All-Star Placed By Age Or By Skill?

[cheer25mom]

The 16-18 crowd are generally self aware enough that if they're going to talk about something dicey, to do so away from young ears.

The 6th graders on my two daughter's bus are not self aware enough not to crack a "This one time in band camp..." (and yes, they finished it with the flute part) jokes while I'm physically on the bus getting younger CP out of a carseat. That is ignoring all of the cursing and other stories you don't even want to know. And why my children are never riding a school bus again...

10 on a senior team is bleh to me because it make fast tracking more likable and fast tracking is often bad for the sport.
But a 6 or 7 year old on a youth team or a 9 year old on a junior team....oh no, no, no....those kids are so much worse.

My concern would more be from a coaching standpoint honestly. There are definitely exceptions, but a lot of 10 year old are not ready to handle the way senior athletes are being coached, and I have seen it set up a situation where the older girls resent the young ones slowing down practice or getting treated differently.

I definitely don't like the 6-7 year olds on youth and 8-9 year olds in junior. We lived that situation for 2 years and in stinks for everybody involved, but we haven had a mini team in 2 years at our gym. It is looking like we may have enough for mini 1 this year, but our 8-9 year olds with solid level 3 skills are still likely going to land on a J3.


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[SL&AM]

My concern would more be from a coaching standpoint honestly. There are definitely exceptions, but a lot of 10 year old are not ready to handle the way senior athletes are being coached, and I have seen it set up a situation where the older girls resent the young ones slowing down practice or getting treated differently.

I definitely don't like the 6-7 year olds on youth and 8-9 year olds in junior. We lived that situation for 2 years and in stinks for everybody involved, but we haven had a mini team in 2 years at our gym. It is looking like we may have enough for mini 1 this year, but our 8-9 year olds with solid level 3 skills are still likely going to land on a J3.


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I agree with that point to. The maturity level is different and the older girls shouldn't need to resent the younger because their practices shouldn't be watered down.

As for your situation---small gyms suck in this regard. We were at one that wanted to place my 6 year old on a youth team and I was not silent about being uncomfortable with that. Thankfully we are at now has more options.

 

[Helen uk uni cheer]

I agree with that point to. The maturity level is different and the older girls shouldn't need to resent the younger because their practices shouldn't be watered down.

As for your situation---small gyms suck in this regard. We were at one that wanted to place my 6 year old on a youth team and I was not silent about being uncomfortable with that. Thankfully we are at now has more options.

I am currently on a senior 1 team but most are juniors as we only have a senior 1 and 3 I don't feel we pushed as much as we can be but it is getting better.
Last season I was on a senior 2 where all but 2 were 15+ and the other 2 were mature 13 year olds who also did junior 2 the intensity was there and we all coped well

 

[darlingsmomx4]

Honestly, I think the best placement is sorta in the middle. I was on the phone with my mom today and I was talking about try-outs; with my CP's birthday she could be placed on a Tiny's team again this year (this year she would have aged off if the age didn't change) or be placed on Mini's. She made a comment about what if her BHS was better and I said no, in our gym that would equal a Youth Team. We don't have, and as far as I can tell, there is no interest in a Mini 2 team at our gym. She is 6, almost 7----no way on Earth would I ever be okay with placing her on a youth team.

The thing about team placement is there is something to be said about being with your peers and skill doesn't equal maturity. The older teams are coached differently, they sometimes have more competitions (true for us, Mini has 4 and I believe Youth has 7)...etc.

So I applaud gyms that look at age over skill because developmentally it's better for the athlete long-term. The kids who get fast tracked younger tend to be those who quit because they get burnt out.

Thank you all, I had not thought it through and thought about all the different points. We are tiny aged however she was on a mini team last year with a lot of those girls being 8 just turned 9 so you could even see vast difference in age so I think a mini team level 1 or 2 is a better option than a youth 2.

 

[SL&AM]

Thank you all, I had not thought it through and thought about all the different points. We are tiny aged however she was on a mini team last year with a lot of those girls being 8 just turned 9 so you could even see vast difference in age so I think a mini team level 1 or 2 is a better option than a youth 2.

I knew our daughter's are close in age, I think yours is a year younger than mine if I'm not mistake. I remember part of why you went to the gym you chose was because they were willing to put her on a Mini team instead of Tiny team. I'm assuming you're switching gyms or there is a new policy this year?

Without a solid BHS and RRO BHS pass there is no sense in a Mini LVL 2 team and with the new score sheet the majority of the kids on the team need those skills. Coupled with the fact that it can be hard to find teams to compete against in that division, a lot of gyms don't have that type of team.

My CP has jumped around a lot division wise---started at Mini, then gym went to Tiny no mini, then Mini no Tiny but we moved, and joined a half-season which was strictly by age so Tiny. This is the first year a try-out will honestly decide her team placement and as fun as that sounds (she's done mock try-outs at her old gym and handled the stress really well) in the back of my head I'm wishing I could just sign her up for an age appropriate team and skip try-outs. Of course, that does her no favors but it would ease my anxiety for her.

 

[Mndl]

I knew our daughter's are close in age, I think yours is a year younger than mine if I'm not mistake. I remember part of why you went to the gym you chose was because they were willing to put her on a Mini team instead of Tiny team. I'm assuming you're switching gyms or there is a new policy this year?

Without a solid BHS and RRO BHS pass there is no sense in a Mini LVL 2 team and with the new score sheet the majority of the kids on the team need those skills. Coupled with the fact that it can be hard to find teams to compete against in that division, a lot of gyms don't have that type of team.

