All-Star Most Difficult Moment As A Cheer Parent...

[kjoyce62]

The most heartbreaking moment for me came a year after my daughter had torn her ACL coming down out of a stunt. She had gone through the surgery, the long months of rehab and had watched her team from the sidelines all year. She was finally back in the gym and her tumbling was back to the level it had been. Then in practice, doing a simple standing back tuck (something she could do in her sleep) she crumbled to the mat. When I got to her, she simply looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Mom, I tore it." In those four words, I saw all the pain and suffering my daughter had gone through come crashing down on her, and I knew she was going to have to face it again. After seeing the doctor, she had indeed torn her other ACL. But the fighter she is, she faced it with courage and strength. And I am happy to say, she has been on the Worlds mat 4 times since that day and has 2 silver medals to show for it. God always has a plan beyond the heartbreak.

 

[gofriars610]

The most heartbreaking moment for me came a year after my daughter had torn her ACL coming down out of a stunt. She had gone through the surgery, the long months of rehab and had watched her team from the sidelines all year. She was finally back in the gym and her tumbling was back to the level it had been. Then in practice, doing a simple standing back tuck (something she could do in her sleep) she crumbled to the mat. When I got to her, she simply looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Mom, I tore it." In those four words, I saw all the pain and suffering my daughter had gone through come crashing down on her, and I knew she was going to have to face it again. After seeing the doctor, she had indeed torn her other ACL. But the fighter she is, she faced it with courage and strength. And I am happy to say, she has been on the Worlds mat 4 times since that day and has 2 silver medals to show for it. God always has a plan beyond the heartbreak.

that's crazy. a friend of mine did something similar with softball. props to your daughter for bouncing back! (and congratulations on those two silvers at worlds!)

 

[Aw.Work.]

I think I can speak for my mom when i say, that her most difficult moment was watching me go through my tumbling block.

 

[AndyT_T]

I know what it was for my parents lol
I burst a capsule in my shoulder right before a really big competition (like the day before) and competed on it (I'm 18. They couldn't tell me no). I wasn't even supposed to lift it above my head, but I went on the floor anyways.
My dad and mom (pediatric doctors) refused to go to the competition so my sister had to go to the competition and stay on the phone with him to give him the play by play.

Last comp of my senior year, nothing was gonna keep me off the floor. But I nearly gave my parents a heart attack

 

[kjoyce62]

that's crazy. a friend of mine did something similar with softball. props to your daughter for bouncing back! (and congratulations on those two silvers at worlds!)

Thanks!

 

[AndyT_T]

this thread is extremely depressing ):

but the toughest moment for my mom, was definatley seeing how much my life changed after i was forced to leave all stars. after my freshman year of high school, it just became too expensive and i had too many conflicts with it and my high school team. i tried to work things out with bith of my coaches but they were both pretty stubborn. after leaving, my skill level went down, i lost lots of strength and flexibility, gained a little weight, my grades went down, and i became extremely depressed. i cried myself to sleep for weeks. i just missed the excercise and the competition SO much. fortunatley, i'm starting to do better, and my get back into it this year. but everything is still iffy.

I had a really bad bout of clinical depression sophomore year (Just a lot of stuff going on with my family) and cheer was everything for me. I LIVED in the gym, at least 5 days a week, often 6. I'd just mess around on whatever part of the gym happened to not be in use. I was there 5 hours most of the time, often more. Nothing I could ever say, and nothing I could ever do, would ever repay my coaches. I pay for my cheer and since they weren't coaching me they didn't charge me, yet they always seemed to be on the floor talking to me, tweeking my tumbling, and often just...being there.
I owe them everything

 

[cupieqt]

Probably my "toughest" moment (thus far) happened this season. My inexperienced flyer cp had gotten sick (colds and that stomach bug everyone had) before every comp in the early part of the season. She fell out of her stunts and even accidentally broke her base's ribs in Philly. Her coaches yelled at her, threatened her, and she took privates to get her skills where they needed to be, but her confidence was shot. Her privates coach said "She has the talent & skills but she just needs to learn her body. She needs to strengthen her core, do planks, etc." Cp never did them at home, however. So at Jam Live, when she came down, again, I had to look at her when she came off the floor crying and ask "Are you hurt?" She said no. So I said "Good, then stop the tears. It won't help. Did you do planks? Did you work as hard as you could? No. So either stop flying, or stop crying." It killed me to say it, because I really just wanted to hold her and make her embarassment and pain go away. Since I had already done that, there was only one thing left to do. Tough-love her. It worked, though. She never came out of a stunt again.

