All-Star Special Needs Team Travel Question

[ACEDAD]

Have some questions from another special needs coach. Please let me know your thoughts!


Do your athletes travel overnight to competitions? Do they stay with their families or with chaperones? Any good practices you can share?

 

[goddessmommy]

We have a special needs team, they compete on the same schedule as the show team, so they traveled when I did-which was only one competition from Dallas to Oklahoma and everyone stayed with their parents, as we competed so early in the morning, most everyone left Friday and stayed in hotels that night.

 

[retiredl5cheer]

Our special needs athletes don't travel to overnight competitions.

 

[njallday]

i don't recall why i was browsing Maryland Twisters' site last week, but i did come across this.

Maryland Twisters - General Info

they have both a travel and non travel team. on the travel team all athletes must have a 1:1 chaperone. maybe @blunchin or someone else from the gym can elaborate a little more on what works and what doesn't?

 

[f5forever]

The one I work with usually only does Cheersport, and we live close enough that some of them commute, but some just stay in Atl. We did take them to UCA once, and they stayed with their parents (like all of our athletes do).


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[blunchin]

i don't recall why i was browsing Maryland Twisters' site last week, but i did come across this.

Maryland Twisters - General Info

they have both a travel and non travel team. on the travel team all athletes must have a 1:1 chaperone. maybe @blunchin or someone else from the gym can elaborate a little more on what works and what doesn't?

I do not coach Eye and I don't think Sharon has an account on here, however we do take Eye to overnight competitions. I believe a parent/guardian travels with them. They were supposed to go to Cheersport (snow caused us not to attend), the Majors, and Reach the Beach which is a 2 day. I cannot recall if Eye was at BATC or not. The younger team, Storm Chasers, only does local competitions.

 

[CheerBank]

Our special needs team typically does 2 competitions - one local and one within the tri-state area that is within a few hours drive. It was the special needs team's choice to stay over the night before if they wanted to but for that competition we were all booking on our own rather than in a hotel. All our athletes must have someone over 18 in their room at all competitions so it would not be any different for the special needs athletes if they needed to stay overnight.

 

[Mama Of 3 CP's]

Our gym's Special Needs team only does four local competitions.

 

[ACEDAD]

Thanks for all the info. Other thoughts welcome.


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[fiercerando88]

Not cheer specific, but I work for Special Olympics and a few of our events are overnights. (Typically in college dorms, but one is at a hotel). I've been in the state office for almost 6 months now, and all the coaches I've spoken with say the overnights are hard work, but really beneficial for the athletes in the long run. Not only for bonding/socializing purposes, but to help get them (and their parents sometimes) out of their comfort zones and helps build life skills. I think it's a good idea if you have the right supports in place.

Now, having said this, I'm traveling with 40 of these athletes to New Jersey in June for the USA National Games for 8 days. I'll let ya know how I feel again after that experience!


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[retiredl5cheer]

Another thought-- there's a Christian group called Young Life that has a division for kids with special needs. When they go away to camp, they require a 1-to-1 student/chaperone ratio and the student is required to provide their own chaperone to go.

 

[Nvdw]

To all of you, people might not say it often, but you do an awesome job!
I know it's not always easy but you make a world of difference for each of those athletes.
And I can only hope one day cheer is big enough over here so we can have special needs teams as well.

Sorry if this post seems kinda random, but hey, these people really deserve that appreciation
Keep up the good work!


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[UEAcheerchick]

I know that Cheer Central took their special needs team to Dallas for NCA this year.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I started my education career in special education. The skills that kids learn in an overnight of any sort with peers is critical. If you coach a special needs team, please consider an overnight comp (of course keeping in mind your team and what their needs are.)

It might seem like "just a cheer comp." But for them, it's a lesson in:

*Financial literacy. Learning "I have $5. Do I have enough for a $5.50 NCA keychain?"

*Time management. Learning "If we warm up at 8, what time do I need to head downstairs?"

*Self-care. Learning "if I am going to be gone for one day, whatt do I need to bring?"

*Safety. Learning to keep room keys on you and not lose them.

*Navigation: uh oh I'm lost and can't find the pool. Who can I ask for help?

I could go on and on! You don't just teach cheer, but LIFE. It's even more critical for those children whose mothers have never spent a day without them due to general anxiety as a special needs parent. It shows mom that her child is capable of so much!

 

[njallday]

I started my education career in special education. The skills that kids learn in an overnight of any sort with peers is critical. If you coach a special needs team, please consider an overnight comp (of course keeping in mind your team and what their needs are.)

It might seem like "just a cheer comp." But for them, it's a lesson in:

*Financial literacy. Learning "I have $5. Do I have enough for a $5.50 NCA keychain?"

*Time management. Learning "If we warm up at 8, what time do I need to head downstairs?"

*Self-care. Learning "if I am going to be gone for one day, whatt do I need to bring?"

*Safety. Learning to keep room keys on you and not lose them.

*Navigation: uh oh I'm lost and can't find the pool. Who can I ask for help?

I could go on and on! You don't just teach cheer, but LIFE. It's even more critical for those children whose mothers have never spent a day without them due to general anxiety as a special needs parent. It shows mom that her child is capable of so much!

seriously, yes to everything x100! prior to returning to school, i spent quite some time working for a nonprofit for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. we offered weekend hotel respite trips and the parents got a weekend of respite and their child (though most were teens to adult aged) had a weekend of independence using all of their life skills. granted a lot of our clients were a little too medically involved to be on a team, but you now have the wheels turning in my brain of a way to combine the two