2008-2009 Cheer Parent Thread!!!!

[polkadotminnie]

I have no idea where to find a flying class - can you give me some direction there? We have a private tumbling coach - but yes, I will ask them tomorrow night about whether she'll get to keep working the tuck. Tomorrow is her first practice since the try out. It seems like they condition and tumble in the summer - then by August they start the routine and they don't get to tumble as much.

All the gyms here in town (there are 3) require the fliers to take a flying class in addition to weekly practices with the team. Are there other all-star gyms where you live?

 

[polkadotminnie]

I have no idea where to find a flying class - can you give me some direction there? We have a private tumbling coach - but yes, I will ask them tomorrow night about whether she'll get to keep working the tuck. Tomorrow is her first practice since the try out. It seems like they condition and tumble in the summer - then by August they start the routine and they don't get to tumble as much.

She can also work on the scorpion at home with just a dog leash. She can put her ankle in the loop and pull it up behind her as far as it will go. Make her stretch first.

 

[rbuzzotta]

Hi! The video looked great! One of the cheerleaders at jenna's gym sent a tryout video as well. Hopefully HPU will have TWO beautiful blonde flyers!! Have a wonderful time at Worlds!! Enjoy it!! Let us know ASAP about HPU!!!!

Here's some Pixie dust for extra luck!

Steph got "waitlisted" for the HPU cheer team!!1 she found out the night before Worlds began (while she was at Worlds). She is heartbroken (me too) but she still is going to HPU!!! She LOVES the school. She spoke with the coach (via email) and he said she is at to of his waitlist. He told her to keep practicing because he could be calling anytime. He also told her not to give up any other offers from other program as she is talented. (Somewhat conflicting and confusng). She decided she did not want to tryout out for Louisville. She loves HPU!! Did the girl from Jenna's gym hear?

Also, if Steph attends HPU and pays full tuiton his coming year, and makes the team her second year, she is not eligible for scholarship. That is a total bummer as the scholarship would help tremendously. I am stressing about figuring out howto help her pay for school as is!!

The coach said July 1 is the deadline for those to accept his offer to cheer at HPU. Please send lots of pixie dust this way............this is her dream!!

 

[addicted2dizney]

Steph got "waitlisted" for the HPU cheer team!!1 she found out the night before Worlds began (while she was at Worlds). She is heartbroken (me too) but she still is going to HPU!!! She LOVES the school. She spoke with the coach (via email) and he said she is at to of his waitlist. He told her to keep practicing because he could be calling anytime. He also told her not to give up any other offers from other program as she is talented. (Somewhat conflicting and confusng). She decided she did not want to tryout out for Louisville. She loves HPU!! Did the girl from Jenna's gym hear?

Also, if Steph attends HPU and pays full tuiton his coming year, and makes the team her second year, she is not eligible for scholarship. That is a total bummer as the scholarship would help tremendously. I am stressing about figuring out howto help her pay for school as is!!

The coach said July 1 is the deadline for those to accept his offer to cheer at HPU. Please send lots of pixie dust this way............this is her dream!!

Hi, yes she found out that same night as well, she did not make it. I believe she was wait listed as well but I don't think she plans on attending for exactly the reason you stated. She wants that scholarship. I know she made the Rutgers cheer team and they are very competitive and I'm hoping she will go there. If she does then she will be local to the gym. (Rutgers cheerleaders tumble at our gym!) so we will have her around for at least another year. I believe she may tryout again for HPU next year. Keep us in the loop and let us know how Steph does. Here's some pixie dust!

 

[rbuzzotta]

Hi, yes she found out that same night as well, she did not make it. I believe she was wait listed as well but I don't think she plans on attending for exactly the reason you stated. She wants that scholarship. I know she made the Rutgers cheer team and they are very competitive and I'm hoping she will go there. If she does then she will be local to the gym. (Rutgers cheerleaders tumble at our gym!) so we will have her around for at least another year. I believe she may tryout again for HPU next year. Keep us in the loop and let us know how Steph does. Here's some pixie dust!

