its true. even most of the canadian girls that i do know that have in fact started out young depending on the gym they started at they may need a complete technique overhaul. when i first started cheerleading, i was in grade seven. i wasn't necessarily young but not exactly old either, but the gym i was at never ever ever focused on prep, transitions or sharp technique. they also didn't focus on tumbling... like at all. so we were a level 3 junior team who would get slaughtered in competition (we only had about 6-7 girls who had the full skills). so when i left this gym the end of grade nine and moved to California when i finally started cheerleading again my coaches had to fix all of my technique and get me started on tumbling (i didnt even have a cartwheel at this point). by the time i had left the states i had learned so much in terms of skills no i didnt magically have tumbling but everything i did was a lot cleaner, smoother and ultimately better.
the problem i see "up north" is most of the teams tend to rush through everything. we dont count through our motions, our stunts or our dance we just freak out and run to the next thing. this is one of the main reasons i wish canadian teams would get out of the country more and travel to big competitions to see what some of the big teams are like.
