All-Star Anyone Else Notice Alot Of 12 Year Old Flyers On The Floor?

[imrichhowboutu]

all i have to say... you may not like looking at it... but if you were a coach you would do the same thing.

also, it depends what team youre looking at.... Kats Extreme (formerly Top kats) has a super small girl on the senior team. but she is also the best tumbler. I would say she is probably the smallest flyer ive seen on a senior team ever. but the girls under her are also a decent size. i think if the bases and flyer are near the same size, it wouldn't look as weird. but if you have full size girls putting up girls under 5' then it looks a bit off. but from a coaches POV. you'd be stupid not to take advantage.

 

[imrichhowboutu]

and only 16 and up on senior teams. (wishfull thinking I guess)

16-19? that would never happen. in the past there was Senior and Senior Open. Stars were always Senior, and panthers and f5 were senior open. (open meant no bottom age). so having younger girls on teams was never an issue in the past. When they created just a single Senior Division, they needed to accommodate the teams that were using younger girls. So it was more of a compromise. And 12 is a lot better than 11 like it was 2 years ago or whatever.

 

[tgfam]

I have yet to see a "peanut" in the air that has the air awareness and body control of a more physically matured flyer. If the stunt looked the same when done with a tiny flyer, that might be more "okay" to me visually. But I would say about 99% of the time, it does not.

I've seen one... Gabi on Top Gun Semi Coed. She flies point. More solid and incredible body control over most flyers I have seen.

 

[yourfavoritebackspot]

i guess you are right but it just gets frustrating for me at least. Im 14 and I can fly, Im on a junior team, but because we have some10 yr olds flying, ( and it doesnt matter what team I ve been on because younger smaller girls move up I never get to fly..doesnt matter how flexible I am or if I can hit a really hard stunt , im 5'5 and 115 lbs.. Im never going to get air time against a 60lb 10/11 yr old. Im a beast backer so I really dont mind, but Im sure in gyms across the country girls who are just as flexible and pretty dont get to fly because of the younger smaller flyers..

16-19? that would never happen. in the past there was Senior and Senior Open. Stars were always Senior, and panthers and f5 were senior open. (open meant no bottom age). so having younger girls on teams was never an issue in the past. When they created just a single Senior Division, they needed to accommodate the teams that were using younger girls. So it was more of a compromise. And 12 is a lot better than 11 like it was 2 years ago or whatever.

 

[xpressjag]

Just an FYI, the more restrictive you make the divisions, the more you put big gyms at a competitive advantage. You could make a "15-16 year old blondes with birthdays in September" division and Stingrays, Cheer Athletics, etc could still probably come up with a team. The team wouldnt be as strong as it was before the division changed, but their advantage over small/medium gyms would get bigger.

If you narrow the age ranges, it makes all gyms have tougher time fielding teams, but it disproportionally hurts the smaller programs.

That is why they should of kept a Small gym division, at least at major national competitions.

 

[eam1892]

i used to be at a gym who wouldnt put me in the air but girls that were younger and smaller than me but i told my coaches that they will be big and i will be small and now all those girls are either basing or backspotting and could not fly if they wanted to. it was depriving me of my flying skills and teaching those girls nothing.

 

[tgfam]

I've seen one... Gabi on Top Gun Semi Coed. She flies point. More solid and incredible body control over most flyers I have seen.

To clarify though, she may not fit into what you all are talking about because I think she is 13, she's just small for her age.

 

[ALittleBitTwisted]

You based a girl that was 180?!? That's incredible. Get this girl a I.H.M.O. badge right away!!

Legit she was at least 145 plus muscle mass..haha but like I said she felt like nothing in the air!! I sorta overexaggerated to get that point across ahaha basically to describe her size she is very solid muscle from gymnastics and looks like a beast base, yet she is also an amazing flyer! A lot of people asked me how I based her actually..it's SO hard to explain to people who don't understand cheerleading at all. I am strong, but not that strong..I give her all the credit! The only credit I give to myself was being willing to base when I had been flying for many years in all star. It's great to be versatile though!!

 

[SharkDad]

i feel like the hannah montana of cheerleading....

You cheer with a blonde wig? I learn something new everyday on here.

 

[SharkDad]

Finally got through this thread so I can post. . .

What this thread reminds me of is respect.

