Describe Your Program

[SharkDad]

Rec cheer is poorly defined and represented format of cheer across the country. Some areas treat it just like All Star, some don't allow competition, come are a mix of competition and cheering for a pop-warner style team. There are many different versions of local, state, and multi-state associations or governing bodies.

Describe your rec cheer program, the governing structure, fees, competitions etc. so everyone can learn from each other. Links to your organization web site are great too.

 

[SmileCat]

The local rec program is called East Lake Eagles. The governing body is a county-wide program, SYFC (Suncoast youth football conference). The price varies among programs and competitions are allowed. The SYFC even host a cheer competition that is mandatory for each program. The competition is out doors on a HS football field, the rules follow NFHS for each age group, but doesn't allow make up, bobby pins, overly sequined/sparkley bows, ect. Most of the programs aren't that competitive besides my program and Pinellas Park. After the final league competition, most teams are done for the season, but some create competition teams comprised of girls from each age group.
The age groups are:
-Flag (4-6)
-Flyweight (7-9)
-Mitey Might (9-10)
-PeeWee (11-12)
-Midget (13-14)

The coaches are all volunteers and usually they all have experience (at least at East Lake) but this year there has been a shortage and most of them are moms who are pretty much just babysitting... I coached the Midget group last year but this year I am way too busy to return. It's a really good program and taught me a lot! I love where I started in my cheer life!

The website is eastlakeagles.com and you can even find them on Facebook !

 

[Callmeboots]

I just started a brand new competitive only Rec program. I coached for Pop Warner for about 8 years and loved the competitive aspect of it. Game day cheering was never my favorite. This year, things were changing in our local Pop Warner league that weren't very appealing to many of the people I coached with, and the board decided to take the program in a different direction. Starting my own organization has been a dream of mine since I was 12 years old and I took this as the push I finally needed to get it started.

We are obviously non-profit, and we are individually incorporated, but we are also registered under American Youth Cheer. They allow teams to register under them so they can compete Rec.

We only charge $300 upfront, $50 for shoes and tuition is $50 a month for gym fees. Competition fees are paid by the parents, but we do allow fundraising for them. The $300 includes uniform, practice wear, insurance and a stunt camp.

We only have one team this year of 22 girls, but it's been going SO well. The parents love it and they can't stop talking about how great it is to have people that WANT to be there and do well, rather than having a bunch of girls that don't really take it seriously, but their parents want them to cheer for football.

We have a pretty big all-star gym in town and there are just some people that can't afford that kind of thing, or all-star isn't right for them. Around here, we treated our Pop Warner teams with the same kind of competitive mentality, but it was hard with the board always saying "but football comes first." And all the rules were just getting out of hand. We're kind of like the middle man between the Pop Warner types and the intense All-stars.

Sorry for the novel haha.

Our website is Fusion Storm Elite

 

[BuegeSmalls]

The rec program in my area is called Jr. Indians. It's for girls 5th-8th grade and they cheer for the rec legue football team. They also get a routine and perform it at a varsity football game, competition hosted by the varsity cheer team an end of the year cheerleading showcase. The team is coached by the varsity cheerleaders.

 

[munchkinmom]

For our county:
Youth sports are run by local single or multi-sport non profit organizations. They obtain facility use permits for a set of home fields and school gymnasiums & cafeterias at low cost from the county. The county sponsors leagues that the organizations can choose to be a part of. Here, cheer is a county sponsored league for fall (July 20-Nov) that has a county sponsored competition using NFHS rules (except spring floor is used). Teams for the county competition are 6 & U, 8 & U, 10 & U, 12 & U, 14 & U, 16 & U, 18 & U. Each child must cheer for 7 football games (county sponsored football league) to compete in the county competition. Competition only teams can exist but they cheer an "open" division if/when it happens. Children may be placed by ability (within the age structure) but every child must have a place on a team. Coaches must be volunteer, routines must not be professionally choreographed. Practice cannot exceed 6 hours per week.

