All-Star Alternates

[njallday]

So I was thinking, and I am really curious how gyms out there handle alternates.

Do you have kids in your program who are strictly rostered as alternates? Or do they have a team to compete with and then also attend practices to the team they alternate for so they would be ready to go, if necessary?

If they are only on a team as an alternate do they have to pay the same gym fees?

I know when I did allstars, we would just pull someone up from another team in case of injury/quitting/removal of team.

When I cheered on my high school competition team, we had two rostered alternates. They attended 90% of practices and would occasionally practice stunts and choreography in case we needed them. Our school paid our comp fees so their only cost was practicewear (which they needed for varsity or jv sideline cheer anyway) and the cost of travel. Our last comp of the season, we were going to be against no one no matter what, so we bumped up a size division and let them compete with the rest of the team. I thought this was nice - but obviously not possible for many teams.

So, how does your gym handle this situation?

 

[laughAlittle]

BlueCat , I would love to see how cheer athletics handles this

 

[12stepCheermom]

We've never had official alternates. I'd know because my daughter ends up being a fill in for multiple teams through the season (she's sort of the utility alternate when something happens). She just gets pulled onto that team (or they ask someone who fits their needs...my child isn't filling in for a flyer when there's an injury or someone quits or has a conflict. For example, the last two years she's filled in on a J3 for States because thes a girl on that team whose father was killed in action when she was about 2 y/o. They have a memorial for him and other members off his team the same weekend in Texas every year that happens to fall on the weekend of that competition.

But she's filled in on that same team somewhere else later, and filled in on a S2 in two different positions over the course of the last season.

I think that's why we haven't done official alternates though. It seems every time she fills in (even if it's for the same team) its in an entirely different position so she has to learn the routine all over again for the spot she's in so if you had An alternate, other than Them learning every spot...what's the chances they'll know the spot you randomly need?

It works out just fine for us though. Depending how much lead time they have to fill someone in and how quick they can learn a routine will determine if we end up with a nugget in the dance but every fill in (regardless of the time they've had) has filled in seamlessly to the rest of the routine. As far as money, we've never paid any competition fees when she's filled in because they were already paid by whatever person she's filling in for.

 

[SheCheers]

Our gym doesn't do alternates except for sometimes after tryouts, they'll be an "alternate" for a leveled team they're not quite ready for and if by the end of summer they've acquired the skills they'll move up. Otherwise, in situations where a fill in is needed, they'll pull from another team.

 

[NEliteSteven]

I wish we could do alternates, but I feel like you'd just end up losing them. If you're placing someone as strictly an alternate, why wouldn't they find another gym to cheer for?

 

[MNCheerMom]

I wish we could do alternates, but I feel like you'd just end up losing them. If you're placing someone as strictly an alternate, why wouldn't they find another gym to cheer for?

If you have an althlete who cannot afford to pay and begins a season knowing they are strictly an alternate and can only compete due to an injury/illness/absence, then it might be an attractive option to some people. It is a unique situation and certainly not right for everyone. Sort of like being on "stand-by" at the airport - I know people who wait for hours to get on a flight only to return home without getting on a plane; others get lucky and fly to Tahiti for free.

 

[njallday]

I wish we could do alternates, but I feel like you'd just end up losing them. If you're placing someone as strictly an alternate, why wouldn't they find another gym to cheer for?

that's how I feel, but I thought I'd see how other gyms do it.

I think the only way it would work is ex.: an athlete had level 3/4 skills. maybe a standing tuck, but no layout. strong base, weak jumps. etc. When you create team rosters, they are listed as an alternate to level 4, but they also make level 3 and actually compete with that team.

If I were paying monthly and never actually stepping foot on that blue mat in competition, you better believe my hard-earned money and I would be going elsewhere.

 

[Reallycoolcheermommy]

that's how I feel, but I thought I'd see how other gyms do it.

I think the only way it would work is ex.: an athlete had level 3/4 skills. maybe a standing tuck, but no layout. strong base, weak jumps. etc. When you create team rosters, they are listed as an alternate to level 4, but they also make level 3 and actually compete with that team.

If I were paying monthly and never actually stepping foot on that blue mat in competition, you better believe my hard-earned money and I would be going elsewhere.

I like your example idea.


Reallycoolcheermommy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[k.woow]

We have athletes placed on their main team but also have only a couple that are also alternates. So they pay the regular gym fees but attend the alternate teams practice. So far it's been working great!

 

[youbetterwork]

Might not be the same for international teams vs US teams, but I've been an alternate for a while this season but I will now compete the last comp (Europeans). Me and the other alternates pay the same fees as everyone else. If someone on the team is sick or injured we fill in. I've been filling in a lot during the season.

First the idea was that us alternates would have our own stunt group and practice on the same stunts as the rest of the team. But several people have been injured so it hasn't really worked out that way.

I would never be alternate on another team, but since my team is the best team in Sweden and get to go to Worlds, Europeans etc I've been fine with it for one season.

 

[xomckenzieee]

When I cheered our gym really didn't have alternates. If someone got hurt or had a conflict etc, we went by who knows the routine and who could pick it up the quickest based on position. My junior year I got surgery and was out 3 months and they had to find someone to fill in for me on multiple teams, one team where I topped, based and backed in the same routine. You could try to have someone learn specific parts but at the end of the day there's no telling exactly where they may need to be put in.

 

[prettycheermom]

My CP gym has alternates for our worlds team but they are also placed on a regular season team. As far as the lower level teams they adjust as needed, so if Susie a who is on L3 gets hurts or can't compete at a competition they either rework the routine or pull another athlete from a different squad. Not sure about the fees but I couldn't ever see myself paying my regular fees for an alternate spot regardless of how awesome the program is.

 

[AndrewSky]

I think during this summer, alternates are a great idea. You could put someone on senior 4 and make them an alternate for five, giving them all summer to get those skills. Same goes for any levels really. During summer, the athlete goes to their actual teams practice, and works out with the other team too. I know that's how my old gym did it!

 

[BuegeSmalls]

This is how it worked for my high school team, and I'm asuming all star teams could also do something like this withalternates too:

Freshman year: On JV there were girls that were varsity alternates but they competed and did games and all that stuff with JV. Then a Varsity girl got hurt and they pulled up the alternate.

Sophomore year: There were no alternates at all. If someone got hurt or quit then they just picked someone on JV to take their spot. This didn't work very good when one of the Varsity bases had to get her appendix removed all of a sudden a week before nationals...

Junior & Senior Year: There were girls on the Varsity team that were varsity alternates. They did everything with the team except compete. They did not compete with JV. This worked really well because if some one was missing from practice then the alternate filled in and actually got to work on the routine.

 

[njallday]

This is how it worked for my high school team, and I'm asuming all star teams could also do something like this withalternates too:

Junior & Senior Year: There were girls on the Varsity team that were varsity alternates. They did everything with the team except compete. They did not compete with JV. This worked really well because if some one was missing from practice then the alternate filled in and actually got to work on the routine.

my school team did it the same as yours your junior & senior years.

however, school is much, much cheaper so, while great in theory and super helpful, I don't think it would work well for allstar.