All-Star Cheer Athletics (questions/rumors)

[BlueCat]

@BlueCat - can you tell me approximately how many of your kids youth age and under get and/or have gotten badly injured seasonally? I define "badly" as broken bones, concussions, torn and/or severely sprained ligaments and/or tendons, etc., not like mild ankle sprains, bruises, ocassional bleeding from being hurt at practice (like the nose for example), etc?

Eta- I also mean specifically while at practice or a comp, not at school, not on your property after practice, or once you're done w/them the day of a comp(so like kids stunting outside of your gym w/o permission, or at a comp when you're not coaching them, etc).

This is a sincere question btw- I'm just trying to get an idea for comparison.

Oh, and how do you go about picking qualified coaches? If you hire 'in house' (so like a former level 5/6 athlete of yours for example), do they start by teaching the minis and/or youth aged kids on the lower level teams or do you place them elsewhere? Do all of your coaches teach tumbling or are their special/specific tumbling coaches?

Severe injuries are very uncommon - particularly for youth age athletes. I'm not the one that info gets reported to, but from memory, I would put that number at 1 or 2 a year - and that is for at least a couple hundred athletes in that age group.

Most coaches come from "in house", but we do occasionally hire from outside. There is no set age group for new coaches to start working with, that mostly depends on their background. Younger and/or lower level teams are not necessarily "easier" to coach, but the youngest new coaches tend to coach non-senior teams because of the small age difference. However, there are no specific guidelines for where coaches get assigned.

Generally, our all star coaches are pretty well-rounded. We do not have "head coaches" and everyone teaches all of the skills. Some are better at certain aspects of coaching than other (choreo, pyramids, etc.), but everyone is supposed to be helping at all times during practice.

 

[CrazyAndProudCheerMom]

If Cheer Athletics will NOT have allstar teams in Charlotte this season, could you make that announcement? Lots of people unsure about plans for next season because we are hoping there will be an amazing new gym in town!! If not, we need to move onto Plan B.

Or can you tell us a date that we can expect an announcement to be made one way or the other?

 

[BabycatchingCheerMom]

Sidenote: The rumor mill when it comes to new locations/mergers is seriously HILARIOUS sometimes.

Things I've heard about rumored mergers:

"I heard they require contracts for minis."

"I heard they're gonna require the minis to purchase tanning contracts."

"I heard they have an in house tanning salon."

"I heard they don't take any girls who have bobs."

"I heard their minis are going to be tumbling everyday for 3 hours."

I agree. It is humorous at least, ridiculous at best. It is what it is. Regardless of who goes where. I'm gonna be over here drinking wine by the box. Because I am a cheer mom. And I can't afford the fancy ish in a bottle. Haha!!


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[BowsnBling]

If Cheer Athletics will NOT have allstar teams in Charlotte this season, could you make that announcement? Lots of people unsure about plans for next season because we are hoping there will be an amazing new gym in town!! If not, we need to move onto Plan B.

Or can you tell us a date that we can expect an announcement to be made one way or the other?

I clearly don't know the answer but if you guys are unhappy where you are you should look elsewhere and maybe not put your eggs in one basket with the hopes that CA will be there.

 

[xtremeteal4life]

Severe injuries are very uncommon - particularly for youth age athletes. I'm not the one that info gets reported to, but from memory, I would put that number at 1 or 2 a year - and that is for at least a couple hundred athletes in that age group.

Most coaches come from "in house", but we do occasionally hire from outside. There is no set age group for new coaches to start working with, that mostly depends on their background. Younger and/or lower level teams are not necessarily "easier" to coach, but the youngest new coaches tend to coach non-senior teams because of the small age difference. However, there are no specific guidelines for where coaches get assigned.

Generally, our all star coaches are pretty well-rounded. We do not have "head coaches" and everyone teaches all of the skills. Some are better at certain aspects of coaching than other (choreo, pyramids, etc.), but everyone is supposed to be helping at all times during practice.

Thank you!
You def answered my questions thoroughly and I appreciate it. That number's pleasantly lower for my comparison!

Eta- even though I'm just a parent, I completely agree with you that the younger and/or lower level teams aren't necessarily easier to coach! It almost seems harder to me bc you're having to lay down the proper technique, form, etc from the get go. In my little experience it seems like neglecting teams in those areas is a recipie for disaster; very basic stuff like correct stunting form ( which part of the shoe you hold for elevators, extensions, etc), timing, jump technique, tumble and stunting technique, etc.

 

[cheermommaRN]

Also the younger the team the more its like herding cats.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I've coached at levels 2 and 3. Youth 2 is likely the year that shaved months off of my lifespan.

I will say that your Minis, youth, and level 1 to 4 athletes are the LIFE BLOOD of your gym.

Gyms whose only focus is L5 are doing themselves a huge disservice.

The sport doesn't grow by focusing on Worlds teams. It grows by bringing in new Mini and Youth girls and introducing them to the sport YOUNG.

 

[sportygal2012]

Why are Junglecats getting new uniforms? They just got some at the beginning of the season and they are beautiful! Is rebel paying for them or something?

 

[minamay]

Do you find that having so many floors in one facility and having multiple teams practice at once distracts the athletes more? When I used to volunteer at a gym they had a few floors and multiple teams practicing and it seemed there were always athletes more concerned with what the other teams were doing rather than their own. The coaches then seemed to spend a lot of time trying to keep them focused.

 

[njallday]

well...
Cheer Athletics ‏@CheerAthletics 9m
Big announcement coming from CA within the next 20 minutes...who's excited?!

 

[cheerKT]

OH MY GOSH.

 

[Angelica]

Do you find that having so many floors in one facility and having multiple teams practice at once distracts the athletes more? When I used to volunteer at a gym they had a few floors and multiple teams practicing and it seemed there were always athletes more concerned with what the other teams were doing rather than their own. The coaches then seemed to spend a lot of time trying to keep them focused.

Being an athlete at ca...i feel like I have been able to learn to focus more on my own team because of that! I remember being in the warm up room at NCA and not even watching other teams, I was so wrapped up in my own.

 

[SmileCat]

Cheer Athletics ‏@CheerAthletics 51s
The moment you've all been waiting for....

 

[NJ Coach]

And NC explodes

 

[cheerKT]

ESKLFHASDFKDGHLKFJVHDILUHAEIURHEDLAIUHGERHLGIUER

signed,
Charlotte.