High School Try Out Blues

[mytriplek]

My daughter has been excited about cheering for her high school for a few months now. All that went out of the window at the 1st day of try outs today. She cheers all-star and was expecting more skills and a lot of girls. 17 girls were at try outs she said, 1/2 of which had no experience whatsoever. Due to the small number of girls they've decided to keep everyone. She's thinking of quitting because she thinks they're gonna suck. Anyone have any ideas to get her excitement back? She'd be cheering both all-star and high school at the same time

 

[quitthedrama]

My daughter has been excited about cheering for her high school for a few months now. All that went out of the window at the 1st day of try outs today. She cheers all-star and was expecting more skills and a lot of girls. 17 girls were at try outs she said, 1/2 of which had no experience whatsoever. Due to the small number of girls they've decided to keep everyone. She's thinking of quitting because she thinks they're gonna suck. Anyone have any ideas to get her excitement back? She'd be cheering both all-star and high school at the same time

This is going to sound harsh, but I took your post to be a bit harsh. If she is doing it just so she can be on a good team then she should quit and stick with allstars - most high schools struggle to field competitive cheer teams and very few high school teams are as "good" as all star teams. If she has an attitude that her team sucks then it is unfair to the 16 other girls on the team and the negative attitude isn't needed. My CP cheers all stars and is on a high school team that is not competitive. She does it because she loves it. She loves the games, would prefer not to compete but does it because the other girls don't have the opportunity to compete and want to do so. She has gotten frustrated at times but she understands her high school team can only do so much. As long as they are doing things safely that is all that matters to us.

 

[Sunny]

I agree with quitthedrama. I coach varsity cheering at a very small private school. Because we are so small, we don't even have tryouts and are limited in what we can do. However, we are successful every year mainly because of the attitudes of the girls on my squad. They are happy to cheer on the teams at their school and are very encouraging to each other, regardless of the varying skill levels. That, to me, is how cheerleaders should be. No one needs to deal with a negative attitude.

 

[mytriplek]

This is going to sound harsh, but I took your post to be a bit harsh. If she is doing it just so she can be on a good team then she should quit and stick with allstars - most high schools struggle to field competitive cheer teams and very few high school teams are as "good" as all star teams. If she has an attitude that her team sucks then it is unfair to the 16 other girls on the team and the negative attitude isn't needed. My CP cheers all stars and is on a high school team that is not competitive. She does it because she loves it. She loves the games, would prefer not to compete but does it because the other girls don't have the opportunity to compete and want to do so. She has gotten frustrated at times but she understands her high school team can only do so much. As long as they are doing things safely that is all that matters to us.

I will remove the post. I didn't mean for it to be harsh. She's going in as a freshman. She didn't know what to expect. I will tell her to think long and hard before she commits. Her coach has expressed how excited she is to have her and how positive she was today so she's not there just spewing negativity. She was just telling me. I was told she was actually really helpful

 

[Cheermom1969]

I'm in very much the same situation in terms of my daughter will be a freshman cheerleader and also does AS. We talked before tryouts and she knew from watching the cheerleaders at her brother's football games the last 3 years what the teams were like. We talked about the differences in the AS and HS cheer. She gets it. Yes, it's slow for her at times and she gets frustrated but she keeps it in check. She likes the friends she's making and the school spirit she knows will come with the "job." lol They get to cheer at orientation tomorrow and she's got the usual nervousness and anxiety, which I find funny because my little darling is not shy.

Just talk to your daughter and help her keep things in perspective.

 

[mytriplek]

I'm in very much the same situation in terms of my daughter will be a freshman cheerleader and also does AS. We talked before tryouts and she knew from watching the cheerleaders at her brother's football games the last 3 years what the teams were like. We talked about the differences in the AS and HS cheer. She gets it. Yes, it's slow for her at times and she gets frustrated but she keeps it in check. She likes the friends she's making and the school spirit she knows will come with the "job." lol They get to cheer at orientation tomorrow and she's got the usual nervousness and anxiety, which I find funny because my little darling is not shy.

Just talk to your daughter and help her keep things in perspective.

That's what I should have done. We didn't talk about the differences. She honestly thought it was similar to all-star but they cheered for a team. Talking to her now she said she thought JV was going to be for new girls and like level 1-2 and Varsity was for levels 3-5. She had her own preconceived notions. She will be doing both so hopefully she can get the best of both worlds

 

[ashscott41]

Absolutely agree with everything @quitthedrama said. They are two separate activities and have to be treated as such. I loved allstar for the challenge, hard work, dedication, travel, etc etc. I loved high school cheer just as much but for completely different reasons. It was nice to finally have an activity at school. I became much closer with the girls (plus the dance team and football/soccer/basketball players) than I was prior to joining the team. It might just be a small town thing, but there were definitely a lot of other small perks to being a school cheerleader where I grew up. Cheerleaders being popular is stereotypical and kind of dumb, but I honestly feel like it made my high school experience easier. We were excused from class for pep rallies, parades, and reading to elementary school students. There is no better feeling than having a little girl ask for a picture before a game because she wants to be a cheerleader someday too. I also loved it because the best seat to watch a game is right on the sideline. I'm insanely competitive and loved having a valid reason to scream at the players during games

At the end of the day, moving your arms around and yelling for a bunch of sweaty boys is kind of silly. I think your CP needs to really think about why she enjoys cheer. Is it for the conditioning and difficult stunts? Or does she love the camaraderie and laughter she shares with her team just as much? For me, cheer was my social life, so the fun I had made it worth doing simple stunts and no tumbling. All schools are different and her priorities might be different, but I think she should at least give it a shot. Good luck!

