All-Star Larger Gyms At Local Comps

[samantha says]

Remind them that everyone swam as a little fish in a big pond at some point. Whether it be this year, 10 years ago, or 20 years ago we were all small gyms at one point. Gyms don't just establish themselves with 500-1,000 athletes (if yours did, please PM me and lets sit down and talk PR, business and coaching techniques, because I want on whatever bus you're riding). It's something you build on, and a great way for gyms to grow and excel in numbers of athletes is for athletes to compete against the big dogs and succeed. Take it from a former teeny, tiny fish.... There's nothing like the smile of a little fish that just beat a big shark for food for the first time ever. It's what makes that little fish more and more hungry and builds the courage to keep going back for more food... Eventually becoming that big fish it always looked up to and dreamed of being.

 

[INeverStopCheering]

I'm a member/coach of the small gym mentioned in this situation. It's not my place to get to say where or when another program competes. I'd rather have my kids going against actual competition, than teams from Podunk VA. I enjoy watching FAME's routines, and I look at every competition as a learning/observation experience for when I have a gym of my own. On the flip side (and please don't take this in any way offensive, it's an honest question) I was confused about why many Level 5 teams, being there was a good chance there would be no competition came, but not so many of the younger teams? I for one am very proud of how the teams I coach placed (both 1st), and how my program did overall. Did I have some issues with this event company? Yes. But every event has it's issues. I agree with SharkDad. Competitions don't determine success. Our athletes know we love and care about them, and that's why they love our program.

 

[east2westandbackagain]

I'm a member/coach of the small gym mentioned in this situation. It's not my place to get to say where or when another program competes. I'd rather have my kids going against actual competition, than teams from Podunk VA. I enjoy watching FAME's routines, and I look at every competition as a learning/observation experience for when I have a gym of my own. On the flip side (and please don't take this in any way offensive, it's an honest question) I was confused about why many Level 5 teams, being there was a good chance there would be no competition came, but not so many of the younger teams? I for one am very proud of how the teams I coach placed (both 1st), and how my program did overall. Did I have some issues with this event company? Yes. But every event has it's issues. I agree with SharkDad. Competitions don't determine success. Our athletes know we love and care about them, and that's why they love our program.

Maybe the level 5 kids have new sections in their routines and wanted to try them out, maybe when they made the schedule the owners just decided it to be a level 5 comp for their program. Who knows =).

 

[cheerfan27]

I agree with east2westandbackagain. Maybe they were not "hitting" as expected or added new elements and needed some floor time at a competition and that was the closest, cheapest one.

 

[AndyT_T]

As a coach, the most frustrating thing ever for me is training an athlete, pouring effort and caring and support into them, getting them a skill, being there for them, and then watching them compete against me the next season with another program.
I understand programs wanting to compete locally, but I'm kind of tired of gyms Walmarting the industry and using their name as a crutch.
I get it. I want to go to ACE or Cali just as much as the rest, but I'm not really proud of the direction the industry is going.

It's impossible for small names to get on top, and it's incredibly frustrating. I understand that you've probably never been at a smaller program and seen it from another side, you've probably always been at fame. But imagine being those gyms? You work hard with what you've got, and then watch a program with more to pull from take *every* title. Then, all of your athletes want to be successful, so these kids you've bonded with and worked your butt of for leave to go to a big program. So next year you start all over from the ground up, and it happens again. You can never progress as a program because the second an athlete gets their full they leave for a worlds program, how are you ever supposed to go level 5?

 

[tumbleyoda]

As a coach, the most frustrating thing ever for me is training an athlete, pouring effort and caring and support into them, getting them a skill, being there for them, and then watching them compete against me the next season with another program.
I understand programs wanting to compete locally, but I'm kind of tired of gyms Walmarting the industry and using their name as a crutch.
I get it. I want to go to ACE or Cali just as much as the rest, but I'm not really proud of the direction the industry is going.

It's impossible for small names to get on top, and it's incredibly frustrating. I understand that you've probably never been at a smaller program and seen it from another side, you've probably always been at fame. But imagine being those gyms? You work hard with what you've got, and then watch a program with more to pull from take *every* title. Then, all of your athletes want to be successful, so these kids you've bonded with and worked your butt of for leave to go to a big program. So next year you start all over from the ground up, and it happens again. You can never progress as a program because the second an athlete gets their full they leave for a worlds program, how are you ever supposed to go level 5?