Are you talking about Katie? If so, Steph and her had been chatting all weekend about HPU. I had also texted her a few times as well. My heart broke for both of them. She is a great cheerleader,

I have been seriously thinking about all of this. I need her to have the scholarship but I hate to burst her bubble. I really don't know if I can afford the tuition!!! I have suggested to Stephanie that she hold off untl July 1 and then make the decision. If she decides to just do a community college locally, she can still cheer as a super senior at Celebrity. She can then tryut fo HPU again next year. I will lose the deposit for college but that is really nothing compared to the tuition!!!

I wish she wasn't so gung ho on going to HPU!!! Thanks for the pixie dust............we need it!!

 

[mygirlkristi]

Hi again. Yes, we already do work on her scorpion at home. I help her a lot with stretching at home.

Do most gyms offer classes for flyers? There really are not a ton of cheer programs around here - northern Ohio.

Congrats to the college cheerleaders - wow! That is awesome.

 

[addicted2dizney]

If it is a small gym then yes sometimes they have to move girls up without tumbling or risk losing team members. It is very frustrating. If it were me, I would ask the coaches if they intend to keep working the tuck during practice so she can continue to improve. I would spend the money on a flying class to work on the scorpion and hold off on privates until next spring before tryouts again. If they will not work on the tuck with her, I would look for another all-star gym in your area and see where they would place her.

oh, I have so much to say about the scenario. lol.. been there done that! There are lots of ways to look at it though.. Flying at an extension is a big change for the girls so perhaps since she is age eligible they hope to keep her at level 2 for another year and build those skills. A lot of routines are put together so a flyer leaves a stunt sequence and then has to "tumble" out of it. Perhaps they are looking for her to get stronger so she can take that strong position in the routine for the future. Sometimes teams just need "trees" for lack of a better term. Larger girls that can base and backspot even if they can't keep up tumble wise. If your daughter is on the small side and not ready for level 3 stunting and they don't use frontspots maybe there just isn't a place on the 3 that your daughter could be fully utilized.
ok, that was my "keepin it postive scenario"

The other side of it may be that they just don't have enough people to field the appropriate teams and your daughter is being held back because of the numbers. I had that scenario last season. My daughter was working a full with a spot and working a triple toe back. Had a beautiful layout step out and was a beastly base as well as being rated, "first row quality" for jumps and jumps to handsprings tucks. That rating came from a very well know choreographer in the cheer world from georgia. Well, she had been on a strong Jr 4 team the season before and last year our director moved 95% of those girls up to sr 5. (all my own daughter's age but to their credit most had fulls on their own by then) My daughter was left back on jr 4. (which got dropped to jr 3 because the team sucked! no way it could have gone 4 and we fought that from the beginning. we were told we were wrong and guess what??? we were RIGHT!) So now she is on a jr 3 team and there are 5 girls on the Sr 5 team that had only handsprings or a few had handspring tucks. On a level 5 team! Meanwhile my daughter had skills she could not use and stuck on a level 3 team. She had done jr 3 two years prior to this and had left that loooooong behind her. We fought it but they had no other place for those 5 girls since they aged out of jrs. We stuck it out through the season and then we got outta there at the end of the year. Of course the level 5 team really stunk due to poor skills and all but 3 girls left the gym from that team. (yup, you guessed it.. the 3 girls with only the handsprings stayed!) We are now in a gym that is very competitive and has teams at most levels so my daughter has a places to grow. You may want to find out exactly what the thought process was for leaving your child behind. They may or may not tell you the truth depending on the gym. If you have your eye on another gym, take her there and see what they have to say as well.
Good luck! let us know you do.


Oh, I just wanted to add in one more thing.. once you look aside from levels etc.. the MOST important thing to ask yourself is. "Is my child happy where she's at? Will she be happy being on a level 2 team if all her friends are on that team? etc." More important than levels at that age is that your child needs to be happy. If she's not, then def look somewhere else. good luck!

 

[addicted2dizney]

Are you talking about Katie? If so, Steph and her had been chatting all weekend about HPU. I had also texted her a few times as well. My heart broke for both of them. She is a great cheerleader,

I have been seriously thinking about all of this. I need her to have the scholarship but I hate to burst her bubble. I really don't know if I can afford the tuition!!! I have suggested to Stephanie that she hold off untl July 1 and then make the decision. If she decides to just do a community college locally, she can still cheer as a super senior at Celebrity. She can then tryut fo HPU again next year. I will lose the deposit for college but that is really nothing compared to the tuition!!!