Respect for people's opinions and the points they are trying to make. If you're not sure of that that point is, just ask before you decide to disagree, get offended, or worse yet. . .call the opinon stupid. I read about many people coming from different angles but by whittling away at each other's different experiences and different wordings it can stay a comon discussion

Respect for the many decisions that coaches have to make
- What if a coach only has 60 total athletes for 3 teams so there are only a few choices as to who can be on what team? The senior age girls HAVE to be on the senior team
- What if the smaller girl is one of the only 5 girls on a team who can fly? Then the coach has to decide which group to put them on and if they are not a very skilled girl, maybe the larger, experienced bases are the ones who HAVE to base her to make the stunt successful (I am assuming we all want the kids to be successful, not just look good according to our standards)
- What if a large gym can choose larger flyers but they need to be competitive in the division and/or want to go to worlds? I think the logical choice any of us would make is to but the slightly younger (legal aged) athlete who has the better tumbling skills. If you lost your spot to that athlete, you have a choice to get in the gym and work harder.

Repect for younger flyers
- They are working just has hard as anyone else to be on the mat. It doesn't always look like we want it to , but those athletes deserve just as much credit. Many of them want it, others feel a huge amount of stress trying to impress or live up to their older cheer-sisters' expectations.

Finally respect for people coming from different backgrounds (both cheer and location)
- I've seen terms like fetus, beast, etc used in many different ways. When I see them, or anything else that can look derogatory, I look to see if the person had malicious intent--then I PM them and ask to make sure. I try not to blast them directly unless I know they are trying to be mean on purpost.

 

[King]

Finally got through this thread so I can post. . .

What this thread reminds me of is respect.

Respect for people's opinions and the points they are trying to make. If you're not sure of that that point is, just ask before you decide to disagree, get offended, or worse yet. . .call the opinon stupid. I read about many people coming from different angles but by whittling away at each other's different experiences and different wordings it can stay a comon discussion

Respect for the many decisions that coaches have to make
- What if a coach only has 60 total athletes for 3 teams so there are only a few choices as to who can be on what team? The senior age girls HAVE to be on the senior team
- What if the smaller girl is one of the only 5 girls on a team who can fly? Then the coach has to decide which group to put them on and if they are not a very skilled girl, maybe the larger, experienced bases are the ones who HAVE to base her to make the stunt successful (I am assuming we all want the kids to be successful, not just look good according to our standards)
- What if a large gym can choose larger flyers but they need to be competitive in the division and/or want to go to worlds? I think the logical choice any of us would make is to but the slightly younger (legal aged) athlete who has the better tumbling skills. If you lost your spot to that athlete, you have a choice to get in the gym and work harder.

Repect for younger flyers
- They are working just has hard as anyone else to be on the mat. It doesn't always look like we want it to , but those athletes deserve just as much credit. Many of them want it, others feel a huge amount of stress trying to impress or live up to their older cheer-sisters' expectations.

Finally respect for people coming from different backgrounds (both cheer and location)
- I've seen terms like fetus, beast, etc used in many different ways. When I see them, or anything else that can look derogatory, I look to see if the person had malicious intent--then I PM them and ask to make sure. I try not to blast them directly unless I know they are trying to be mean on purpost.

so glad i didnt put sharks on blast earlier...

 

[BubbleToes]

You left out "she-man" for backspots!!!! And I'm sorry if my using fetus or beast offended anyone, thats just what we call them. Peanut it is now........I still like beast though!

 

[SharkDad]

My point is that plenty of people use the terms and have no bad intent at all. They don't bother me.

The day someone calls a baby shark a fetus you get a tail whip to the face. . . it's pup

 

[yourfavoritebackspot]

My point is that plenty of people use the terms and have no bad intent at all. They don't bother me.

The day someone calls a baby shark a fetus you get a tail whip to the face. . . it's pup

I hope no one thinks I meant calling myself a beast a being a backer, I meant the same as fierce..sorry

 

[SharkDad]

I hope no one thinks I meant calling myself a beast a being a backer, I meant the same as fierce..sorry

I understood you to mean you are extra fierce. Which looks like is always welcome at your location.

I think that if you work hard enough and your skill level is equal or close, with your maturity and experience a smart coach would pick you over a younger athlete. At least that's what I would do.