All-Star Punishment

[oldcheermom]

Make the rest of the team run while she watches... Doubt she'll be late much after that

I know girls who laughed and actually enjoyed watching their team being punished for something they did. They had no remorse and didn't care one bit.

 

[ellen495]

I'm not a coach - but I am a teacher. I do not like the word punishment. I understand and support coaches - late and absent kids hurt the team. I prefer the word consequence - it's a natural consequence, if you're late, to do sit ups or whatever a coach chooses is logical - you need to be in good shape in order to get through a full routine. It's a natural, logical consequence because certainly the team was working hard (jumping, tumbling, etc) that is also conditioning (though more fun).

 

[whatsarisalee]

17's. They're the worst! In lacrosse we go from the out of bounds line to the first restraining line. We do this 17 times and we have to do it in a certain amount of time. If we go over, we redo it until everyone finishes in the amount of time. (Goalies excluded) Goalies jump rope for 30 minutes straight.

 

[kristenthegreat]

"On the Line!!" still makes me cringe too. With our team too, if everyone didn't finish in under 30 seconds (baseline to foul line and back, baseline to half court and back, baseline to opposite foul line and back, and baseline to baseline and back), the whole team had to do them over. They didn't count if we didn't finish under 30 seconds.

My other favorite was my college softball coach saying, "You're going to run until I get tired of watching you." That's when we really knew we were in trouble!

If I never hear the words 'On the Line' again for the rest of my life..I will be the happiest girl in the world. We didn't do suicides (or whatever term is now appropriate), we did what I call death runs (because they made me feel like my legs were dying lol). You start at the end line, coach blew the whistle. You ran as fast as you could to the end line..if she blew the whistle again before you got there, you had to stop in place and jump with your arms over your head until she blew the whistle and you could run again. So, hypothetically, the faster you ran, the less jumping you'd have to do. For volleyball this year, we had a coach who used this thing called the 'black box' that had various conditioning exercises written on flashcards. You drew a card from the box, and that was the conditioning you had to do. Everyone had a team buddy, and the team buddy would watch you do whatever your conditioning was. You had to do a black box if you were late for practice without a valid excuse or did something else really bad. I liked it, 'cause it was a surprise, and because the person was drawing their own punishment so it gave them the connection that THEY are directly responsible for doing that not only to the team, but themselves.

I always considered the term punishment and consequence similar? A punishment is the consequence of a bad action. 'Consequence' seems really..cuddly? and makes me think 'No cupcakes after dinner', not 'You were 45 min late to practice because you were getting a haircut, and therefore not only you but your team suffered.' Or my personal favorite 'You skipped a GAME to get your nails painted for homecoming. It was actually the game you were gonna start JV. Now you can't play for two games 'cause you missed that one. Ooops.'

 

[cmpayne]

I wish my coaches had punishments for things like being late and stuff so people could take things a little more seriously. Heck, someone could probably get away with murder in my gym.

 

[fiercerando88]

17's. They're the worst! In lacrosse we go from the out of bounds line to the first restraining line. We do this 17 times and we have to do it in a certain amount of time. If we go over, we redo it until everyone finishes in the amount of time. (Goalies excluded) Goalies jump rope for 30 minutes straight.

We did 16x16's in field hockey, very similar. Sprint to the top of the circle (16 yards) and back peddle back. 16 times. Brutal! I introduced these to my middle schoolers I coached this year, and they hated me for about a week. They eventually got over it after they realized they were getting in better shape and were able to actually play a full game! But it was actually my favorite 'end of practice' running drill we did. For us, running wasn't punishment, just a part of practice. Field hockey players run an average of 5 miles a game, only way to prepare for that is to run in practice. While we don't 'run' while cheering, you certainly need stamina, and running is a great way to obtain that. Personally, I think running drills should be incorporated to every practice, although I realize that's not always feasible. I agree with the others who've said that conditioning shouldn't be a punishment. Does it suck? Yup. Will it help you gain body control and the muscles you need in order to accomplish that next skill? Yup. I don't really know where I'm going with this, so I guess I'll end with conditioning = good; cleaning toilets/mirrors/vacuuming = punishment.

 

[kristenthegreat]

We did 16x16's in field hockey, very similar. Sprint to the top of the circle (16 yards) and back peddle back. 16 times. Brutal! I introduced these to my middle schoolers I coached this year, and they hated me for about a week. They eventually got over it after they realized they were getting in better shape and were able to actually play a full game! But it was actually my favorite 'end of practice' running drill we did. For us, running wasn't punishment, just a part of practice. Field hockey players run an average of 5 miles a game, only way to prepare for that is to run in practice. While we don't 'run' while cheering, you certainly need stamina, and running is a great way to obtain that. Personally, I think running drills should be incorporated to every practice, although I realize that's not always feasible. I agree with the others who've said that conditioning shouldn't be a punishment. Does it suck? Yup. Will it help you gain body control and the muscles you need in order to accomplish that next skill? Yup. I don't really know where I'm going with this, so I guess I'll end with conditioning = good; cleaning toilets/mirrors/vacuuming = punishment.

When I did gymnastics..we did conditioning for conditioning's sake AS WELL AS for a punishment. We always conditioned at the end of practice, but I have a distinct recollection of having to do 500 pushups because 5 people fell on beam (100 per person)..or if it was a really bad practice, coaches picked conditioning instead of the 'conditioning queen' (girl who got to pick conditioning drills/amounts that practice).