I wish she wasn't so gung ho on going to HPU!!! Thanks for the pixie dust............we need it!!

Yes I am! Isn't she a sweetie? At least her open team got a bronze last week at worlds so that was a bit of a boost for her. From her facebook page I do see she is still sad about HPU though. Do you know if they post results anywhere? I know a boy from Odyssey also tried out but I don't know him well enough to know if he made it. I actually gave him a ride to the airport with my friend and her daughter to head down to Worlds but I haven't heard if he made it. He's such a nice boy I hope he did. Jenna's dream was to go to HPU since 6th grade but with injuries etc.. we will have to see how it goes.
An update on her status.. still in a hard cast, that may come off on Thursday and then lots of PT. I am hopeful that she will not need surgery although we are not 100% out of the woods yet. I think by the end of summer she will be healed but we are taking it slow. Our gym has tryouts starting tonight and they are placing her on a team. She will go to practice and watch until she is ready to get going again.
The local option sounds pretty good too for Steph. It's hard for the kids because they are so ready to get out of that door and be free! Keep us in the loop and let us know how she's doing. How's her ankle?

 

[muttngeff]

Hi again. Yes, we already do work on her scorpion at home. I help her a lot with stretching at home.

Do most gyms offer classes for flyers? There really are not a ton of cheer programs around here - northern Ohio.
Congrats to the college cheerleaders - wow! That is awesome.

Actually there are quite a few good programs in Northern Ohio. If I knew more specifically which city/area you are looking in I could point out a few for you. We're going on year 7 of the competitive cheer whirlwind, and we're in the area.

 

[brenrn]

I am so glad to have found this thread. I have been searching the web for a good cheer parent forum - does anyone know of one?

I have a ? and need some advice. My dd is 8 and cheered jr. level 2 this past year. She has been working towards her back tuck - almost has roundoff bt - just needs a light spot.

She had her all star try out this past Saturday and did a nice roundoff, bkhsp, tuck combo (light spot on the bt still). She was hoping to go junior level 3 - but she was put on youth level 2 again.

I understand my kid doesn't totally have her back tuck yet. But there are about 5 girls who are 12 years old who got moved up to jr. 3 simply becasue they are now too old for youth 2 - and none of those girls have a back handspring yet. Also, another girl, age 11, did the same combo as my dd (even with the light spot on the bt) and she made level 3.

It seems unfair to me that my dd is being held down at level 2 while these girls get to move on. My daughter has been working so hard at private lessons - and I am feeling so upset for her.

We are fairly new to this (1 year in) - so is this just how it works? Is this the way it's done? I could really use some advice.

Ahhhh...it's the nature of the beast unfortunately! There are so many things that coaches need to take into consideration when moving kids from one level to the next. It's not just about tumbling....the have to look at jumps, motions, dance, etc. You're daughter is young for a junior team to begin with and the junior 3 division is a tough one. Honestly, I think the jump from level 2 to 3 is the hardest one...you go from prep level stunts to extended stunts with twisting dismounts and twisting baskets.

My CP is 9 (today...happy birthday baby!) and was on a Youth 2 this year. She's hoping to go to Junior 3 and has triple toe BHS, a ROBHST (our gym doesn't do round off tucks), a standing tuck (not consistent all the time though) and there's a good chance she won't go to junior 3...a youth 3 would be perfect and they're going to try one but it's tough...their flyers are all young and the body control for extended stunts may just not be there.

Anyway, long story short here is tell your CP not to get discouraged. She'll have a whole season where she is one of the stronger tumblers on the team and she'll most likely be showcased because of it all the while...progressing her tumbling, stunting, motions and jumps for level 3 next season!

 

[kidzmom3]

i find it strange that your daughters gym ups the level of skill with each team. the small gyms that are local to us wait to see what they are going to have for ages and skills. then they decide what level they are going to be. Last year our youth and senior teams were level 3, juniors and minis were level 2 and tinys were level 1. This year Senior team was level 4, juniors went level 3, youth and minis level 2 and tinys level 1.

