All-Star Only Seniors Can Expose Midriff???

[F!ERCE]

Ok I hear you but people keep throwing out the word "legitimize" our sport. Legitimize to who.. and once it is, will that make cheerleading any better or worse. Just because your a sport, the sport itself doesn't change. Cheerleading will always be cheerleading, its an activity that is highly athletic but is also performance based. Also if you have ever seen volleyball, swimming, dance, aerobic championships, or wrestling... those sports all wear "small" outfits. Sorry but wearing a uniform that covers your stomach isn't going to make someone respect us more or less.

Do you know the "My Boyfriend's Back" dance video that came out a few years back?



So much controversy surrounded that in the way of "these girls are SO talented!! ...BUT what are they wearing?!" People were so blinded by the outfits the girls were donning that even if they could see that the girls were talented, they though less of them because of their revealing outfits. I think that's pretty direct correlation...and runs parallel to what we're discussing here.

Volleyball players and wrestlers are certainly more clothed than Top Gun was at Worlds last year. By a long shot. And swimmers? They're actually...in a pool...it's required of them lol. I do think that people will respect what we do more if we can do it without bearing our bodies. We can agree to disagree, but I definitely think it will help cheerleading as a whole.

 

[Anna-grace]

Do you know the "My Boyfriend's Back" dance video that came out a few years back?



So much controversy surrounded that in the way of "these girls are SO talented!! ...BUT what are they wearing?!" People were so blinded by the outfits the girls were donning that even if they could see that the girls were talented, they though less of them because of their revealing outfits. I think that's pretty direct correlation...and runs parallel to what we're discussing here.

Volleyball players and wrestlers are certainly more clothed than Top Gun was at Worlds last year. By a long shot. And swimmers? They're actually...in a pool...it's required of them lol. I do think that people will respect what we do more if we can do it without bearing our bodies. We can agree to disagree, but I definitely think it will help cheerleading as a whole.

I agree, however it isn't so much gaining respect for the sport as the seniors are still able to wear midriff uniforms however making it more age appropriate for the younger athletes is a suitable thing to do. No it may not be a major problem but I know of people who would not want to put a younger child into any sport or activity in which they wore things even slightly inappropriate for their age, yes most parents may not have a problem but some non cheer parents may not see dressing children in small uniforms and putting make up on them as appropriate, leaving it up to the program leaves it under personal discretion as to whether it is appropriate or not, one team in the uk is still remembered ad frowned upon because of a uniform their youth team wore years ago which obviously wasn't deemed innapropriate by parents and coaches at the program but by many others ad judges it was. As for other sports, again the younger athletes do not wear such revealing outfits, only the older ones, which is effectively all they are doing here.

 

[Coach Troy]

Oh jeez. We're going around in circles here. There's no point in continuing this discussion since I've already said that the reason why we should do full tops for the younger kids instead of half tops is because how people outside of the industry can interpret them (aka the CEA article). If you don't have a problem with no one outside the industry taking us seriously, then by all means, continue to put you 8 year in your old in a half top.

I am sorry but it is not a uniform that makes these "phantom" people from outside not take us serious. I have in the 12 years I have been doing this never been asked a question about starting cheerleading or not starting cheerleading due to the uniform...mostly just dads that understand that "the ball goes into the net and that's how we win" and don't understand how team A got first place, or how is this weekend nationals when last weekend was nationals???
The rest of what you are saying is just too silly to argue with..
NO FULL TOPS FOR ME )))

 

[gymcatmomx2]

Do you know the "My Boyfriend's Back" dance video that came out a few years back?

So much controversy surrounded that in the way of "these girls are SO talented!! ...BUT what are they wearing?!" People were so blinded by the outfits the girls were donning that even if they could see that the girls were talented, they though less of them because of their revealing outfits. I think that's pretty direct correlation...and runs parallel to what we're discussing here.

Volleyball players and wrestlers are certainly more clothed than Top Gun was at Worlds last year. By a long shot. And swimmers? They're actually...in a pool...it's required of them lol. I do think that people will respect what we do more if we can do it without bearing our bodies. We can agree to disagree, but I definitely think it will help cheerleading as a whole.

