***2009-2010*** cheer parent thread!!

[ADisneyQueen]

Our team keeps changing the girls around too. It's confusing.

My dd9 has just started flying and has been doing one stunt in the competition. She is filling in for another girl this weekend and doing an extra stunt on one foot. She came home with a really sore foot a few days ago from the girls squeezing it so hard, but today it is better. I'm going to talk to the coach, but is that normal? The girl who she is filling in for said her foot would hurt too. My dd is worried that if they don't hold onto her foot really hard, she will fall. I think they are over doing it. She was really in pain.

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

WOW! My DDs (13 and 8) have been cheering for 5 yrs now and I never knew about this board! Where have I been.

 

[missypie]

After a weekend at competition, it dawned on me why cheer is such a tough sport. If you think of it in the context of other team sports, in what other sport does every player play every minute of the game? What if in football or basketball you were one point down with a minute to go and the coach was required to field both his strongest and his weakest players?

I now see why the coach talks about the very largest teams having an advantage....they can afford to not use every girl for every stunt.

We have a few girls who, when it matters most, can be counted on to mess up. If a basketball or football coach had good players who didn't respond well to stress, he could put them in earlier in the game, or when there was already a lead. But if the coach had to use players who freaked out, it would be a different ball game.

What is a cheer coach to do with girls who perform in practice but then consistently make mistakes in competition? I guess for the largest, most competitive gyms the answer is easy - cut them. But our gym is sweet and wouldn't do that. If cheer was like basketball and there was one or two games every week, the girls could just compete until they got their jitters out. But there are relatively few competitions, so the same issue keeps coming up.

 

[mbfqueen]

Excellent point, and very very true!

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

Well we just lost two girls in the last few weeks with competition right around the corner (Mar. 14th). This past Monday they were trying a Mini on the Youth team but her mom is already concerned because she's also helping out on Jrs. And she's only 8! My 8 yr old would have a melt down on 3 teams. They are still working on replacing the other girl who's a Jr.

Cheerleading is a tough sport.

 

[polkadotminnie]

Anyone going to New Orleans this weekend?

 

[goofy!]

We had a blast at NCA in Dallas.

Here are a few pics of my daughter's team (Special Athlete division). They are a semi-assisted team. They do all motions and dance unassisted, all flyers are special needs athletes and bases consist of 2 special needs athletes and one junior coach back spotting with a couple of stunt groups having two junior coaches and two special needs athletes as bases.

Our gym did pretty well for bringing the entire program down for the first time. We had 2 National Champions, the Level 2 Grand champion, 1 second, 2 thirds (one of them our team), 2 fourths, 1 sixth, 1 eighth and one 18th, 1 innovative choreography award. 5 out of our 10 teams in the top 3 and 7 of the 10 teams in the top 5. Not too shabby for a little 'ole gym from Colorado, a state not exactly known as a cheer powerhouse state.

Congrats to all the teams at NCA. I was in awe of all the programs there and how amazing they were. To get to watch teams like Top Gun, CEA, CA, Stingrays and all the other amazing teams, it was an incredible weekend. And congrats to all our fellow Special Athlete teams. You were all amazing and National Champions in our eyes.

 

[goofy!]

I love watching the special needs kids. Your DD is so cute.

We're back from CheerSport. Our Youth Level 1 got 4th (I thought they should have gotten at least second- if not first from a biased mom!- and the team that got second should have beaten the team that won.) Our Juniors got 5th. We were really pleased with that. They only practice once a week instead of twice. So, two top five fininshes at CheerSport for a gym that has only been open less than a year is pretty amazing.

Congrats! That is truly a fantastic weekend with 2 top 5 finishes at Cheersport for a brand new gym!!! Way to go!

 

[goofy!]

one of my daughters has broken her finger doing a bhs. since she flies on 3 teams the gym is freaking out! She should be better in 2-3 weeks, but cannot tumble at all right now. Who would of thought a little finger would cause so much drama.

OMGosh - my dd also broke her finger this season doing a round off back handspring! It's so odd because they do them a zillion times a day and then break something!!! It astounds me. DD was casted for 3 weeks - and kept right on flying anyway. Luckily, it was her right hand and not her left. She had to walk through her tumbling - but she was happy to still keep her spot flying. Good luck and quick healing to your dd.

Good luck to both your girls and hoping for quick healing! It is amazing how those little appendages can make so much difference!

 

[goofy!]

I've always 'heard' you can mark your spots and you won't get marked down for it .. cause of course things happen and not every person, every time can compete .. that's why I was wondering what big teams do ..

Or if you do get marked down, how much? I guess I should ask a judge lol

In Dallas, on one of our teams, one of our girls fell on the practice mat right before going out on the floor on the second day of competition. She injured her L3. They weren't allowed to regroup and replace her, so they had to go on and mark the stunts. They dropped from 6th place to 8th place, even though the rest of the routine was clean. So, whether or not they were actually marked down for marking, it did hurt them.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I am getting so nervous!! My DD will be trying out in two weeks to be a middle school cheerleader, and I have butterflies in my stomach already. She has been doing great though. They are not required to do a back tuck, thank goodness, but she has everything else down fine so hopefully things will go well. They start cheer camp on the 8th and tryouts are that Friday, the 12th. Please, please, wish us luck.

 

[donnajon]

Good luck for you DD's tryouts. Waiting is the hardest part!

