All-Star Closed Practices

[mommadonna]

Our building doesn't really allow much for closed practices. There are actually two separate sides with two floors each, and they each also have tumble tracks and gymnastics equipment around. With the amount of teams and kids involved in our program, plus the large gymnastics program our gym offers, it just wouldn't work to try to close practices. The coaches are pretty adamant about nobody being on the floors but the athletes, though. The gym tends to get really noisy, what with all the practices and classes going on at the same time, plus younger siblings and the noise they can make. Sometimes I think it would be nice for the kids to practice without all the distraction, but on the other hand, there is a pretty good simulation of the noise and distractions going on at comps. The kids learn pretty quickly how to focus on their coach and not so much all the other goings on, which might help them focus at the comps. I like to believe that, anyway.

 

[MissBee]

Open a bar down the street, then you won't have any parents watching practices!

 

[Zinger_bebe]

Open a bar down the street, then you won't have any parents watching practices!

Sweet! Happy hour twice a week!!!

 

[marissa.d]

ACX Charleston has all closed practices beginning after Choreo with the exception of the first sunday of every month! As a coach and an athlete i love this! It gives the parents their taste of watching their cp cheer and seeing how the team is doing and as an athlete i actually don't enjoy my parents watching me practice and i notice significant improvement in younger kids in regards to their attention, effort and especially confidence! a pushy parent is hard enough, but when they constantly have mom motioning for them to do their inconsistent tumbling it is not a good situation, and adds negative pressure.
I don't actually understand how people always have open practices, i couldn't do it!

 

[Born2Tumble]

I have wrote this somewhere before but here it is again.

At CCE practices were open. We sat right on the edge of the floor. So parents could talk, yell, and scream at their kids. Then you have those parents who like to have a get together and are loud as can be and not watching and they would be louder then the coaches and kids on the floor and it was so frustrating.

Well we had a crazy mom or 2 on my daughters youth team. They started changing the pyramid one day and the WHOLE pyramid was not hitting. We had Suzies mom yell across the floor to tell her daughter not to catch my daughter if she fell.

Well me and several moms told the coaches that night. My daughter said she didn't want to even fly in the pyramid anymore. So I told the coach and they took her out and let her tumble across the front (my daughter would tumble the whole routine if they would let her)!

The next practice they put another girl up there. Suzies mom starts up again telling her daughter not to catch her flyer because if she gets hurt again she will not be cheering. So the girl who was now flying has a mom that was a lot more vocal then me and she went off on Suzies mom. That night we were informed practices were closed from then on because Suzies mom! So that lasted about 2 practices and she allowed us back in because Suzies mom didn't want to sit in there with us anymore because we were all mean to her. I'm so thankful she got the hint. She posted on Facebook that we were such negative people so that's why she didn't stay. She is the person who always plays the victim. It was ridiculous- so glad to be done with her!

Now I loved watching practices don't get me wrong but when we moved to Stars I was kind disappointed we can't stay for cheer practice only tumbling but it is for the best. That way when they start working the routine it will be a complete surprise every time I see it. I don't know if it is because we are at a different gym but our practices at CCE were very laid back. When I'm at Stars watching my cp at her tumbling class I get to watch level 3 practice (kind of there in the back) but anyways practices just started last week and those are hard core practices. I see why Stars is so good. They put in major werk! I think it wouldn't be as major if parents were allowed to watch so I see the benefits of not having crazy moms around. I know the crazy moms will still talk but it definitely limits it by not allowing them to stay. Last year at CCE the first 2 months I was seriously ready to pull my daughter off youth2. A lot of hateful moms that had been there for 5 years were whining and complaining that my daughter was a tiny when she was 5 in her first year cheering then the very next year she just turned 6 and made youth 2. It wasn't fair that it was a 6 year old on the team and their kid had to spend 3 years on minis and 2 years on tinys before moving up to youth2. Then you have this 1 mom yelling at her daughter saying "a 6 year old is tumbling better then you, you should be better then her she is 6"...
I sit there and look at her like are you serious and then she says to me oh in trying to motivate my daughter. Like I heard it all!!

Ok I'm sorry I didn't mean to go off and rant but last season I was all for open practices but now I'm so happy and the benefits far outweigh the curiosity that kills me every time they have practice. Lol

That is Crrrrrrrrazay!!! I am so happy you are having a better experience at your new gym! I couldn't imagine parents yelling across the floor like that! In our gym we at least have a viewing area outside of the gym separated by a floor to ceiling glass wall. I am starting to think that closed practices may be beneficial, I will just have to see how it works out. Only time shall tell!!

Oh && MissBee i could use a bar down the street, oh wait there is one!! LOL, kidding I dont want to go drinking during practice that is Dance Mom's style!!

