All-Star An Outsider's Perspective

[catlady]

It's not the hair or the makeup that is making people not take the sport seriously--- it's the music.

The cheer community, when it comes to social media, often talks about and puts emphasis on music, uniforms, and appearance, and that's what the media and public picks up on and emphasizes, as well. If we talked about stunt, tumble and dance technique, and critiqued turn out, placement, feet, timing, rotation, height, etc. outsiders would see and critique cheer much differently, IMO. Mediocre dance and tumbling skills tend not to be as impressive to those that have been technically trained in gymnastics and dance, and scored on technique and difficulty in those areas. Music, costume/uniform, make up, and hair can enhance the entertainment value and experience but, have absolutely nothing to do with sport by definition.

 

[Ally13]

I love working out to cheer music (some mixes are the only thing that get me pumped up), but am always slightly embarrassed whenever my friends catch me listening to it or if it comes on when I'm driving and non-cheer fans are in the car; they just don't get what it is/think it's goofy IMO. Even though there are some awful mixes out there, I don't think music will hinder cheer being taken seriously in the long run.

 

[quietmom]

@quietmom do you think people outside the all star cheer world know what our music sounds like? They see pictures, but I don't know many that take the time to watch videos and listen to Cheer music.

You have a good point. I just really dislike cheer music and how it all becomes one loud booming conglomerated auditory mess at competitions because I find it physically painful. My kids' competitions were major migraine triggers for me, and 97% of it was the music. Cheersport was migraine purgatory.

 

[quietmom]

The cheer community, when it comes to social media, often talks about and puts emphasis on music, uniforms, and appearance, and that's what the media and public picks up on and emphasizes, as well. If we talked about stunt, tumble and dance technique, and critiqued turn out, placement, feet, timing, rotation, height, etc. outsiders would see and critique cheer much differently, IMO. Mediocre dance and tumbling skills tend not to be as impressive to those that have been technically trained in gymnastics and dance, and scored on technique and difficulty in those areas. Music, costume/uniform, make up, and hair can enhance the entertainment value and experience but, have absolutely nothing to do with sport by definition.

I completely agree with you and really wish all star gyms focused more on stunts, tumbling, and technique on social media so that it doesn't seem like an extension of beauty pageants to the general public.

 

[Keep_Believing]

You have a good point. I just really dislike cheer music and how it all becomes one loud booming conglomerated auditory mess at competitions because I find it physically painful. My kids' competitions were major migraine triggers for me, and 97% of it was the music. Cheersport was migraine purgatory.

The comp. that use the big flashing lights give me migraines, sensory overload.