All-Star After The Rings Globes And Titles Then What?

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May 16, 2011
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I'm creating this thread to discuss something I have noticed more and more in this industry. This sport that I love and have been in for a while has become more focused on getting rings and globes and not us enjoying our common love for the sport. I remember the days before events like the summit and worlds where people competed for the joy of competing! Now a days with social media the sport has turned more into a status thing. It's like if you aren't on a level 5 team that is globing each year then you really aren't a part of the sport. My team just got back from the summit it's our first year going after a bid to the summit we received a wild card bid back in November and my athletes where over the moon as our team goal was to go to the summit! We competed this past Friday and hit a zero deduction routine we got 5th out of the 13 teams and missed moving to day 2 by less than two points. My athletes and their families where very happy and so was I as a coach! Today I found out that an athlete who left our gym a few years ago texted one of the athletes on my team and said "did your team make it to the REAL day at summit?" I assumed by "real day" she meant finals. So it made me think is this what we as a industry and coaches are teaching these young athletes? Unless you are making it to finals, getting a ring, are a level 5 athlete, and so on than you are some how less than. Lots of athletes in this sport will never make it to the summit or to finals at worlds or even on to a level 5 team. Should we make those athletes feel like their accomplishments are somehow just quite not good enough because they didn't get a ring at the end of their journey? I wish there where more focus on the little guys in this sport and not so much focus on how many rings someone is walking around with on their hands. Because there's so much more to take from this sport than rings, globes, and titles!
 
Of course winning is an important aspect of this sport, and i think if it wasnt we would not be competing at all. But what i think is most important is the journey, because no one was born a winner, Teams progress, athletes progress. And the real win lies in the progress and the journey, the experiences made along the journey, the friends made. No Ring, jacket or globe would be the same without the years of work and experience beforehand. Comgratulations to your Team for doing so well, it is great motivation for the future! We went to Worlds as an unknown Team, we have never been before. We came in 10th. Although to most this Sounds like a place not worth remembering, for us it was an unforgettable experience, and so much motivation for the future, to come back one day and place better. I hope what i am trying to say makes sense lol
 
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We were just talking about this in the Open 4 thread!

What I think some fail to see is that Worlds ring/globe winners and really Level 5 athletes are the 1% of cheer.

The average cheerleader is most likely going to age out as a Level 3 or 4.

That, and that a gym's focus can't solely be on Worlds teams. It should ideally be on building stronger athletes at lower levels (e.g. Youth/Mini/Junior 1 and 2.) That's also where the money is.
 
We were just talking about this in the Open 4 thread!

What I think some fail to see is that Worlds ring/globe winners and really Level 5 athletes are the 1% of cheer.

The average cheerleader is most likely going to age out as a Level 3 or 4.

That, and that a gym's focus can't solely be on Worlds teams. It should ideally be on building stronger athletes at lower levels (e.g. Youth/Mini/Junior 1 and 2.) That's also where the money is.
This. Cheer is suffering from serious apex fallacy-based judgment. Didn't Jody tell us that classes are where the money lies? And tumbleyoda let us all know that the fact that a gym's apparel and choreo are on fleek every year and they compete at Worlds/Summit does not mean that their books aren't in the red, or that the staff is even getting paid? All stability lies in the base.

That, and that a gym's focus can't solely be on Worlds teams. It should ideally be on building stronger athletes at lower levels (e.g. Youth/Mini/Junior 1 and 2.) That's also where the money is.
Now might also be a good time for people to be reminded that the potential cheer parents of 4-8 might not be so inclined to cheer if the first thing they see is excessively skimpy uniforms and sexual choreography.
 
This. Cheer is suffering from serious apex fallacy-based judgment. Didn't Jody tell us that classes are where the money lies? And tumbleyoda let us all know that the fact that a gym's apparel and choreo are on fleek every year and they compete at Worlds/Summit does not mean that their books aren't in the red, or that the staff is even getting paid? All stability lies in the base.


Now might also be a good time for people to be reminded that the potential cheer parents of 4-8 might not be so inclined to cheer if the first thing they see is excessively skimpy uniforms and sexual choreography.
As a parent with a tiny (now moving up to mini) I am SO thankful our owner does not allow any of that craziness. My kiddo looks up to our older athletes and even our level 5 team doesn't do any of that with their choreography. Our owner has said she'd be perfectly happy with them going out there in a tank top, shorts, and hair back in a ponytail if she could have it her way haha! To her, it's about the sport, not the image (which is the way it should be!)
 
