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

[DisneyElite4]

I used to attend and participate in this competition for years. I can tell you that in the decade plus I have gone the weather has been all over the place. You can have the bad weather that you described, or it can be gorgeous, making practicing outside a breeze and lots of fun!

Also, a lot of the schools that consistently place very high and have been coming to nationals for years rent practice space at local gyms in the areas. They will come and practice at a gym on Friday before the competition, and then just use the warm-up space on Saturday/Sunday. So they are not getting injured on the grass/concrete, or having to practice in possible bad weather.

Overall, the competition works because it is so well-ran and a lot of fun! Who doesn't want to compete in Disney World? Enjoy those times with your daughter! I wish I could go back with my mom and do it all again!

 

[goofy!]

Back from Nationals at Orlando. I had no idea how big of a competition it was! There are prelims, semis and finals. I counted 218 teams making finals, so there must have been what, maybe 500 teams there?

It started rough...in prelims, outside venue, freezing cold, two of our girls collided, music stopped, long delay, concussion, injured hand, reworking routine in 15 minutes, girls rise to the occasion, make semis then finals, girl with concussion is taken to hospital (she's going to be okay but still has a headache and light and sound sensitivity - but at least she knows where she is!) After at all that, the girls were disappointed in their placement in finals. There were only a few tiny mistakes, but many of the other teams in finals had higher levels of difficulty (which really surprised our coach, who thought we would have the highest level.)

I know it's great for Disney to have that many paying guests at a very slow (and cold!) time of the year...but it's really a crazy way to do Nationals... go to a place where you can only practice outside (choose the slick wet grass or the concrete) in the days leading up to the competition, then let the girls kill their feet and legs by walking around Disneyworld for two days..then compete! Fun, but kind of nuts.

Hpefully your daughter had fun - that is the most important.

We competed at UCA allstar there 3 years ago. It was in March and was bone-chilling cold too the first day. DD competed in the Indiana Jones theater in Hollywood Studios. The stores surrounding the theater were hysterical, reminiscent of Black Friday. People were grabbing sweats, and if you secured a pair in your kid's size, you held on to them tightly because if you even thought of putting them down, they were goine.

Do most gyms allow their kids to go into Disney when they are not competing?

We all have to stay in the same hotel and we are not allowed in Disney, in the pool, etc from Thursday midnight (friday morning) till Sunday midnight. We are competing in Anaheim in April and same rules apply. If you want to go to Disneyland, you can go Thursday or stay Monday and later. It is hotel for homework and downtime while on "cheer time."

 

[woodkins]

Back from Nationals at Orlando. I had no idea how big of a competition it was! There are prelims, semis and finals. I counted 218 teams making finals, so there must have been what, maybe 500 teams there?

It started rough...in prelims, outside venue, freezing cold, two of our girls collided, music stopped, long delay, concussion, injured hand, reworking routine in 15 minutes, girls rise to the occasion, make semis then finals, girl with concussion is taken to hospital (she's going to be okay but still has a headache and light and sound sensitivity - but at least she knows where she is!) After at all that, the girls were disappointed in their placement in finals. There were only a few tiny mistakes, but many of the other teams in finals had higher levels of difficulty (which really surprised our coach, who thought we would have the highest level.)

I know it's great for Disney to have that many paying guests at a very slow (and cold!) time of the year...but it's really a crazy way to do Nationals... go to a place where you can only practice outside (choose the slick wet grass or the concrete) in the days leading up to the competition, then let the girls kill their feet and legs by walking around Disneyworld for two days..then compete! Fun, but kind of nuts.

2 of the high schools that made Large Varsity D1 finals come to our all star gym as well as 2 of the rec teams that made finals. They also rent gym space down in Orlando to practice. Also our teams (at all star natl's) are not allowed into the parks prior to the competition...not that they have any time to. It is made clear to the parents that this is a competition in Disney, not a vacation to Disney.

Your girls should be proud of their accomplishments, making finals is huge in itself. We were watching the competition on varsity TV all weekend & there was a surprisingly high level of difficulty....one Varsity team had 1/2 of the team doing synchronized fulls!!

Hope you had a great time

 

[goofy!]

2 of the high schools that made Large Varsity D1 finals come to our all star gym as well as 2 of the rec teams that made finals. They also rent gym space down in Orlando to practice. Also our teams (at all star natl's) are not allowed into the parks prior to the competition...not that they have any time to. It is made clear to the parents that this is a competition in Disney, not a vacation to Disney.

