Height Discrimination

[ErinS]

Anorexia != underweight. You can't diagnose someone with anorexia solely based on their height and weight. Please show me a medical chart that says otherwise.

Like you said, anorexia (without the nervosa) just means a lack or loss of appetite for food. Someone's weight alone doesn't tell you if she has a lack of appetite.

Good lord.

Thank you....because I didn't have the patience to respond when I saw the reply.

I was just like "Whatever Dr. Drew".

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[WinstonsGirl]

This could also have to do with where your coaches can put people. I have a few kids who aren't the best flyers, but they're so small they have to fly as they could never base another kid. I have some kids who would be great flyers, but are just too tall for the age group they are with to fly - I have no one who could base them, so they base/back instead. I often tell my junior high teams that a lot of kids will fly grade 6/7 and maybe 8, but by grade 8/9 they may be much taller than the new grade 6/7's and have to base/back. I also tell they they'd be great flyers in high school, and many of them are. I've always found there's a lot of positional movement through those 3-4 big growth years. Doesn't mean you can't fly, or you're not a good flyer. It's just that your coaches feel these are the best positions for the team they have this year.

 

[brennanez99]

A lot of how coaches sort teams is based of relativity. Just because a person is under "X" pounds and inches doesn't mean they can fly. For example, a girl on my team last year was one of the smallest girls there. Her flyer weighed at least 15 pounds more than her. However, she was a beast when it came to basing. Everyone on a squad is placed on the spot they would be most beneficial to the ENTIRE team. To fly, you need to be confident and have trust in your bases. To base, you need to be physically and mentally strong to catch your flyer. To Backspot, you need to be selfless to save your flyer from falling even if it means you will get hurt, and realized a lot of deserved credit will not be given to you. I'm sure your coaches have the best in mind for your team, so adopt that same selfless attitude so your team can be great

 

[KDCheerMom]

A lot of how coaches sort teams is based of relativity. Just because a person is under "X" pounds and inches doesn't mean they can fly. For example, a girl on my team last year was one of the smallest girls there. Her flyer weighed at least 15 pounds more than her. However, she was a beast when it came to basing. Everyone on a squad is placed on the spot they would be most beneficial to the ENTIRE team. To fly, you need to be confident and have trust in your bases. To base, you need to be physically and mentally strong to catch your flyer. To Backspot, you need to be selfless to save your flyer from falling even if it means you will get hurt, and realized a lot of deserved credit will not be given to you. I'm sure your coaches have the best in mind for your team, so adopt that same selfless attitude so your team can be great

This is perfect...thanks.

 

[cheermomto2]

A lot of how coaches sort teams is based of relativity. Just because a person is under "X" pounds and inches doesn't mean they can fly. For example, a girl on my team last year was one of the smallest girls there. Her flyer weighed at least 15 pounds more than her. However, she was a beast when it came to basing. Everyone on a squad is placed on the spot they would be most beneficial to the ENTIRE team. To fly, you need to be confident and have trust in your bases. To base, you need to be physically and mentally strong to catch your flyer. To Backspot, you need to be selfless to save your flyer from falling even if it means you will get hurt, and realized a lot of deserved credit will not be given to you. I'm sure your coaches have the best in mind for your team, so adopt that same selfless attitude so your team can be great

Totally agree with this, both my daughters ( cp 1- 16yo 5'3" 115 lbs Sr4, cp2-13yo 5'0" 95 lbs Jr4) have based flyers that are taller and heavier than them. All members of a stunt group are equally important and my cps take pride in the fact that neither of their stunt groups hit the mat this year. Keep working on flexibility, and take pride in whatever placement the coach gives you.

 

[Travis Pang]

As a coach and an athlete, being versatile is the best quality in a cheerleader. Flexibility is great to have, and it's something that every one should work towards even bases that will probably always be bases.

Coaches usually choose people that they think will best fit each position. I know as an athlete is always easy to jump to conclusions when something doesn't go your way but you need to trust in your coaches. They are you're coaches for a reason! There have been times where I don't agree with my coaches but it's not my call, they usually know what's best for the team as a whole. Remember that cheerleading is a team sport.

