High School Experience changing differences between high school and all star?

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Jul 30, 2013
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I am currently an All Star cheerleader but I promised my friends (who's a dancer) that I would join the high school team with her. I'm a little afraid because I don't know what it's going to be like and I'd rather not sign-up/make it to second cut or make it on the team and then have to drop it because it isn't my cup of tea. I'm also a level one cheerleader so only have level 1 tumbling and I can fly but I don't get much chances from my coaches to practice. I can't base because of an arm injury and I'm in Canada cheer isn't taken seriously pretty much anywhere here.

I don't know if that was too much information or not but I want to know what the big differences between All Star and High School are from people who've done either or both.
 
You just need to know what you're getting in to. A lot of girls here go into it and then complain about the unis and like having to learn cheers and its like "...well this is sideline not allstar that's what we're here to do." Don't expect it to be the same!
If you dont compete, You'll probably spend a lot more time focusing on motions and sideline cheers than you do stunting and tumbling. Sideline should come first. It's very important to look good on the sideline through the game! You'll probably stick to simpler stunts due to safety rules, limited time, and the fact that its easier to do while leading the crowd. You'll have to yellllllll and have tight motions for HS cheer. Things won't be as snazzy as allstar, everything tends to be simple, like simple bows, uniforms, dances, and cheers because the focus is on cheering! Basically just don't expect it to be like allstar. It's very different and if you're looking for a similar experience you'll be unhappy. Personally I love cheering at football games, even though it gets cold I love being close to the action and cheering on the team. I think games are fun! But I do allstar too because I love competing and high school doesn't fill that need (even though my school does compete, it's not the same) Allstar and High School are different and I enjoy both! But some don't like sideline stuff and are not happy when they do High School. Even if its not your thing, stick out the season for your team! Practices might suck but games are fun! Quitting after a few practices would be a shame.... Plus you have to at least make it to a game before you know if you really hate it ;)


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You just need to know what you're getting in to. A lot of girls here go into it and then complain about the unis and like having to learn cheers and its like "...well this is sideline not allstar that's what we're here to do." Don't expect it to be the same!
If you dont compete, You'll probably spend a lot more time focusing on motions and sideline cheers than you do stunting and tumbling. Sideline should come first. It's very important to look good on the sideline through the game! You'll probably stick to simpler stunts due to safety rules, limited time, and the fact that its easier to do while leading the crowd. You'll have to yellllllll and have tight motions for HS cheer. Things won't be as snazzy as allstar, everything tends to be simple, like simple bows, uniforms, dances, and cheers because the focus is on cheering! Basically just don't expect it to be like allstar. It's very different and if you're looking for a similar experience you'll be unhappy. Personally I love cheering at football games, even though it gets cold I love being close to the action and cheering on the team. I think games are fun! But I do allstar too because I love competing and high school doesn't fill that need (even though my school does compete, it's not the same) Allstar and High School are different and I enjoy both! But some don't like sideline stuff and are not happy when they do High School. Even if its not your thing, stick out the season for your team! Practices might suck but games are fun! Quitting after a few practices would be a shame.... Plus you have to at least make it to a game before you know if you really hate it ;)


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Yeah that all makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to reply to me. I have another question that I don't know if you can answer this if you don't go to my school but what are the differences between jv and varsity? Does JV do anything special? And do you learn much on highschool teams?


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Since these tend to be the biggest issues with all-star-turned-hs-cheerleaders out there, here are the best tips I can give you:
1.) BE. PATIENT!
In the all-star program, you are put on one of many teams based on skill level, so you are on a team with people who are at about the same level as you. Your high school may have JV, Varsity, etc., but other than that, the skill levels are all over the place. Take my squad, for example. We only have Varsity (one squad for football, one for basketball, and then all of basketball and most of football also compete.) The skill level ranges from girls who have literally never cheered in their lives (but had the raw talent and potential at tryouts) to girls who are on Level 4 All-Star teams. It can be frustrating when you want to throw cool tricks while some of the teammates are still struggling to nail their basics, but they will catch up :) That was you, once upon a time ;)

2.) School spirit comes first. Your school may compete, and may even be pretty good. But there is more to high school than throwing cool stunts and tumbling. Your top priority is and should be to cheer on your school's teams. Quite frankly, your school has it backwards if this isn't the case. Most people won't watch you compete. EVERYONE will see you on the sidelines. Make sure you perfect that stuff, even if it seems "easy."

3.) Give it your all! Again, another issue I see all-star girls having in high school programs is thinking that it's easy, so they don't give it their all; they just do it for a title and instead put all of their energy into their all-star team. I don't want to come off as rude, but seriously, if you're not going to give 150% to both squads, don't waste your money on high school. It's not exactly cheap.

4.) YOUR COACH KNOWS WHAT SHE'S DOING. SERIOUSLY. I'm getting sick of the "I think I know more about cheer than my coach" threads and confessions. Bad coaches suck, but you still need to give them your utmost respect.
 