 

[Xtremegirls:)]

Make the rest of the team run while she watches... Doubt she'll be late much after that

We used to do this on my team. Worked like a charm

 

[GeorgiaCheerleader]

V-UPS OH MY LORD
:banghead:

 

[KB_Legend]

I know girls who laughed and actually enjoyed watching their team being punished for something they did. They had no remorse and didn't care one bit.

Generally if it happens more than once or twice the team takes care of it. I don't think anyone REALLY enjoys watching their friends/teammates condition because of their mistake (I'm sure someone will argue me on that point). Try to keep a couple things in mind, kids of all ages really do want to please their coaches and their teammates, and I think it is of the utmost importance that coaches never forget that! No kids, not one, not ever, want to disappoint their coaches or teammates. Many kids are just insecure and have various defense mechanisms for when they get put negatively under the spotlight, it's easy to recognize the kid that cries, or looks at the floor and doesn't say anything, but the kids who laugh it off or roll their eyes or pretend they don't care at all, it's really the same thing, it's their way of dealing with the stress and coping with the way it makes them feel... I'm definitely not a psychiatrist or anything but I honestly believe this to be 100% true

 

[sun77]

The other point I'd add is for most girls it's ultimately up to their parents when they get to practice. My CP can't force me to get in the car and drive. I personally wouldn't let her miss or be late, but it might be more productive to start with talking to the parents. How many parents would be willing to watch their money go down the drain if their CP is pulled out for a comp?

 

[f5forever]

Ugh I had 3 girls carpool to one practice and they were late. They walked in, threw away their bags of Dairy Queen, but kept eating their ice cream and drinking their drinks while going to the bathroom to change clothes. The mom that drove them said "I'm so sorry their late! It's my fault please don't punish them. They were hungry after school so I had to get them something to eat." my response: "why couldn't they eat earlier? They've been out of school for almost 2 hours. And I'm sure DQ doesn't take two hours. They still get conditioning." It might have been mean but oh well. I was angry at the parent AND the athletes. 1) the athletes new better, if you're hungry that's fine eat, but be READY to practice when you walk in the door; 2) the parent should know better also and not make excuses for their child! My biggest pet peeve is when parents lie for their child. It drives me crazy!

 

[Just-a-Mom]

Ugh I had 3 girls carpool to one practice and they were late. They walked in, threw away their bags of Dairy Queen, but kept eating their ice cream and drinking their drinks while going to the bathroom to change clothes. The mom that drove them said "I'm so sorry their late! It's my fault please don't punish them. They were hungry after school so I had to get them something to eat." my response: "why couldn't they eat earlier? They've been out of school for almost 2 hours. And I'm sure DQ doesn't take two hours. They still get conditioning." It might have been mean but oh well. I was angry at the parent AND the athletes. 1) the athletes new better, if you're hungry that's fine eat, but be READY to practice when you walk in the door; 2) the parent should know better also and not make excuses for their child! My biggest pet peeve is when parents lie for their child. It drives me crazy!

The only time I've EVER asked a coach to not make a child condition was when a friend picked us up and drove my cp and I to practice. I could NOT get out of work because I had a deadline to meet, so I was 15 minutes late getting out the door. We called the gym too. It's a 2 HOUR drive to get there and the girls were 30 minutes late for practice (because we left later there was way more traffic). I asked the coaches not to make the other mom's cp run - I told them it was ok to make mine run, but not the other one because they were helping me out. All her coach said was "She shouldn't have waited for you. She could have just brought your daughter without you." Then he proceeded to give me a speech on how important it is to get to practice on time. I'm well aware of that (that would be why I'm leaving work an hour early to get her there) but if you want to get paid it's also important for me to not get fired.

I understand rules...but every once in awhile there ARE extenuating circumstances that a 10-year-old can't control. (No, haircuts and Dairy Queen are not extenuating circumstances...but MY JOB is).

The only problem with these rules is that a lot of people just decide they'd rather miss practice altogether than deal with the "punishment" for being late.

 

[f5forever]

The only time I've EVER asked a coach to not make a child condition was when a friend picked us up and drove my cp and I to practice. I could NOT get out of work because I had a deadline to meet, so I was 15 minutes late getting out the door. We called the gym too. It's a 2 HOUR drive to get there and the girls were 30 minutes late for practice (because we left later there was way more traffic). I asked the coaches not to make the other mom's cp run - I told them it was ok to make mine run, but not the other one because they were helping me out. All her coach said was "She shouldn't have waited for you. She could have just brought your daughter without you." Then he proceeded to give me a speech on how important it is to get to practice on time. I'm well aware of that (that would be why I'm leaving work an hour early to get her there) but if you want to get paid it's also important for me to not get fired.

I understand rules...but every once in awhile there ARE extenuating circumstances that a 10-year-old can't control. (No, haircuts and Dairy Queen are not extenuating circumstances...but MY JOB is).

The only problem with these rules is that a lot of people just decide they'd rather miss practice altogether than deal with the "punishment" for being late.

That's understandable! I think the thing that killed me about the situation was the food, and the fact that they live in town (maybe 15 minutes away from the gym) so there was plenty of time, and their attitude/lack of caring about being late!

 

[LadyofTeal]

Hold a handstand against the wall! Get in super close to the wall and hold it for about 2 or 3 minutes. Doesn't sound long but boy does it hurt.. make sure they are hollow and heads are tucked in..
Also, wall sits.. tell them to change their legs, too. (eg. Lift your right leg)

Two of the most painful conditioning exercises for sure!!