High School Missng Practices - What Do You Do?

[cowboycheersarah]

so if an athlete missed a practice for a concert it'd be an unexcused absence but since it's you going to the concert it's okay?


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This^^^^ this is my biggest problem with my coach. She will kill us if we miss for something like that, but if she or her daughter (who is conveniently the captain of our squad) have something to do.. Then by all means cancel practice!


We are the best, of silver black and blue. Cowboys

 

[pvcheerclauds5]

This^^^^ this is my biggest problem with my coach. She will kill us if we miss for something like that, but if she or her daughter (who is conveniently the captain of our squad) have something to do.. Then by all means cancel practice!


We are the best, of silver black and blue. Cowboys

Wow talk about special treatment for your kid. It bothers me so much when parents are the coach of any team outside of Rec Cheer. It just spells disaster especially because cheerleading tends to have a lot of favoritism to begin with.

 

[gymcatmomx2]

Wow talk about special treatment for your kid. It bothers me so much when parents are the coach of any team outside of Rec Cheer. It just spells disaster especially because cheerleading tends to have a lot of favoritism to begin with.

I agree with you when a coach has a child on a team that there can be special treatment; but by the same token, I think the coach's kid is held to a higher standard because of the familial relationship. As for the tendancy of favoritism in cheerleading, it used to be that way but it seems that schools are getting smarter about cheer tryouts. Most of the schools in our area hire outside judges for tryouts and neither the coaches nor the administration have any influence over the outcome. Even in captain tryouts, the coaches portion of the tryout score is 20%. There is nothing that a parent or staff member can do to influence the outcome, unless they file a grievance which has happened before. But for the most part, cheer tryouts are as fair as they can be at our school.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Wow talk about special treatment for your kid. It bothers me so much when parents are the coach of any team outside of Rec Cheer. It just spells disaster especially because cheerleading tends to have a lot of favoritism to begin with.

I was once asked to coach my niece in Pop Warner. I chose not to for that reason. Would I give her any special treatment? No. But I didn't want anyone to perceive anything as that.

 

[cowboycheersarah]

Yeah, our coach judges our tryouts along with two competitive coaches who (get ready) are the coaches where Susie has cheered since she was 10 and head coach looks at her as his daughter. Large amounts of favoritism including Susie ALWAYS getting chosen to demonstrate things for new cheerleaders and has been captain twice (junior and senior year-this year) when before Susie came along there was a rule that you could be head captain for one year only.


We are the best, of silver black and blue. Cowboys

 

[cowboycheersarah]

Also, I was told (by Susie) that I was "only a half point off being captain with her" (as opposed to another girl-who is another senior and got it) ok... Number 1: why is Susie getting to see our scores when NO ONE else gets to see our scores. And #2: how!? I'm not trying to brag but she doesn't have splits or tumbling. I have all three splits, inverted jumps, and tumbling? And I've cheered longer than her... But I "missed it" by half a point? Just doesn't add up when Susie's mom(our coach) doesn't like me but loves this other girl... I could be wrong, but personal opinion and relationship outside of cheer should have nothing to do with changing scores from tryouts to sway a leadership position.


I'd LOVE to hear from y'all if you think I'm out of line?
And sorry if I'm thread hacking


We are the best, of silver black and blue. Cowboys

 

[gymcatmomx2]

Also, I was told (by Susie) that I was "only a half point off being captain with her" (as opposed to another girl-who is another senior and got it) ok... Number 1: why is Susie getting to see our scores when NO ONE else gets to see our scores. And #2: how!? I'm not trying to brag but she doesn't have splits or tumbling. I have all three splits, inverted jumps, and tumbling? And I've cheered longer than her... But I "missed it" by half a point? Just doesn't add up when Susie's mom(our coach) doesn't like me but loves this other girl... I could be wrong, but personal opinion and relationship outside of cheer should have nothing to do with changing scores from tryouts to sway a leadership position.


I'd LOVE to hear from y'all if you think I'm out of line?
And sorry if I'm thread hacking


We are the best, of silver black and blue. Cowboys

I would have your parent(s) request a meeting with the coach and one of the administrators asking for an explanation. It is only fair to ask what you could "improve" on. I scheduled a meeting with my youngest CP's coach and the head coach when she didn't make captain because she was more qualified than the 2 girls that made captain and co-captain. She had been captain of pep squad in 7th and cheer captain in 8th grade. Neither of them had any leadership experience. While they only showed me my CP's panel interview scores, they told me that her score was slightly lower than the other two which is why they made and she didn't.

 

[pvcheerclauds5]

I agree with you when a coach has a child on a team that there can be special treatment; but by the same token, I think the coach's kid is held to a higher standard because of the familial relationship. As for the tendancy of favoritism in cheerleading, it used to be that way but it seems that schools are getting smarter about cheer tryouts. Most of the schools in our area hire outside judges for tryouts and neither the coaches nor the administration have any influence over the outcome. Even in captain tryouts, the coaches portion of the tryout score is 20%. There is nothing that a parent or staff member can do to influence the outcome, unless they file a grievance which has happened before. But for the most part, cheer tryouts are as fair as they can be at our school.

My school has outside judges come to give score, but the coach has the final say in who makes the team. It seems to work for the girls that get on the varsity team, but the other girls that have been on JV multiple years tend to be upset by it.

