All-Star Rays Rumors Questions?

[King]

here are the things ive always heard from my coaches about rays. i just wanna know if they are true.

do you guys hold kids back from throwing their skills?

do you guys not allow any other gyms shirts in your own?

do you kick people off if they visit other gyms?

1. We would never stop people from throwing skills they have or try to hold them back. We generally push them to get the absolute most out of them we can. The only thing is we might change a skill in the warmup room if it doesn't look solid. If a full is shaky and busting, we will ask them to layout. If a fullup is missing, they might go straight up. There are two reasons for this: 1. There will always be some skills in every routine that an athlete has struggled with or just got. That day the they may not have the skill solid yet, and we will change it just to make a safer routine. You kinda have to ask yourself... is this one kids full the reasons we would win? 99% of the time the answer is your team would probably place the same whether the athetlete did the skill or not. The difference would be in if the athlete busted. There is a strong chance having a bunch of questionable skills bust could affect your teams placement. So we ask our athletes to be smart. we might make the call or ask the athlete themselves whats the smartest thing to do. 2. the other reason is injury. throwing a skill at the gym for practice is one thing, but putting it out there for everyone to see when its not solid can lead to injury. there will always be some risk in everything we do, but taking unnecessary ones don't really help out the team.

2. haha, you can pretty much wear anything thats in the dress code. I have some shirts from other programs that I enjoy. In fact I am still waiting on a shirt from @BlueCat and while I am at it... wheres my TG shirt @Weezy ?

3. ok, there are two ways to take that question. so I will answer them both. if an athlete is on a current team that we are coaching and working with to be competitive and an athlete is unhappy for whatever reason and visiting other gyms to find out if they can offer her/him something better I think we would have a discussion with that athlete.

if an athletes is tumbling at another gym that isn't a big deal (as long as their skills are improving). some athletes drive a long way for practice so making it up for a tumble class jsut isnt in the cards.

 

[caa10]

can I be the one random super high basket on Smoke?
please please please please pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee!

But really, after reading almost all of these posts its really nice to read that Rays really doesn't treat their level 5's any different then their Mini 1's. Everyone is just as important. I really wish I had a good, serious question I could ask, but I don't. Sorry King!

 

[stillgoingstrong]

why are your athletes not allowed to wear sports bras to practice?

 

[King]

why are your athletes not allowed to wear sports bras to practice?

they are allowed to wear sports bras and its encouraged! What you are probably asking is why they are not ONLY allowed to wear sports bras. We are pretty strict on appearance (there are a lot of good reasons to be) and that is just one of the things we do. For our area it looks a bit more classy, creates a better environment for the younger ones (and the younger ones parents), and an overall more appealing environment to practice in.

 

[King]

can I be the one random super high basket on Smoke?
please please please please pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee!

But really, after reading almost all of these posts its really nice to read that Rays really doesn't treat their level 5's any different then their Mini 1's. Everyone is just as important. I really wish I had a good, serious question I could ask, but I don't. Sorry King!

can you deal with being the super high basket or boyrange isntead?

 

[cheerfan27]

How much does Orange prac?

 

[cheerislove8]

Two questions for you King, not about Stingrays in general...

1. Which teams will you and Katie be coaching this season? Katie still coaches, right? haha
2. When will Livi become a Ray?!

 

[King]

Two questions for you King, not about Stingrays in general...

1. Which teams will you and Katie be coaching this season? Katie still coaches, right? haha
2. When will Livi become a Ray?!

1. I only coach Amber (day job and Livi take up a lot of time) and maybe our open teams depending. Katie has Mint, Pink, and Black.
2. That is one of those things we will not force. She will become one when she asks to do it. If she never asks we would never make her. BUT every single daughter of all the coaches has come in and all wanted to do it. They see all these older girls having fun, working hard, and it is just very appealing (especially when your parents coach). My guess is about 3 or 4 more years.

 

[Ignis Pater]

why are your athletes not allowed to wear sports bras to practice?