I have to say that the outfits didn't shock me so much as the moves that these young girls executed. They are obviously talented but I see no reason why they are having to perform moves that even some adult women wouldn't perform.

 

[Mom2Cheergirls]

I must be the minority but I'd rather see the little girls show their tummies than the senior girls who are fully developed and barely fitting in their tops and hanging out of the bottoms! Our gym has had some tops and bottoms that I thought were close to being too short. ( barley cupping around the bottoms) Usually its been the uniform manufacturer making them all wrong and by the time they were able to fix them, the season was basically over for us!!! I did personally think that one of the gyms in the Miami area had a uniform that was dangerously getting close to looking like an adult entertainer outfit but I don't live in Miami or Rio were people wearing thongs are more the norm or something that much of the population could even pull off. So maybe if I did live there, then I might be more conditioned to accept that on my cp. Not judging, but just look at it as to what I would be uncomfortable with if I needed to run into a business on the way home from a competition.... Would I be embarrassed to bring her in without having her put something on over what she was in. Would I feel the need to explain it when showing our friends that have never seen or heard of this type of cheerleading. When my cp was a mini showing her belly, I never was uncomfortable but as she has gotten older I worry I won't always feel the same comfort level for her in her senior uniform.


Reallycoolcheermommy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You may not have been uncomfortable having your mini's belly exposed, but think about it... bunch of young underage girls in half tops... think about how many perverts go to these competitions just to enjoy the view... the type of guys who think the younger the better. We have been to some competitions competing against other mini teams and the shirts are as small as a jog bra and the make up like that of a Vegas show girl... and I look at this and having family in police dept of bust these creeps - I can tell you there is no doubt that there are some very nasty people who come to the events like this for one purpose and it is not to cheer on a child they know. They get their jollies off our ignorance and allowance of our youngest girls to look like mini adults --- basically we set up their fantasy for them.... my kids are at a full coverage gym and will never cheer anywhere that does the "half shirts" or vegas style looks and I hope the new make up and uniform rules stick for the sake of all the young kids in cheer.

 

[elsa]

i honestly think that this rule is ok, i mean, it doesn't matter if your midriff is showing or not. only thing that matters is your skills

 

[munchkinmom]

So a 10 yr old on senior can wear a crop but a 14yr old on jr can't? Wow that rule really made a difference... Lol. This rule is a total joke, if you don't want to wear a crop don't go to a gym that wears them. I hate this rule, and my daughter is 9.

I really don't think the issue is that it's ok for the 10yo and not for the 14yo. I think the issue is if we say the 14yo on juniors can wear a crop top, then we have to either let their 5yo flier wear one too and the whole fight is worthless or we have to put a 10yo age minimum on juniors... and then deal with the uproar "A 10 yo on juniors can wear it but an 11yo on youth can't". They can't make everyone happy with this rule, but they can shoot for what they see as better than what they had.

 

[ztaprincess]

I posted it in the other thread, but I have never understood or agreed with the age grid overlapping (now a Youth athlete can compete on a worlds team). If they did away with the overlapping then saying that only seniors could wear crop tops would fit better because you wouldn't have a 10 year old wearing one while a 14 year old couldn't.

 

[xpressjag]

Youth , Mini and Tiny teams I understand but Junior and Senior teams I would say it should be optional. I think its funny how people are so upset when girls wear sports bras, half tops or lycra fitted shorts when at high schools you cross country and track people in just shorts and no tops for guys, and shorts/sports bras for girls. Same token, football players who play in those half t-shirts or NO shirts, or wrestlers who were skin tight uniforms all the way up their leg and show an outline of their entire body. The USASF needs to work harder in MANY areas, such as getting proper legality judges at ALL of their events, getting a UNIFIED score sheet, SET rules and divisions, look at adjusting sizes of divisions, and work on actually setting true standards for events, not just worrying about if a 11 year old has on a half top.

