- May 18, 2010
- 1,600
- 2,744
This is not just a "big gym" issue..... I notice a growing trend in my area of teams who don't bump up to the next level, despite their kids being more than capable of doing so..... this is a real situation:
Gym A- has been in existence for over a decade, with kids who have been cheering that long. The majority have skills that are mostly in the level 3-4 range, but they compete their highest level kids at level 2 and whoop on everyone. Same with their level 1 teams, all kids with 3-5 years of cheer experience there, if not more.
Gym B- has been in existence for 5 years, also with kids who have been there from the beginning, and is also only putting out very very strong level 1 and 2 teams. Judging by their warmups, I find it difficult to believe that they were not a team with majority level 3 skills.
As as gym owner who just finished our first season, with all level 1 and 2 kids- I mean ACTUALLY level 1 and 2- I just can't see the satisfaction of keeping them where they are for so long. I mean, I'm itching to go level 3 this year, though we probably won't because we don't have enough level 3 skills yet. Most of the kids I have were just barely level 1 or 2 in one area when they came in, and now they are all-around strong level 1-2. I know they are itching to do more, which makes me wonder why these other gyms have managed to keep the kids down a level or two, and how they could get away with doing that. I get that winning keeps business, and I get that if you're a small gyms, the kids like to test out other gyms when they get their skills up. So, again, I raise the issue that there needs to be a way to track kids on teams that goes way more in depth than just registering them. Like, if you notice a kid or a large group of kids that stay the same level for more than 2 years, it should be addressed in some way, right? I know we've had this discussion before, and it always gets heated..... everyone take a deep breath........ and discuss....
Gym A- has been in existence for over a decade, with kids who have been cheering that long. The majority have skills that are mostly in the level 3-4 range, but they compete their highest level kids at level 2 and whoop on everyone. Same with their level 1 teams, all kids with 3-5 years of cheer experience there, if not more.
Gym B- has been in existence for 5 years, also with kids who have been there from the beginning, and is also only putting out very very strong level 1 and 2 teams. Judging by their warmups, I find it difficult to believe that they were not a team with majority level 3 skills.
As as gym owner who just finished our first season, with all level 1 and 2 kids- I mean ACTUALLY level 1 and 2- I just can't see the satisfaction of keeping them where they are for so long. I mean, I'm itching to go level 3 this year, though we probably won't because we don't have enough level 3 skills yet. Most of the kids I have were just barely level 1 or 2 in one area when they came in, and now they are all-around strong level 1-2. I know they are itching to do more, which makes me wonder why these other gyms have managed to keep the kids down a level or two, and how they could get away with doing that. I get that winning keeps business, and I get that if you're a small gyms, the kids like to test out other gyms when they get their skills up. So, again, I raise the issue that there needs to be a way to track kids on teams that goes way more in depth than just registering them. Like, if you notice a kid or a large group of kids that stay the same level for more than 2 years, it should be addressed in some way, right? I know we've had this discussion before, and it always gets heated..... everyone take a deep breath........ and discuss....