 

[FlexyTumblerMom]

I'd imagine that a lot of kids that are trained in expensive "club" activities and sports go though the same feelings that your daughter is when they join high school teams. I guess a difference w/ cheer and something like basketball and soccer is there is no bench and everyone plays all the time and not just the best players.

Does this team compete? If not, I'm sure it will be fine if a lot of the girls can't tumble or jump while they are cheering at the games.

 

[mytriplek]

I'd imagine that a lot of kids that are trained in expensive "club" activities and sports go though the same feelings that your daughter is when they join high school teams. I guess a difference w/ cheer and something like basketball and soccer is there is no bench and everyone plays all the time and not just the best players.

Does this team compete? If not, I'm sure it will be fine if a lot of the girls can't tumble or jump while they are cheering at the games.

The team will compete against other area schools. I think she'll be fine she just didn't know what to expect. I'm going to talk to her a bit when I get home before she goes back tomorrow

 

[gymcatmomx2]

I am going to put in my 2 cents also. Both of my CPs have been in All-Stars for years and they both are on their high school squads. Both school squads have all skill levels, 1-5. My oldest is a senior and on Varsity and my youngest will be starting high school and is on the Freshman squad. There is definitely a difference in the skill level on the high school squads but there is so much that can be gained from high school experience. They both came back from a 3-day UCA resort camp at Great Wolfe Lodge on Sunday where they both were chosen for All-American. My oldest is Varsity captain this year and was one of the 7 recipients for the Pin It Forward award, which is a very prestigious award. She was also asked to apply for a staff position when she turns 18.

There are so many opportunities given at school cheer that all-star can't provide.

Honestly, if I had to choose between them, I would choose school cheer. But that's just me.

 

[retiredl5cheer]

My daughter has been excited about cheering for her high school for a few months now. All that went out of the window at the 1st day of try outs today. She cheers all-star and was expecting more skills and a lot of girls. 17 girls were at try outs she said, 1/2 of which had no experience whatsoever. Due to the small number of girls they've decided to keep everyone. She's thinking of quitting because she thinks they're gonna suck. Anyone have any ideas to get her excitement back? She'd be cheering both all-star and high school at the same time

Seems like all MD schools are having tryouts today. Would love to know where she tried out. PM me if you don't mind telling...

 

[cheerforeverever]

Schools that have levels 3-5 consistently across the board are realistically far and few between, unless you are in an area directly next to a large allstar gym. Most HS teams are level 1 to 2 range, with a few kids above that.

Realize:

1. The focus is on game day.
This means that skills are not as emphasized, and you are there to support and represent the school. Example: It's great if you have a double full, but its not going to help you lead the crowd.

2. If you go in thinking the experience is going to suck, you're right. It will.
BECAUSE you have made up your mind that you wont enjoy it. Thinking it is less superior to allstar, is like comparing apples to oranges.

3.Take this as an opportunity to learn things OTHER than skills. Leadership, learning how to work with all types of people, teaching & helping others succeed, learning how to be a leader of the student body, being involved in your community, experiencing different kinds of coaching/teammates/camps/practices,etc. These are the things that you will carry with you once you are in the working world, not your ability to do a scorpion double down.

4. If you have an attitude that you are better than the rest of your team because you have tumbling/experience/etc., you are going to have a hard time bonding with your team and making friends. No one wants to be friends with the girl that rolls her eyes at you & says "this whole team sucks. I am wasting my time. I deserve better"....especially walking in as a freshmen thinking you own the whole joint......remember that some of these girls are juniors & seniors that have dedicated their high school years to this program. Whether they are good or not, its better to be humble and take in the surroundings before making judgement calls.

 

[Fierce_Elite]

My school was the same way in middle school. We were a competitive team but we had a very small number tryout during the football season. So every girl got accepted into the program. In a way it was good, but it's all bad. Just because she doesn't wasn't to be on a team that sucks, doesn't mean she doesn't love the sport and is just on it to get attention. That's all a sign of wanting to be challenged. If she has a legit reason as to why she feels like she's not learning enough, than you should just let her quit. I'd rather for my kid to be happy with what she/he is doing than to be upset and frustrated all the time because they're not being challenged enough.

I do agree with the other users. This could also be used as learning skills needed to be on a college team. Many all star girls who just do all star cheer, don't make it on to college teams because they don't have the game day skills that could have learned in high school. For colleges, competitive or not, game day skills is a must to know!!!

 

[Hscoach10]

Our varsity team is strictly girls that are level 4-5 (although only one actually cheers allstar) but I know how your daughter feels because our JV squad has a similar talent range. About half the girls tumble and I was worried about the few advanced tumblers on jv feeling bummed that not everyone on team is at their level. I can also relate to the coach and I bet she is genuinely excited to have your daughter on the team! A few experienced athletes with great skills really impact a team and push them to work harder. So far so good with our JV advanced tumblers they are really enjoying themselves and now we have more tumblers stepping it up!

 

[Flexiii_Lexiii]

I'm in very much the same situation in terms of my daughter will be a freshman cheerleader and also does AS. We talked before tryouts and she knew from watching the cheerleaders at her brother's football games the last 3 years what the teams were like. We talked about the differences in the AS and HS cheer. She gets it. Yes, it's slow for her at times and she gets frustrated but she keeps it in check. She likes the friends she's making and the school spirit she knows will come with the "job." lol They get to cheer at orientation tomorrow and she's got the usual nervousness and anxiety, which I find funny because my little darling is not shy.

Just talk to your daughter and help her keep things in perspective.

Tell her Goodluck for me!! I started senior year today first games in three weeks for us