All-Star "mini" Problem

Cheeranswers said:

no problem I'm shocked theres no minimum age.. so a 4 year old could be in any 3 divisions.. that doesnt make much sense to me..

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That doesn't make much sense to me either. I just can't see having a 4 year old on a youth team...

BuegeSmalls said:

That doesn't make much sense to me either. I just can't see having a 4 year old on a youth team...

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well i mean most wouldn't, unless your 3 year old bhs child wanted to be on level 2 and mini and tiny were level 1

Cheeranswers said:

no problem I'm shocked theres no minimum age.. so a 4 year old could be in any 3 divisions.. that doesnt make much sense to me..

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Technically a 4 year old could be on a junior team too since there is no minimum age, although I really really hope nobody would ever do that.

Cheer4lyfe said:

I am the Director of a small gym, and because we have limited space we hold tryouts for all of our teams. With that said this year we had 42, yes 42 mini aged children register.
We hate turning any kids away, but we especially hate turning mini's away! And they are all level 1 cheerleaders! We really only want 16-18 on our competition team....
Suggestions?

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if 16-18 kids on a team is your ideal and there aren't enough 5 and unders to do a tiny team, i would do an "elite" mini 1 that travels/competes the full competition schedule that your gym does, a prep mini 1 that say, only does 1-day comps, practices a little less, doesn't travel much, and an exhibition team that goes to locals and performs.

you could sort the kids out based on who has any experience, attention span, coordination, etc. or maybe even present these options to your parents and they may choose to be on prep or exhibition if it costs less or they have other children and don't want to commit as much time to one activity... it'll work itself out.

Congratulations! I was a completely clueless mini 1 mom. CP and I and every other team member, the whole team was brand new, were thrilled to death when they gave out participation trophies for the minis at State in Daytona four years ago. They were so proud of those. We still had no idea who they were actually competing against, how it was scored, etc. (I know now, I'm here, aren't I?) They won their last comp fair and square, improved a ton and parents stood there tears streaming through performance as they kept hitting and together, and here we are four years later, and she is worried about aging out one day and she will be 11 for next year's season. She loves it. Thankful we started on mini 1. Let them all stay. I think Y1 and M1, tiny if younger, but comps with more of your gym family there are what I prefer.

These are all kids ages 6-8. It is exciting but scary! The mini, mini prep is a wonderful idea and makes sense.

I agree with above. It gives parents the option based on their commitment preferences and if skills are gained/lost.

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well if your gyms in the toronto area and you need coaches im totally available

If you had 2 mini teams, you could also open up a coaching (or assistant coach) position to senior team athletes. You could offer free or reduced monthly tuition to these athletes. A lot of cheerleaders struggle to find a job because of their limited availability due to cheer. Our old gym owner at NYCheer would do this and held mini/youth/rec team/open gym practices before senior practice so we could teach a team or spot at open gym, then go right to practice.

Good luck! Embrace the unknown... growth is exciting!

The prep is a GREAT idea. Don't turn any of them away if you can help it your next level 5 standout could be in that group.
Can any of them hang on a youth/junior 1?
My CP at 6 competed on a Youth 1 last season and at 7 will be on a JR2 team.

That is amazing 42, 6-8 year old's! Congratulations and please tell me your secret. How did you market for that age group. You can message me if you don't want to make any particulars public. I would really love to hear.

cheercurl said:

That is amazing 42, 6-8 year old's! Congratulations and please tell me your secret. How did you market for that age group. You can message me if you don't want to make any particulars public. I would really love to hear.

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Us too!! We are trying to build our mini/youth program as well and can use all the advice we can get!

Never turn away mini kids. Your Junior and below are the heart and soul of the lifeline of your gym financially. Make two teams. Take them to different competitions. Mini 1 is a huge division, bigger nationals with a and b divisions will split them if you ask I am sure. Go large and small. This is the best problem in the world!


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Wonderful!!! Many of our minis got their BHS over the summer- maybe you can end up with a small mini 2 and large mini 1! Either way- whatever you decide- it's a great "problem" to have!


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Personally I would do small (with your preferred 16-18) and large with the rest. Chances are some will quit/get injured and you may find that you have a level 2 team in there somewhere.