*** 2010-2011 *** Cheer Parent Thread

[donnajon]

Well, we officially pulled our kids off of the team. DH and I met with the coach Friday afternoon and she doesn't think she did anything wrong. I told her DD is now terrified of going to cheer and I want her to cheer because she loves the sport, not because she is scared of what will happen if there is a fall. The coach's response was that when she was a cheerleader, her squad never dropped a stunt her entire time cheering because they were too scared to drop a stunt but they were happy. She said she didn't know about the other coach taunting the kids when they cried so it seemed like she didn't believe it happened. She just said, "I didn't know about that." You would have expected her to at least say she would look ito it. Her basic attitude was that and I quote, "No one is going to tell me how to run my gym." I wasn't telling her how to run her gym but if she wants to stay in business, she might want to look into a little customer satisfaction. Whatever. DDs were mainly concerened with missing their friends, not leaving the program. What does that tell you! I've already had another gym approach me about DD8 cheering for them! (My neice cheers with them and my sister is good friend with the coach.) Actually both kids could cheer for her but she only has a youth 1 and DD11 was on level 2 and 3 teams. I haven't talked with her about it yet but we'll see. I actually feel quite financially relieved! LOL!

 

[goofy!]

LOL, because you have a kid being scored...the rest of us can just enjoy the performances!

We do Nationals on Sunday and Monday. Last year, every team but my D's team won jackets. It's so hard to get all the girls together for practice when they're in high school...even this weekend, no Saturday practices before the competition because some of the girls' school teams are competing. I'm very nervous, just because it's D's stunt group that keeps falling. I don't want to place blame BUT it is totally the flyer. She's been a fantastic flyer forever and now she's falling. My personal view is that her body is changing so she can't balance the same way she used to and after a couple of falls, anyone would just get more and more rattled. Last night they had to do their stunt over and over again until it didn't fall....and on the last time, the flyer fell in such a way that she gave D a fat lip. We need pixie dust for the flyer and our team!!!!

Pixie dust coming your way! Good luck this weekend!

 

[goofy!]

Well, we officially pulled our kids off of the team. DH and I met with the coach Friday afternoon and she doesn't think she did anything wrong. I told her DD is now terrified of going to cheer and I want her to cheer because she loves the sport, not because she is scared of what will happen if there is a fall. The coach's response was that when she was a cheerleader, her squad never dropped a stunt her entire time cheering because they were too scared to drop a stunt but they were happy. She said she didn't know about the other coach taunting the kids when they cried so it seemed like she didn't believe it happened. She just said, "I didn't know about that." You would have expected her to at least say she would look ito it. Her basic attitude was that and I quote, "No one is going to tell me how to run my gym." I wasn't telling her how to run her gym but if she wants to stay in business, she might want to look into a little customer satisfaction. Whatever. DDs were mainly concerened with missing their friends, not leaving the program. What does that tell you! I've already had another gym approach me about DD8 cheering for them! (My neice cheers with them and my sister is good friend with the coach.) Actually both kids could cheer for her but she only has a youth 1 and DD11 was on level 2 and 3 teams. I haven't talked with her about it yet but we'll see. I actually feel quite financially relieved! LOL!

Never dropped a stunt? Oh Please. Some of the best Worlds Teams will occasionally drop a stunt. It happens. Too scared to ever drop a stunt? How can that be fun? I can see a couple of laps around the mat for dropping stunts in practice if the kids are goofing around and not really trying (I saw that last night), but never anything so physically and verbally abusive to make the kids do something because they are so scared of the punishment.

This is a kid's sport, first and foremost. And a happy kid is a kid that is going to do their best for you. The kid that wants to win because they love their sport, their gym and their team will work much harder than the kid who is just scared to lose.

Sounds like you did the right thing.

If there are quite a few families leaving like you mentioned, perhaps you could set up a carpool situation.