We are back from another great competition. Our Senior L3 and Junior L2 both placed 2nd - they were really the best teams but had some uncharacteristic mistakes - seniors busted two tuck tumbling passes big time - one girl fell on her fanny and anthor fell on her stomach - sprawled out flat! - she was so funny though, she jumped up and flashed a big smile and held her hands out like "tada!" The JRs dropped a stunt and had a big bobble in their pyramid - they never do that so I felt like they beat themselves. But everything else was very clean.
Our Youth L1 - won their division and Grand Champions of the first half - It was a smaller competition in Salisbury, NC and they divided it into two division and only gave one Grand Champion per division so that was awesome. And it was really cool when, after they performed, other teams came up to us and kept asking, "Where are y'all from?"

 

[missypie]

Goofy, it looks like y'all got to be in the arena at NCA....lucky. We were way down in Hall D. The rooms and sets got dumpier and less "special" as you went down. Seating/visiblity was bad where we were-you could either sit in folding chairs on the floor looking up at the cheerleaders, or in bleachers way at the back/sides. We watched some teams in the arena and it seemed like an entirely different competition. Really, every room seemed special and fun but ours - it's like they ran out of glitzy stuff by the time they got to that room.

Several teams from around the country had wallets, phones, ipods stolen from their bags at NCA and are vowing not to return. The teams are saying that they really didn't provide any secure location for bags.

 

[goofy!]

I am getting so nervous!! My DD will be trying out in two weeks to be a middle school cheerleader, and I have butterflies in my stomach already. She has been doing great though. They are not required to do a back tuck, thank goodness, but she has everything else down fine so hopefully things will go well. They start cheer camp on the 8th and tryouts are that Friday, the 12th. Please, please, wish us luck.

Luck wished! Fingers crossed your daughter makes it and you can still work in a Disney trip (read your other thread )

 

[goofy!]

Good luck for you DD's tryouts. Waiting is the hardest part!

We are back from another great competition. Our Senior L3 and Junior L2 both placed 2nd - they were really the best teams but had some uncharacteristic mistakes - seniors busted two tuck tumbling passes big time - one girl fell on her fanny and anthor fell on her stomach - sprawled out flat! - she was so funny though, she jumped up and flashed a big smile and held her hands out like "tada!" The JRs dropped a stunt and had a big bobble in their pyramid - they never do that so I felt like they beat themselves. But everything else was very clean.
Our Youth L1 - won their division and Grand Champions of the first half - It was a smaller competition in Salisbury, NC and they divided it into two division and only gave one Grand Champion per division so that was awesome. And it was really cool when, after they performed, other teams came up to us and kept asking, "Where are y'all from?"

Congrats. I love it when you see such good attitudes when uncharacteristic mistakes are made! It sounds like you have a great team with their heads on their shoulders the right way.

 

[goofy!]

Goofy, it looks like y'all got to be in the arena at NCA....lucky. We were way down in Hall D. The rooms and sets got dumpier and less "special" as you went down. Seating/visiblity was bad where we were-you could either sit in folding chairs on the floor looking up at the cheerleaders, or in bleachers way at the back/sides. We watched some teams in the arena and it seemed like an entirely different competition. Really, every room seemed special and fun but ours - it's like they ran out of glitzy stuff by the time they got to that room.

Several teams from around the country had wallets, phones, ipods stolen from their bags at NCA and are vowing not to return. The teams are saying that they really didn't provide any secure location for bags.

We were in the arena, but we had teams spread out all over. So, I have to agree with you that down in D, it was a tad different. The seating was weird.

The drawback to being in the arena - the mile walk from F, the practice area. You are warmed up to go and then had to face that mile walk.

That is such a shame to hear about the phones, wallets and ipods. We didn't run into it because our kids are not allowed any type of bags whatsoever in the venue.

Our gym is very strict (we love it though as things go so smoothly) in that ipods, cell phones, bags etc are to stay with the parents. Parents are required to accompany the kids at all out of state competitions. There has to be one parent in each room, so they become the sherpas.

Actually, cell phones are banned completely for the weekend or during competition time at a local time. If a coach sees a cell phone, the whole team's phones are confiscated and put in the hotel safe (it happened just last month). Way too many incidents of boyfriends breaking up with the athletes right before they go on, causing meltdowns and way too much drama.

The parents and now teens have come to love the break from technology

 

[missypie]

The drawback to being in the arena - the mile walk from F, the practice area. You are warmed up to go and then had to face that mile walk.

Have you ever been to a competition at the Dallas Convention Center before? We were at a much smaller competition there earlier in the year and the practice area was quite close to the arena. F was way the heck far away!

 

[goofy!]

Have you ever been to a competition at the Dallas Convention Center before? We were at a much smaller competition there earlier in the year and the practice area was quite close to the arena. F was way the heck far away!

No. This was our first at Dallas. Our level 5 teams had been there before, but this was the first year that our gym brought the entire program.

And I thought the walking was intense at Cheersport last year

 

[addicted2dizney]

Hey guys,
I haven't been on here too much lately.. busy with the season I guess.

Who all is going to Worlds? I figured what better place to ask about it than here..how much better can it get.. the most amazing cheer competition in the world and disney!

I'm staying at the ASMu in the family suites. Can't wait.. more because it's disney than cheer I must admit.

 

[polkadotminnie]

Anyone competing in UCA at Disney in 10 days?