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4.) YOUR COACH KNOWS WHAT SHE'S DOING. SERIOUSLY. I'm getting sick of the "I think I know more about cheer than my coach" threads and confessions. Bad coaches suck, but you still need to give them your utmost respect.
That may be true in your experience but that's definitely not true everywhere. There are many unqualified and uneducated high school coaches out there who coach simply because they happened to cheer for a year in high school. There are also unqualified allstar coaches. Then there are the OUTSTANDING coaches, and the fine coaches, and the "I don't really like her but she knows what she's doing." There are many levels of coaches and its true that some coaches don't know what they're talking about. And it's true that some people probably do know more than their HS coaches. Like our freshman team coach didn't know how to teach anything more than a thigh stand. I was on a level 3 team So obviously i knew more than my voach did. She even had me teach them how to do the more advanced stunts. Honestly you may not like it but a lot of allstar cheerleaders do come in knowing more than their coaches. As far as stunts and tumbling go. Because high school has so many restrictions and they may just know the basics, or maybe they know all about cheers and motions but not much about stunts. Does that mean the allstar girls shouldn't listen or be respectful? No, but they still know more and can probably help their teammates with new stunts. Some coaches don't know what they're doing and you can't know if her coaches do unless you've been coached by them.


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That may be true in your experience but that's definitely not true everywhere. There are many unqualified and uneducated high school coaches out there who coach simply because they happened to cheer for a year in high school. There are also unqualified allstar coaches. Then there are the OUTSTANDING coaches, and the fine coaches, and the "I don't really like her but she knows what she's doing." There are many levels of coaches and its true that some coaches don't know what they're talking about. And it's true that some people probably do know more than their HS coaches. Like our freshman team coach didn't know how to teach anything more than a thigh stand. I was on a level 3 team So obviously i knew more than my voach did. She even had me teach them how to do the more advanced stunts. Honestly you may not like it but a lot of allstar cheerleaders do come in knowing more than their coaches. As far as stunts and tumbling go. Because high school has so many restrictions and they may just know the basics, or maybe they know all about cheers and motions but not much about stunts. Does that mean the allstar girls shouldn't listen or be respectful? No, but they still know more and can probably help their teammates with new stunts. Some coaches don't know what they're doing and you can't know if her coaches do unless you've been coached by them.


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I see where you are coming from, sorry if I came off as condescending :)
 
Thanks for the replies. :) my biggest thing is whether I'm going to learn anything in highschool that will help me with all-star like tumbling. People here say to take tumbling classes for people who want to try out for HS but do most school provide them or am I going to have to go out and pay for them somewhere else? Because my mom thinks my gym expenses are already a lot she wouldn't pay for me to get better skills for HS.


They call me a flyer, but first you have to throw.
 
Thanks for the replies. :) my biggest thing is whether I'm going to learn anything in highschool that will help me with all-star like tumbling. People here say to take tumbling classes for people who want to try out for HS but do most school provide them or am I going to have to go out and pay for them somewhere else? Because my mom thinks my gym expenses are already a lot she wouldn't pay for me to get better skills for HS.


They call me a flyer, but first you have to throw.
If your school does team tumbling you're usually the one who pays for it. If you're already doing allstar you should be getting tumbling instruction and shouldn't need to take an extra class in preparation for tryouts, when people say to take a tumbling class it's usually for someone who doesn't already tumble or have cheer experience, but wants to tryout.


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If your school does team tumbling you're usually the one who pays for it. If you're already doing allstar you should be getting tumbling instruction and shouldn't need to take an extra class in preparation for tryouts, when people say to take a tumbling class it's usually for someone who doesn't already tumble or have cheer experience, but wants to tryout.


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Yeah that makes sense, thanks :)
 
I agree that you need to know sidelines & how to really interact with the crowd if you want to do college cheer....

Ok, here's something tho that could be important:

Lis Sis's JV squad has 3 all-stars and 2 of the all-stars fit in great (one of them is on an international team!) and 1 all-star doesn't. And its totally because the 2 are really nice & don't act like they are better than the rest. That 1 girl though ... wow ... she is bossy & acts like she is captain (when there are no captains on JV) and the other girls - even the other all-stars - resent it.

Like tonight, the girls got together for a cheer slumber party but conveniently forgot to tell that 1 girl who thinks she is better than everyone. (Now, I think that was kinda ugly of them but that's their decision.)

So, it depends on how involved you wanna be with frnz from school but if it was me, I would try n tone down anything that sounds even remotely condescending. They're gonna know you are way skilled so you don't need to talk about all-star comps or try n coach them & tell them what to do or whatever. If you are humble & nice, they will love you. :D


(Info: their school only lets Jrs & Srs on varsity, thats why the all-stars are on JV)
 
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my high school team hires a professional tumbling coach that helps everyone with tumbling! He has great tips for even the most elite tumblers. It will all depend on how your team works! High school is different from all star but it is so much fun! its a different experience and i dont think you wilkl regret trying it out! good luck!
 
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