This @kingston 's thread but I would like to give my perspective as a parent. I personally don't want my 18 yr old daughter running around the gym in just a sports bra. It just doesn't seem ethical for a gym with male athletes and coaches to have a large group of young women running around in sports bras. Cheerleading and cheerleaders often get a bad rap (Bryant Gumble) in the news and sports press world. Why give something else for them to say derogatory comments about. I love the fact that Rays takes the high road with their practice dress code.

If I am wrong, King will let me know.

 

[King]

This @kingston 's thread but I would like to give my perspective as a parent. I personally don't want my 18 yr old daughter running around the gym in just a sports bra. It just doesn't seem ethical for a gym with male athletes and coaches to have a large group of young women running around in sports bras. Cheerleading and cheerleaders often get a bad rap (Bryant Gumble) in the news and sports press world. Why give something else for them to say derogatory comments about. I love the fact that Rays takes the high road with their practice dress code.

If I am wrong, King will let me know.

if you are wrong, what can i do? your daughter graduated!

 

[King]

How many teams do you have this year and what levels/age?
What team was it that wear the black uniforms, and in theyre pyramid at worlds 2011 they had "set fire to the rain" By Adele?>

Peppermint - large mini 1
Coconut - Large/small mini 2
Mango - Large youth 1
Red - Large youth 2
Black - Large youth 3
Gray - Large Junior 2
Scarlett - Large junior 3
Navy - Large junior coed 3
Platinum - Large junior 4
Green - Large junior 5
Rose - Large senior 1
Emerald - Large senior 2
Pink - Small senior 2
Lime - Large senior 3
Frost - Large senior 4
Orange - Small senior 5
Amber - Medium senior 5
Smoke - Small coed 5

 

[King]

I feel your pain bro

Question...What types of techniques do you use for your Tiny/Mini team? They are so good and clean and I wondered how you always manage to get all of those very young kids to get their timing right and their motions so sharp, etc.

Missed this. This is a better question for my wife (she doesn't read the board, but I will try and coax her to get on here and post). I think it is a LOT of breaking down things into little pieces for the kids to understand. As well it is a mixture of being tough on the kids and having some fun in between. You could yell at 1st graders every practice and get them extremely tight, but would they come back next year? That is the challenge. Pushing little ones to do something difficult but making sure they are having fun and enjoying themselves too (who wants to only be yelled at??).

 

[King]

wasnt sure if you were re-asking. every team practices two times a week. the worlds teams usually dont add an extra practice until after high school season is done. then there might be 4 practices before nca or worlds.

one of the reasons we think about our teams so much and encourage people to get along and make friends is you are going to be spending a LOT of time together. its important you like your team. and thats not just Smoramber, thats all teams all levels.

 

[King]

I feel your pain bro

Question...What types of techniques do you use for your Tiny/Mini team? They are so good and clean and I wondered how you always manage to get all of those very young kids to get their timing right and their motions so sharp, etc.

I asked the wife.

She said they use the same type of progression you would use to teach tumbling to teach all the parts of cheer. For example, you aren't allowed to do a jump until you can do a good high v and make it sharp. You aren't allowed to stunt until you learn how to clap and set sharp. From the very beginning it is expected that they be clean and sharp (sets the tone for the year). The very first practice they learn how to walk clean and sharp, breaking down every little piece that they do. It is important to start the year that way because trying to enforce clean and sharp AFTER they have learned the skills mid year is very difficult. Sometimes it means the skills are learned and acquired slower, but they are are done better with better technique. She says they often tell them they are not allowed to compete a skill, say a backwalkover, until it is pretty and perfect. If it is not done well they wont put it in. Again, not to hold the kids back but to push them to be excellent and have strong fundamentals. A solid perfect backwalkover leads to a solid perfect handspring to a tuck to a layout to a double full. This works not only in tumbling but stunting and baskets and everything.

 

[newcheerdad]

Im looking at getting a third (I am not joking).

I used to think three monitors was overkill for development, until I got a third at the office. Now when I have to work from home and use only two, I feel less productive.