All-Star High Schools & How They Perceive All Stars

[CheerBank]

Even when it is allowed, sometimes you just cannot do both. I've read many posts on here saying that their AS coach allows them to come late, or their HS coach understands that AS comes first...but how is that fair to either team? I am all for encouraging our kids to do everything they want to do and helping them make it work when within reason, but sometimes hard choices just need to be made.

 

[Onfire381]

Even when it is allowed, sometimes you just cannot do both. I've read many posts on here saying that their AS coach allows them to come late, or their HS coach understands that AS comes first...but how is that fair to either team? I am all for encouraging our kids to do everything they want to do and helping them make it work when within reason, but sometimes hard choices just need to be made.

I agree you really have to choose one or the other if they conflict. My daughter did HS football season cheer (JV only because you have to do both seasons to be Varsity) and All Stars. Games were Friday nights or Saturdays which didn't conflict with All Stars, but HS practiced 4 days a week until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. and she had to leave HS practice by 5:00 to make it to her gym by 6:00 on practice nights, the coaches were pretty good because my daughter did cheer middle school also and most of the sideline cheers were the same so she knew them, but still the other girls didn't understand why she always got leave at least a 1/2 hour early and I felt bad also, so you really can only choose 1 if they conflict and my daughter is just doing 1 this year, it was a hard choice and lots of time and thought went into the decision, but she can always go back to the other next year if she chooses.

 

[rosebud]

In Northern Virginia, our athletes are allowed to do both. Our coach is very understanding and tries to work with the girls. I think that is because she was an AS cheerleader herself. We only compete during the fall. During that time, until States, hs comes first. Our AS gym is very supportive too during the fall. This usually works out well, as our state competition is usually the first week or two of November. During basketball season, the girls have to find a substitute if it is their turn to cheer. We probably have about 4-5 AS girls on the varsity squad. I will say that my CP was frustrated with the lack of commitment from most of the hs athletes. She is not used to people not showing up for practice, or using "injuries" to get out of practice, and the lack of enthusiasm for advancing their skills. Additionally, with a lot of the hs athletes, their stunting skills were not correct or just plain dangerous. My daughter felt a lot of the time, the girls just wanted to get the stunt up at whatever the cost. This resulted in a LOT of injuries. We had 7 concussions this year on a team of 24!

My daughter had 2 concussions in just one season when she was flying for her high school team because the back spot kept catching her incorrectly on her doubledown (which are now not allowed in Illinois high school cheer) and my daughter's head kept hitting her bases shoulder. I like the idea that the coaches have to be certified in All Star for whatever level they are responsible for. I wish they would do that somehow for high school cheer but it seems like they just sometimes need a "warm body" that is willing to coach and it's sometimes just somone looking for an extra paycheck and has no real background in it.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

My daughter had 2 concussions in just one season when she was flying for her high school team because the back spot kept catching her incorrectly on her doubledown (which are now not allowed in Illinois high school cheer) and my daughter's head kept hitting her bases shoulder. I like the idea that the coaches have to be certified in All Star for whatever level they are responsible for. I wish they would do that somehow for high school cheer but it seems like they just sometimes need a "warm body" that is willing to coach and it's sometimes just somone looking for an extra paycheck and has no real background in it.

I take great offense to this. I am so flipping tired of people assuming HS coaches are not qualified... I am more then qualified and I just like it better and most in our area that coach competitive are. I have seen so many all-star teams that make me want to cringe out of how "unsafe"....

You have less then qualified all-star coaches even if they pass their certs as you have the same amount in HS. Oh and don't bash rec too.. they also have a lot of good qualified coaches too and some unqualified. A good coach will get their team extra help on some skills even if they are the "best of the best"... Yes I wish everyone was safe, but it's not always that way.

RANT OVER.

 

[rosebud]

I take great offense to this. I am so flipping tired of people assuming HS coaches are not qualified... I am more then qualified and I just like it better and most in our area that coach competitive are. I have seen so many all-star teams that make me want to cringe out of how "unsafe"....

You have less then qualified all-star coaches even if they pass their certs as you have the same amount in HS. Oh and don't bash rec too.. they also have a lot of good qualified coaches too and some unqualified. A good coach will get their team extra help on some skills even if they are the "best of the best"... Yes I wish everyone was safe, but it's not always that way.

RANT OVER.