 

[NJ Coach]

Our gym has curtains that hang on the gym side and get pulled closed at times.

yeah, we thought of that too. I should state that this was all at my previous gym.

 

[mollymags]

From the perspective of a retired athlete... I was SO happy when I was old enough to drive myself to the gym so that my parents wouldn't be sitting and watching the whole time. Even though the floor was across the gym from the parent viewing area, I would feel distracted/unrelaxed when I knew my parents were watching, especially if what I/my team/my stunt group was working on wasn't going well. My mom would never give my coaches her 2 cents, but when I'd get in the car after practice she would attempt to critique or offer "advice". She meant the best but she had no idea what she was talking about and it didn't help...

 

[kisscheer18]

i see alot of pros for having closed practices. at cea kville, the balcony is great to watch but i always cringe when courtney has to go on the floor and yell at the spectators for being too loud.:wasntme: plus alot of moms bring their little ones who (ofcourse) dont like the idea of sitting still or being quiet while their sister practices.

 

[cheermommaRN]

The 1st year at our gym the practices were closed and it was so nice and no drama! Last season it stayed open until 1. parents on a team got kicked out or 2. we started Nationals season. I like watching my child but not at the expense of the toxicity that brews with an open practice. At one point I even went to the coaches and ASKED then to close the viewing area because it had become nothing but parents complaining and talking smack about other kids or their own. Around January they closed it to everyone and a lot of parents flipped out but the drama went away!

 

[WorkToWin]

From the perspective of a retired athlete... I was SO happy when I was old enough to drive myself to the gym so that my parents wouldn't be sitting and watching the whole time. Even though the floor was across the gym from the parent viewing area, I would feel distracted/unrelaxed when I knew my parents were watching, especially if what I/my team/my stunt group was working on wasn't going well. My mom would never give my coaches her 2 cents, but when I'd get in the car after practice she would attempt to critique or offer "advice". She meant the best but she had no idea what she was talking about and it didn't help...

Oh hey twin! Seriously though, that is EXACTLY like me! I used to get so frustrated when my mom would try giving me her little advice because she had absolutely no idea at all. "You know that flippy twisty thing you do? You need to land on your feet." Ok, thanks mom! Haha I never was my best when my mom watched.

 

[AllstarObsession]

Oh hey twin! Seriously though, that is EXACTLY like me! I used to get so frustrated when my mom would try giving me her little advice because she had absolutely no idea at all. "You know that flippy twisty thing you do? You need to land on your feet." Ok, thanks mom! Haha I never was my best when my mom watched.

yeep. my mom would always say "you need more power if you want to tumble more. like run faster" oh jeez mom, ya thiiiink. She did a lot of comparing me to others for a while until one of my coaches told her to stop.

I have ALWAYS done better when my mom wasnt there. She doesnt ever watch me anymore though, not even comps. shes never been a cheer mom!

 

[angelndscz]

My daughter is 9 and prefers closed practices. Our old gym the parent chairs were at the end of the floor with no wall division between. Our current gym there is a parent room with a tinted window, and several other rooms with CCTV. My daughter says she likes closed practices because she doesn't like it when all the parents are just sitting and staring. She thinks they are judging her or talking about how they are progressing. Most feel that the girls listen to the coach better when they can not constantly look over at mom. I know coaches often like to try something new and maybe it did not work out with one girl so they put in another. Then you have Suzy mom complaining afterwards.

 

[cheermommaRN]

Could we not turn this into another "let's count the ways our parents are annoying" thread? I understand that we can sometimes be that way but there are kids out there who parents could care less about them and show no interest in their lives whatsoever. For every kid that is saying "I hate when my mom did x, y, z..." There is another one that just wishes their mom would go to a practice or comp and support them in some way other than monetary....

 

[Born2Tumble]

Could we not turn this into another "let's count the ways our parents are annoying" thread? I understand that we can sometimes be that way but there are kids out there who parents could care less about them and show no interest in their lives whatsoever. For every kid that is saying "I hate when my mom did x, y, z..." There is another one that just wishes their mom would go to a practice or comp and support them in some way other than monetary....

Yeah after reading those, it made me think how my CP was on the opposite end. She actually loves for me to go to practices!! In the past (before yesterday when we started closed practices) I would often times drop her at the door, run a few errands, then return. Well, as many woman know sometimes we can become distracted by time and shop for things we maybe don't need LOL. Anyways, my point is I would sometimes miss practice until the end and my CP would come out questioning me like an FBI agent about my whereabouts during her practice time haha. She enjoys the comfort of me being there and being involved in her cheer life. I am sure there are some people who make their kids nervous or there are kids who wish their parents would go away. However, that is not the case for everyone!!!! Just saying.....

 

[mybabywantstotumble]

I don't think there is any way myself or my husband would allow our daughter to be at a gym with closed practices if by "closed" you mean parents can't come into the building at all.