My CP has jumped around a lot division wise---started at Mini, then gym went to Tiny no mini, then Mini no Tiny but we moved, and joined a half-season which was strictly by age so Tiny. This is the first year a try-out will honestly decide her team placement and as fun as that sounds (she's done mock try-outs at her old gym and handled the stress really well) in the back of my head I'm wishing I could just sign her up for an age appropriate team and skip try-outs. Of course, that does her no favors but it would ease my anxiety for her.

I'm having that dilemma right now. My daughter is 7 1/2 and recently decided to quit her gymnastics team, because she doesn't want to practice 12-15 hrs a week anymore. Ideally I would like her to be on a team with girls her age, but the gym I'm looking at for next year is very small with just a junior and senior team right now, but it's 7 mins from my house. The coach is hopeful that they will be able to field a youth team after tryouts, but who knows. There is a very well known and respected gym with a mini 2 about 35 mins from us, and in a perfect world that's where I would take her. I just don't know that I want to make that drive 3 days a week and try and juggle my three other kids schedule, when I don't know if she'll really love cheer.

 

[SL&AM]

I'm having that dilemma right now. My daughter is 7 1/2 and recently decided to quit her gymnastics team, because she doesn't want to practice 12-15 hrs a week anymore. Ideally I would like her to be on a team with girls her age, but the gym I'm looking at for next year is very small with just a junior and senior team right now, but it's 7 mins from my house. The coach is hopeful that they will be able to field a youth team after tryouts, but who knows. There is a very well known and respected gym with a mini 2 about 35 mins from us, and in a perfect world that's where I would take her. I just don't know that I want to make that drive 3 days a week and try and juggle my three other kids schedule, when I don't know if she'll really love cheer.

My cheering CP is almost 7 and left studio dance (2 full year seasons with 2 recitals) before switching to cheer. To be honest, she didn't have much of an opinion either way about it until her first competition. She was 4 and a half and I will never forget her face when she got back to me---there was no talking any sort of non-cheer sport to her from that second forward. She loved the uniform, the make-up, the big bows, but the more important factor was 'stage days' aka competition days. She loves competing, she loves awards even when they don't do well because it lights a fire under her butt to try harder...etc. I have found for a lot of kids her age then to about her age now, competitions become when you find out which kids love it and which kids are kinda 'eh' about it.

I would suggest looking into open gyms just so she has the chance to get comfortable at either place and the coaching staff. If I were to go off just what I've seen within the sport, if this is something you really want her to stick with and enjoy, staying as close to her peer level is your best bet. A junior's team at 7 and a half is a really big age gap, and especially among the tween and early teenager girls, that gap is lightning years between say 5 and 8 or 15 and 18.

 

[Helen uk uni cheer]

I'm having that dilemma right now. My daughter is 7 1/2 and recently decided to quit her gymnastics team, because she doesn't want to practice 12-15 hrs a week anymore. Ideally I would like her to be on a team with girls her age, but the gym I'm looking at for next year is very small with just a junior and senior team right now, but it's 7 mins from my house. The coach is hopeful that they will be able to field a youth team after tryouts, but who knows. There is a very well known and respected gym with a mini 2 about 35 mins from us, and in a perfect world that's where I would take her. I just don't know that I want to make that drive 3 days a week and try and juggle my three other kids schedule, when I don't know if she'll really love cheer.

I would personally go for the gym with the mini 2 only because in my opinion her first taste of cheer should really be with her own age group so its easier to make friends. Also if she is the youngest on a junior she might not get the best experience due to the big age gap. Speak to the gym as see if can trial in the summer to see if she likes it

 

[darlingsmomx4]

I knew our daughter's are close in age, I think yours is a year younger than mine if I'm not mistake. I remember part of why you went to the gym you chose was because they were willing to put her on a Mini team instead of Tiny team. I'm assuming you're switching gyms or there is a new policy this year?

Without a solid BHS and RRO BHS pass there is no sense in a Mini LVL 2 team and with the new score sheet the majority of the kids on the team need those skills. Coupled with the fact that it can be hard to find teams to compete against in that division, a lot of gyms don't have that type of team.

My CP has jumped around a lot division wise---started at Mini, then gym went to Tiny no mini, then Mini no Tiny but we moved, and joined a half-season which was strictly by age so Tiny. This is the first year a try-out will honestly decide her team placement and as fun as that sounds (she's done mock try-outs at her old gym and handled the stress really well) in the back of my head I'm wishing I could just sign her up for an age appropriate team and skip try-outs. Of course, that does her no favors but it would ease my anxiety for her.

Good memory! Yes my daughter is still 5 will turn 6 soon. Our current gym which we love and will more than likely stay at has a mini 1 and then a youth 2, another gym which is closer to our home has a mini level two but no mini 1 because they have a tiny team which do not want. My daughter does have her RO BHS series and she loves cheer and I just wanted to keep her challenged but I think she might be heartbroken to leave current gym so tryouts are the end of this week so we will see but they did say they would place age first then on skill so I am assuming that would be Mini 1 which is probably best. Thank you for your help!

 

[cheermomagain]

The new gym that we are going to has said that they try to stay as close to age and skill as possible. they also offer enough teams so hopefully that will be able to happen.

 

[momsy]

I truly think it depends on the individual child, honestly. My CP was on a Jr team this past season, and she was on the high end of the age range at 14 years old. It's interesting to note that the 6 year old on the team was more disciplined and hard-working than some of the 8-12 year olds. With that said, I feel like we're pretty fortunate that our gym seems to really focus on putting the athletes where they will benefit the team AND the individual - it can't be an easy job to find that balance!

 

[wallflower]

DD old gym (closed) mixed ages her new gym doesn't. The thing is most kids her age are not level 4, she did level 2 (youth) this year and found it boring. Will she cheer next season, doubt it due to the owner wanting to keep them age level and not skill level. I also see her slowly losing interest if she puts in all this work/$ for skills she can't even use. She is slowly seeing "what's the point of improving if I can't use it".