I was talking about our experience in our high school, sorry didn't mean to make it sound like I was generalizing for all high school cheer coaches. Did not mean to offend you. I did not mention rec because I have no personal experience with it.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

I was talking about our experience in our high school, sorry didn't mean to make it sound like I was generalizing for all high school cheer coaches. Did not mean to offend you. I did not mention rec because I have no personal experience with it.

Sorry, I understand, just always seems to turn into that.. and I didn't want it to get off topic.

I think most of us would love both to work, but in some areas of the US it is extremely difficult. Too bad all-star comp season isn't spring and summer. I say that b/c travel softball/soccer/hockey etc usually is primarily opposite school seasons so it is easy for kids to do both. My cousins both play school soccer and only do the major portion of the travel season in Spring/Summer.. they have a very light game/practice schedule in the fall when school soccer is in session....

 

[bestbackspot]

My freshmen year of high school I cheered both All Star and High School. I had done All Star all my life and really had no expectations of High School cheerleading. That cheer season was probably the hardest season because I had practice every night of the week, often one after the other, and had my body was beat.

My sophomore year, I decided to quit all star for high school. I have had the most amazing experience with my high school team. They are all my best friends and as a team we are all very close. My high school team is competitive, and usually does one competition a weekend from mid-december to mid-march including UCA nationals where we made it to finals our first time going this year There are a few girls on my team that do both all star and high school, but I think next year my coach will not be allowing people to do both since our high school team continues to get more competitive.

It really bothers me that sometimes people look down on high school cheer. When I did All Star I was on a senior level 3, and I think my high school routine (includes level 4 and 5 stunts) is so much harder than that.

 

[zonkadonk]

In Kansas, our high schools are not allowed to compete. They can do "festivals" that are like competitions but are not allowed to get placed. So the gym I work for has girls that do HS cheer, but all-star definitely comes first. Our high school cheerleaders are primarily sideline cheerleaders. We have a lot of kids from Missouri as well, and they are allowed to compete, but we don't run into a lot of issues. THe only conflicts we tend to have are Tuesday/wednesday night basketball games during basketball season. Our athletes like that they are able to do both and not have to choose one.

 

[zonkadonk]

Our high schools are also not allowed to wear rhinestones, have glitter, have sequins, etc.
They also can't double down, do basket tosses, release moves, etc. They can't even do a level 3 front flip (where the backspot holds the hands). It is a bit ridiculous.

 

[GMCheerBaby]

On my high school team, nobody really knows about all stars. Only myself and one of my teammates have any allstar experience, so we are obviously obsessed. But otherwise nobody really has anything negative to say about allstars.


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[cydcydchick]

Well about half of the people on my high school team are on my all star team. Same coach. We practice at the same facility. High school practices are right after school and all star is in the evening. We get a 1.5 hour break to eat and do homework. Most of the boys on our team are basically required to do both (I guess you can't really make them but its kind of an unwritten rule that if you do high school, you do all stars). We have some kids that go through the all star program and when they get into high school they go to our school, since its a private school with tons of tradition it's not uncommon for people to know they're going to this school before they're even born . If there's ever a conflict with scheduling, all star comes 1st. For example, we had the state championship basketball game up in Sacramento a few weeks ago, and the cheer team didn't go because most of us had USA all star nationals the same weekend.

 

[cheernerd5678]

Our high schools are also not allowed to wear rhinestones, have glitter, have sequins, etc.
They also can't double down, do basket tosses, release moves, etc. They can't even do a level 3 front flip (where the backspot holds the hands). It is a bit ridiculous.

The rhinestones and sequins must be preference, but everything else you mentioned is just NFHS rules though, it's the same for everyone else. Except I think the level 3 front flip is legal, HS just recently got braced inversions added.

 

[iCheer247]

My high school coach really hates all star cheerleading (even though we have athletes who have done it/been to worlds). This year (as a sophomore) I wanted to try to do both HS and AS but she wouldn't allow it so I'm just doing HS this year. I am sure this season will be good even though we aren't very competitive but I am going to make the best of it.

 

[SassyRachael]

Where I'm from HS cheerleaders are allowed to do allstars but the HS coaches purposefully make it a living hell for the girls who choose to do both, which is sad really.

 

[allstarmama]

I would like to get some input from everyone about the interaction between high school cheer teams and how they interact (good or bad) with all stars.

Does the high school coach have any issue with cheering all stars? Are there restrictions? Are high school cheerleaders banned from cheering all stars?

I would also like to know specific schools, if possible. Just wanting to get a feel for how many actually do different things.

Thanks for the input!

CP's all star coach and gym owner is also the high school coach so doing both is not a problem!