All-Star Etiquette At Cheer Comps

[Fiercecheermom]

I have found traveling with a box fan helps drown out hotel noises really well. It's especially helpful at Worlds when your division competes at 9 am on Saturday it's unrealistic to expect the resort to be quiet at 10 pm on Friday. Lmao.


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We were lucky last year. Maybe we will be lucky again with an afternoon on Saturday

 

[Ashley]

I use a white noise maker every night at home. It's small and super portable, so I can easily travel with it in the car. For any time that I can't, I use the app on my phone. It drowns out outside noise, plus I find I can't fall asleep in complete silence because I feel like I can hear every little thing. Came in handy many times last year when I had super loud roommates.

We have one at home because we live across the street from a train station. We've never brought it with us on a trip, but maybe we will this weekend when we head to Atlantic City.

 

[rdavis4]

The hotel pool at comps is off limits for my CP. The water looks like soup broth after all those kids (and their hair products) have been in there. Yuck.

We are absolutely NOT allowed to swim at all. We also have strict times to be in rooms and with lights out. My CP is a tiny, so the lights out happen way before the gym time, haha! At our competition over the weekend, our owner caught wind that several of our youth aged kids were riding the elevators for fun and being noisy, so she then told them they were no longer able to ride the elevators for the rest of the year and would have to take the stairs. She is all about being respectful and professional. Some think it's a little too strict, but I personally like it.

 

[cheerKT]

We have one at home because we live across the street from a train station. We've never brought it with us on a trip, but maybe we will this weekend when we head to Atlantic City.

Last year I lived in the back corner of a building pretty close to some train tracks too. Helped with that. The best time was probably in college living in the sorority house. People were up and around at all kinds of weird hours. My roommate had early classes and a rarely ever heard her hop down from the top bunk, get dressed and leave for the day with my white noise on.

 

[katstat1]

I travel with ear plugs and use a white noise app for the girls and DH to help drown out the noise.

I forgot my earplugs this time. I will make sure to have them next time though!


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[Beans100]

They need a VIP section at competitions that you have to pay extra for- something with comfy chair and waiters. So, the people who want to sit up front all day and watch the teams without having to move can pay an extra 50 bucks. It's like first class, but for competitions. The viewers section should be closed off by more than a piece of tape and access is only granted with a wristband that allows you to get in or something like that.

I'm surprised no one has been trampled trying to get up front to watch teams. Black Friday- Cheer Worlds edition

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I'm always surprised at any sort of sporting event hotel situation (cheer, softball, etc.) how many parents are okay with their child swimming in the hotel pool without an adult.

I'm not talking middle or HS aged kids. Like, elementary aged kids.

Many people I know do not allow their kids to swim anywhere without a parent present. Ex: If they physically cannot watch said child swimming, their kid cannot get in the pool.

 

[randomactsofcheer]

No kidding! What a poor sport in winning and losing. *smh*
And I'm LOLing at the military kids being the "rich kids". Bless their hearts!

I am so confused... Where are military kids considered rich? Officers are paid fairly well, but I wouldn't consider them rich. That is such weird non-reason not to like a team. I bet it felt great to win!

 

[randomactsofcheer]

I'm always surprised at any sort of sporting event hotel situation (cheer, softball, etc.) how many parents are okay with their child swimming in the hotel pool without an adult.

I'm not talking middle or HS aged kids. Like, elementary aged kids.

Many people I know do not allow their kids to swim anywhere without a parent present. Ex: If they physically cannot watch said child swimming, their kid cannot get in the pool.

This is me. I will not allow CP to swim in a pool without one of us present. The one exception is if she is with grandma and grandpa and one of them is IN the pool with her. I have also allowed her to attend a swim camp, but there was always an instructor in the pool with her plus multiple lifeguards on duty. I also will not supervise any other other (elementary-aged) children in a pool unless I am in the pool with them or have another adult with me to supervise.