Our gym has 17 or 18 new families this year that all came from a gym about an hour and a half away. They have this huge car pool arrangement so that nobody has to spend their life in the car commuting 3 hours a day, 3 x per week. One of the parents happened to be talking in the parent viewing area last night and was saying that despite the drive, the families are so happy with the change. So, it seems to really work with a large group commuting a relatively long distance.

 

[donnajon]

I thought the same thing when she told me she never dropped a stunt. I was thinking, do you seriously think I believe that?
Get this...She just sent me an e-mail telling me I owe her $242 for competition fees! I had an arrangement that I could pay each comptetition fee as they were due since I was paying for three kids and there was no way I could pay her $800 per month for four months. I have paid all of the fees as they were due except one - which was cancelled. She had to register for one competition early as she heard they were only taking 70 teams. She registered them just this past Wednesday. I told her I had a schedule that I have abided by and if she had notified me of the change in the schedule, I could have avoided her paying for my kids. She said she was going to forward my e-mail to the president of the booster club and the secretary (who are just as annoyed with her - the president's kid is the one who got taunted for crying.) Well, that scared me! Pus, I looked up on line how much the competition fees were for that one competition. They are $68 per kid plus $35 crossover fee. So, that is $239. Plus, I have a balance of $99 in my account for one Jamfest competition that the Juniors didn't go to so that equals $140. I can't believe she even had the nerve to ask me for it. I have given this woman so much! My DH and I literally helped her put her gym together. We were there and helped her install her spring floor. I helped put together her tumble track. I helped her paint the gym. When she was pregnant, I gave her a like new expensive stroller that was my sister's that was in perfect condition. I gave her some of my kids' toddler toys that they had outgrown. I can't believe this women has the gall to ask me for money. Abuse my kids now pay me extra.

 

[goofy!]

duplicate

 

[missypie]

Sad night last night. Our girls missed winning nationals by .3. They were so good, did such difficult stuff...except that one girl fell on a jump....no one ever falls on a jump! I hate that, while cheer is the ultimate team sport, sometimes you can truly pinpoint what cost you the win. If there are a lot of mistakes, no biggie...but when there is one mistake the whole weekend, that's rough.

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

donnajon- Sorry to hear all the drama that you are having to go through. I did ask our owner about Charlotte Extreme but he doesn't know too many ppl there on a personal level. Definitely keep us posted. Hugs to you and the family!

Our girls both came in 1st place at Nationals this weekend in Charlotte (Youth and Sr's). They had a really good time and we are all so proud of the girls. Our Mini's and Jr's came in 4th and 3rd respectively

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

Sad night last night. Our girls missed winning nationals by .3. They were so good, did such difficult stuff...except that one girl fell on a jump....no one ever falls on a jump! I hate that, while cheer is the ultimate team sport, sometimes you can truly pinpoint what cost you the win. If there are a lot of mistakes, no biggie...but when there is one mistake the whole weekend, that's rough.

Ugh...don't you hate when that happens?!?!? I really do feel for all the girls when things like that happen.

 

[donnajon]

Congratulations on your wins at Spirit of Hope. 3rd and 4th there isn't really bad either!
Thanks for checking on Charlotte Extreme. There is a competition locally on January 30 so I can check out more of the local teams. I heard the coach replaced DD11 with a petite flyer on Jr3. That makes sense. Lets have a flyer replace your best back spot! Another kid on Y1 has to have hernia surgery so she is out for the season. And the Sr3 point flyer fell and sprained her ankle. Karma anyone?

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Was anyone else at SuperNationals in Indy this past weekend?

This was our first time at a major competition like this and what a roller coaster of a weekend it was! My daughter is a crossover on both the jr L-2 and sr L-3 teams. Srs had a rough, rough week leading up to Indy and just completely fell apart of Saturday. It was painful to even watch. But Sunday they came out and completely reedeemed themselves. They didn't place well, but just overcoming the horrible prior week and putting on a dazzling show on Sunday was enough to boost their confidence. I think they will go on to CheerSport next month and truly be the team they are capable of being.

