All-Star Trending Towards "mega-gyms"

[Audrey]

I am far more impressed by gyms that field solid worlds teams with home grown talent but aren't necessarily contenders than gyms that win worlds every year with a bunch of athletes that got their skills at other gyms. I think it says a lot more about the quality of your product.

*This is not me saying every program that wins worlds doesn't produce their own talent. I could just name a few.

 

[Allstarcesi]

How about we figure out a way for teenage kids to not obssess over certain programs?

"OMG (Top Gun, WC, F5, Cali, CA, CEA, ACE, Rays, GymTyme, SOT, etc, etc) Gives Me Life!!"

Someone listening/reading that for 4-8 years gets very interested in taking a chance to cheer at one of those gyms.

I'm sure you'll find my suggestion absurd, but that's what is driving a lot of the desire.

Hit the nail on the head! How bout you (athlete) obsess over your own skills and skill progression as much as you do over Suzie's from mega-gym and you'd be set.

 

[WECC Allen]

It is safe to say that I do not agree with that.

I do wish that more gyms would take the time to figure out why most of their kids are really leaving, instead of just assuming it is because the mega-gym offered them some sweetheart deal.

Amen. While we are certainly not a "Mega-Gym", it has taken a lot of years and some incredible efforts from hard working talented staff for our program to grow. We have families driving up to three hours one way to be in our program and they are not all level 5. I do understand there are probably some shady things that take place out there, but if every program would focus on how they train, treat and respect their customers maybe this wouldn't be such a problem. It is impossible to make everyone happy, but I believe the truly successful programs certainly make the majority of their customer base happy.

 

[AndrewSky]

I am far more impressed by gyms that field solid worlds teams with home grown talent but aren't necessarily contenders than gyms that win worlds every year with a bunch of athletes that got their skills at other gyms. I think it says a lot more about the quality of your product.

*This is not me saying every program that wins worlds doesn't produce their own talent. I could just name a few.

Ugh you're perfect

 

[UCFKnights07]

ill never be able to understand why some athletes fly just to cheer at a gym, it doesnt matter how great the program is, i still find it crazy to stick a high school kid on a plane once a month or however they work it..... however i can understand if people drive 2-3 hours just for cheer, some kids live in the middle of no where, so they dont really have a choice but to drive that kinda distance, also the fact that as big as allstars has grown, there aint a gym in every city of every state, so obviously if the kids choose to do allstars they have to do some sort of long distance driving..

 

[Michael McGahan]

What I do not understand, is why would an athlete that just placed top 5 (if not higher) at worlds on a "no name" gym's team leave that gym which obviously has the talent to keep going up just to be at one of those top gyms? Like if you are already so good that you can place that high, your program must be doing something right? Correct? Is the "fame" really that worth?

 

[cheeromgbre]

I don't like the way it's going, especially with gyms "expanding" and "combining" left and right. Yes, Worlds was already dominated by a group of gyms, but with all the flying and moving and expanding, it makes it hard for home grown kind of gyms to move up the Worlds ladder. Pretty soon, gyms that dont have 3 or 4 locations will just be competing for top 10, not even contending for a medal.

And even though I don't completely agree with kids choosing a college/ university simply because of cheerleading, I can understand it. I cannot understand the high school ( or even younger) kids that are moving away from their families and homes simply to be at one of these big name gyms. Especially when they have a competitive gym in their backyard. I agree with what some have already said in this thread, that these kids are moving and flying for the fame, not the actual training. It's actually really irritating to me.

 

[jani14344]

When did this become a Smoed bashing thread? Obviously, most of the posts are talking about smoed.

 

[cheermommaRN]

Not one of the above the posts mentions SMOED...not one. In fact this thread has been nothing but a discussion on the very apparent trend this season of athletes being hosted by families at other gyms and why it has become so big. There is a difference between being Sally from Idaho with a double full who wants to live her Worlds dream and Jenny who already has 3 Worlds rings moving to another program. And it's not just Cali, I have seen on twitter kids moving from Washington to Texas, California to Florida, Florida to Texas...some kids moving every year. Why? That is what this thread is about...not "bashing" any certain team or gym.

 

[King]

Being a top competitive gym at Worlds is the result of a lot of factors, not just coaching ability. Location and population of an area is huge. There is a very low likely hood of a team winning worlds from North Dakota because there is such a small population and even less of that interested in cheer. You need a large population to produce people interested in cheer. And then it is a matter of numbers. You can take the coaches from any major gym and plop them in North Dakota and they won't produce the same results there for at least 10 years (and that is assuming they could do something in 10 years by having a major cultural shift in that state about cheer).

(guesstimate on numbers here)
It takes 1,000 people just 'into' cheerleading to produce 300 level 3s.
It takes 300 level 3s to produce 100 level 4s.
It takes 100 level 4s to produce 10 true Worlds level 5 athletes.