 

[bobbi]

No disrespect to anyone here, but I have had about all I can take about people blowing this rule out of control. Why would you want your baby wearing so few clothes? It doesnt make sense? We are ATHLETES. Therefore, while our attire may be part of our personality it shouldnt affect our talent level. Sometimes you have to pick and choose your battles. There has been warnings about this TIME AND TIME AGAIN. If you choose to ignore your probably part of the reason this is now a rule. We as an inductry kept pushing and pushing until there were girls cheering in bathing suit. Literally. So I guess we have no one to blame but ourselves. We had this coming, and I personally think it is a step in the right direction for the sport.

 

[gymrat12]

I was at both, a cheerleading competition and gymnastics meet yesterday. Who wants to guess which one I saw more skin at? The difference is gymnasts DON'T walk around the convention center/CITY in their leos. I'm going to go ahead and agree to disagree with everyone, I think these uniform rules are FANTASTIC

 

[munchkinmom]

Youth , Mini and Tiny teams I understand but Junior and Senior teams I would say it should be optional. I think its funny how people are so upset when girls wear sports bras, half tops or lycra fitted shorts when at high schools you cross country and track people in just shorts and no tops for guys, and shorts/sports bras for girls. Same token, football players who play in those half t-shirts or NO shirts, or wrestlers who were skin tight uniforms all the way up their leg and show an outline of their entire body. The USASF needs to work harder in MANY areas, such as getting proper legality judges at ALL of their events, getting a UNIFIED score sheet, SET rules and divisions, look at adjusting sizes of divisions, and work on actually setting true standards for events, not just worrying about if a 11 year old has on a half top.

Not our district. School dress code is you are covered upper chest to the end of your fingertips with arms extended down and it applies for all school functions (selectively enforced at dances...). They don't regulate shape of the garments, so yes, in theory you could wear a tan full bodysuit to school, it just isn't done (but is talked about, every time they talk about banning togas). And we're a pretty socially liberal suburban area smack up against major cities. If USASF sets a standard, it would be a national standard, everyone would make compromises. I'm sure there's places where they would prefer long tops for all and knee length skirts, but that's not practical country-wide either.

 

[uptown_outlaw]

Not sure if this was talked about yet... but are dance teams being restricted as well? Or just All Star Cheer? This rule is dumb... a gyms image is a gyms choice. Yet another agenda being pushed on us.

 

[uptown_outlaw]

I actually agree with the uniform restrictions that are coming up , kids now a days grow up so fast, why push them along in the process. I understand that having your own individual style is important to a lot of people, yet I do feel that you can still have that while being covered.

Growing up too fast? Really??? Are we pushing kids to get married in their early teens and have babies as fast as they can? Is All Star Cheer doing this to our children?

 

[uptown_outlaw]

Out of the frying pan and into the fire...
Yes we live in a country that allows us the freedom to pretty much wear and say anything we want. But as an organized activity there are rules and regulations that must be followed. An NFL player was fined for wearing sneakers that were not regulation, a soccer team has a standard of uniform that every team wears. We have traffic laws for the same reason. Sure you can run that red light, you have that freedom but there are consequences to that as well.
If you don't like the idea of full tops...I get that and you are entitled to that opinion but where do we draw the line in our sport? Do we continue to get dragged through the media mud everytime a "reporter" decides to do an expose on cheer? Because that's what they focus on, not how well our kids perform but what they look like and they use it to delegitimize us at every turn.
As I have said before I could care less about the uniform rules. We belonged to a gym that the whole program wore full tops. My kids have belonged to enough organized sports that I get why they put them out. Our gym already adheres to most of what was listed anyway so it really doesn't effect us as much as a gym that allows their kids to run around in UGGS or be half dressed at awards (two of my biggest pet peeves).

So where do we draw the line? We give an inch they take a mile. Wipe off the make-up, Cover up the tummy, Add 4in to the skirt, and take out that bow. Where do we stop so the "public" accepts us? When I started All Star cheer in the 90s... We had a few hundred gyms in a few countries... now... we know how big it has become. I guess we are doing SOMETHING right… Its not broken, stop trying to fix it. No matter how we try to spin All Stars cheer.. Someone somewhere is going to find a way to make Cheer look HYPER SEXUAL. When we all know its not.