The jr L-2 team, however, was AMAZING! They won 1st Place, Level Champions, and a paid bid to US finals! My daughter is happily sporting her first Jamfest National Champion jacket! What a rush that was! It's Wednesday and I still have no voice left from all the screaming I did. The youth L-1 teams won 1st place and Level Champions, too. Emotionally, we were all over the place this weekend!

I never knew cheerleading could be so exhausting for us parents. I slept like a rock when we finally got home on Monday. My babygirl, too. She hurt her elbow in her tumbling pass in practice on Thursday, but luckily it's just pulled tendons and nothing serious. She just needs to rest it. Those girls work so hard and are so dedicated. I am in awe of them. They truly give blood, sweat, and tears for their sport. But don't we love it?

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

Was anyone else at SuperNationals in Indy this past weekend?

This was our first time at a major competition like this and what a roller coaster of a weekend it was! My daughter is a crossover on both the jr L-2 and sr L-3 teams. Srs had a rough, rough week leading up to Indy and just completely fell apart of Saturday. It was painful to even watch. But Sunday they came out and completely reedeemed themselves. They didn't place well, but just overcoming the horrible prior week and putting on a dazzling show on Sunday was enough to boost their confidence. I think they will go on to CheerSport next month and truly be the team they are capable of being.

The jr L-2 team, however, was AMAZING! They won 1st Place, Level Champions, and a paid bid to US finals! My daughter is happily sporting her first Jamfest National Champion jacket! What a rush that was! It's Wednesday and I still have no voice left from all the screaming I did. The youth L-1 teams won 1st place and Level Champions, too. Emotionally, we were all over the place this weekend!

I never knew cheerleading could be so exhausting for us parents. I slept like a rock when we finally got home on Monday. My babygirl, too. She hurt her elbow in her tumbling pass in practice on Thursday, but luckily it's just pulled tendons and nothing serious. She just needs to rest it. Those girls work so hard and are so dedicated. I am in awe of them. They truly give blood, sweat, and tears for their sport. But don't we love it?

Congrats to your DD and the whole gym! Isn't it just too cute when they sport their jackets!! They do put in a lot of work and it's hard not to be in awe of them. Lord knows I tried a parent team once and was like OH MY HOW DO THEY DO IT! Good luck at Cheersport next month and what US Finals will you all attend?

 

[Markiesgirl]

My daughter's gym was at SuperNationals! What a fun weekend! She is 15 and on a Jr4 team and they had a bad 2 days....just wasn't their weekend. She filled in on the jr3 team and they had 2 stunts fall on day 2. That's a killer when day 2 is worth 70%.
She had a blast getting pictures with other teams. She met Maddie Gardner from CEA as well as a bunch of other of her favorites from World Cup and Maryland Twisters.

She and I are going to Worlds to cheer on our Sr 5 girls. We can't wait and I hope maybe next year she is there as a competitor!!

 

[armomof3lvsdisney]

Is anyone else going to UCA Nationals in Orlando on Feb. 12 and 13th?

DD's cheer squad is going! I can't wait 20 days until we leave!! We have been to Disney several times, but never for a cheer competition. Do you know where you are staying yet?

 

[ThePetLady7]

Pure joy of the sport, meh, maybe 60% pure joy The other 40% - pure competitiveness. Our girls want that jacket in Dallas so badly they can taste it. A good majority of the team is pretty much as competitive as the rest of the kids in the gym. I am glad that some of the competitions are now scoring special needs, because our kids always want to know their scores, what place they came in, etc.

DD does love the sport. She eats, breathes, and lives cheer, so, yes, she mainly does it for the pure joy of it. But she also definitely wants to win!!! She was watching tv tonight sitting on our bed. I happened to be on the bed too, trying to do some work on my laptop. It was rather difficult to get anything done with the Disney channel blaring and this young lady with Down syndrome chanting 5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4, and doing her motions, asking me "Mom, do I go up on 5 or 6 (sorry honey, I don't know your routine), all while bouncing on the bed watching Good Luck Charlie.

