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

[eduk8r26]

My niece is in Dallas right now. This is the first time her J2 team has gone. She came down with a stuffed up nose and ears the day before she was to leave. Hopefully all will go well.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

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.

Oh, my goodness! I hope everyone starts feeling better. There's nothing worse than trying to compete with a sick team. Good luck to them! Let us know how it goes.

 

[eduk8r26]

YAYYYYY!!!! My niece's J2 team took first at NCA Nationals in Dallas today! It was their first time there, too. The small sr. 5 from their gym also took 1st and got superior showmanship also.

 

[woodkins]

Anyone heading to Spiritfest in CT on Saturday...I looked at the tentative schedule and it looks like a small competition...oh well, at least we will get home early!

 

[Family Fun Mom]

YAYYYYY!!!! My niece's J2 team took first at NCA Nationals in Dallas today! It was their first time there, too. The small sr. 5 from their gym also took 1st and got superior showmanship also.

Congrats!!!!! That's awesome!

 

[goofy!]

YAYYYYY!!!! My niece's J2 team took first at NCA Nationals in Dallas today! It was their first time there, too. The small sr. 5 from their gym also took 1st and got superior showmanship also.

Congrats! What gym is your niece from? I was watching some of the J2's, but didn't see the awards so don't know if any of the ones I watched were your niece's.

DD's special needs team also took first. She is so excited! I think she is going to sleep in that jacket.

 

[eduk8r26]

Congrats to your DD. I love watching the special needs. They always look like they are having so much fun! My niece cheers for California Allstars in Camarillo, CA. That's about an hour or so north of DL. They also have gyms in San Diego and up north--Livermore, I think.

 

[goofy!]

Congrats to your DD. I love watching the special needs. They always look like they are having so much fun! My niece cheers for California Allstars in Camarillo, CA. That's about an hour or so north of DL. They also have gyms in San Diego and up north--Livermore, I think.

Cali always puts amazing routines on the floor. They are so fun to watch. That is why we love going to NCA - to watch that caliber of teams.

DN's J1 team got third. They were a bit disappointed as they had a 2 pt deduction. They got a bit excited and held a stunt too high. But we are so proud of them and how they handled themselves.

We will be in your neck of the woods in April for American Showcase.

 

[missypie]

Goofy, we did give did you some nice weather in Dallas, didn't we? Where does everybody eat while at NCA? I was worried about all the teams as we had yummy Mexican food Saturday night miles away from the convention center. There are no restaurants nearby and I don't think many places in the West End can accomodate large crowds.

D's team came in 4th. Yesterday, one girl touched down on a back tuck...which isn't remarkable except that I've never ever seen this girl botch a back tuck, even at the end of an exhausting practice. Goes to show you that anything can happen. We would have only received 3rd without the deduction, however, so no biggie. Otherwise, our girls delivered fantastic routines and should be proud. (It's just that the other teams were fantstic-er.)

We were able to watch all the special needs teams. How fun! How are they judged? Does it matter how many helpers they have on the mat? Because some teams had a lot and some had few.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Congrats! What gym is your niece from? I was watching some of the J2's, but didn't see the awards so don't know if any of the ones I watched were your niece's.

DD's special needs team also took first. She is so excited! I think she is going to sleep in that jacket.

That's so cute! They love those jackets, don't they? My daughter wears hers to school and boy does she strut when she has it on, lol. Too funny.

Congrats to your daughter and her teammates!!

 

[Pixie Princess]

Hi Cheer Moms! I'm a cheer aunt, and we will be heading down to WDW to watch my niece compete at UCA All Star Nationals. Since I'm the Disney "guru", the majority of the trip planning has been put on my plate.

Normally I'm not an uber planner as we (DD and I) typically travel to WDW during lower volume times of the year when it really isn't necessary. I'm starting to freak out a little because the competition order hasn't been posted yet, and I don't know if my tentative plan is going to work out. For those of you who have been to this competition, when do they normally post the competition schedule? The site info says mid Feb, but we are well past that now.

Is this comeptition like others where her group, Mini (level 2 if that makes a difference), is likely to compete early in the day? I tried to find a the competition schedule from last year to get an idea, but no luck.

This is the first year my DN is going to this competition, so my SIL can't help with past precedent. Also the last time we touched base was earlier in the month, but it was mostly for me to help her with ticket questions. She didn't have any information on the schedule at that time. She's been busy speaking at several teacher's conferences since then, and is out of town again this week speaking. At this rate, I'm afraid I won't have any clue of what is going on until the Friday before the competition.

If it were just me and my DD it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but there are several other family members involved, and I really want to have a clear plan in place.

TIA!

 

[missypie]

Pixie Princess, LOL, I was posting the same questions a few weeks ago, before we went for UCA High School cheer nationals. Having a plan -a perfect plan! - is always esential for me so I felt nervious not having one.

Do you have any days that are free, or free except for maybe a morning practice? If I were you, I'd email the cheer gym and ask them if they have an approximate idea of the schedule. Some gyms don't allow the girls in the parks until after they compete (which makes sense because their legs and feet can get very tired.)

