All-Star Juggling All Star Cheer With Distance And High School Cheer

[Keep_Believing]

I have 3 kids. Two of my CP's do cheer. We drive an hour and a half one way for their cheer gym. Love our gym. My oldest CP will be in 9th grade next year (first year of High School). She recently told me she also wants to do High School Cheer next year. How realistic is it to try and juggle both (out of town) All Star cheer and High School cheer? She said if she has to pick it will definitely be all star cheer, but she really wants to try and juggle both. All opinions, advice, etc. appreciated.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Some advice:

1. Speak to the HS coach. It is workable if the coaching staff has dealt with AS + HS girls before (common in TX.) You need to feel that out before you commit to it. There are some coaches who have not and will not compromise for AS girls.

2. Break out your All Star calendar and put it next to the HS calendar. Really look at HOW MUCH of each cheer program your kids will be missing. That will tell you a lot about whether you will need to choose. For example: I am flexible to a point with my kids who do both, as I coach both. However, I cannot "flexibly" allow an all star kid to SKIP ALL GAMES because they have all star practices EVERY Friday. If you look at the schedule and think "We can do this if we don't have to do games, or can only do one practice a week" you may need to make a decision. High school cheer can't be an "oh I'll come when I feel like it" thing.

3. Look at whether the HS program competes. When are their comp weekends? Do they directly conflict with AS cheer comps? You cannot expect coaches to be missing a kid on the mat at what may be a BIG comp (i.e. state, etc.)

4. Take a good look at your family and what you can realistically handle. Do you have non-cheer children? Will doing both limit their ability to do things that THEY are interested in? Will it be an "i can do this but I will never see my husband or other children again until May" thing? I'm a firm believer in making cheer decisions FAMILY decisions because when you drive that far and do that much, everyone needs to be on board because it affects every family member.

5. Look at your WALLET. HS cheer is generally less expensive than all star but that is not always true with some programs in big HS cheer states like TX. Can your wallet handle cheer costs for 3 kids, high school cheer, gas to and from gym, taxi-ing to and from games, etc?

 

[Keep_Believing]

Thanks, great advice. I definitely need to think about my wallet. The only one that would be close to impossible would be sharing and comparing dates. Our HS team try outs are in March. Our All Star gym does a work out group process. So, you do not really know your official team and practice days until June. Things get moved around. And we didn't get our comp. schedule until end of July.

 

[cheerisloving]

I have 3 kids. Two of my CP's do cheer. We drive an hour and a half one way for their cheer gym. Love our gym. My oldest CP will be in 9th grade next year (first year of High School). She recently told me she also wants to do High School Cheer next year. How realistic is it to try and juggle both (out of town) All Star cheer and High School cheer? She said if she has to pick it will definitely be all star cheer, but she really wants to try and juggle both. All opinions, advice, etc. appreciated.

I did this the other way around, a commute to my school, but closer to the AS gym. It was draining after a while, even though my parents worked where I went to school so they had to make that commute anyway, the extra push to the gym at the end of the day was tough. Also I found that I love school cheer more and would end up missing our fun basketball season if I did A. How intense is your CPs cheer team? Is it comp/football in the fall, or comp year round? Does she just want to do sideline and is that an option? I think the fall season to do football and comp if she wants is great for full time AS athletes.

Also look to see if any girls on the team currently do both, if anyone is at your gym to carpool. I wish I had that option when I was cheering.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Thanks, great advice. I definitely need to think about my wallet. The only one that would be close to impossible would be sharing and comparing dates. Our HS team try outs are in March. Our All Star gym does a work out group process. So, you do not really know your official team and practice days until June. Things get moved around. And we didn't get our comp. schedule until end of July.

^^^^That could honestly be problematic.

The workout group thing leaves SO much up in the air during a time when HS cheer is busiest.

Example: During summer, there is a time when my HS kids are practicing M through TH from noon-4. Getting ready for camp, doing choreography, getting game day ready, forming stunt groups, etc.

I am getting better at sharing for practice, but let me tell you, there is a level of sharing that surpasses what I can deal with because I need to make a team that is going to be HERE.

Sometimes, a mom will show up to a pre-tryout meeting like:

"Hey we really want to do HS cheer but we can't do any games because of all star, then her all star choreography week is your choreography week so we can't do that. Oh and she can only do one practice a week because of dance nights. Then we have XYZ National Comp the weekend of states. Oh and then she starts hip hop dance on top of cheer in winter and the studio is 2 hours away so we couldn't really do BBall games either. Is that okay?"

Ma'am, based on your schedule, your child's cheer season consists of one practice a week and possibly pep rallies. No.

 

[Keep_Believing]

I did this the other way around, a commute to my school, but closer to the AS gym. It was draining after a while, even though my parents worked where I went to school so they had to make that commute anyway, the extra push to the gym at the end of the day was tough. Also I found that I love school cheer more and would end up missing our fun basketball season if I did A. How intense is your CPs cheer team? Is it comp/football in the fall, or comp year round? Does she just want to do sideline and is that an option? I think the fall season to do football and comp if she wants is great for full time AS athletes.

Also look to see if any girls on the team currently do both, if anyone is at your gym to carpool. I wish I had that option when I was cheering.

