All-Star Taking Some Time Off :(

[CoachTamara]

I spent this year trying to scale back my high school program so that they could play other sports and do other things. We were done by mid-February and has tryouts the first week of May. We did a fun, casual open practice for March and April, and although some of the girls are going crazy and just want to get back, I think it REALLY helped. They have that beginning of the season spark, and WANT to be there. Our numbers have almost doubled, and I have some really great kids that never considered cheer before because of the crazy commitment. In high school, I can do this. All Star you can't when you have bills to pay, but I'm seeing the all star programs around us struggle for numbers and schools are booming. I don't think it's a coincidence. They need a break (almost as much as I do!).

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Not an article focusing on cheerleading exactly, but a good read nonetheless: The Race to Nowhere in Youth Sports - Changing the Game Project

And to be honest, this is something that all star cheer fails miserably at and high school cheer (what I coach) is only marginally better at. We are done for the season by March and I try not to have to much going until June so that my kids can at least do a spring sport. All star cheer's season goes literally from the last competition until tryouts for the next season. No wonder kids get burned out.

I run a very competitive HS program and haven't been good at sharing kids with AS in the past but am getting better.

Communication is key.

My biggest issue is when girls:

*Try out without telling me they cheer AS and spring a ton of dates on me at the last minute.

*Structure your participation to the point that you're not even really cheering high school. Like, if you tell me "I can't do any football games, can do one BB game a month, and I can't cheer nationals."

Um. You're not really balancing both if you are doing the bare minimum for one.

I handle it case by case but I will be honest and tell kids that if you are missing more than half our games, can't do any comps, or are missing our choreo camp, you need not try out. That is asking too much.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I can also tell you that as hard as it probably is for kids to constantly miss out on social opportunities, dances, etc. cheer is incredibly hard to "take a break from" and come back at same level.

It's a very "use it or lose it" activity.

That and practice opportunities are hard to come by.

Think about it:

If you take a break from basketball you can go to the Y and shoot around to keep up skills.

If you take a break from volleyball, you can do fun sand volleyball for fun at the bowling alley to keep from being rusty.

If you take a break from being Level 5 cheerleader, to keep from getting rusty you need to:

*find a gym nearby with open gym.
*find a group or guy to stunt with.
*attend said open gym regularly.
*maintain a stretching routine.

Or

*cheer for a school that consistently stunts and tumbles. School cheer on a sideline basis isn't enough.

That's a lot. I've seen kids leave cheer throwing Level 3 stuff, come back and be barely Level 2.

That's why people are hesitant to take a break.

 

[SL&AM]

When we were in Missouri, we had a gym down a way that didn't do try-outs until August. After their last competition and over the summer they offered classes---everything from stretching to jumps and tumbling to stunting. I'm pretty sure they even had a motions group or some or another. You could take a class or take them all for a set fee per month.

It gave kids who needed the break time off, while still getting paid to keep the lights on.

 

[coacha]

I can also tell you that as hard as it probably is for kids to constantly miss out on social opportunities, dances, etc. cheer is incredibly hard to "take a break from" and come back at same level.

It's a very "use it or lose it" activity.

That and practice opportunities are hard to come by.

Think about it:

If you take a break from basketball you can go to the Y and shoot around to keep up skills.

If you take a break from volleyball, you can do fun sand volleyball for fun at the bowling alley to keep from being rusty.

If you take a break from being Level 5 cheerleader, to keep from getting rusty you need to:

*find a gym nearby with open gym.
*find a group or guy to stunt with.
*attend said open gym regularly.
*maintain a stretching routine.

Or

*cheer for a school that consistently stunts and tumbles. School cheer on a sideline basis isn't enough.

That's a lot. I've seen kids leave cheer throwing Level 3 stuff, come back and be barely Level 2.

That's why people are hesitant to take a break.

Actually I think all coaches think the same of their sport. Shooting baskets on your own may mimick foul shots but it doesn't have the intensity of shooting with a star defense in your face. Playing pick up games of any sport isn't going to match the intensity or help you maintain skills at a competitive level. The point of the article was to say, hey, maybe that's OK. So what if you loose a step (and in reality they aren't, they are getting cross training opportunities, gaining family time and social interaction back...) Most kids are never playing sports past high school, not getting a scholarship, so why push them to damaging points that no may no longer be fun and can cause injury? What about the lost family time?

I have to be honest, when I see people say they spend over two hours of commuting to go to cheerleading practice, I know there is no way I would do that for my daughter. I don't care if it's an opportunity to be on a globing world's team. Too much cost.

 

[mamabear]

oops double post...see below

 

[mamabear]

I have to be honest, when I see people say they spend over two hours of commuting to go to cheerleading practice, I know there is no way I would do that for my daughter. I don't care if it's an opportunity to be on a globing world's team. Too much cost.

It isn't always about the possibility of globing that has people driving that far. Sometimes the closer gym is unsafe, mentally or physically. Sometimes schedules don't work out or the work ethics at the closer gym don't align with what your CP or you are looking for. I am one of the crazies who does a long commute for a lower level team. I am literally budgeted down to the penny- and coffee drink lol; but it is so worth the drive when I realize that my kid is smiling and not crying after practice. The possibility of her globing someday is a bonus...but it is so far away timewise and skillswise that it couldn't be the main basis of our decision to drive.

As, for the timeoff discussion, breaks would be wonderful, but realistically when can they be added to an all star schedule? I look at the next year's calendar and feel that the season for our gym has extended on both ends since we joined. We now have a big comp in December and hopefully will compete thru Summit, so it seems like the routine needs to be perfect earlier. I wouldn't trade those comps for anything, but it ups the intensity level even more. Do we use holidays and school breaks to perfect the routines or to rest? We all know what the competitive kids and gyms would answer.