Here is a perfect example of why: I do allow CP to swim for short increments of time at OOT competitions. The pool we were at on Saturday had a few members of an IOC5 team in it. CP was so excited because a couple of them actually approached her (instead of the other way around) and asked if she wanted to stunt with them. I don't allow her to stunt with her teammates in the pool (that always seems like a head injury waiting to happen for me) but I was okay with her stunting with these adults because it was just a few of them in the pool at the time. CP was in heaven and I honestly think it helped her because she was much more solid and confident in the air than on day 1. Back to the story, the pool started to get crowded because other members of this team had arrived, so I told CP it was time to leave and to please go thank them for allowing her to stunt with them. She swam over to the deep end to say thank you and then turned around to swim back but there were two large groups of people stunting/hanging out around her. She tried to swim around them but couldn't find a path. I could tell she was starting to panic because she couldn't see the edge of the pool with all the people and couldn't touch the ground. I dropped all of the stuff I was carrying and ran over to the edge of the pool. I was about to jump in but when she caught a glimpse of me above the crowd, she took a deep breath, went under water and swam toward me until she found the edge of the pool. She was so shaken up when she climbed out. The point is, not one adult or any of the older kids she was hanging out with noticed that she was struggling. She is a strong swimmer, but that didn't help her when she started to panic. This just reinforced why I don't allow her to swim without myself or my husband supervising her. I am not sure that another parent or adult would have recognized that she needed help.

 

[Cheergurl]

At our comp last week-end, a large crowd for the team performing after ours wouldn't move so that our viewers could watch our team perform. So one of our coaches handed them a bunch of our little flags and said basically if you're not going to move then at least wave these around....LOL...same big gym that has done similar in the past. Some things never change.

I love this thread...I never really started commenting in the forums until recently. As a cheerleader, I am looking for my Mom or Dad. They know where I will be standing, I told them ahead of time. I am looking for that thumbs up from them not a stranger staring to see the cheerlebrity on my team.

 

[Official OWECheer]

This is me. I will not allow CP to swim in a pool without one of us present. The one exception is if she is with grandma and grandpa and one of them is IN the pool with her. I have also allowed her to attend a swim camp, but there was always an instructor in the pool with her plus multiple lifeguards on duty. I also will not supervise any other other (elementary-aged) children in a pool unless I am in the pool with them or have another adult with me to supervise.

Here is a perfect example of why: I do allow CP to swim for short increments of time at OOT competitions. The pool we were at on Saturday had a few members of an IOC5 team in it. CP was so excited because a couple of them actually approached her (instead of the other way around) and asked if she wanted to stunt with them. I don't allow her to stunt with her teammates in the pool (that always seems like a head injury waiting to happen for me) but I was okay with her stunting with these adults because it was just a few of them in the pool at the time. CP was in heaven and I honestly think it helped her because she was much more solid and confident in the air than on day 1. Back to the story, the pool started to get crowded because other members of this team had arrived, so I told CP it was time to leave and to please go thank them for allowing her to stunt with them. She swam over to the deep end to say thank you and then turned around to swim back but there were two large groups of people stunting/hanging out around her. She tried to swim around them but couldn't find a path. I could tell she was starting to panic because she couldn't see the edge of the pool with all the people and couldn't touch the ground. I dropped all of the stuff I was carrying and ran over to the edge of the pool. I was about to jump in but when she caught a glimpse of me above the crowd, she took a deep breath, went under water and swam toward me until she found the edge of the pool. She was so shaken up when she climbed out. The point is, not one adult or any of the older kids she was hanging out with noticed that she was struggling. She is a strong swimmer, but that didn't help her when she started to panic. This just reinforced why I don't allow her to swim without myself or my husband supervising her. I am not sure that another parent or adult would have recognized that she needed help.

Poor thing, that must have been terrifying.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

This is me. I will not allow CP to swim in a pool without one of us present. The one exception is if she is with grandma and grandpa and one of them is IN the pool with her. I have also allowed her to attend a swim camp, but there was always an instructor in the pool with her plus multiple lifeguards on duty. I also will not supervise any other other (elementary-aged) children in a pool unless I am in the pool with them or have another adult with me to supervise.

Here is a perfect example of why: I do allow CP to swim for short increments of time at OOT competitions. The pool we were at on Saturday had a few members of an IOC5 team in it. CP was so excited because a couple of them actually approached her (instead of the other way around) and asked if she wanted to stunt with them. I don't allow her to stunt with her teammates in the pool (that always seems like a head injury waiting to happen for me) but I was okay with her stunting with these adults because it was just a few of them in the pool at the time. CP was in heaven and I honestly think it helped her because she was much more solid and confident in the air than on day 1. Back to the story, the pool started to get crowded because other members of this team had arrived, so I told CP it was time to leave and to please go thank them for allowing her to stunt with them. She swam over to the deep end to say thank you and then turned around to swim back but there were two large groups of people stunting/hanging out around her. She tried to swim around them but couldn't find a path. I could tell she was starting to panic because she couldn't see the edge of the pool with all the people and couldn't touch the ground. I dropped all of the stuff I was carrying and ran over to the edge of the pool. I was about to jump in but when she caught a glimpse of me above the crowd, she took a deep breath, went under water and swam toward me until she found the edge of the pool. She was so shaken up when she climbed out. The point is, not one adult or any of the older kids she was hanging out with noticed that she was struggling. She is a strong swimmer, but that didn't help her when she started to panic. This just reinforced why I don't allow her to swim without myself or my husband supervising her. I am not sure that another parent or adult would have recognized that she needed help.