Who's with me for publishing a "Cheer-Parent's Handbook?"

Can I use this?! I would love to give this to my team parents!

 

[sun77]

I think I can speak for my mom when i say, that her most difficult moment was watching me go through my tumbling block.

My CP has had two blocks over the years and it really is a helpless feeling. It was so hard watching her cry all the time and not being able to do anything. She looked to me to fix it and all I could do was reassure her over & over that we loved her no matter what and she will do it in her own time. Can't say it wasn't incredibly frustrating, especially with the coaches and other parents bitching all the time.

 

[clz mom]

The most heartbreaking moment for me was after my daughter's final performance at Worlds last year, knowing that this all consuming journey that had bonded us so closely together for so many years, had reached its end. Those were truly some of the best years of our lives and we both miss it so much. So despite the heartbreak and the pain and the stress and all the craziness that goes along with all star cheerleading, enjoy every single moment because it ends far too soon ...

 

[kykycheermom]

Probably one of the saddest moments for me was watching my cp fall out of her stunt for the first time at US Finals. This year was her first ever flying, and she LOVED it. She has always wanted to fly, and this year got her chance. She did amazing all year! Never had a problem in competition, until this last one. Her one base went down while she was in a heel stretch and so she came down as well. She was completely heartbroken. She went through the rest of the routine trying so hard to hold back the tears, and when she came off the mat she was just sobbing into my shoulder. I wanted to cry with her. It broke my heart to see her put all the weight of the team's success or loss there of on her shoulders. They ended up getting second, but to a team that they desperately wanted to beat all year, so it still bothers her. Not to mention she's convinced now that she'll never be allowed to fly again. This whole thing makes me want to cry.

 

[star1998]

As a cheer parent of two, the hardest thing for me to deal with was the depression. Cheerleading was their whole life, their way of life. When an injury happened that side lined them, they couldn't handle it. I just remember trying to lift their heads up out of their hands and the tears that fell constantly. They were in full blown depression. It was easy to deal with the broken body compared to the broken heart.

 

[Mamarazzi]

Can I use this?! I would love to give this to my team parents!

Only after they already know you love them. Tough-love works best when it's cushioned by a foundation of support and willingness to help them help themselves.

 

[XoxLibertyallstarsxox]

I know it was probably very hard for both of my parents watching me not be able to do anything cheer related except go to practice and sit on the sidelines all summer long. Every day I would be miserable without it because cheer was the only thing that really made me happy and forget my depression

 

[HannahLou]

Oh dear I really thought that the cheer drama/upset/stress would end when I retire from my open team in the next year, now I know it will start all over again when I have my own little CP

 

[armycheermom]

From falling out of stunts to tumbling blocks to injures,my cp has put me on a roller coaster of emotions. Her senior year of cheer was the toughest though. She has always excelled at school & sports, but doing her senior year, she got extremely sick. So sick that her GPA dropped and she had to give up her spot on her teams, because she was in & out of the hospital. It broke my heart, because there was nothing that I could do. I couldn't make her better, I couldn't get her spots back & I couldn't raise her GPA for her. All I could do was encourage her, hold her while she cried & sit with her as she supported her teams from the sidelines. It was hard, for both of us & for 2 years, she shunned everything cheer. She is just now trying to get back into cheer & asked for tumbling lessons, at a new gym coming up.On one hand, I'm so excited to be back in the cheer world with her, but on the other hard, I'm scared silly that she could get hurt or sick again or that she won't be able to tumble after 2 years of not doing it....ugh,she's not even on a team and I'm so nervous! Here we go again.....