All-Star The Evolution Of Cheerleading

As a mom, my concern for the future is the push for younger girls to get skills fast and perform them in some cases before perfected --- and to feel the pressure to move up levels (and in some cases age groups) as fast as possible - sometimes (not all) at the detriment to the CP (injury, burn out). I think some of the changes that USASF made were put in place for the reason.
At the same time... I see more people realize that these CPs are true athletes and truly love watching the growth and respect of this sport around our country and the world. (Get very frustrated when relatives say how athletic my child is and speculate what sports she would be good in... and why she is not in gymnastics -- then have to remind them all-star cheer is a sport)

I would like to see allstar cheer become more prominent in more parts of the country. Right now there are specific states/regions that are extremely talented and have multiple powerhouse gyms, while some states, like Ohio for example, have only a couple strong gyms/teams and they are all concentrated in one area of the state. I'm excited to see how some of the few gyms around me develop in the next few years in the higher levels.

I didn't start cheering until my 6th grade year(07-08 season). Has it always been so much pressure to gain skills and move up levels as quickly as possible? That's one thing I don't like about the sport.

Back in the day.. Was it more of a "just for fun" attitude? If I worded that right..

allthatglitters said:

I didn't start cheering until my 6th grade year(07-08 season). Has it always been so much pressure to gain skills and move up levels as quickly as possible? That's one thing I don't like about the sport.

Back in the day.. Was it more of a "just for fun" attitude? If I worded that right..

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When it was just the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced its wasnt as big of a deal.

alliebby33 said:

I would like to see allstar cheer become more prominent in more parts of the country. Right now there are specific states/regions that are extremely talented and have multiple powerhouse gyms, while some states, like Ohio for example, have only a couple strong gyms/teams and they are all concentrated in one area of the state. I'm excited to see how some of the few gyms around me develop in the next few years in the higher levels.

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I agree... And I would also love to see the rest of the world catch up to the united states.

I have two CPS under 13, and attend a very small gym, with no worlds team, so my view might be a little askew, but I would very much like to see the following:

*More emphasis on safe technique. I LOVE the tumbling, and want to see it continue, but I want to see there be steep penalties for poorly executed tumbling so that the emphasis is on teaching it correctly becomes more prevalant.

*More emphasis on "team" elements. The big push for us to leave gymnastics was because cheer was a team sport, but when I watch the higher levels I feel like this is starting to get lost. I'm not exactly sure how to accomplish this, but I think that skills that require team coordination and choreography should be HIGHLY desired.

*Less emphasis on politics. It is silly to me that with all the teams competing there are so few opportunities for pure competition. I know that judging is subjective, but it doesn't seem like scoresheets should be or that there should be certain events you go to because you know you can win there. I feel that a team should be able to competitive on many facets. You shouldn't have to go to one comp if your stunts are good, another if your execution rocks, or another if you can really tumble. In other sports you can win a game or competition if you excel at one aspect but remain competitive in the others, but compete within the same rules, in the same league etc. I feel like Cheer should be that way to. I am always amazed when you can win at one competition and come in pretty low at another with a similarly executed routine.

* I think it's really weird that the people who make the rules for cheer have so much money invested in it. I know this probably is true of other sports too, but I think that in Cheer it's a little crazy. People who make the money off the uniforms probably shouldn't have a say in what the uniform requirements are, people who like bringing people to their events shouldn't make the rules for how the sport is judged, etc.

*I LOVE the performance aspect of cheer, and I think this is part of what makes it so appealing. So while I don't know if I care if they keep crop tops, etc, I do want to see it maintain the performing that goes into the routines. I like that my CPS are learning to be athletes, performers and part of a team all at once!

Sorry if this is naive, or not what you were looking for.

I would like to see the sport become more affordable so that it can grow. My CP is in 5th grade and she is the only person in her entire school in all star cheer. A lot of the people that I try to encourage to join, are put off by the expense. I think if it was priced like rec cheer, with just the additional expense of competition fees and travel, more people would be willing to give it a try.

allstarmom#1 said:

I would like to see the sport become more affordable so that it can grow. My CP is in 5th grade and she is the only person in her entire school in all star cheer. A lot of the people that I try to encourage to join, are put off by the expense. I think if it was priced like rec cheer, with just the additional expense of competition fees and travel, more people would be willing to give it a try.

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this times a million, i wanted to cheer this year so badly during my first year of uni because i was and still am eligible to super senior the only problem is cheerleading tuition per month PLUS university tuition and housing expenses is no way at all fee sable theres always open gyms and teams but in toronto (dont know about other places) they are almost as expensive as senior teams

I lose at least 5 kids a year based on the expenses. I don't even count the kids that don't try out for all stars (obviously) but I know there are families that don't even consider it bc they know it's too expensive.
Comp fees and uniforms are the most expensive things we have to pay for every year. We try to keep costs down by competing mostly local (albeit very good quality) comps but in order to be a truly great program you really need to travel to the bigger comps. And in order to look good and not cheap you have to buy quality uniforms.

We give scholarships, do fundraisers after fundraiser and obtain corporate sponsors and it's still not enough.

cupieqt said:

I lose at least 5 kids a year based on the expenses. I don't even count the kids that don't try out for all stars (obviously) but I know there are families that don't even consider it bc they know it's too expensive.
Comp fees and uniforms are the most expensive things we have to pay for every year. We try to keep costs down by competing mostly local (albeit very good quality) comps but in order to be a truly great program you really need to travel to the bigger comps. And in order to look good and not cheap you have to buy quality uniforms.