I understand what you are saying but I refuse to say it is impossible. Very difficult with the odds against you yes, but not impossible. You just have to find a different way to fight the battle. You don't have to fight it the same way they do - that is what sets you up for greater frustration and failure. You can't beat them at their own game on their terms, but you can do it on yours. That is the thing to me - fight your fight, not theirs. You won't keep all the kids, but you will keep enough to continue to be able to build. Trust me - I been there, done that on this issue - which is why I am so passionate about small gyms and wanting them to succeed. I don't need them to change the rules to make it easier for me to compete, I just want to be judged fairly every time according to the rules. I want the same rules I am bound by to be binding for every gym at the competition whether it is local, regional or national.

 

[FamousMatty]

As a coach, the most frustrating thing ever for me is training an athlete, pouring effort and caring and support into them, getting them a skill, being there for them, and then watching them compete against me the next season with another program.
I understand programs wanting to compete locally, but I'm kind of tired of gyms Walmarting the industry and using their name as a crutch.
I get it. I want to go to ACE or Cali just as much as the rest, but I'm not really proud of the direction the industry is going.

It's impossible for small names to get on top, and it's incredibly frustrating. I understand that you've probably never been at a smaller program and seen it from another side, you've probably always been at fame. But imagine being those gyms? You work hard with what you've got, and then watch a program with more to pull from take *every* title. Then, all of your athletes want to be successful, so these kids you've bonded with and worked your butt of for leave to go to a big program. So next year you start all over from the ground up, and it happens again. You can never progress as a program because the second an athlete gets their full they leave for a worlds program, how are you ever supposed to go level 5?

I can understand your frustration, and I cannot speak for the big gyms in your area, however I can speak for mine. Fame does not "recruit" intentionally. We do not go to these smaller local comps in order to try and entice athletes from smaller gyms to come to our program. Every smaller gym who has merged with us to become part of the Fame Family, approached our owners first. I understand it may be hard for some smaller gyms to see our dilemmas as well but try and see our frustrations here. Simply because we are successful many teams in the area choose not to come to competitions they know we are at. As a matter of fact last year the Soffe Open in Richmond consisted of 38 Fame teams and less than 10 other teams (not programs, teams). We don't get to compete locally and have competition nearly as often as we like to. For example, our small youth 3 team this year is headed to CheerSport in a division of 10+ excellent teams, and they have yet to compete against anyone. We also have lost quite a few times to smaller gyms as well. We have had issues in the past where we were told by an EP we were not given both program and grand champs of a competition because in the essence of keeping their competition afloat they needed to not run everyone off because "fame wins everything." Though we do not face the same issues as the smaller gyms in the area we do face just as many issues of our own. The size of your gym or number of athletes means nothing when it comes to the ability to do well in a division. I am going to use the gym in our area Elite Cheer Sensation here as an example. They are a smaller program, probably not even half the number of athletes we have at our beach location. Leanne has kept her gym open and successful even as Fame continues to grow. We now have a gym literally 15 minutes (if that) down the road from them and she does not suffer because of it. Her kids train hard, have pride in their program, and believe in their coach, and they are successful for it. They have beaten Fame teams from all three locations on numerous occasions. I myself get a little twinge of anxiety when I look at a comp schedule and see one of my teams are against Elite. So it is not impossible. I am in no way saying that your small gym is failing here, but I really wish for one moments some smaller gyms would stop pointing fingers at the large gyms for their issues, and look to internal reasons on why they may not be as successful as they would like to be. Sorry for the rant, and like I said none of this was directed at you or your program moreoverthree, just a response with your post as a reference.

 

[AndrewSky]

Last year, I cheered at a very small program. I think we had 5 teams. At our last competition, we won our division, beating California Allstars and Cheerforce....with all three hitting flawless routines. It can be done, especially considering those two gyms are considered two of the best gyms in California, well, and the country..lol. I moved to a bigger and better gym. But, it can be done.

 

[allstarLoVEcheer]

Agree on the first part. It definitely sounds like they're just upset that they didn't win. However, I don't think bigger is always better (maybe in this case though...Fame is pretty amazing). I coach at a small gym, and my teams can hang with the big gyms we compete against. Sometimes we win too. We're still building our name and our tradition though, so we're smaller...for now.

I saw a video of your small senior 3 team at JAMlive and they were pretty amazing considering they had around 10 girls! And they won right?!

 

[Mamarazzi]

I'm a member/coach of the small gym mentioned in this situation. It's not my place to get to say where or when another program competes. I'd rather have my kids going against actual competition, than teams from Podunk VA. I enjoy watching FAME's routines, and I look at every competition as a learning/observation experience for when I have a gym of my own. On the flip side (and please don't take this in any way offensive, it's an honest question) I was confused about why many Level 5 teams, being there was a good chance there would be no competition came, but not so many of the younger teams? I for one am very proud of how the teams I coach placed (both 1st), and how my program did overall. Did I have some issues with this event company? Yes. But every event has it's issues. I agree with SharkDad. Competitions don't determine success. Our athletes know we love and care about them, and that's why they love our program.

