of another girl named Aubriee (or in your DD case Aubrey). I hope your Aubrey is as unique, special, and talented as mine. By the way, she does several sports, but her main one is soccer. She plays on a coed team in the fall and spring and on an all boys indoor team in the winter and summer. It's really funny to be sitting in the stands and listen to the opponents' parents talking about how a little girl is playing on an all boys team and can outrun, outshoot, and can steal the ball from anyone out there. Anyway my point is, give your daughter time and she'll find her niche in whatever sport really interests her.

[Alex2kMommy]

I'm a little late to this party, but I also wanted to say I think you made the right call. My DH and I have talked a lot about this topic in relation to our 2 young sons. DH had a terrible experience with a competitive coach when he was very young, and we are very adamant that anything we get the boys involved in the elementary school years is about learning the game, mastering skills, and most of all FUN, not competition.

We just signed DS5 up for a basketball class at the Y; the first class was last Tuesday. We were a bit early, so watched the tail end of an earlier class. You would have thought the coach was teaching high school age boys the way he was yelling at them and drilling them! Keep in mind, I'm sure most of these boys (at age FIVE!) have never even dribbled a ball before, it was unreal! DH was a bit upset about it and waiting to see what happened in DS's class, but thankfully all the volunteer coaches were much more laid back, more helpful, instructive and encouraging. DH is one of the volunteer coaches for the class as well, so I think, at least for our class, things will continue to go well.