Our org:
We're one part of a multi-sport organization. There is a Board of Directors for the org and then individual sport directors. We cheer sideline for our football teams, but the focus is definitely competition based. We run 3-4, 6 & U, 8 & U, 10 & U, 12 & U and 14 & U. The vast majority of the placement is age based. Girls have rarely been pulled up to replace drop outs or were placed up to put them with girls their grade (holdovers from the old Dec 31 school cut off but Aug 31 cheer age) or because they are significantly larger than their age group and fit in skill & maturity wise one group up. In addition to the county comp in fall we cheer between 2-4 commercial competitions, day trip only, typically Jam Brands or IEP.

Winter is competition only and runs Dec-Feb or March and is about 4-5 competitions: day trips with one being an overnight 1-day "national". Again, typically Jam Brands or IEP.

8 & U and older practice 3x a week for 1.5 hours, I think 6 & U is 2x a week, and 3-4 is 1x a week. August is outside, the rest is in school cafeterias/gymnasiums. The org owns our own panel mats that are used for stunting & tumbling.

Cost:
Shell/Skirt provided by org.
Fall registration this year: $165 ($90 for the 3&4yr olds)
Mandatory accessories (bow/spankies/crop top/shoes) last year: just over $90 (I think all said this year is closer to $120)
Optional warmups last year: $75
Winter registration last year: $220

 

[TinyBlondie15]

There are two rec programs around me (two Pop Warner and 2 JDL)
The first is CFL Outlaws. It's Pop Warner and the cheer portion is competitive. There's Tiny Mights, Mighty Mights, Junior PeeWee, PeeWee, Junior Midget, and Midget for ages 4 through 8th grade. From their site: The Outlaws are coming to town! Creeks Football League
(CFL) has adopted the “Outlaws” as their new association name. Having merged early in 2011, St.
Johns Sports Association and Creeks Football League are moving forward under one united name.
Angelo Vespi, CFL Board president, noted, “The sole purpose of Creeks Football League has always
been – and continues to be – to benefit the children of our community. I am pleased that we have
come together as a board and as a community to serve young people who are developing football and
cheer abilities, as well as leadership and teamwork skills.”
Serving nearly 600 players in St. Johns, CFL met some impressive milestones during the 2011 season. Four out of seven football teams advanced to the city playoffs. Head Coach Don Abbey led the Pee Wee Knights to win the Greater Jacksonville Pop Warner City Championship and to compete through two rounds of regional competition, playing the state’s top teams in Lake City and Tallahassee. This is a first for CFL and great honor for the dedicated coaches and players.
Each of the League’s five cheer teams advanced to regional competition as well. Cheer director Shanna
Bragg shared, “We are so proud of the 160 young women who are dedicated to the sport of
cheerleading. We hope to create well-rounded athletes through hard work, dedication, respect and
team commitment.”
Beyond athletic accomplishment, CFL promotes academic excellence for young athletes. Creeks
Football League players and cheerleaders are consistently recognized with top honors and scholarships at the Annual Greater Jacksonville Pop Warner Scholarship Banquet.
Dedicated to teaching good sportsmanship, teamwork and responsibility, CFL also encourages good
citizenship. Attending the County Commissioners meeting in August this year were over 150 players,
cheerleaders and coaches who supported the Parks & Recreation budget request. The budget was
approved, but perhaps more importantly, young citizens learned how their voices can make a
difference in local government.
The Outlaws association name is new but the League’s mission remains unchanged: Creeks Football
League directors, coaches and volunteers will play a key role in positively shaping the lives of promising athletes and future community leaders in St. Johns County.
They also have JDL (Junior Development League) with the Jaguars as the mascot that I help coach the cheerleaders. We have one squad of about 20 or so girls ages 6-12.
Second is PVAA that offers JDL (non competitive) and Pop Warner.
1. Junior Development
· A recreational and fun team sport
· Friendships are made and team work is a must
· Non-competing and non-traveling squad
· Practice 2 days per week
· Attendance is extremely important for practice
(Please discuss this with your child)
· Ages: 7-14
· Cost: $160.00 per child
Jr. Development football & cheer was formed several years ago as an alternative to the Pop Warner program to allow children to learn the fundamentals of the sport in a less competitive manner and with no travel requirements.
2. Pop Warner Cheerleading
· A competitive and fun team sport
· Friendships are made and team work is a must
· Three (3) or more unexcused absences, cheerleader is unable to compete/could be asked to be removed from squad. FULL participation at practices, games, and competition are REQUIRED. (Please discuss this with your child)
· Advancement opportunity to Regional Competition held Thanksgiving weekend at Silver Spurs Arena in Orlando.
· Advancement opportunity to National Competition held in December at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Disney World.
· Parents are responsible for their childs transportation to all scheduled events
· Ages: 5-15