I joined Tour Guide Mike and touringplans.com to find out the red, yellow and green days. If you look at the Disney website and study extra magic hours, when Fantasmic is, when the MK electrical parade is, you can probably figure out the least crowded parks.

If your neice is a mini, she's likely not old enough for thrill rides. Find out her "must see" parks - probably MK, right? Get a fast pass as soon as you arrive for whatever is her priorty ride, then look at the wait times for everything else. There are lots of apps for Iphone, blackberry, etc. that will tell you current wait times.

We waited in line about an hour to get center seats for Fantasmic, but given the time of year, the venue was not filled to capacity, so we could have probably walked in at the last minute.

Her "package" may include wrist bands for special, cheerleaders only events at MK and/or HS. Beware. Very few rides are open then. At HS, there were three rides open and they had 2 hour waits during the cheerleaders only "party."

 

[Pixie Princess]

Thanks for the reply Missypie! I am actually a touringplans.com subscriber, so I'm all good there. I wish I had an iphone or droid to use in the parks, but alas, I am still months away from being able to upgrade. So I'll just use trusty Mobile Magic, and access the Lines mobile site. I'll be using a "formal" touring plan for only the second time. And for the first time will probably take a break in the afternoon to get away from the worst of the crowds. That last one really gets me.

I'll text my SIL and see who she recommends I contact at the gym to see what sort of schedule they have at this point. My plan for the first day of the competition sort of hinges on when and where my niece will be competing. According to the UCA website, she should be at DHS, which has a.m. EMH that day. I figure me and my DD can knock out ToT, RnRCC and maybe even TSM during EMH. Hopefully my other niece and MIL will be able to join us for that. There are couple of other things we'd like to do there, but if the older niece competes early enough, my plan is to hop. The younger niece is tall enough for most of the rides, but I don't think I'll get her (or her sister for that matter) on any of the thrill rides. Other than LMA, I don't think she'll be interested in much else at DHS.

I feel a little guilty saying it, but making sure my younger niece has an amazing time is my priority. My DD is so excited to "show her around". It will be the younger niece's first visit, and we are celebrating her b-day. I would love for us all to have a great time together in the parks, but with it being so crowded and the competition likely taking up the morning, at a minimum, I decided that I just have to plan for those not tied to the competition. The older niece has been to WDW before. MK will have p.m. EMH until 3a.m. on Sunday. We'll be able to get her some theme park fun in there.


My DN's gym is not going on the NASCC package, and from what I understand they will not be attending the parties. Sounds like that might be a good thing too! I can't imagine waiting two hours for a ride!

 

[missypie]

School cheer tryouts are becoming surreal. I won't go into all of it but get this: They have a three day clinic this week, then tryouts are Thursday. Three third party judges, no coach input on scoring. The basketball team is still in the playoffs, so the current cheerleaders are "excused" from Wednesday's tryout clinic. Which means that anyone who is not a current cheerleader has an extra day to learn the cheer and dance. I really don't think the boys would lose just because there were only senior cheerleaders at the beginning of the game and the others came in 15 minutes late. But the mom who suggested this was scolded for not being supportive of our basketball players.

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

Congrats to those that did well in Dallas!!!!

 

[lilfroggie]

For those of you wondering about the schedule in Orlando for All-Star Nationals...it is up!

 

[Tracyee]

For those of you who have done this competition before, what is the best (Fastest) way to drive from the hpField House to Hollywood Studios. My worst nightmare is confirmed - my kids go on within 20 minutes of each other in 2 different places!

Any road maps out there?

 

[missypie]

For those of you who have done this competition before, what is the best (Fastest) way to drive from the hpField House to Hollywood Studios. My worst nightmare is confirmed - my kids go on within 20 minutes of each other in 2 different places!

Any road maps out there?

Yikes, yikes and double yikes. I don't know if it is physically possible to get from one venue to another in 20 minutes. You have to get from the parking lot (which shouldn't be terribly far at Wide World of Sports) to the parking lot at HS (which will be so far that you have to ride the parking lot shuttle), all the way into the Indiana Jones theatre in HS. The drive itself is not far - it's just the parking and getting to the location in the park. Is there any way you could have a cab or driver waiting to take you from door to door?

One or more group could be running late - which would help if it's the second kid but hurt if it's the first. They REALLY try to keep the sessions on time. The session before my D's was running late, so they actually started my D's session while the scores of the prior one were being tabulated, then stopped her session about 5 teams in to have the awards for the one before. Crazy.

Of course, we were the team that caused the whole thing to stop for about 10 minutes due to an injury, so you could have that kind of "good luck."

All the best to you. If I were you I would either, 1) watch the D least likely to make finals, or 2) make arrangements with a cab in advance, take a Xanax and give it a try.

 

[njmom47]

Well...just read in today's local newspaper that some of our Jersey Shore Pop Warner teams have decided to sever ties with PW and go with American Youth Football and Cheer. Anyone familiar with this organization? It seems to be less strict and have more opportunites for the kids. Does that mean no WDW competition?

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Do you have to qualify for the All Star Nationals at WDW? My dd said her coach is thinking about having them go next year, so I was wondering about it. I'd LOVE to go and I'm sure they'd qualify if that's what's needed. They've taken first place at nearly every competition so far. I sure wish we were going this year!