Also some years the levels are large and alot of kids move up and sometimes they go in as small.

 

[mygirlkristi]

muttngeff - we are in northern summit county.

The team my dd is on has already had try outs - so they do know what they are getting already. We had practice tonight and it looks like 16 minis, 14 youth level 1, 15 youth level 2, and 12 jr. level 3. The coach said levels 2 & 3 will practice together all summer and she is hoping a few girls from 2 will get the skills to become crossovers for 3. I hope my dd can do that - but she'd need a roundoff, bhsp, tuch solid with no spot to do it. It's just hard because she so wants to do those level 3 stunts!

 

[addicted2dizney]

muttngeff - we are in northern summit county.

The team my dd is on has already had try outs - so they do know what they are getting already. We had practice tonight and it looks like 16 minis, 14 youth level 1, 15 youth level 2, and 12 jr. level 3. The coach said levels 2 & 3 will practice together all summer and she is hoping a few girls from 2 will get the skills to become crossovers for 3. I hope my dd can do that - but she'd need a roundoff, bhsp, tuch solid with no spot to do it. It's just hard because she so wants to do those level 3 stunts!

Can I ask how long your gym has been open? This is an extremely small group of girls to field those teams. If this gym has been open for several years and they only have that many cheerleaders I would definitely look somewhere else as well! To be competitive they are going to have to try to get 20 girls on the mat per team. that means crossovers. On one hand they may ask your daughter to crossover but then you will be looking at double practices and depending on how your gym works double comp fees. Being they don't have a full team of 20 and only 12 on the jr 3 I would be annoyed that they did not either place her on that team or ask her to crossover from day one. I have a bad feeling about that situation. Been there in my own gym before. They were trying to make more teams than what they truly had and it was a nightmare.

 

[5Slays]

Sorry I haven't been around in a while! It has been crazy around here!

My DD still won't do her bhs!! So I am considering not letting her do cheer next year and just do a tumbling class...I don't want to pressure her, but the gym is going up on their costs and I can't see paying that kind of $$ for her not to tumble. If she never tumbled in the first place this would be a totally different scenario.

So...y'all let me know what you think...

 

[brenrn]

Sorry I haven't been around in a while! It has been crazy around here!

My DD still won't do her bhs!! So I am considering not letting her do cheer next year and just do a tumbling class...I don't want to pressure her, but the gym is going up on their costs and I can't see paying that kind of $$ for her not to tumble. If she never tumbled in the first place this would be a totally different scenario.

So...y'all let me know what you think...

Ahhh...I feel for you (and your CP) but I agree. If my CP weren't throwing her tumbling there'd be no team for her next year...it's too much money. I'd let her take a tumbling class and work on getting it back though. It actually might take the pressure off her to just tumble and have no expectations!

 

[goofy!]

Sorry I haven't been around in a while! It has been crazy around here!

My DD still won't do her bhs!! So I am considering not letting her do cheer next year and just do a tumbling class...I don't want to pressure her, but the gym is going up on their costs and I can't see paying that kind of $$ for her not to tumble. If she never tumbled in the first place this would be a totally different scenario.

So...y'all let me know what you think...

Does your gym have a rec type team that she can participate on?

Our gym has 3 precast (pre competitive all star teams), all level 1, so no BHS. The monthly fees are much cheaper, they have slightly different (ie: cheaper) uniforms, they only practice 2x per week (practice and tumbling) and they don't travel with us so big bucks saved on airfare, although they do a few local competitions with the rest of the gym closer to the end of the season.

If you have something like this, it might be a good in between thing to let her continue to enjoy cheer, but also to work on her confidence in getting her tumbling back.

 

[mygirlkristi]

Can I ask how long your gym has been open? This is an extremely small group of girls to field those teams. If this gym has been open for several years and they only have that many cheerleaders I would definitely look somewhere else as well! To be competitive they are going to have to try to get 20 girls on the mat per team. that means crossovers. On one hand they may ask your daughter to crossover but then you will be looking at double practices and depending on how your gym works double comp fees. Being they don't have a full team of 20 and only 12 on the jr 3 I would be annoyed that they did not either place her on that team or ask her to crossover from day one. I have a bad feeling about that situation. Been there in my own gym before. They were trying to make more teams than what they truly had and it was a nightmare.