She is currently on a senior level 4 for her all star team. She is hoping for a level 5 team next year. Not sure how realistic that goal is, but she is a hard worker and determined. All star is her first love, but she hopes to also try High School cheer. Our High School team does cheer football and different sports. They went to one cheer comp. last year. I don't think the High School Cheer team has different options. As far as I know it is all or none. With that said I don't think they are very intense. I just e mailed a friend who's CP does High School asking how often they practice, cheer different games, etc. Will share when she responds.
Thanks! *And none of the current girls do cheer at our current all star gym. It is far from where we live.

 

[Keep_Believing]

^^^^That could honestly be problematic.

Ma'am, based on your schedule, your child's cheer season consists of one practice a week and possibly pep rallies. No.

I will say All Star Cheer is the only thing she does, but I see where you are coming from. That is exactly where my concerns are. We can't be in two places at one time and I don't know how much things will overlap.

P.S. I am impressed how much your team practices in the Summer! I bet they are amazing!

 

[MissCongeniality]

Does your HS insist the Freshman girls do the Freshman team? Do you have Freshman games with a 5th quarter on Thursday nights?

We were able to juggle both so far...but there were nights when I was zipping CP across two counties to make it. There were nights during Freshman year where she would perform in the half time show and we'd have to leave (thank you awesome HS coaches who were understanding) There were times when no matter what CP had to make hard choices and leave her HS team hanging on a Friday night because we had to catch her flight. Again understanding coaches for the most part, though she got benched for missing practice once when our flight home was grounded due to weather and she missed practice...

Then, just when you think you've got the schedule figured out...it's basketball season with games twice a week ...

So doable but requires understanding coaches and a lot of gas and time!

 

[Keep_Believing]

Does your HS insist the Freshman girls do the Freshman team? Do you have Freshman games with a 5th quarter on Thursday nights?

So doable but requires understanding coaches and a lot of gas and time!

Thanks for sharing. How far do you drive, travel for cheer? I do not know how Thursday games work (I will have to ask about that too), but the varsity team is made up of the girls who score the highest at try outs.

 

[MissCongeniality]

Thanks for sharing. How far do you drive, travel for cheer? I do not know how Thursday games work (I will have to ask about that too), but the varsity team is made up of the girls who score the highest at try outs.

See ours wasn't. If you were in 9th grade they didn't care ...you were on the freshman team whether you had a Worlds ring on your finger or not! Friday night games are easier (varsity and JV) as most gyms don't do practices Friday nights...and we typically didn't have travel comps requiring Friday flights until basketball season (so a couple misses once basketball season started)

About 45 minute drive from practice to practice (varied for games because that depended on where the game was) Is your school ok with parents picking up from away games or are they required to ride bus both ways?

Anyway it's hard... A lot of homework by flashlight...A lot of mommy skipping out of work early... A lot of missing out on social functions on both sides... Currently, this year, CP is just doing one but that may change.

 

[Keep_Believing]

About 45 minute drive from practice to practice (varied for games because that depended on where the game was) Is your school ok with parents picking up from away games or are they required to ride bus both ways?

IDK, but you are giving me a lot of good questions to ask.

 

[njallday]

IDK, but you are giving me a lot of good questions to ask.

i'd recommend checking out the high school CP will be attending's current football schedule for ALL teams. at my high school varsity was (usually) friday nights with a Thursday thanksgiving game and state playoff/state championship games were saturday or sunday afternoons. freshman and JV either played back to back on thursdays after school or JV would play around 4/5 on fridays with varsity following them. while you don't know what team she'll be on next season (if they offer more than varsity), that is good information to know beforehand.

the workout groups are tricky but just make mental notes of what the gym does this season. what nights does she currently practice or the team she is aiming for practice? what comps are you going to this season? if they keep a similar schedule, what are the dates for next season? while that info may not carry over or be 100% accurate to next season, it's good to have something to go off of going into high school tryouts.

 

[Keep_Believing]

while that info may not carry over or be 100% accurate to next season, it's good to have something to go off of going into high school tryouts.

Great tips & ideas! Thanks!

 

[Lovemyoagirl]

My cp is a freshman this year, and for a couple of reasons decided not to try out for the high school team. She is only doing all star. The primary reason she chose not to do high school was concern for her grades. She did not think there would be enough time for both sets of practice, games and homework. She has friends that go from school to HS cheer practice to AS cheer practice and get home at 10:00 pm to start homework. My cp has had an average of 4 hours a day of homework during the week, and much more on the weekends. If she did not get home until 10:00 pm it would never get done. So for us, the concern was not about having enough time to devote to two teams, it was about having enough time to devote to school. I would like her to try HS cheer, but she said if she can only do one she chooses AS. Her friends on the HS team are loving it.

 

[MissCongeniality]

My cp is a freshman this year, and for a couple of reasons decided not to try out for the high school team. She is only doing all star. The primary reason she chose not to do high school was concern for her grades. She did not think there would be enough time for both sets of practice, games and homework. She has friends that go from school to HS cheer practice to AS cheer practice and get home at 10:00 pm to start homework. My cp has had an average of 4 hours a day of homework during the week, and much more on the weekends. If she did not get home until 10:00 pm it would never get done. So for us, the concern was not about having enough time to devote to two teams, it was about having enough time to devote to school. I would like her to try HS cheer, but she said if she can only do one she chooses AS. Her friends on the HS team are loving it.

So true! I was so worried too! We used Freshman year as a test run. She took a rigorous schedule and pulled out straight A's to prove to us that she could do it. There were some really miserable late nights and books out at competitions too!