High School Flew Off The Handle...

I have to remind my girls about screwing around and safety all the time. I just took over the te and I guess the old coach didn't care all that much about technique or anything like that so I had to reteach it all. Now that its close to comp season I let them warm up on there own and often have to remind them what they're supposed to be doing, most of the time in a nice way.
However last week I was in a bad mood to begin with and no one was hitting their stunts so I told them to call their old coach since my name wasn't going on that ****show. I felt bad about that one after practice

Must be in the air, I walked away from my squad last night and told them to figure it out because I was tired of the messing around. They were trying to show off and let a flyer drop while warming up for a game. I had to give myself a timeout to cool off or I was going to fly off the handle as well. As a flyer in high school I know what it feels like to be dropped and this group just doesn't seem to have their heads anywhere but the clouds. I refuse to allow my flyers to get hurt because the bases aren't listening or paying attention to what they are doing. Not to be partial to flyers, i frequently take girls out of stunts and replace them because the flyer is not listening to what I am telling her to do. If you don't pay attention then I don't need ya stunting. Sounds harsh, but girls well being are in danger and I'm not about to let someone get injured by lack of attention.

MONDAY. On Monday I completely freaked out. We were making 2 simple changes to the routine. When they were finished a skill, someone asked how many times we say a particular set of words so they didn't screw up the dismount. I said one less then before so 3. It was completely dysfunctional along with the other groups. I went over it w/ all of them. About 30 secs later someone in the same stunt group who was looking at me asked again. (they didn't even try) I lost it. I was like you all need to start paying attention. It is January not August, you should be able to take simple direction without me having to repeat myself. Meanwhile, I go over the same things, over and over and over and over and over and over and to be honest, they need to start absorbing SOMETHING. It just drives me NUTS.

SparkleSpankies said:

MONDAY. On Monday I completely freaked out. We were making 2 simple changes to the routine. When they were finished a skill, someone asked how many times we say a particular set of words so they didn't screw up the dismount. I said one less then before so 3. It was completely dysfunctional along with the other groups. I went over it w/ all of them. About 30 secs later someone in the same stunt group who was looking at me asked again. (they didn't even try) I lost it. I was like you all need to start paying attention. It is January not August, you should be able to take simple direction without me having to repeat myself. Meanwhile, I go over the same things, over and over and over and over and over and over and to be honest, they need to start absorbing SOMETHING. It just drives me NUTS.

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That is IT exactly! About 95% of my kids have the hardest time making adjustments! It kills me!

Glad to hear that I was not the only coach that had a freak-out week!!

Ricej said:

That is IT exactly! About 95% of my kids have the hardest time making adjustments! It kills me!

Glad to hear that I was not the only coach that had a freak-out week!!

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:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

I can't go to my jv or non tumble practices anymore for exactly this reason. My varsity girls pick up changes and adjustments so quickly, but my jvs... Not so much. It's not their fault, they are just new. But I ALWAYS get heated at their practices when I come in to help. They each have their own coaches that are patient with them. I only come to whip em into shape maybe once a month. We call those practices, "reality checks" haha.

Ricej said:

Oh my gosh. I got so mad at my Varsity team while I was coaching my JV tonight. They were supposed to be warming up their stunts and before I knew it, they were screwing around, laughing hysterically, etc. I literally screamed at them...primarily about screwing around and safety. After that, I sat all the girls down and talked to them about safety/keeping each other safe...especially since we're 2 weeks away from State and a month out from Nationals. However, in retrospect, I am sort of disappointed at myself for losing it so quickly and screaming like I did...

Anyone else ever in this boat??

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Also, the fact that you are regretful of this and are looking to better yourself, makes your great coach. SO many coaches have the attitude of 'it's my way or the high way' and are unwilling to change for the better.

I actually skipped our tumbling the next night bc I felt terrible too when I freaked. I knew space was good and last night, they were much better!

Occasionally I'll let my head spin off my shoulders too. It rarely happens but I think as long as we talk to the kids about why we lost it, and we aren't losing it all the time over every little thing, it's all good.

And I agree with the above ^. If we didn't feel bad about it or try to make it better, then we'd just be psychos screaming at kids.

coach.elle said:

I can't go to my jv or non tumble practices anymore for exactly this reason. My varsity girls pick up changes and adjustments so quickly, but my jvs... Not so much. It's not their fault, they are just new. But I ALWAYS get heated at their practices when I come in to help. They each have their own coaches that are patient with them. I only come to whip em into shape maybe once a month. We call those practices, "reality checks" haha.

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How many teams do you coach?

MY JV is angelic for me. However, the varsity listens to me but they small fear BUT they get crazy

CoachKL said:

How many teams do you coach?

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I'm the head coach at my school so techniclally I coach 6 teams (Football, Basketball, JV basketball, Varsity Comp, JV Comp, JV non-tumble Comp).

However, I have assistants that are assigned teams. I coach Football and Varsity Comp myself, and the other teams have their own coaches. But I envy them. All they have to do is the fun part: show up and coach. My job is to do all of the paperwork and planning for the program.

Geez. That is amazing that you have that many teams! We have two teams, JV and Varsity. My Varsity cheers for football, basketball, and is our competition team! I have a JV coach who coaches the JV program and I have assistants that help. How many kids do you have in your school? That is really awesome that you can have that many teams!!!

coach.elle said:

I'm the head coach at my school so techniclally I coach 6 teams (Football, Basketball, JV basketball, Varsity Comp, JV Comp, JV non-tumble Comp).

However, I have assistants that are assigned teams. I coach Football and Varsity Comp myself, and the other teams have their own coaches. But I envy them. All they have to do is the fun part: show up and coach. My job is to do all of the paperwork and planning for the program.

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That is pretty incredible you have all those different squads within your program! This year I had a Varsity Football/Basketball, JV Football/B-ball, a Varsity comp and a varsity NT. I thought I was going to lose my mind with all the logistics and planning. I am totally scaling back next year or else I'm nervous I'm going to burn out (I have a 1 yr old and a 2 1/2 yr old and I feel like they took a backseat because of my chaotic schedule this year which makes me sad to admit!).

The thing I struggle most with are my "average cheerleaders". They cause me the most problems (over exaggerated injuries, quick to be too sick to practice, etc). It's like my JV girls dont have a ton of natural ability but they push themselves because they don't want to be on JV again. My top Varsity girls are hardcore and push through anything. But my middle kids are complacent (granted, there are a handful that rise above), and it's almost like they're happy being the lower part of varsity and don't feel like they will ever be a top Vatsity kid and so they just "are". (To explain more, I have a Red squad and a Silver squad. Both are considered Varsity but each squad has somewhat different responsibilities and Red is the top squad).

Anyways, this post is probably totally confusing now but my point is that my "middle cheerleader's" drive me crazy because they're lazy and don't push! Is this a common problem with you guys too?