 

[mommadonna]

My Cp's first cheer experience was through the Upward sports program, which is a program that is gaining popularity. It is mostly run through churches, as it serves as both a sports opportunity and a way to teach kids about the Bible and stuff. There is a prescribed bible study that goes along with each practice. It's kinda like sports and bible school wrapped up together. Everyone plays and there is no score keeping. The cheerleaders all cheer for both sides and individual players as they are making plays on the field or court. It's all really positive and a good nonthreatening introduction to sports. It was really low commitment too. You know, just for fun. The uniforms are all in a package including a little megaphone, pom poms, a shell top, and a little skort. The cheerleaders supplied a white turtleneck and white shoes on their own. Cost was about $60 and included everything for the whole season.

The second experience she had was through the Western NC Youth Cheerleading and Football Association. This is a very organized organization that involves the school districts in the Asheville area of NC. There are two regions, the East and West, which do playoffs for football and individual competitions for cheer, then the top four teams from each district play a tournament to determine who gets to be the champion for the season. Cheer is done the same way. Four squads from each age division in each region competed for the championship. The age groups were Midgets (grades 6-7 age), Mites (grades 4-5 age), and Termites (grades 1-3 age). Groups were same for both Football and Cheerleading and the cheerleaders cheered for the games in their age group. Participation was competitive for the Termite and Mite divisions, with interest falling off slightly in the Midget division due to their eligibility for Middle School sports. There were tryouts with cuts, much like school teams. It was good if an athlete wanted to participate in school sports to be involved in the youth league early on. The football players and cheerleaders transitioned into middle school sports through the youth league, pretty much. Teams had the same names, colors, etc as those of their corresponding school districts. Cp enjoyed the competitive side of this, which led her on into all star. She also had the sideline cheer experience, which she also has expressed interested in once she gets to middle school. We live in a different area now, so she's just doing all star at the present.
Cost for youth league was around $150 for uniform, including shoes and pom poms. They also got bags and warm ups with their names stitched on them. Total cost was around $350 for the season.

 

[Deleted member 15407]

I can't say the name of the program, since i'd rather not give away where i live.

Our program cheers for the town football team, and we have 5 teams this year. (typically 4).
Pewees ages 5-6
Midgets 7-9
Juniors 10-11
Senior 1 12/13 (Kids going into 7th grade)
Senior 2 13 (Kids going into 8th or 9th)
I'm on Senior 2, and we have 9th graders on our team because the highschool doesn't let freshmen on the Cheer team (We only have 1, which is Varsity i guess)

At the end of the football season (Early November, depending on how well the team does) we have tryouts for the competitive team, which you have to be a Midget or above. We usually have 16 people on the team, unless they have a great amount of talent, then theres like 25.

I've been with this program for 8 years, and its probably my last year, and while i've been here they've only had 2 years of competitive cheer.

All the coaches are volunteers, and a few have experience with cheer, but they are very great coaches for Cheers, Dances, and Jumps, but not so much stunts....

This program is like home to me!

 

[acheer]

I can't say the name of the program, since i'd rather not give away where i live.

You know it says your location Seattle, WA underneath your picture and username?

 

[Nikaa]

You know it says your location Seattle, WA underneath your picture and username?

I was thinking the same thing after I read it

 

[eliteathletics]

I am from Long island where most teams compete at 1 or both of 2 locally run cheer governing bodies- SCYCA or NSCA and which organizatio you belong to depends on where your football team plays thru. Our teams are PAL so we were until this season part of SCYCA- due to issues we broke away and became allstar rec. we used to have to have cheer as part of our competition routine and now are solely 2:30 music.
We have a 150 registration fee - which covers administration fees, insurance, uniforms, maitanace (of the whole commack youth league, football and lax included)
We pay 97 dollars a month tuition which covers all entrance fees and our 3 hour practice gym space (with instructors, tumbling and choreo with music) used 4 times a month.
We "use " our uniforms and return them at the end of the season
We also have mandatory sneakers, bows and briefs which the girls keep and a mandatory performance outfit/practice outfit- 50.00 for a rhinestones burn out t shirt, rhinestones roll over yoga shorts and a bow
each girl must also have a team warm up- 100 and back pack 35.00 which they can use from year to year.
we begin practices in may and continue thru the following may
we are volunteer coaches and have 3 teams
senior 4
junior 2/3
youth 2
Being that the dynamics have changed due to levels and divisions our program lost about 20 cheerleaders from last season, but we are not that concerned as we have always been able to rebuild.

