All-Star Cheer Mom Regret?

[mommy2mygirls]

Feeling kinda torn as a mom this morning -- need some "mom" advice -- cp absolutely LOVES and LIVES for cheer -- but, she also loves volleyball and soccer and gymnastics and I would like her to try diving and needs time to hang out with her friends. I guess I am getting a weird feeling about putting all/most eggs in one basket so to speak.

I feel like to be amazing at cheer the way she wants to be we have to be in the gym or some gym practically every day for her to obtain her skills (top girl & tumbling) the way she wants with the perfection she needs to advance to where she wants to be. How do you justify making that commitment in lieu of everything else at 12 years old?

 

[Zinger_bebe]

Why doesn't she pick cheer and one other activity? I don't think two is too much. As far as her progression in cheer, as long as she is having fun I think she will be happy with where she is headed. If she's there everyday, day after day, she will risk burnout - especially if she feels she's missing out on something somewhere else.

 

[INeverStopCheering]

I agree. I say cheer and one other she really likes. For me I cheer and do Theatre and Showchoir at my school because those are important to me too. On a side note, don't put her in diving. I was a diver for a few years and it messes with your tumbling really bad. Also, typically gymnasts and cheerleaders make really bad divers. Diving is a very slow and graceful activity and you have plenty of air time to pull your skill and land cleanly in the water, unlike floor where you have 5 seconds to pull and land. So divers who have pasts as tumblers wind up whipping their skills around instinctively and smacking a lot of the time (ouch.). Or cheerleaders training as divers start pulling slower and eating mat. Not saying it will specifically be so in her case, but it happens to some.

 

[kristenthegreat]

How it worked out for me:
When I was little, up until about 10-11 or so, I did competitive dance and one sport each season (soccer, basketball, softball)..it was fun and somehow I managed a child's social life, but during the peak competition season for dance I was VERY busy. After that I dropped all of it for a few years to do competitive gymnastics and it was all I did (minus theater at my middle school). I wasn't trying to push Olympics-worthy, I was just going and doing my skills and working hard. When I was a freshman in HS, I would have been doing both volleyball and gymnastics if I hadn't gotten hurt, which pushed me to drop gymnastics and keep volleyball (hard to get back into gymnastics after 3 months of phys therapy). Later added cheer (still doing theater). At one point, as theater is my first love, I was doing 2 shows AND playing volleyball. I'd go to VB practice right after school, come home, shower/change and depending on what night it was, I'd go to rehearsal. I had LITTLE social time except weekends. I made it work and was happy as all heck.

The point is- it's understandable to be afraid to put 'all your eggs in one basket.' But, have you discussed it with her? Does she want to do those other things enough that it will influence her cheer? WILL it even mess with her cheer stuff? I'm not saying you're worried over nothing, but maybe you're worried over nothing Know what I mean?

 

[CharlotteASMom]

My CP has had a lot of interests. When she was on a Mini team and doing 1 practice a week she was able to do two other activities. When she went to 2 practices a week she could only do 1 other. Last year she cheered and played classic soccer. She loved both sports but every week night was a scheduling juggle and most weekends was a cheer comp, soccer tournament, and sometimes both. The rare off weekend usually meant doing nothing and staying in pjs all day!

My point is that it's really hard, especially when they get to the 10+ age and any sport they are involved gets to a highly competitive level. If she loves cheer then my vote is let her cheer. If she stops loving it, don't panic, plenty of kids get invovled in new sports "later" in the childhood ages and they do phenomenally! Our kids just can't do everything and it is ok!

 

[CheermomCLT]

As a mom I would let her pick 2 activites. let her make the choice. she is old enough to make a decision about what she wants to do. Give her time to really think about all the things she wants to do and give her a deadline by when she has to decide. Be supportive and help her through the decision making process. Be available to talk with her and listen to her concerns about picking/not picking a certain activity. Also let her know that if she makes a decision she must complete the entire season of that activity but she can always make a different decision next year. The decision making process is an important life lesson that is never too young to learn. Good luck!

 

[cheergirl630]

I had to do the same thing when I was younger I had to decide between soccer dance gymnastics school cheer and allstars. It was hard to make the decisions but It had to be done. At first I dropped dance then I was doing soccer gymnastics school cheer and allstars for awhile then I dropped school cheer next was gymnastics then soccer. Now I only do allstars, when I was younger I did not understand why my mom was making me pick between the sports but now I understand I am glad with the decision I made I couldnt see myself doing any other one.