 

[AScheer]

Yeah, our coach judges our tryouts along with two competitive coaches who (get ready) are the coaches where Susie has cheered since she was 10 and head coach looks at her as his daughter. Large amounts of favoritism including Susie ALWAYS getting chosen to demonstrate things for new cheerleaders and has been captain twice (junior and senior year-this year) when before Susie came along there was a rule that you could be head captain for one year only.
We are the best, of silver black and blue. Cowboys

It sounds like in your situation there is some shadiness going on, so my comment isn't directed towards your situation. There seems to be a lack of proper coaching at your school.

I think every program and every coach should have the ability to choose their own team. I do and always have. I am the one that knows what I am looking for, I am the one that works with these kids 4 - 6 days a week for an entire year, no one is going to tell me who they think should be on my squads but me. Do I have favorites - yes, every coach does. My favorites are those that show up and do what they're supposed to do. Can it and does it change every day? Yes. Anyone can be a favorite. If I have issues with you all season long, you better bet it will effect your tryout. Can you imagine a football, baseball, basketball coach etc giving the power to choose their team over to someone they don't know? No. I feel for any school that is required to use outside judges, especially when at least 90% of those "outside judge tryouts" are rigged to the high heavens anyway! Save yourself the money, own your decisions, and do it yourself. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Keep_Believing]

It sounds like in your situation there is some shadiness going on, so my comment isn't directed towards your situation. There seems to be a lack of proper coaching at your school.

I think every program and every coach should have the ability to choose their own team. I do and always have. I am the one that knows what I am looking for, I am the one that works with these kids 4 - 6 days a week for an entire year, no one is going to tell me who they think should be on my squads but me. Do I have favorites - yes, every coach does. My favorites are those that show up and do what they're supposed to do. Can it and does it change every day? Yes. Anyone can be a favorite. If I have issues with you all season long, you better bet it will effect your tryout. Can you imagine a football, baseball, basketball coach etc giving the power to choose their team over to someone they don't know? No. I feel for any school that is required to use outside judges, especially when at least 90% of those "outside judge tryouts" are rigged to the high heavens anyway! Save yourself the money, own your decisions, and do it yourself. Just my 2 cents.

I can see your point, but if the Coach picked the team how would it effect new girls who move in right before try outs? Would girls returning have a big advantage?

 

[gymcatmomx2]

It sounds like in your situation there is some shadiness going on, so my comment isn't directed towards your situation. There seems to be a lack of proper coaching at your school.

I think every program and every coach should have the ability to choose their own team. I do and always have. I am the one that knows what I am looking for, I am the one that works with these kids 4 - 6 days a week for an entire year, no one is going to tell me who they think should be on my squads but me. Do I have favorites - yes, every coach does. My favorites are those that show up and do what they're supposed to do. Can it and does it change every day? Yes. Anyone can be a favorite. If I have issues with you all season long, you better bet it will effect your tryout. Can you imagine a football, baseball, basketball coach etc giving the power to choose their team over to someone they don't know? No. I feel for any school that is required to use outside judges, especially when at least 90% of those "outside judge tryouts" are rigged to the high heavens anyway! Save yourself the money, own your decisions, and do it yourself. Just my 2 cents.

While I completely agree with you in theory, in practice, high school cheer tryouts are too emotionally charged. High school cheer in Texas is a huge deal. There are schools where the coach has complete autonomy and it works for them. But it's too politically charged at the bigger schools, especially if they have successful sports programs. As for the 90% of those outside judge tryouts being rigged, I am not sure how that would happen. The school contracts with an outside company to hire 3 random judges and the candidates where numbers during tryouts, so I don't know how they could be rigged. Even with this unbiased process there are still grievances that are filed by the parents of the girls that don't make the squad. I am thankful that our school hires outside judges because they are scoring the candidates on skills alone and not whether Susie's mom is best friends with the coach's cousin's sorority sister.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Full disclosure: I have never used outside judges.

However, I'm not the sole judge.

My panel consists of myself, assistant coach, tumbling coach, choreographer.

We are the ones who will work with kids so it makes sense that we make up the panel. We follow a pretty detailed scoring rubric, though.

 

[AScheer]

I can see your point, but if the Coach picked the team how would it effect new girls who move in right before try outs? Would girls returning have a big advantage?

If a coach wants the best possible team then no. If you run a competitive program and don't chose the best then you are setting yourself up for failure. Maybe I'm the minority, but I don't care who you are and how long I've known you, if someone else is better for the job then they get it. I have and do cut returners or move them to a lower squad if that is what is needed.

Full disclosure: I have never used outside judges.
However, I'm not the sole judge.
My panel consists of myself, assistant coach, tumbling coach, choreographer.
We are the ones who will work with kids so it makes sense that we make up the panel. We follow a pretty detailed scoring rubric, though.

Should have mentioned that there are 4 of us coaches that serve as judges, and our process and scoresheets are very detailed. Tryouts are also open, so parents are pretty well aware of how there daughter compares to the others trying out. We don't just come into clinic and say you, you, and you; everyone else go home.

 

[Dixie]

I'll chime in on the Crazy competitiveness in Texas. For cheer and any dance team we have outside judges, the sponsor, and 5 teacher recommendations that factor into tryouts. We had a returning girl not make the country dance team this year and she was told the deciding factor was one teacher rec only gave her a 4 (out of 5). She asked the teacher why and was told he never gave anyone a 5. With that many kids trying out and scores so tight, that 1 point was enough to lose her spot and was totally out of her control.
Basketball, baseball, and football don't use outside judges or teacher recommendations. Why should cheer and dance? Why not base it on skill alone?


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[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Oh Texas.

I am not in Texas but have friends who coached there.

I recall hearing that one friend's school had a student body vote in past years to determine the cheer team.

What?