Well, this gym is actually does gynastics/dance/cheer. This is year 3 of the cheer program - and until this year there was only 1 team. Last year we had 19 girls at youth level 2 - which was just fine. I do think they are expecting some additional girls via late private try outs from a couple other gyms. Our youth level 2 won several first places this past season - so I know they are on the right track. But it does worry me that the teams are smaller - and I am worried they could end up having to combine these teams. I know that girls often drop when they start living the grueling summer practice schedule and the parents starting paying all those fees. I don't want my dd's level 2 youth combined with level 1 youth. That would make me angry.

 

[WeLuvWDWx5]

muttngeff - we are in northern summit county.

The team my dd is on has already had try outs - so they do know what they are getting already. We had practice tonight and it looks like 16 minis, 14 youth level 1, 15 youth level 2, and 12 jr. level 3. The coach said levels 2 & 3 will practice together all summer and she is hoping a few girls from 2 will get the skills to become crossovers for 3. I hope my dd can do that - but she'd need a roundoff, bhsp, tuch solid with no spot to do it. It's just hard because she so wants to do those level 3 stunts!

Hey, I live in Ohio, in Summit County as well. My DD (14) cheers at a gym outside of Akron, and has been there for 1 year. Prior to that, she was a competitive gymnast, so she came in with strong tumbling skills, and was placed on a jr level 5 team (although they competed last year as a jr level 4 because their stunting wasn't up to level 5 criteria). Our gym had about 10-12 competitive teams last season, including mini's, youth, jr and sr teams at many different levels. One team was a youth level 3 that had an awesome year. Tryout's at our gym started yesterday for the younger ages, and continue tomorrow. If you are interested in learning more about our cheer gym, just PM me. There hasn't been a final determination about teams/levels this year, until after try-outs are complete, but they may have a team that would match your daughter's skills. Let me know if you are interested. We absolutely love our gym!!!

 

[muttngeff]

Hey, I live in Ohio, in Summit County as well. My DD (14) cheers at a gym outside of Akron, and has been there for 1 year. Prior to that, she was a competitive gymnast, so she came in with strong tumbling skills, and was placed on a jr level 5 team (although they competed last year as a jr level 4 because their stunting wasn't up to level 5 criteria). Our gym had about 10-12 competitive teams last season, including mini's, youth, jr and sr teams at many different levels. One team was a youth level 3 that had an awesome year. Tryout's at our gym started yesterday for the younger ages, and continue tomorrow. If you are interested in learning more about our cheer gym, just PM me. There hasn't been a final determination about teams/levels this year, until after try-outs are complete, but they may have a team that would match your daughter's skills. Let me know if you are interested. We absolutely love our gym!!!

HI! I think our kids were at the same gym last season (sure sounds like AE)

Kristi, if you are still interested send a PM and I can list several in the area with teams at your daughter's level. I have to agree with the comment about the size of the teams. While not impossible, it is Very difficult to field teams that small. Forget winning or losing for a moment. I refer more to the limited amount of stunt groups they can form, which directly impacts how much and which skills the kids are learning. If you/your daughter are serious about pursuing this sport, it may be time to move to a gym better suited to your daughters needs.

 

[mygirlkristi]

I know the gym. It's great - but AE is just too far away - for me personally. They are opening a team over in Solon (right next to me) - but for now I'm not sure I want to go with a start up situation. Also - my dd feels like she wants to stay where she is due to friends etc. But I just want to make sure she is having the best experience she can, you know?

You're right about limited stunt teams - if they have let's say 15 at level 2 - that breaks down to 3 teams if front bases are used. That's how it was this year though and we had 18 or so girls - just shy of 20. Honestly, the really huge teams don't appeal a lot to me because I think my dd would just get lost in a sea of humanity out on the floor. That bothers me a little bit. I tend to prefer the small (20 girls) teams.

I tired to PM you, MuttnGeff - but it said I didn't have enough posts.