 

[mstealtoyou]

My youngest has been wanting to play volleyball since she was in 4th grade. She's taken 2 volleyballs clinics in the last 3 months. It's been slow going for her and she loves it. Even if she's not very good at it yet. HAHAHA She was way too young to remember the learning a backhandspring days of cheerleading but I tell her that that took time too, and this is like being in the "BHS" stage of cheerleading. She get's her dose of competitiveness at the gym and maybe she'll just play rec league volleyball instead of wanting to do......whatever the competitive league of volleyball is IDK. LOL I would see how each sport she might want to do would overlap with her cheer season and see what can be worked out. Also I think I'd let her pick 1 other thing she wants to do. That's a good place to start. Good Luck!

 

[Mamarazzi]

This is part of the reason m cp didn't cheer until she was 9. Up to that point she tried lots & lots of sports and activities until she "decided" on cheer. But since your issue is that she's already caught "the bug," I would say the same as others - 2 activities max. And talk to her about the fact that her progression with both will be slower than she might like, but that's the price for wanting to do more than one activity.

 

[LittleMiss]

I think it is the norm for all competitive sports to pick 1 thing and basically live it. When my daughter was 5 going on 6 I had to have a conversation with her about what she wanted to pick.....dance, gymnastics or cheer. I remember thinking, "Why do I have to ask such a young child what she wants to do?", because when I was a kid I did it all and didn't have to make that decision until High School. What it came down to was dance would have been 2 classes a week. Gymnastics they wanted her to be on the "team" which was 3 days a week, and cheer practices 3 days a week also. She was good at them all and I ask her every year if she wants to try something else and she quickly replies, "No, I want to be a cheerleader forever!". Over the summer she is going to start piano lessons, it is relaxing, artistic and you need to use your head. Oh, it can fit into her schedule allowing her to do what she loves, Cheer!

Basically what is most important is that your child is happy and feels like they have a say in what they want to do. You only have a short amount of time to be a kid and you need to have fun and enjoy almost every minute of it.

 

[Seeker30]

gymnastics and volleyball!

 

[mommy2mygirls]

Why doesn't she pick cheer and one other activity? I don't think two is too much. As far as her progression in cheer, as long as she is having fun I think she will be happy with where she is headed. If she's there everyday, day after day, she will risk burnout - especially if she feels she's missing out on something somewhere else.

Thanks everyone! I think I've figured out the schedule..and that she should be able to do Cheer, gymnastics and volleyball - if the gymnastics stays low key (not team) and is just a class then she should be able to do it for high school in a couple years -- and volleyball is with her middle school & she will hopefully be able to do that in high school as well as they are different seasons.. WHEW...

Thanks! Sometimes I just feel like she gives up so much for it but..it's what she loves so that makes it worth it

 

[Level5Mom]

Remember that cheer involves several sports at once: cheer, dance, acrobatics, and tumbling. You get a great bang for your buck!

Ask yourself why you feel nervous? What do you want her to get out of competitive sports? Is it a quality she cannot get from cheer? As parents we often promote sports because of the character building it teaches, the physical fitness it provides, and the business it offers that keeps them out of trouble. Some want a scholarship from it, but most are realistic about the chances of that. As long as she's getting what you want her to get out of cheer, try not to worry too much .

I think participating in a second sport is great cross-training for cheer. Several girls at Rays do track and field, mainly because it doesn't interfere with the cheer season much. There are some amazing pole vaulters who are cheerleaders! They also tend to be great at running hurdles .

 

[newcheerdad]

The challenge for us is time. Our daughter wants to try a million different sports and activities, but ultimately the issue is the same - if we put her in the activity, she'll miss it too often due to cheer commitments and it becomes not worth it. She's a little jealous of her brother who gets to play soccer, baseball and participate in boy scouts - all of which he can do because the time commitment for each of those is relatively small and they rarely conflict with each other.

 

[cheeringfor3]

Several girls at Rays do track and field, mainly because it doesn't interfere with the cheer season much. There are some amazing pole vaulters who are cheerleaders! They also tend to be great at running hurdles .

I have been told that cheerleaders and gymnasts are great pole vaulters, because vaulting is a combination of flexibility and technique.