It really is such a crazy sport.

 

[SthrnCheerMom]

Thank you for the great responses. This came so suddenly (like I said, evals started this week) that I had a hard time processing. We did go and tumble at a different gym this week. She wants to try another one next week. We will decide how to proceed from there. I won't let her tryout until later this summer at this point though. She cheers for her school comp team, so she'll have tumbling with them once a week as well. I am thinking without the pressure of tryouts, she'll blossom and hopefully decide to return.

I do agree with those that posted here about the sport needing to have some scheduled time off. But that's not the nature of the sport. Not sure how to change that. Our gym we've been at has their first comp in December (many around here have done one as early as Nov). So there really isn't much time to wait.

 

[CheerBank]

I have to be honest, when I see people say they spend over two hours of commuting to go to cheerleading practice, I know there is no way I would do that for my daughter. I don't care if it's an opportunity to be on a globing world's team. Too much cost.

I never thought I would be either. But we are. We at least had a finite number of years we knew we were doing it going into it. This will be year 2 and her last in all-star (year 13...the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to shine a little brighter!) I am fortunate in that I have a job with flexible hours as well as a carpool, but I do not think I'd be able to do this more than two seasons.
For us, as a family (because it has to be a family decision), we felt so much time and money was already being spent on cheer that she should try to do it at the more competitive level she wanted. It's definitely not for everyone. But cp's sacrifices - and our family dynamics - this past season were not that much different from any season of cheer. There was just a higher reward for the investment.

 

[Cinn124]

The people at my gym think I'm nuts because I drive 38 miles each way to the gym. There aren't many options here in NYC especially in the 5 boroughs themselves. Without traffic it's about a 40 minute drive. With NYC traffic it can take up to 90 minutes depending on time of day. For us it's completely worth it. My CP is happy.

 

[STAR Cheer Mom]

The people at my gym think I'm nuts because I drive 38 miles each way to the gym. There aren't many options here in NYC especially in the 5 boroughs themselves. Without traffic it's about a 40 minute drive. With NYC traffic it can take up to 90 minutes depending on time of day. For us it's completely worth it. My CP is happy.

You aren't nuts ... if you didn't travel to Star we would be sad! Plus, I am just as nuts! I drive 35 - 60 minutes (sometimes more) for my CP. But she is so much happier at this further away gym than our local option.

 

[Pebbles49]

@Cinn124, after seeing the progress your daughter has made, the trip is well worth it! Sometimes having to travel for better coaching and team options, outweighs staying local and thankfully, when I decided to travel(short travel, of course), I had multitude of options to choose from including a Y5 team...

 

[The real mom of cheer]

My daughter has done AS cheer for 11 years her goal was always to do HS once it was time. Well here we are starting her freshman year and she made the varsity HS team. I'm not sure how I feel or even her. I know she needed a break as did my family but still being friends with her former coaches and owners makes me sad that we won't experience the excitement that Allstar offers. It has always been my daughters sport she makes the decisions we listen to her and let her own up to that decision. With that being said I have noticed a shift in her it's hard to explain like just not as invested as she should be. I asked her is this what you want and she always says yes. She's on the verge of getting her full and I'm left wondering how this season will be doing HS rather then AS. Any insights would be appreciated. She still loves cheering but im wondering is she burned out or will things change once football starts ??

 

[CheerBank]

My daughter has done AS cheer for 11 years her goal was always to do HS once it was time. Well here we are starting her freshman year and she made the varsity HS team. I'm not sure how I feel or even her. I know she needed a break as did my family but still being friends with her former coaches and owners makes me sad that we won't experience the excitement that Allstar offers. It has always been my daughters sport she makes the decisions we listen to her and let her own up to that decision. With that being said I have noticed a shift in her it's hard to explain like just not as invested as she should be. I asked her is this what you want and she always says yes. She's on the verge of getting her full and I'm left wondering how this season will be doing HS rather then AS. Any insights would be appreciated. She still loves cheering but im wondering is she burned out or will things change once football starts ??

So she's taking a break from AS to just do school this season? She may love just cheering for school and being with school friends all the time once the school season starts. She may also miss the excitement of all star comps. I guess it depends on how competitive her school cheer is - if very competitive it may be enough. My cp has done varsity all 3 years of HS and plans in finishing out her senior year, while doing all star, but her school is not very competitive plus she only does fall sideline cheer and not winter competitive season. Mine would have always chosen AS over school cheer if she had to make that choice but everyone's situation is different. This is also the age where a lot of kids - not just cheer - choose to give up outside involvement with their sport and simply do school, so keep that in mind as well. I would recommend though keeping her in some outside tumbling if tumbling is not worked on or is not an emphasis on her school team.

 

[mamabear]

It isn't always about the possibility of globing that has people driving that far. Sometimes the closer gym is unsafe, mentally or physically. Sometimes schedules don't work out or the work ethics at the closer gym don't align with what your CP or you are looking for. I am one of the crazies who does a long commute for a lower level team. I am literally budgeted down to the penny- and coffee drink lol; but it is so worth the drive when I realize that my kid is smiling and not crying after practice. The possibility of her globing someday is a bonus...but it is so far away timewise and skillswise that it couldn't be the main basis of our decision to drive.

As, for the timeoff discussion, breaks would be wonderful, but realistically when can they be added to an all star schedule? I look at the next year's calendar and feel that the season for our gym has extended on both ends since we joined. We now have a big comp in December and hopefully will compete thru Summit, so it seems like the routine needs to be perfect earlier. I wouldn't trade those comps for anything, but it ups the intensity level even more. Do we use holidays and school breaks to perfect the routines or to rest? We all know what the competitive kids and gyms would answer.


It really is such a crazy sport.

@The real mom of cheer - did you mean to rate this post as a dislike?