OT Gymnastics And Dance Training Systems Vs Cheerleading

[Official OWECheer]

I have noticed that (someone correct me if I am wrong) the system used at gymnastics gyms is to have a bunch of kids training at their level, and to have the coaches hand pick the kids that are put on the competition teams for each level.

At dance studios, it seems as though kids take classes in whatever dance style(s) they want, and can audition for/be pulled up for that studio's competition team.

So there is a pool of kids that are training and improving their skills without the pressure of competition. Why don't schools and all star gyms have that? (Or is that the reason as to why some schools have competitive Varsity teams but noncompetitive JV teams?)

 

[driverto6]

I think cheer gyms do have that in some cases. Our gym has lots of tumbling/stunting classes. Kids who are not on teams often take these classes. It helps them work on skills, it gives them exposure to the gym and staff and over time some of those kids choose to do all-star and some do not.
My daughter took tumbling at our gym for 2 years before she ever joined an allstar team. She very closely watched the practices going on while she was there tumbling and by the time she decided she was going to do all-star she had the tumbling skills she needed and a very good idea of what to expect from the coaches/teams. I will say she was completely unprepared for her first competition (as a mini 2). I still laugh when I think about how she spent most of that comp flat on her back on the ground from every stunt and the pyramid completely falling apart!!

 

[FlexyTumblerMom]

Yeah - there really aren't a lot of what I'd term as "recreational cheer classes" - where kids would come in on a regular basis and work on cheer skills and then at a future date get picked out/or decide to move/commit to a team. These things definitely are commonplace in gym and dance though (lol - of course, the picking out/invite process can get a little political in both, but that's a whole other discussion ).

My theory is that the reason all star cheer doesn't do recreational programs as much is because of the need for consistent attendance in stunting - you need to have a committment to always be there from all the people in a group for any progress to be made. And without the structure of a team, this can't be done. So ultimately the only thing you could really do in a casual way is tumbling, and tumbling only classes do exist.

Also, the first competitve level of cheer (level 1) is a lot easier to accomplish/reach quickly than the typical first competitive level of gymnastics. Not every kid can walk in the door and be doing a bar routine in 4-5 months, but it isn't that hard to have a cartwheel or learn basic stunting in that same timeframe. You also don't really HAVE to tumble at all depending on the team so the time from walking in the door to being ready to compete is much shorter for cheer than it is gym.

 

[INeverStopCheering]

I think a company called More Than Cheer does something like this.

I can see it especially for young teams. Like have a Mini Level class that meets twice a week and is working towards some sort of "recital" at a local comp (like many Tiny Ex teams do) Pick the good ones and ask them to go real Mini 1

I picked Mini 1 because I feel like that's one area where pulling the kids that are "ready" would be really beneficial to the program instead of just taking every six year old that walks in and throwing them on mini 1

 

[cheerforeverever]

Gymnastics and Dance are both mainly individual sports. Yes, you can be on a "team" or "group routine" but the great majority of your skills are by yourself. This means that while a kid is training individual skills in a class, they can be pulled up to a new level/added to a competition group at any time. In cheerleading however, we cannot "pull someone up" as easily. There are more aspects to a routine aside from the individual's jumps and tumbling......it could be the most talented little girl in the world in your rec class but if she cannot work with a team, you have a problem. She needs to be able to find that rhythm in a stunt group, have spacial awareness on the mat in relevance to where/what her teammates are doing, etc.

So mainly, what I am getting at is how can you train someone to fit perfectly on a team without being on an actual team?....... you can teach them individual skills all you want. you can have them practice stunting with random groups. you can teach them how a routine works and how to count music etc etc etc BUT it will still be better to train a person that is put in a real competition routine with a specific stunt group, specific music, specific choreo out in front of those competition lights + pressure.

 

[SL&AM]

I have noticed that (someone correct me if I am wrong) the system used at gymnastics gyms is to have a bunch of kids training at their level, and to have the coaches hand pick the kids that are put on the competition teams for each level.

At dance studios, it seems as though kids take classes in whatever dance style(s) they want, and can audition for/be pulled up for that studio's competition team.

So there is a pool of kids that are training and improving their skills without the pressure of competition. Why don't schools and all star gyms have that? (Or is that the reason as to why some schools have competitive Varsity teams but noncompetitive JV teams?)

Finding classes for CP to take has been a challenge in and outside of a bigger cheer area. I think those who come to the sport want to compete and cheerleading also offers a better level system than dance or gymnastics. While gymnastics are based off of levels, you have to have a talent for it---whether by repetitive practice or naturally. No one can just walk into a gymnastics gym and say I want to compete without being able to learn the necessary routines---the first several levels are compulsory so everyone is doing the exact same thing.

Dance doesn't have levels at all outside of age and AS or Prep so you have to show some talent or go to prep. Though you can dance your whole life and never compete; it's still heavily an individual sport.

Cheerleading is a beast of it's own. Because you can literally know nothing and still do well in LVL 1, but walking onto a LVL 1 team the coaches are then tasked with teaching you everything from the ground up. While it could be argued that dance would allow that, gymnastics absolutely would not (at least, not a good gymnastics gym).