Rays, CA, Cali, SOT, TG, WCSS, CEA, ACE tend to be in places with enough population to support the development of Worlds level athletes AND the culture to produce Worlds level athletes. An amazing athlete from Maine (I am looking at your Cat Haley) has the chance to develop up there, but not necessarily enough peers of her ability to make a Worlds competitive team. So those athletes scattered across the country tend to move around for a year or two to live out there dreams.

Now high profile very talented athletes also move even if they are already within stones throw of a Worlds caliber program. That is looked highly down upon by the community, which is somehow viewed as unfair. We always say if you arent happy with your program go somewhere else, so why isn't that true for top level talent?

The longer cheer exists we are going to see more a concentration of top level talent at just a few gyms.

 

[TheVipersMom]

It is safe to say that I do not agree with that.

I do wish that more gyms would take the time to figure out why most of their kids are really leaving, instead of just assuming it is because the mega-gym offered them some sweetheart deal.

Not that I don't agree with you but a lot of gyms aren't doing that much wrong making athletes want to leave.

Our gym for example is great, we win, we are very competitive. We beat big gyms all the time. We win NCA... It's normal.

You opened up a location in Austin. Not to far from us. Out of our whole program you got 3 athletes. The 3 athletes you got all made the small coed worlds team. Those same 3 all won NCA with us last year. They were going to be on a good strong competitive team again this year had they stayed.

Those are good kids. The reason they are there is to go to worlds not because we were doing anything wrong. Our gym only wants to be competitive. We weren't going to create a worlds team to get demolished by others. So unfortunately for those girls they had to do what's best for them. They obviously had the skills for that team and no one blames them for leaving.

So just because people are leaving gyms it is not because that gym is doing anything wrong. They just want a mega gym for the chance to experience worlds.

 

[INeverStopCheering]

Overall, I do find this to be true. And some of it I understand. If you really are a level 5 athlete who has been provided with a semi-level 5 team at a smaller gym (not everyone has a full/standing tuck, new flyers...). Would you want to be the person who carries a team? To me it would almost feel like a waste of time. If you can look at your level 5 team and know they are not going to Worlds, and you can look at yourself and say "I have the talent to be on a competitive level 5 team" why would you waste a year biding your time on hope that you might make it to Worlds.

Now, I think moving is flat out ridiculous. And I also think that small(er) gyms can field level 5 teams. For example, I've heard that CheerTyme Chantilly (this is their second season) was able to field quite a few level 5 teams. So it's possible.

 

[BlueCat]

Not that I don't agree with you but a lot of gyms aren't doing that much wrong making athletes want to leave.

Our gym for example is great, we win, we are very competitive. We beat big gyms all the time. We win NCA... It's normal.

You opened up a location in Austin. Not to far from us. Out of our whole program you got 3 athletes. The 3 athletes you got all made the small coed worlds team. Those same 3 all won NCA with us last year. They were going to be on a good strong competitive team again this year had they stayed.

Those are good kids. The reason they are there is to go to worlds not because we were doing anything wrong. Our gym only wants to be competitive. We weren't going to create a worlds team to get demolished by others. So unfortunately for those girls they had to do what's best for them. They obviously had the skills for that team and no one blames them for leaving.

So just because people are leaving gyms it is not because that gym is doing anything wrong. They just want a mega gym for the chance to experience worlds.

We do get a few that say they were happy where they were, but simply want a better chance to be competitive at the highest levels. However, that is NOT what most of them say. Most say that they did not enjoy their experience at their previous gyms and had heard from our current athletes how fun it can be. The main point is that "winning" is not as big a factor as most people make it out to be.

I haven't had the chance to talk to those specific athletes, but I would say the situation you have described is NOT what we typically experience with the athletes coming from other programs. That is why I said "most" of their kids.

 

[kristenthegreat]

I was attempting to write a witty reply, but my lack of sleep has muddled my brain. I agree with the previous intelligent responses about how kids who ordinarily might have been perfectly content with their incredibly successful gym are now criss-crossing the nation via jet to find a new 'home.' This is different to other Olympic sports as we currently have no such tier (one that would involve endorsement deals and such).

 

[yojaehs]

The irony of the boards is so often I read parents post -

"Xyz is happening at my gym, what should I do?"

FB general answer-
"I recommend you seek out another program." More often than not a big name gym is named as a recommendation.

Now I see "mega gym" bashing. I find it funny.

I see MORE franchising/branching out in the cheer future.

Are there GREAT small gyms, yes. Are there MANY scenarios that regardless of how great those gyms are run that simple size limits their opportunities, yes. Many times Ive heard athletes say nothing but positives about their previous gym but at the end of the day the options to fit their situation just ran out.

I'm not saying "mega gym" is the only way. Heck my gym is medium but with sizes out there I consider us small. We work hard and train up our own but still athletes come in bc our size locally allows us opportunities to offer something others can not.