Your girls should be proud of their accomplishments, making finals is huge in itself. We were watching the competition on varsity TV all weekend & there was a surprisingly high level of difficulty....one Varsity team had 1/2 of the team doing synchronized fulls!!

Hope you had a great time

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Man, I'd love to go to a competition at Disney! Now, that would be fun. Congrats to your team on making finals, that is a huge deal!

I am up late packing for Cheer Sport Atlanta right now. My dd's so nervous, and she never gets nervous for competitions. I can't wait to see what all the fuss is about! We leave at midnight Wednesday night. Wish us luck (not just at the competition, I'm about to spend 12 hours on a bus with a bunch of cheerleaders!!!)

Have a great weekend, good luck to all who will be competing!

 

[missypie]

Also, a lot of the schools that consistently place very high and have been coming to nationals for years rent practice space at local gyms in the areas. They will come and practice at a gym on Friday before the competition, and then just use the warm-up space on Saturday/Sunday. So they are not getting injured on the grass/concrete, or having to practice in possible bad weather.

I was talking about that with another mom, wondering why we didn't do that. The "UCA package" basically goes from Thurs to Sunday, although you can add extra days. If the team wanted it to be a little vacation, it would make more sense to come in on Friday, practice, compete Sat and Sun then do the parks early the next week.

The coach read the score sheets to the girls yesterday. It wasn't level of difficulty or mistakes that made them not win...it was their spirit section. The judges wanted their poms to be in two colors instead of one, didn't like the color of their signs, and thought their chant was hard to follow. These girls practice for years and take private lessons to perfect difficult tumbling, the flyers let themselves be tossed about, all face stress and injury, and their big deduction is pom colors.

The thing is, instead of doing different brands of competition, school cheer does only UCA - regionals, state and nationals, for consistency. At state they got the highest possible scores on their spirit section; at nationals, low scores. What the heck?

 

[goofy!]

Man, I'd love to go to a competition at Disney! Now, that would be fun. Congrats to your team on making finals, that is a huge deal!

I am up late packing for Cheer Sport Atlanta right now. My dd's so nervous, and she never gets nervous for competitions. I can't wait to see what all the fuss is about! We leave at midnight Wednesday night. Wish us luck (not just at the competition, I'm about to spend 12 hours on a bus with a bunch of cheerleaders!!!)

Have a great weekend, good luck to all who will be competing!

Good Luck!!! You are going to have a blast, well maybe not the 12 hour bus ride. But the competition is one of the most fun we have ever attended.

 

[goofy!]

I was talking about that with another mom, wondering why we didn't do that. The "UCA package" basically goes from Thurs to Sunday, although you can add extra days. If the team wanted it to be a little vacation, it would make more sense to come in on Friday, practice, compete Sat and Sun then do the parks early the next week.

The coach read the score sheets to the girls yesterday. It wasn't level of difficulty or mistakes that made them not win...it was their spirit section. The judges wanted their poms to be in two colors instead of one, didn't like the color of their signs, and thought their chant was hard to follow. These girls practice for years and take private lessons to perfect difficult tumbling, the flyers let themselves be tossed about, all face stress and injury, and their big deduction is pom colors.

The thing is, instead of doing different brands of competition, school cheer does only UCA - regionals, state and nationals, for consistency. At state they got the highest possible scores on their spirit section; at nationals, low scores. What the heck?

That stinks.

As for practice at National competitions, our gym always brings a spring floor in for practices.

They have rented a huge banquet tent in Florida, had it put up on hotel grounds, and then rented a spring floor for it.

In Dallas last year, we had the ballroom in the hotel secured and brought in a spring floor. Since it had long stretches of not being used, this year we are going to share the floor and ballroom with another gym. You can't do any of the high tosses, but it is great to be able to go downstairs and practice anytime you want.

 

[missypie]

As for practice at National competitions, our gym always brings a spring floor in for practices.

They have rented a huge banquet tent in Florida, had it put up on hotel grounds, and then rented a spring floor for it.

In Dallas last year, we had the ballroom in the hotel secured and brought in a spring floor. Since it had long stretches of not being used, this year we are going to share the floor and ballroom with another gym. You can't do any of the high tosses, but it is great to be able to go downstairs and practice anytime you want.

I assume that someone pulls a trailer to haul the floor? Hard to bring a floor or mats on a plane.

 

[goofy!]

I assume that someone pulls a trailer to haul the floor? Hard to bring a floor or mats on a plane.

Apparently they always rent one locally.

 

[goofy!]

Man, I'd love to go to a competition at Disney! Now, that would be fun. Congrats to your team on making finals, that is a huge deal!