P.S. This post was about height discrimination, but it seemed to have turned into a post about body image... awkward.

 

[AliciaM]

I don't think that's really "height discrimination" 5 ft isn't really tall by any means. If this is a jv team than I'm not sure what level of stunting you do or where your team is at but from a coaching perspective it's hard when everyone is around the same height. I do think you're being a bit over the top about not being a flyer. Keep working at it and if you really want to try it out ask your coach if you could go up in some stunts to try it out. Never hurts to ask.

 

[Cheerluv34]

Haha everyone is saying 5'0 is tall but I am 5'7 and 13 is that tall?


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[lisa G]

I am both a All star parent and high school coach. It is very difficult sometimes to explain to some of the girls why they can't fly. My daughter does not fly at all stars because she is 17, 5'7" and 115lbs and their flyers are all 12-13, about 5' and probably 80-90 lbs. She has better body positions then over half of them but they won't fly her. It took a really long time for her to accept that but has become a great base and her flyer did not fall all season.
It is a different story at high school. She is the only flyer we have that can do anything more than an extension prep. Last year no one wanted to be her base (she is on Varsity) until the one of the JV stunts groups came to me and asked if they could fly her during our pep rally of our rival game (the other school only has Varsity football so both of our teams cheer together for that rally and game). I said yes you can try and we did it secretly during the JV practice so that none of the Varsity team would know about it until the night before the pep rally and game. When we showed the varsity team the Extension needle and arabasque that they were going to do one of the varsity groups had a whole new outlook on flying her. After that week that group asked for her to be their flyer and they ended the season with Taco's and single downs from one leg extended stunts. Now already just at tryouts i have had several girls come up to me and say the don't care who they base with but they want her as their flyer. I forgot to mention that the other 5 flyers we have are all around 5' and about 100 lbs but most of them can barely stay in a two leg extension without falling.

my moral of this story is that all star cheer does what they think they need to to achieve the high level flying where high school is usually a more "even" approach to flying where it doesn't matter your size because sometime the "bigger" flyer is the better flyer and you will eventually find the right bases to make that work. In the past i have had to fly most of the girls because they are the smallest on the team but this year if they can't stay in the air then we are going to have one really good flyer and a bunch of thigh stands because size shouldn't always be the deciding factor.

 

[tumbleyoda]

As it has been stated, having a calm conversation with the coach, is always the best way to get information and determine how to move forward. Honestly it is not always about the height issue. Most coaches that I know love the long lines and looks that taller flyers give. Yet they may not have the people that can base that flyer "SAFELY" over the entirety of a year. Especially as the skills get harder and harder to adequately hit the scoresheet in All Star. The transitional work often calls for a smaller flyer to be able to do the skill combinations to get the scores needed to be competitive. You have a definite strength to weight ratio that you have to consider as well as the experience level of the bases/backspots and the flyer. Also some flyers regardless of height "fly heavy" meaning they don't stand up and pull up through their core, therefore making it harder to get them up in the air and keep them up. My question to our athletes is do you want to be on the best team possible even if it means you not playing your favorite position, or is your position more important to you? That is often a determining factor on their team placement because if they (or their parent) won't be happy not flying, then we don't want to ruin the chemistry of putting them on a team they can not fly safely on. Nor do we want them to have a miserable year...so we would rather let them go elsewhere and suggest gyms that may have a spot they can fly on than deal with an unhappy camper all year.

 

[cxmegan]

How about weight discrimination?

 

[Helen uk uni cheer]

I'm on a university team in the uk. I mainly back sometimes base I'm quite large and tall so don't want and can't fly. I personally love tall flyers with long legs as it looks really graceful in the air. I also prefer a slightly more chunky/muscles flyer only because they are more aware of their weight so they stay really tight and are more aware in the air so less accidents happen. I have just learned that getting a head or elbow to the nose is normal and the flyer would be a lot worse. I may never fly but I try to work on my flexibility for jumps and tumbles which I'm hopeless at



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