Exactly.

The average person hanging out at a hotel pool doesn't recognize what "I'm about to drown" looks like.

Drowning actually doesn't look like drowning in movies. People generally don't splash around a lot or yell for help, because they can't. It looks a lot like what your daughter was doing (panicking but not really saying anything.)

See also: sending kids to the pool with OTHER kids isn't safe either. They could be in the pool together and still not notice one of them having trouble.

Yes, I know kids drown even with parents watching, but I don't like the idea of kids being responsible for each other or being alone in a pool setting.

 

[Lolo]

The worst thing that ever happened to us was our room being on the ground floor of Block 6 in All Star Music at worlds... RIGHT BESIDE THE BUSSES & CHAMPIONS HALL. Oh my god I swear every loud, obnoxious cheerleader in the world passed our room and KNOCKED ON OUR WINDOWS ARGH. Why you so rude?

The worlds teams were acually fine, out team stayed on a week for the Summit and those kids were officially the worst for screaming/shouting/knocking on doors.. I swear I will never stay that far back again I want a room by the pool

 

[KPep]

OMG. I survived working at a comp.

I can't believe how cheer parents can be MEAN. My volontary team was essentially made of my athletes that didn't compete that day (teenagers on J2 and adults on OC5). My teenagers were yelled at, and one of them was pushed against a wall by a parent that wanted to enter the room without a ticket. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Who are you that you yell at my teenagers at the door because the tickets sale has ended or because the bracelet you have doesn't allow you to attend this part of the comp? You paid for first block? Good. But it's block 2. Next time, pay for the whole day.

Fan zone was a real challenge to deal with. Everybody wanted to be right in front of the mat. Hum, no? We had gyms with a lot of teams coming to the fan zone, and stubborn people would try and stay there all damn time, saying that there was not any space left in the room for them. Cry me a river honey.

But the room was really too small for one of the blocks. Not my fault or my team's fault. I give the parents that. FCQ never expected that big of a crowd.

 

[BBinNCsMom]

OMG. I survived working at a comp.

I can't believe how cheer parents can be MEAN. My volontary team was essentially made of my athletes that didn't compete that day (teenagers on J2 and adults on OC5). My teenagers were yelled at, and one of them was pushed against a wall by a parent that wanted to enter the room without a ticket. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Who are you that you yell at my teenagers at the door because the tickets sale has ended or because the bracelet you have doesn't allow you to attend this part of the comp? You paid for first block? Good. But it's block 2. Next time, pay for the whole day.

Fan zone was a real challenge to deal with. Everybody wanted to be right in front of the mat. Hum, no? We had gyms with a lot of teams coming to the fan zone, and stubborn people would try and stay there all damn time, saying that there was not any space left in the room for them. Cry me a river honey.

But the room was really too small for one of the blocks. Not my fault or my team's fault. I give the parents that. FCQ never expected that big of a crowd.

I'm so sorry that happened. There has just got to be a better way... We pay waaaay too much for this sport to not be able to enjoy it when our kids get to perform. EPs need to collaborate and at least try hold people accountable for their actions.

I realize this is very hard to do (much like banning cheaters) it's all about $$. Fining a gym or giving them deductions for parent behavior is not fair for the teams at that gym. It seems like a no win situation.

At the Dance studio we came from, it was strongly enforced that you DO not get up during performances. If someone tried to get up and leave the ushers wouldn't let them out. And every now and then the EP would remind the spectators that they could only move around between performances. At a minimum I would think the all star cheer gyms could at least make the announcement every now and then to "remind" cheer spectators to stay in their seats during performances. Maybe "threaten" deductions (but not really enforce__ it would be really hard to do). There is one comp we go to every year that threatens deductions for videotaping performances. I have no idea how they enforce that either.

I know I really appreciated the bleachers this weekend at return to Atlantis. I could sit up high over all the people walking around and kids throwing American girl dolls in the air while teams were performing. Call me a happy little bird.


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