I am up late packing for Cheer Sport Atlanta right now. My dd's so nervous, and she never gets nervous for competitions. I can't wait to see what all the fuss is about! We leave at midnight Wednesday night. Wish us luck (not just at the competition, I'm about to spend 12 hours on a bus with a bunch of cheerleaders!!!)

Have a great weekend, good luck to all who will be competing!

Family Fun Mom,

How was your first experience with Cheersport?

Did your kids have fun?

We want to live vicariously through you

We are packing for Dallas, plane leaves on Thursday.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Family Fun Mom,

How was your first experience with Cheersport?

Did your kids have fun?

We want to live vicariously through you

We are packing for Dallas, plane leaves on Thursday.

We just got home last night. Our 12 hour bus ride ended up being 20 hours due to weather and a bus breakdown so you can imagine what that was like!

Cheersport was AMAZING! Unlike anything I've ever seen. I swear every team that performed was awesome. After every routine we'd be like "Ooo, they were good, I don't know if we can beat them!" It was serious, fierce competition! Buuuuuuuttttttt, WE BEAT THEM! Our youth L1 team took 1st place and our junior L2 team (my dd's team) also took 1st place!!!

It was so exciting! My daughter is a crossover to the senior L3 team and junior awards were happening as seniors were to perform. We were literally standing at the stage waiting for seniors to come out when one of the coaches comes running out from back stage screaming "JUNIORS TOOK FIRST!" Over half the senior team are crossovers from juniors and we could see them through the curtain jumping up and down and hugging backstage. When they finally took the floor they all had mascara tear stains on their faces, so did all of us Moms

Seniors gave the best performances of the year both days, but unfortunately one of our moves in the pyramid is considered a L4 move by Cheersport (we've done it all year with no problems) so we got a 10 point penalty. They took the move out on Sunday but the damage was done. That penalty killed us. Without the penalty we would have taken 3rd, but with it we ended up with 6th. (ETA actually I just looked at the results, they would have taken 2nd, not 3rd)

We are a small gym and only about 10 or 15 girls are on just the senior team which means everyone except those girls came home with a jacket and a medal. I felt so bad for them because they worked so hard but I think in the end this will make them stronger. We have such a young senior team (only 3 are even 16, everyone else is younger). They have plenty of time to grow and come back stronger.

I am so proud of them all! We hung in there with all those southern teams, some of the best teams in the country. There was quite a buzz going on about "that team from Michigan" especially our youth team. We had people gather around to watch when we went on saying "who are they? where are they from". It was pretty cool.

I can't wait to go back next year!

 

[missypie]

When they finally took the floor they all had mascara tear stains on their faces, so did all of us Moms

We are a small gym and only about 10 or 15 girls are on just the senior team which means everyone except those girls came home with a jacket and a medal. I felt so bad for them because they worked so hard but I think in the end this will make them stronger.

Our all-star team (sr 4) makes me cry. They work so hard and want to win a National title so badly. Last year was when they combined with the L3 team at the last minute due to injuries, so they never came close to winnng. Every other team won multiple jackets. So everyone else has jackets, plus the girls on our team who moved up have jackets. It's basically the high school girls who don't. They were a couple of hundredths away at ACA.

Watch out teams coming to NCA in Dallas this weekend...they want it bad! (And I'll cry either way.)

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Our all-star team (sr 4) makes me cry. They work so hard and want to win a National title so badly. Last year was when they combined with the L3 team at the last minute due to injuries, so they never came close to winnng. Every other team won multiple jackets. So everyone else has jackets, plus the girls on our team who moved up have jackets. It's basically the high school girls who don't. They were a couple of hundredths away at ACA.

Watch out teams coming to NCA in Dallas this weekend...they want it bad! (And I'll cry either way.)

Good luck to them! I hope those girls get their jackets!

 

[goofy!]

We just got home last night. Our 12 hour bus ride ended up being 20 hours due to weather and a bus breakdown so you can imagine what that was like!

Cheersport was AMAZING! Unlike anything I've ever seen. I swear every team that performed was awesome. After every routine we'd be like "Ooo, they were good, I don't know if we can beat them!" It was serious, fierce competition! Buuuuuuuttttttt, WE BEAT THEM! Our youth L1 team took 1st place and our junior L2 team (my dd's team) also took 1st place!!!