We give scholarships, do fundraisers after fundraiser and obtain corporate sponsors and it's still not enough.

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I agree with the last few posts. I have friends that watch my daughter on Facebook and ask me what it is she does. I tell them then they check the prices then they never say anything besides that it is expensive.

As far as fundraising I feel like a lot of fundraisers (not all-I don't want people coming on here and saying they fundraiser everything and I'm just being lazy) but I personally feel like a lot of fundraisers are designed for people who have money. The ones who don't really need or have to fundraise because they could cover the expenses anyway.

Like candles.. Seriously maybe I only have poor friends but no one wants to buy a 16$ candle. That is ridiculous.
The same goes for pizza... We did those at our old gym and it's all stuff you can buy at the store and make way cheaper.
Cookie dough was the only thing I ever sold and it was 2 tubs to myself. Lol
We also have a golf tournament thing where golfers pay like $400 for teams of 4 ... Maybe it's me being shallow here but most people who golf have money. That's why you see houses on golf courses... So how the heck am I suppose to find some golfers?
Like seriously I cannot stand fundraisers and I'm not the type to go knock on neighbors doors just for them to start hating us.. And once you offer them 1 or 2 fundraisers wether they say no or yes you can't really go back every month!

So truthfully the only ones I see beneficial are the ones some people post on here and say they works these games and or events/concessions. Now that is something I would like where I can personally work myself and earn the money. I hate with a passion to ask anyone for money! My parents won't even donate or buy that crap and my dad says its stupid for me to spend all that money and always says I need to take her out of cheer because I'm not rich enough!

Kris10boo said:

I agree with the last few posts. I have friends that watch my daughter on Facebook and ask me what it is she does. I tell them then they check the prices then they never say anything besides that it is expensive.

As far as fundraising I feel like a lot of fundraisers (not all-I don't want people coming on here and saying they fundraiser everything and I'm just being lazy) but I personally feel like a lot of fundraisers are designed for people who have money. The ones who don't really need or have to fundraise because they could cover the expenses anyway.

Like candles.. Seriously maybe I only have poor friends but no one wants to buy a 16$ candle. That is ridiculous.
The same goes for pizza... We did those at our old gym and it's all stuff you can buy at the store and make way cheaper.
Cookie dough was the only thing I ever sold and it was 2 tubs to myself. Lol
We also have a golf tournament thing where golfers pay like $400 for teams of 4 ... Maybe it's me being shallow here but most people who golf have money. That's why you see houses on golf courses... So how the heck am I suppose to find some golfers?
Like seriously I cannot stand fundraisers and I'm not the type to go knock on neighbors doors just for them to start hating us.. And once you offer them 1 or 2 fundraisers wether they say no or yes you can't really go back every month!

So truthfully the only ones I see beneficial are the ones some people post on here and say they works these games and or events/concessions. Now that is something I would like where I can personally work myself and earn the money. I hate with a passion to ask anyone for money! My parents won't even donate or buy that crap and my dad says its stupid for me to spend all that money and always says I need to take her out of cheer because I'm not rich enough!

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YOU HAVE SUMMED UP MY FEELINGS! THANK YOU!!!! shimmys for you!

Ok, I hope that the sport becomes more mainstream and this more standardized. I would hope that someday we could establish an independent governing body that does not have financial connections to the sport. I would hope that divisions are streamlined with all-girl and coed in more narrowed age divisions (which would be easier if the sport was more popular). I hope to see mandatory athlete registration in that licensing body for every athlete. With the standardization of the sport what if competitions consisted of two events - compulsory skills and then our traditional routines with the scores averaged?

As far as the cost is concerned i don't find that it is significantly more expensive than other competitive sports. I have friends with kids on travel baseball teams and they spend about the same $$ that I do.

I don't really want to think of skills getting harder but more so I want safety and technique to get better in the next 5 years. I feel that since skills are getting harder the technique is getting worse and worse. There are those select to teams that have managed to up the difficulty while still performing things a clean and safe manner, but the majority do not. Instead of focusing on coming up with harder and harder things we need to work on making things safe.

I also want to see over the next 5 years for cheer to grow internationally. I want these international teams to continue getting better so that when they come to worlds they challenge the US teams in more then the 1 division (IO5 and GW Sharks). They get better and better every year so I don't think that this is silly to want and expect. I also want this to cause growth in other countries so that eventually we have more of these teams in the senior divisions.

My CP started all star when she was 4 & that was 07-08 season. I did the whole fundraising thing plus the sponsorship letters because we were required to x amount of dollars of fundraising fees which I hated. We ended up moving to another program which it wasn't mandatory but I still needed to do to cut some of the cost because believe it or not I have other kids that doesn't cheer but does do other things which are not free. Sooner than later people start to run or hate to see you coming because your selling whatever over priced item for your kid again. So I definitely agree on maybe lower prices.
Second, I see the sport becoming even more intense at younger age groups as far as level of tumbling skills all the way to the dance portion of the routine. When my CP started the routines were much slower and the mini teams routines look like our tinys look now. Today every team is fast pace, with the more difficult skills in tumbling & stunts. I feel the sky's the limit and I hope that with the maturity of the sport we as parents, cheerleaders, coaches, gym owners, and especially EPs mature as well.