Looking forward to seeing your team at NCA. My dd is a "cheer peer" that helps coach our gym's special needs team. They are purely exhibition though, and won't be at NCA, but we'll be there with dd's team. Can't wait to see a competitive special needs team!

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Congrats to your DD and the whole gym! Isn't it just too cute when they sport their jackets!! They do put in a lot of work and it's hard not to be in awe of them. Lord knows I tried a parent team once and was like OH MY HOW DO THEY DO IT! Good luck at Cheersport next month and what US Finals will you all attend?

I'm not sure what US finals, if any, we will attend. The JR team is the only team that won a bid so I'm not sure the coach will want to go. I'd love to go, though. I think they have an excellent shot at actually winning. They are really, really good.

 

[goofy!]

Was anyone else at SuperNationals in Indy this past weekend?

This was our first time at a major competition like this and what a roller coaster of a weekend it was! My daughter is a crossover on both the jr L-2 and sr L-3 teams. Srs had a rough, rough week leading up to Indy and just completely fell apart of Saturday. It was painful to even watch. But Sunday they came out and completely reedeemed themselves. They didn't place well, but just overcoming the horrible prior week and putting on a dazzling show on Sunday was enough to boost their confidence. I think they will go on to CheerSport next month and truly be the team they are capable of being.

The jr L-2 team, however, was AMAZING! They won 1st Place, Level Champions, and a paid bid to US finals! My daughter is happily sporting her first Jamfest National Champion jacket! What a rush that was! It's Wednesday and I still have no voice left from all the screaming I did. The youth L-1 teams won 1st place and Level Champions, too. Emotionally, we were all over the place this weekend!

I never knew cheerleading could be so exhausting for us parents. I slept like a rock when we finally got home on Monday. My babygirl, too. She hurt her elbow in her tumbling pass in practice on Thursday, but luckily it's just pulled tendons and nothing serious. She just needs to rest it. Those girls work so hard and are so dedicated. I am in awe of them. They truly give blood, sweat, and tears for their sport. But don't we love it?

Congrats to your daughter!!!!!

My daughter still wears her Cheersport jacket almost everyday and it will be 3 years old this year. (Cheersport gives all the special needs teams jackets, no matter what place they come in.)

 

[goofy!]

Looking forward to seeing your team at NCA. My dd is a "cheer peer" that helps coach our gym's special needs team. They are purely exhibition though, and won't be at NCA, but we'll be there with dd's team. Can't wait to see a competitive special needs team!

We were blown away last year with all the special needs teams. They were all very competitive and absolutely fantastic. The special needs division in Dallas is incredible with some very, very good teams!!! With the caliber of the special needs teams, our kids have their work cut out for them. We were third last year by .03, but that was fine as they were in very good company.

We love our junior coaches. They are very, very special people!!!

 

[donnajon]

Well, there was a local competition last weekend that we went to watch and can I just say, karma!

The Y2 team (the one that DD11 was on that got punished by an hour and a half of conditioning for 5 drops) didn't compete because they weren't ready. Funny, when I talked with her about them not being ready for the earlier competition, I was told they were the most ready of all of her teams.

The Y1 team got 5th out of 9th. They weren't bad but there are really a lot of young kids on that teams - 6 and 7 year olds and they aren't going to do much better. The coaches and parents really think they have a chance to win Cheersport in Atlanta but the girls are just too young. There are about 18 or 19 girls on that team and probably 12 - 15 are under 8. They just can't compete with a true youth team where all the girls are 10 and 11.

They Jr3 team got 4th out of 4. They all think they were robbed and are contesting the score. I thought they were very sloppy and didn't expect them to get higher than 3rd. They claim they had a girl get a deduction for not doing a tumbling pass that she wasn't supposed to do. But she and another girl were just standing on the sideline while the rest of the team was doing a dance/jumps thing. And they looked dumb. I was wondering myself why they were off to the side like that.