It was so exciting! My daughter is a crossover to the senior L3 team and junior awards were happening as seniors were to perform. We were literally standing at the stage waiting for seniors to come out when one of the coaches comes running out from back stage screaming "JUNIORS TOOK FIRST!" Over half the senior team are crossovers from juniors and we could see them through the curtain jumping up and down and hugging backstage. When they finally took the floor they all had mascara tear stains on their faces, so did all of us Moms

Seniors gave the best performances of the year both days, but unfortunately one of our moves in the pyramid is considered a L4 move by Cheersport (we've done it all year with no problems) so we got a 10 point penalty. They took the move out on Sunday but the damage was done. That penalty killed us. Without the penalty we would have taken 3rd, but with it we ended up with 6th. (ETA actually I just looked at the results, they would have taken 2nd, not 3rd)

We are a small gym and only about 10 or 15 girls are on just the senior team which means everyone except those girls came home with a jacket and a medal. I felt so bad for them because they worked so hard but I think in the end this will make them stronger. We have such a young senior team (only 3 are even 16, everyone else is younger). They have plenty of time to grow and come back stronger.

I am so proud of them all! We hung in there with all those southern teams, some of the best teams in the country. There was quite a buzz going on about "that team from Michigan" especially our youth team. We had people gather around to watch when we went on saying "who are they? where are they from". It was pretty cool.

I can't wait to go back next year!

Congrats! What an accomplishment. It is not easy to win at Cheersport. Your girls must be so excited.

 

[goofy!]

Our all-star team (sr 4) makes me cry. They work so hard and want to win a National title so badly. Last year was when they combined with the L3 team at the last minute due to injuries, so they never came close to winnng. Every other team won multiple jackets. So everyone else has jackets, plus the girls on our team who moved up have jackets. It's basically the high school girls who don't. They were a couple of hundredths away at ACA.

Watch out teams coming to NCA in Dallas this weekend...they want it bad! (And I'll cry either way.)

Good luck to your S4 team. I hope they get their jackets.

2 of our teams brought them home last year, now the rest of the teams want theirs

 

[missypie]

Today is Tumbling Certification for school cheer. They have to do two skills (incl a standing back tuck) to even be able to try out for cheerleader. They do the skills before a panel of three 3rd party judges. It's a stressful day, even for those who have their skills. The coach has no say in the process. The coach could have seen them execute the skills perfectly 100 times during the year, but if they can't do them for the judges, it's a no go. They get three attepts at each skill.

 

[ThePetLady7]

Today is Tumbling Certification for school cheer. They have to do two skills (incl a standing back tuck) to even be able to try out for cheerleader. They do the skills before a panel of three 3rd party judges. It's a stressful day, even for those who have their skills. The coach has no say in the process. The coach could have seen them execute the skills perfectly 100 times during the year, but if they can't do them for the judges, it's a no go. They get three attepts at each skill.

I'm sure it is stressful, even for kids that have mastered a skill, but I sure wish we had something like that in our school district. Unfortunately, here it is all about "spirit." Tumbling is worth next to nothing on the scoresheet. The cheer coach has zero interest in competing or putting together a team of athletes. Almost makes me want to find another high school for dd13 when the time comes!

 

[missypie]

I'm sure it is stressful, even for kids that have mastered a skill, but I sure wish we had something like that in our school district. Unfortunately, here it is all about "spirit." Tumbling is worth next to nothing on the scoresheet. The cheer coach has zero interest in competing or putting together a team of athletes. Almost makes me want to find another high school for dd13 when the time comes!

I really wish they would have two squads - spirit and competition. The spirit squad could be large - there are all kinds of events that have no cheerleaders because the cheerleaders are at another event (e.g. volleyball games are at the same time as football games, soccer games are at the same time as basketball games.) Some of our cheerleaders really dislike cheering at games - they really just want to compete. There are lots of energetic girls who don't have the tumbling or stunting skills who would be awesome on a spirit squad.

 

[goofy!]

Loving the weather down here in Dallas, especially since it is snowing back home. Although, Texas can keep their humidity

Our team is slowly being decimated by illness. A few hours after getting off the plane last night, dd came down with a nasty case of the stomach flu. We have another who has pneumonia and another with the flu.

They had a shortened practice this morning at the hotel (floor in the ballroom.) Now we head over to the convention center for another practice. DD has been sleeping since this morning, so hopefully when she wakes up she will feel a bit better.

Then on to our all gym dinner.

Thankfully we don't compete till late tomorrow, so everybody has a bit more time to recover. Cross fingers that we don't have any more illnesses.

Our gym has been hit hard by A strain influenza the past couple of weeks. One of our parents, a physician, brought a suitcase full of tamiflu and antibiotic samples. Knock on wood we won't need them.