I'm glad you posted. You have a very sensible POV The reasoning behind which teams were there is simple. As mentioned above, there were very few programs/teams scheduled to attend this comp. The comp was added to our schedule one week before it occurred. Based on the fact that it was a last-minute addition, the only teams that competed for Fame were those that would already have had practice on that day. It may have been tough to ask parents to compete last-minute on a day which they wouldn't have been at the gym. Personally, I appreciate that.
Keep loving your program, sweet pea. There's more than enough room in this area for everyone!

No matter the size of your gym, you should be able to compete everywhere.

To me this sounds like a case of Jealousy, also if a "big" gym shows up to a competition that you typically sweep and win, it would probably frustrate any coach, but at the end of the day, it's how each team performs...

Not sure if it's jealousy, but maybe that if you've already decided you don't "like" someone, everything they do is a problem, just because.

 

[JulieP]

I saw a video of your small senior 3 team at JAMlive and they were pretty amazing considering they had around 10 girls! And they won right?!

They won small senior 3 and grand champs for level three at that one, and it was hands down their shakiest performance this year. They didn't drop any stunts or anything, but it just wasn't as solid and impressive as they usually are. I am hoping that someone has video from Jamfest Chicago from this past weekend that I can post soon. Their performance from Saturday was near flawless, and Sunday was pretty good except for a drop during pyramid. They won small senior 3 and grand champs for leevel 3 at that one too. So I guess it's not so bad being the small gym, or well small team either...

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

They won small senior 3 and grand champs for level three at that one, and it was hands down their shakiest performance this year. They didn't drop any stunts or anything, but it just wasn't as solid and impressive as they usually are. I am hoping that someone has video from Jamfest Chicago from this past weekend that I can post soon. Their performance from Saturday was near flawless, and Sunday was pretty good except for a drop during pyramid. They won small senior 3 and grand champs for leevel 3 at that one too. So I guess it's not so bad being the small gym, or well small team either...

Senior 3 must be an upset division, lol... the post that I made earlier was about our senior 3 as well. I have to say that when they announced places for that division at our comp was my favorite. The rest of our wins were kind of hollow, I guess. Our tiny team had just come off winning SOH, so that was ok. The rest of the teams didn't have any competition. But, the looks on those girls faces from that teeny tiny gym from the middle of nowhere North Carolina was priceless when they announced ECCATS 3rd, CEA 2nd, and them first. Absolutely priceless.

 

[notimeforthat]

I have been at both types of gyms and I see points on both sides.
It does "suck" to go to a comp and have a big gym win every division. It is very disheartening. I think it stems back to the old thread of small gym = small pool of talent = teams that are not at true levels = parents will leave if cps are not on parents idea of thier level = getting stomped at locals by big gyms
When parents stop pushing for suzy who doesn't even have a back handspring and barley a jump off the floor to be on level 4 and coaches trying to be something they are not ( I don't coach level 2, it's beneath me) and owners do not let it go on then things may get better.
At tryouts everyones so worried about what level they made.... lets think about what you are realisticly going to compete at in February against a big gym who has true level atheletes.
Dallas jackets are the same for every division... Be proud to be the best even if its not level 5. There are plenty of small programs that use the big gym mentality and do very well.... JMO .

 

[Fameous MOM]

I'm a member/coach of the small gym mentioned in this situation. It's not my place to get to say where or when another program competes. I'd rather have my kids going against actual competition, than teams from Podunk VA. I enjoy watching FAME's routines, and I look at every competition as a learning/observation experience for when I have a gym of my own. On the flip side (and please don't take this in any way offensive, it's an honest question) I was confused about why many Level 5 teams, being there was a good chance there would be no competition came, but not so many of the younger teams? I for one am very proud of how the teams I coach placed (both 1st), and how my program did overall. Did I have some issues with this event company? Yes. But every event has it's issues. I agree with SharkDad. Competitions don't determine success. Our athletes know we love and care about them, and that's why they love our program.

Thanks for being so postitive. I thought your teams looked great!!! As Mamarazzi said we added the comp the week before the event so only teams that practice on Sunday were there.

 

[Fameous MOM]

Senior 3 must be an upset division, lol... the post that I made earlier was about our senior 3 as well. I have to say that when they announced places for that division at our comp was my favorite. The rest of our wins were kind of hollow, I guess. Our tiny team had just come off winning SOH, so that was ok. The rest of the teams didn't have any competition. But, the looks on those girls faces from that teeny tiny gym from the middle of nowhere North Carolina was priceless when they announced ECCATS 3rd, CEA 2nd, and them first. Absolutely priceless.

WOW!!! Those 2 gyms are both amazing so that gym was probably on cloud 9!