 

[INeverStopCheering]

In Chesterfied County, and most other counties and cities in central VA, youth football and cheering are run by private leagues with athletic associations. In the case of Chesterfield County, We have Chesterfield Cheerleading League. Within the county there are then dozens of "athletic associations" based in elementary school districts. For example kids who go to Bettie Weaver Elementary cheer for Weaver A.A., kids who go to Gordon, cheer for Gordon etc. etc. They take kids 5-14 (K-8th) with the goal to prepare girls to try out for their high school teams.

There are then three divisions A, AA, and AAA. AAA is the best, but I have NO IDEA what these divisions are used for in terms of rules. They do not seem to have any bearing on what you are or are not allowed to do.

Rec teams are primarily to cheer for football, but at the end of the season there are two competitions. One is hosted by the governing body, CCL Spectacular, and the other is hosted by us, Cheer Challenge County Battle. These competitions are totally different with a different set of rules so they have to be explained separately:

CCL Spectacular: So I found out A, AA, and AAA are actually divisions in which you compete (I think) but the rules aren't any different. Rules go by age group, Flag, Minor, Junior, Senior. If a squad does not cheer for every football game of the season they are not allowed to compete. There must be one minute of words. This notice is on the rules sheet:
"This is a cheerleading competition, not a gymnastics meet. Participants will be judged on execution, not degree of difficulty. If gymnastics are incorporated, it will be judges in Overall Effect. No more than three points will be allowed to affect the score"

County Battle: All the A's are thrown out and teams compete (Flag is Exh. only) in either level 1 or 2. Stunts are the same for everyone, singles from one legs, two tricks in a toss, front flips in pyramids. This is the max you can do, obviously the Minors aren't doing skills like this.

Level 1 tumbling is essentially level 1 Allstar, Level 2 is everything else. Most level two teams are doing back handsprings with the exception of one beast team that has a bunch of fulls.

Never having directly participated in Rec I don't know anything about the costs. I know they practice 2 to 3 nights a week with a game on the 4th. Some teams go on to compete at other private Allstarish events.

Here's the website:
Chesterfield Cheerleader League

 

[Deleted member 15407]

You know it says your location Seattle, WA underneath your picture and username?

I don't live in Seattle. Its like saying you live in L.A, California, but you live somewhere like, Anaheim, for example. I don't live in Seattle.

 

[onecheermom]

I don't live in Seattle. Its like saying you live in L.A, California, but you live somewhere like, Anaheim, for example. I don't live in Seattle.

Not sure why your location is such a secret.. but back in July you posted a picture of your teams bow from last year.. The bow is from a Team called Total Impact Cheer in Marysville, WA.. They are an allstar team (This will be their 2nd year) This is also the team that you posted asking if they were good enough for Worlds... Of course now you are saying you are only with a rec team... Again not sure why your team changes every other week and your location every other month... But good luck this year and hope to see you at competitions in the Pacific North West.

 

[acheer]

I don't live in Seattle. Its like saying you live in L.A, California, but you live somewhere like, Anaheim, for example. I don't live in Seattle.

Not sure why your location is such a secret.. but back in July you posted a picture of your teams bow from last year.. The bow is from a Team called Total Impact Cheer in Marysville, WA.. They are an allstar team (This will be their 2nd year) This is also the team that you posted asking if they were good enough for Worlds... Of course now you are saying you are only with a rec team... Again not sure why your team changes every other week and your location every other month... But good luck this year and hope to see you at competitions in the Pacific North West.

This.
EmmeCheer in previous threads you have stated where you are from so I don't understand why it's such a secret now?