All-Star View From The Outside

[idrive]

I sat on a parent discussion at NCA in Dallas this year and one of the questions raised was "How are we viewed from the outside?" which I thought was a good question. I believe how this question is answered is key to gaining legitamacy as a sport in the eyes of those on the outside looking in.

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

I sat on a parent discussion at NCA in Dallas this year and one of the questions raised was "How are we viewed from the outside?" which I thought was a good question. I believe how this question is answered is key to gaining legitamacy as a sport in the eyes of those on the outside looking in.

wcsstilldeath summed it up pretty well

I think about this all the time. Cheerleading is such a closed in, intense community that we sometimes dont realize that most of the general population doesnt know who world cup shooting stars or stingray allstars are (crazy, right?!) We all take this sport so seriously, and generally our lives revolve around it, and most of the time we forget that we're like a cult. You know alot when your on the inside, but from the outside, we look like a bunch of lunatics in sparkles.​

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[idrive]

wcsstilldeath summed it up pretty well

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We do look like a bunch of lunatics in sparkles! But not me, my kids would look at dad a little wierd if that happened.

How do we get the outside world to see this sport for what it truely is?

 

[megan:)]

idk most people think of cheerleading and they think we actually do cheers and stuff when really, we don't even really say anything in our routine so it drives me crazy!

 

[gofriars610]

When Athletic Championships was in Providence, several of my friends tweeted about the small army of sparkly cheerleaders that had taken over the mall. I don't think it was viewed overly negatively though.

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

Honestly, most other adults view allstar cheer as just another expensive activity that over-indulgent parents allow their little primadonna's to participate in.

 

[Rudags]

Just imagine being a hotel worker at NCA or Cheersport.... LOL!

 

[idrive]

Honestly, most other adults view allstar cheer as just another expensive activity that over-indulgent parents allow their little primadonna's to participate in.

I agree. They also see it as what happens on the sidelines in high school football. It deserves more than that narrow vision doesn't it?

 

[GreatWhite92]

I think to be viewed well from the outside, cheerleaders need to think about their actions at competitions. my mother was in Disney with her 8th grade band during UCA and has been taking them for years. She said it was the worst disney trip she has ever taken because the cheerleaders there were "so obnoxious" She said they were cutting line, screaming for no apparent reason, knocking people out of the way, being rude to other people and this was not just one instance and one team. It was all weekend from many different cheerleaders. She told me that she really hoped I had never acted that way. She said she'd make sure next year to look up the UCA date and avoid that weekend, not because the lines were long from all the extra cheerleaders but because they were so rude all weekend. My mother was supportive of me completely in cheer but was never a "cheer mom" so to speak. So she can give an opinion from the outside, and honestly if I saw a bunch of girls acting that way when I am with my 5 year old kid at Disney,would I ever put them in cheer? no. So really coaches, please advise your kids on the proper behavior because that is killing the sport a lot more than we think.

 

[crazycheermom]

This weekend after competition, we went directly across the street to eat dinner/watch basketball games. My cp was with another cp and her family..mom, dad, brother AND grandparents. Three ladies sitting together kept staring at the girls (ages 16 and 15) and finally came and told the grandmother that our girls looked like hookers! 1) I mean, didn't it dawn on them that MAYBE our girls had just finished competing since they STILL HAD ON UNIFORM AND MAKEUP. 2) Even if they didn't know what competitive cheer was, didn't they figure it was some sort of cheerleading???

 

[AllstarObsession]

This weekend after competition, we went directly across the street to eat dinner/watch basketball games. My cp was with another cp and her family..mom, dad, brother AND grandparents. Three ladies sitting together kept staring at the girls (ages 16 and 15) and finally came and told the grandmother that our girls looked like hookers! 1) I mean, didn't it dawn on them that MAYBE our girls had just finished competing since they STILL HAD ON UNIFORM AND MAKEUP. 2) Even if they didn't know what competitive cheer was, didn't they figure it was some sort of cheerleading???

even so, none of their business. Those ladies must have thought very highly of themselves if they thought ANYONE cared about their opinion. Jeez people annoy me.

 

[crazycheermom]

Yup..that's what we were thinking as well. Couldn't they reason that it was at the very least performance makeup they had on?? Did they think they ALWAYS were makeup like that? Morons...lol...

 

[crazycheermom]

Truthfully, though, I wish one of those sports shows, sports reporters ..someone with some credibility would do a story on Worlds athletes. Not a reality show .... although I DID LOVE Coach Patty Ann... I thought that show tried to show the "work" side of competitive cheer. CNN story was good.. not tooo 'crazycheermom-ish." There is one Nike (I think) commerical that focus on all types of athletes preparing for competition/games. Every time I see that commercial, I wish they would have included some fantastic team.

 

[12mowerd]

when I talk about allstar cheerleading with people they think I'm nuts. They don't know what any of the terminology is. My friend asked me today if you actually had to be physically fit to endure a routine. I was completely appalled.

 

[ntlgnt1]

The problem w/cheerleading is that:

It doesn't lead to major scholarships like a football, basketball, baseball, scholarship would
It doesn't lead to major pro athletic contracts
It's still viewed as girls being frily b/c of the make up, curled hair, glitter aspect
It's not included in the Olympics

The only ppl that really understand and appreciate all star cheerleading are the ppl who are involved! Even still you have ppl, that are involved in all star cheerleading that feel like its supposed to be an extracurricular fun activity and shouldn't be that serious! But I guarentee if those same parents had sons that played football, baseball, etc...they would take it very seriously because the end result is being recruited into a major college and then on to being a professional athlete! Until Cheerleading is at least allowed to do exhibition in the Olympics it will not get much respect. I mean look at gymnastics & Rythmic gymnastics neither necessarily lead to a pro contract but its still viewed and respected as a sport and our CP do way more then just tumble!