We've got a friend who cheers on a special needs team for Legacy. Our paths haven't crossed yet but I'm hoping to be able to see her team perform at some point before the season is over.
We saw Cheer Athletics' special needs team over the weekend...what a crowd pleaser!
If I can tread on some perhaps sensitive territory here: Our gym is the only gym in the area that competes with covered midriffs and I'm definitely in favor of everyone's tummies being covered. But we do have the short skirts.
All the special needs teams I've seen so far have not only had covered midriffs (again, I like that) but also, the girls' skirts have been down to their knees. Do the parents request that? My feelings about that are so mixed...in one way, the whole short tight cheer uniform does sort of sexualize our young women...so we certainly don't want to sexualize young special needs women. BUT, I don't like the idea of them looking all dowdy either. What is your opinion?
Not sensitive at all, at least not with me or anybody on our team
I think it depends on the gym and what they are trying to focus on.
Special Needs as a division is growing so quickly that it is hard keeping up. It was just recently that some companies are scoring the division while some still have it as exhibition. As it evolves into a more competitive division, the uniforms are starting to catch up.
Also, some gyms have their teams as a true competitive team (Kentucky Elite comes to mind) while others treat it more as an exhibition team. So, many gyms try to keep the costs at minimum or even free to the participants. This means lower cost uniforms or leftovers from years before. It is the $400.00 competitive uniform vs. the $85.00 catalog stock uniform.
Also, body type plays a role in look of the uniform. Last year, we had the old-fashioned pleated skirt, jumper top with the shell underneath. This was done for body type and to keep costs down for the team. The skirts were tailored to be about 3 fingers below the butt. However, kids like my daughter who has Down syndrome have very low tone and consequently have tummies that stick out. Since the skirts were elastic, this meant that they did not stay at the waist and rode down towards the hips, making them look really school marm long. The skirts were technically short like most competitive skirts, but due to body type and the elastic band, they rode lower and made them look awfully long. It was thought that the heavier material and the layered tops were more flattering to the bodies of many of the special needs cheerleaders. However, this has proven not to be true. It just made the team look dated and as you said, dowdy (perfect description by the way).
As I said, as the division evolves, everybody is learning and the uniforms are starting to evolve too.
Our gym typically replaces uniforms every so often. This is the last year of this cycle for the regular teams. Our gym owners and our parents (our parents especially) really wanted to get the special needs team out of the more dated uniforms and into ones that were more current and more representative of the gym as a whole. However, we didn't want to spend the $400.00 for a one year uniform. So, we got one year interim uniforms, the same ones that our pre-teams wear to competitions. We have the buttoned, tailored waist now so the skirts should stay put, giving a better look.
Next year, when the whole gym replaces their uniforms, the special needs team will be in the same competitive uniform as the rest of the gym. I can say without a doubt that the parents on our team were pushing quite hard for our kids to look like all the other teams. Some of our kids also told the coaches that they felt self-conscious going to competitions where they looked different than the other teams from the gym. They wanted to be treated the same, complete with all the glitz, short skirts, and spankies.
Our older kids (regular competitive teams) wear the crop tops, while the younger kids wear the full tops. However, our special needs team will be in the full tops. Way too much low tone for the crop-tops
There is a picture on our
facebook fan page (don't need a facebook account to see the page) of the new uniforms. If you look closely, you can see how short they really are - no where near the knees. They are tailored exactly to the same length as our other competitive teams.
So, to make this long novel short, I think that there are many factors in the types of uniforms seen on the special needs teams:
cost effectiveness, body type, exhibition or competitive, and just the fact that the division is growing faster than anybody can keep up.
I would surmise that as the division matures and becomes a more permanent division, the uniforms will start to trend more towards the competitive look also. I can't speak for every gym, but from my experience, it never crossed any of our parents minds to keep the skirts long due to any modesty issues. It was just basic finances in the beginning - ordering stock skirts without any modifications. In fact, the parents were just the opposite, pushing for the kids to be more like the competitive teams. Now our skirts are ordered, immediately pinned to just below the butt and sent off for custom tailoring.
My daughter has blossomed since she started going there a year ago. I couldn't be happier.