The Sr3 team got 2nd out of 3. And they were lucky to get that. They were horrible. They had fall after fall after fall. The team that came in last had a lot of bad falls as well but they didn't have any difficulty.

However, somehow, it is the coach's fault that the Sr. 3 team fell! She posted an apology on facebook about how it was her fault they fell, it was just nerves and someday "her" day is coming. Shouldn't it have been the team's day that was coming. And why was it ok to apologize to her precious seniors (who have a horrible work ethic and she lets them get away with murder) but when the elementary school kids fall, they get punished. And she told me she couldn't apologize to them because it would undermine her authority as a coach. I wanted to post some smarty pants reply to her posts on Facebook but I refrained! I knew it wouldn't do any good and she would block me. Then I couldn't be nosy! LOL!
But my DDs and I did see a team that we are impressed with. It is about a half an hour from our house. The other gym that is close was ok but I can't see DD really progressing there. They have a Y1, Jr2 and Sr3. These are the same teams they have had for three years. And I don't see them adding more. They are in an overcrowded gymnastics facility as it is and there isn't any time to put another team anywhere. So, closer to tryouts, we are going to check out the Flying High Ravens. I need to know about their discipline procedures!

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

Well, there was a local competition last weekend that we went to watch and can I just say, karma!

The Y2 team (the one that DD11 was on that got punished by an hour and a half of conditioning for 5 drops) didn't compete because they weren't ready. Funny, when I talked with her about them not being ready for the earlier competition, I was told they were the most ready of all of her teams.

The Y1 team got 5th out of 9th. They weren't bad but there are really a lot of young kids on that teams - 6 and 7 year olds and they aren't going to do much better. The coaches and parents really think they have a chance to win Cheersport in Atlanta but the girls are just too young. There are about 18 or 19 girls on that team and probably 12 - 15 are under 8. They just can't compete with a true youth team where all the girls are 10 and 11.

They Jr3 team got 4th out of 4. They all think they were robbed and are contesting the score. I thought they were very sloppy and didn't expect them to get higher than 3rd. They claim they had a girl get a deduction for not doing a tumbling pass that she wasn't supposed to do. But she and another girl were just standing on the sideline while the rest of the team was doing a dance/jumps thing. And they looked dumb. I was wondering myself why they were off to the side like that.

The Sr3 team got 2nd out of 3. And they were lucky to get that. They were horrible. They had fall after fall after fall. The team that came in last had a lot of bad falls as well but they didn't have any difficulty.

However, somehow, it is the coach's fault that the Sr. 3 team fell! She posted an apology on facebook about how it was her fault they fell, it was just nerves and someday "her" day is coming. Shouldn't it have been the team's day that was coming. And why was it ok to apologize to her precious seniors (who have a horrible work ethic and she lets them get away with murder) but when the elementary school kids fall, they get punished. And she told me she couldn't apologize to them because it would undermine her authority as a coach. I wanted to post some smarty pants reply to her posts on Facebook but I refrained! I knew it wouldn't do any good and she would block me. Then I couldn't be nosy! LOL!
But my DDs and I did see a team that we are impressed with. It is about a half an hour from our house. The other gym that is close was ok but I can't see DD really progressing there. They have a Y1, Jr2 and Sr3. These are the same teams they have had for three years. And I don't see them adding more. They are in an overcrowded gymnastics facility as it is and there isn't any time to put another team anywhere. So, closer to tryouts, we are going to check out the Flying High Ravens. I need to know about their discipline procedures!

Hi Donna! Seems like you made a wise choice by pulling her from that gym. Really sad case. I have heard good things about Flying High Ravens and whenever we've been able to see them they've always been good. Good Luck!

 

[goofy!]

Our competition season starts this Saturday. Finally. It has been a long wait. And now we have a competition every weekend for then next 6 weeks. Our kids are so excited.

For anybody competiting his weekend - good luck and have a great competition!