Competitive Cheerleading for my 5 year old?

[Schmeck]

But gymnastics isn't as expensive as figure skating and horseback riding 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

 

[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]

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... )

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!!!!

 

[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.