The bottom line is what does an athlete get from cheer career and/or some titles in the end? Money award? Scholarships? Job? Yes a tiny tiny % of athletes.
But what they/we do get is a lot of debt [emoji1], forever friends, a 2nd "family" and the best memories that no $ can buy! It's not a sport for everyone but what my CP got from it is priceless!


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This 1000%. I get that winning is important, and higher level athletes are talented, dedicated kids, but they cannot be catered to at the expense of other kids who work just as hard. I watched our SR5 team become the entire focus of the gym for the month between the last regular comp of the season and their trip to D2 summit. They got new practice wear, bows, ect on the gym's dime. they had a huge sendoff party. There were gym wide fundraisers every month to finance their trip to Busch Gardens that Friday. It was GREAT that they got a bid and I am happy for them really, but CP's Y2 team and our S3 missed bids by fractions of a point. They were amazing teams this season too, and had better overall records than SR5 in much more crowded and competitive divisions, but got no recognition for that. I am frankly a little tired of the culture of catering to high level athletes.
 
The culture of putting the "premiere" team on a pedestal is what is fueling the industry.... Everyone wants to get there. Parents will pay for endless privates, camps and aparatuses to help get suzy that experience. The industry is capitalizing on it by using these eager young people ( and delusional parents) in adds and marketing hoping that their special snowflake will get the recognition they deserve. Proms, brand ambassadors, Legends, Next gen etc are all part of the hype.
What happened to working hard and earning what you get?
 
Excuse the one who has only been in the cheer AS area for now 3 years, but I'm not so sure it's always the gym's fault. As a Tiny/Mini mom and having been through a few programs (thank you Army) I can say without any hesitation that the stress I see PARENTS place on these kids, is far, far outdone by anything I've seen coaches place on these kids. By the time they're youth aged, all they want to do is win bigger and bigger because their mom (sometimes dad too) started into this sport knowing nothing but by the end of the first year is now hungry for their child to always be the winner.
 
It was one of the reasons I am most likely not coming back to cheer. There is such a focus on winning and I will never be a level 5 athlete. I am in a place now where I haven't been happier due to being focused on my own goals and those arent winning yet. Its making through each round of dance and doing my best and getting stronger each time. If I lived back where my first gym was I would be going back because I learnt so much in 3 months than I did in the whole season I was on the team I left
 
It is the Parents who drive the non drivers hours round trip to be in "that team". Yes sometimes it's the parents who make the kids feel like they have to be on the 5 team or else and yes some gyms cater to those teams when they should also be looking at the kids who will eventually be on the 5 team. That's the business unfortunately.h


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And this is why im so glad i aged out in 2008. Back then worlds was just starting to blow up and not nearly the main focus like it is today. Ive won a few jackets, and have a worlds participation medal but a worlds title was never the gyms main focus when i was still competing, mainly cause worlds was a lot more selective.
Do i like that worlds has been more open to allowing teams from big to small gyms compete, absolutely. But i still think they hand out WAY to many bids now a days. I miss the days when NCA was the big title everyone wanted.

im also not a big fan of the summit (sorry) but i just dont see the point in pushing level 1,2,3 kids into wanting some big grand title when they are that young and still have so many years left to enjoy the sport and reach for those kinds of title when they reach a higher level. As much as people dont like the idea, i dont mind the motion of bringing J5 back to worlds, or even having restricted 5 compete at some form of worlds. Not every kid is going to reach a senior level 5 team, and J5 and restricted 5 seem like a more achievable level for most.

Plus the cost i can only imagine has gone significantly up since adding the summit for a lot of lower teams, By the time some of these kids reach level 5, their poor parents will be beyond broke feeling.
My parents would have never let me continue for as long as i did if i had to do it in how todays prices are for gyms.
 
We came from a smaller gym when we lived in KS. Their goal is to make it to semi-finals at Worlds. Our new gym here in TX is larger and they have different goals - winning. All things considered, though, the goal with both programs has been to hit zero every performance. To do the best you can. That's why we are staying put where we are at.
 
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